Server not binding to port 8766

[napentathol]

• What are the specs of the server? its a linode with 4 cores and 8GB memory
• What OS is the server running on? I have tried this on ubuntu 22.04 and ubuntu 18.04
• What is your connection speed? N/A its good enough to initiate a connection
• Did you try to fix your problem and how? yes, I have tried to install using the linux GSM script, and using the wiki https://pzwiki.net/wiki/Dedicated_Server
• What's the issue, exactly and what did you try to fix it? the exact issue as deep as I can debug it is that the server is not binding to port 8766, worth noting that when I run the server and the client with -nosteam, that the connection works, but this is undesirable
• Is the server being run on a VPS or home computer? it is being run on a linode

 

 

Some more logs:

LOG  : Network     , 1653349954019> 50,605,942> *** SERVER STARTED ****
LOG  : Network     , 1653349954020> 50,605,942> *** Steam is enabled
LOG  : Network     , 1653349954020> 50,605,942> server is listening on port 16261
LOG  : General     , 1653349954020> 50,605,942> LuaNet: Initializing...
LOG  : General     , 1653349954020> 50,605,943> LuaNet: Registering server listener...
LOG  : General     , 1653349954020> 50,605,943> LuaNet: Initialization [DONE], triggering events for 'LuaNet.onInitAdd'.
LOG  : Network     , 1653349954021> 50,605,943> DISCORD: token not configured
LOG  : Network     , 1653349954021> 50,605,943> *** DISCORD DISABLED ****                                                                                                   
LOG  : General     , 1653349954021> 50,605,943> ##########
Server Steam ID ||| REDACTED |||
##########
LOG  : Multiplayer , 1653349954125> 50,606,047> [MPStatistics] mem usage notification threshold=8,160,437,760
LOG  : General     , 1653349954134> 50,606,057> RCON: listening on port 27015
LOG  : General     , 1653349956066> 50,607,988> 1653349956066 znet: OnPolicyResponse
LOG  : General     , 1653349956066> 50,607,988> 1653349956066 znet: Zomboid Server is VAC Secure
LOG  : General     , 1653349987718> 50,639,640> 1653349987718 znet: OnP2PSessionRequest
STEAMPS3 - AsyncTCPSocket created
LOG  : General     , 1653350002720> 50,654,642> 1653350002720 znet: OnP2PSessionConnectFail: 4
STEAMPS3 - AsyncTCPSocket created
STEAMPS3 - AsyncTCPSocket created
STEAMPS3 - AsncTCPSocket destroyed
STEAMPS3 - AsncTCPSocket destroyed
STEAMPS3 - AsncTCPSocket destroyed

Note that this shows that the client is connecting, but the client-server handshake is failing

root@localhost:~# netstat -atunp | grep Project
tcp        0      0 XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX:40933   162.254.199.181:27029   ESTABLISHED 29863/./ProjectZomb 
tcp6       0      0 :::27015                :::*                    LISTEN      29863/./ProjectZomb 
udp        0      0 0.0.0.0:16261           0.0.0.0:*                           29863/./ProjectZomb 

the cause appears to be because the 8766 port is not bound, I'm assuming some steam-specific data is sent over this port

FWIW, I am trying to connect over IP, I'm not sure if that could be interfering with anything.

Edited May 24, 2022 by napentathol

[napentathol]

Also interesting, but probably not super relevant, when I enter the favorite using the IP, I get all kinds of server data like ping, whitelist, players, version, but when I enter the favorite using the DNS name, I don't get any of that data.

[Beard]

Are you able to connect through the favorite when you have the IP there and not the DNS name?
And can you share the whole server log?

[napentathol]

> Are you able to connect through the favorite when you have the IP there and not the DNS name?

no

> And can you share the whole server log?

attached, the rcon connection was me using netcat to test that port

23-05-22_23-51-45_DebugLog-server.txt

[Beard]

The server itself looks perfectly fine, likely the problem is as you described that for some reason your server is blocking or not binding to 8766, could you try installing the "Steam Client" and see if that helps? It would install all the Steam dependencies and what not and might fix the issue.

If it doesnt help, can you check if you have any "steamclient.so" file in your server folder?

[napentathol]

> likely the problem is as you described that for some reason your server is blocking or not binding to 8766

The host machine itself is not blocking binding to port 8766 as I was able to successfully bind netcat to that UDP port.

 

pzserver@localhost:~$ netcat -l 8766
test
^C
pzserver@localhost:~$ netcat -lu 8766
test
^C

(note that those tests are received from other hosts)

> could you try installing the "Steam Client" and see if that helps?

I'm not sure what this means, but I had previously installed steamcmd and I just installed steam, itself, no joy.

FWIW, the server is definitely connected to steam

tcp        0      0 MY IP:34549   162.254.193.102:27020   ESTABLISHED 21494/./ProjectZomb

that IP belongs to Valve: https://whatismyip.live/ip/162.254.193.102
 

> If it doesnt help, can you check if you have any "steamclient.so" file in your server folder?

yes, its in a few locations:

pzserver@localhost:~$ find . -name steamclient.so
./.steam/sdk64/steamclient.so
./.steam/sdk32/steamclient.so
./.steam/steamcmd/linux64/steamclient.so
./.steam/steamcmd/linux32/steamclient.so
./serverfiles/steamclient.so
./serverfiles/linux64/steamclient.so
./serverfiles/linux32/steamclient.so

 

[Beard]

I would probably suggest you check out the Steam Troubleshooting guide, perhaps make sure to open all the rest of the Steam ports listed there?
https://help.steampowered.com/en/faqs/view/669A-2F68-D1D1-A5EC#ports

Since you already tested out the -nosteam option, this would mean that the issue would be with Steam and the Steam ports or the Steam relay system specifically, and not with the game server itself.

[EnigmaGrey]

In addition to the above:

 

You could also try changing the port number (say 9766) in the server's config and try port-forwarding that instead, just to troubleshoot it. 

 

If you made any configuration changes to PZ such as adding a public IP, it might be best to back it up and delete/regenerate the files. Change only the name of the server, see if it lets you connect.

[napentathol]

pzserver@localhost:~$ diff pzserver.ini.original /home/pzserver/Zomboid/Server/pzserver.ini
49c49
< ResetID=9283932
---
> ResetID=856068059
66c66
< PublicName=LinuxGSM
---
> PublicName=SomePublicName
144c144
< RCONPassword=XXXXXXXXXXXXX
---
> RCONPassword=XXXXXXXXXXXXX
170c170
< SteamPort1=8766
---
> SteamPort1=9766
172c172
< SteamPort2=8767
---
> SteamPort2=9767

here are the differences between my config and the default LinuxGSM config

I'm not behind a NAT or firewall or anything, so I don't need to open ports. But, if I was, it would still not change that the port is not binding, which must be actively done inside the application process. Does the game log if the application fails to bind to the port?

[Beard]

Could you try installing the server manually through SteamCMD? To make sure LinuxGSM isnt the issue here.