Troubleshooting¶

Every refusal Pier makes is logged with its reason, so the first step is always the server console or logs/latest.log. This page lists the lines you will meet and what to do about each.

A mod does not load¶

The log says	Meaning	What to do
`'x' does not export pier_main`	the DLL is not a Pier mod, or its entry symbol was not exported	build it with your binding's entry macro, or `PIER_MAIN_EXPORT` in C++
`'x': pier_main returned false`	the mod refused to start; its own log lines say why	read the lines just above
`'x': an exception left pier_main`	the mod let an exception out of its entry point	fix the mod: nothing may unwind into the host
`'x' was built against Pier ABI vN, below the minimum vM`	the mod predates the current ABI	rebuild the mod against the current SDK
a line about the client or the server target	a client build on a server, or the reverse	install the build made for this side
`'x' filled in a vtable of N bytes`	the mod's SDK does not set `struct_size`	update the SDK the mod was built with
the mod is named in `mods.disabled`	the operator switched it off	remove it from `mods.disabled` in `config.json`

The server does not start, with error 0x7E¶

0x7E, the specified module could not be found means Windows could not load a DLL that Pier or a mod depends on. Pier itself loads without its optional dependencies, such as LegacyMoney; a mod built with MinGW needs the MinGW runtime DLLs next to it, and a mod built in Debug needs the debug C++ runtime. Rebuild the mod in Release with MSVC or clang-cl, or ship the DLLs it depends on.

The server froze or exited with code 70¶

Exit code 70 is Pier's watchdog. A mod held a server thread past watchdog.hang_ms, or past watchdog.shutdown_ms while stopping, and the process was ended so that it can be restarted. The line before it names the mod, the entry it was stuck in and for how long:

Text Only
1 2	`[watchdog] 'land-claims' has held thread 4812 inside event for 30000 ms, past the runtime limit of 30000 ms; ending the process with exit code 70 so it can be restarted`

Report it to that mod's author. If the mod legitimately works that long at startup, raise watchdog.hang_ms rather than turning the watchdog off; see Configuring.

An event never fires¶

The subscription was refused: a synthetic event named in hooks.disabled says so in the log when a mod subscribes.
The payload says why it is incomplete: _unresolved, partial and targetKnown are described in Event payloads.
An event that fires on one engine version and not another usually means the engine function it hooks changed. Report it with the Pier and BDS versions from the startup line.

A setting has no effect¶

A key Pier does not read is dropped silently, and a value of the wrong type is ignored with a line naming the key and the type it wants, such as 'watchdog.hang_ms' wants number, and the value written there is ignored. config.json is written once and never rewritten, so a key added in a later release is absent from an old file and takes its default. Compare the file with the one in Configuring.

Asking for help¶

Include the Pier and BDS versions, which the first lines of the log carry, the full log from startup to the problem, and the list of mods. A refused load, a watchdog exit and an ignored setting each leave a line in the log with the reason and the name; without the log, that line has to be asked for again.