Read Server Crash Logs: Find Why Your Server Crashed

Q: Where are Minecraft server crash logs?

In the server folder: logs/latest.log for the current log and crash-reports/ for full crash reports. Open them in the panel's Files tab.

Q: Which error in the log is the real cause?

Usually the first ERROR, Exception or Caused by line, read together with the lines just above it. Later errors are often consequences of the first.

To read server crash logs, open Console right after the crash and scroll up to the first error, not the last line. Then open the game's own log file in Files (for Minecraft, logs/latest.log and the newest file in crash-reports/). The first ERROR, Exception or "Caused by" line almost always names the real cause.

This works for every game on our panel. The panel messages quoted below come from the source code of Pterodactyl and its Wings daemon, which our panel is built on; the game log paths come from each game's official documentation.

Two kinds of logs: the panel's and the game's

When a server dies you have two sources, and they answer different questions:

Source	Where	What it tells you
Panel messages	Console, lines starting with `container@pterodactyl~`	That the process stopped, its exit code, and whether it ran out of memory
Game output	Console, everything else	What the game was doing and the error it hit
Game log files	Files, inside the server folder	The same output saved to disk, so you can read it after a restart
Activity log	Activity tab	Who started, stopped, edited or uploaded what, and when

Start with the panel lines, because they tell you which kind of problem you are hunting. Then read the game's lines for the details.

What the panel says when a server crashes

When the server process stops on its own, Wings prints a short report in the console:

Console

container@pterodactyl~ ---------- Detected server process in a crashed state! ----------
container@pterodactyl~ Exit code: 137
container@pterodactyl~ Out of memory: true
container@pterodactyl~ Aborting automatic restart, last crash occurred less than 60 seconds ago.

Detected server process in a crashed state means the game exited without being asked to stop.
Exit code is the number the process returned. Note it down; support will ask for it.
Out of memory: true means the server hit its RAM limit and was stopped. That is the clearest answer you can get: the server needs less load or more memory.
Aborting automatic restart means it crashed again soon after the last crash, so the panel stopped retrying to avoid a crash loop. Fix the cause before you press Start again.

You will also see lines like Server marked as offline... or running. Those are just status changes, not errors.

How to read server crash logs, step by step

Do not restart yet. Open Console and look at the last panel lines: is there an exit code, and does it say Out of memory: true?
Scroll up from the bottom until you reach the first line with ERROR, FATAL, Exception or Caused by. The first error is usually the cause; the ones after it are side effects.
Open Files and find the game's log file (see the table below). It keeps everything, even if the console was cleared by a restart.
Search the file for the same words, and read the 10 lines above the first error. They show what the server was loading when it failed, often a mod, plugin or world file.
Check Activity for the last change before the crash: an upload, an edited file, a new version.
Undo that change or restore a backup from Backups, then start the server and watch the console until it is fully up.

Where each game keeps its logs

Game	Log file	Notes
Minecraft Java (Vanilla, Paper, Purpur, Fabric, Forge)	`logs/latest.log`, plus `crash-reports/`	Older logs are zipped in `logs/`; a full crash writes a separate report
Satisfactory	`FactoryGame/Saved/Logs/FactoryGame.log`	Rotated on every start; the current one is `FactoryGame.log`
Rust	The console output	Facepunch's launch options include `-logfile` to also write it to a file
Other games	Console first	Ask support on chat if you cannot find the log file

Satisfactory rotates its log on start, so after a crash and restart the error is in the previous file, not the current one. Copy the log out before you restart several times.

Errors you will meet most often

These show up again and again in Minecraft logs, and the same ideas apply to other games:

What the log says	What it means	What to do
`Out of memory: true` or `OutOfMemoryError`	The server ran out of RAM	Remove heavy mods or plugins, pre-generate less, or move to a larger plan
`You need to agree to the EULA`	`eula.txt` is not set to true	Read the EULA and set `eula=true` in `eula.txt`
`FAILED TO BIND TO PORT`	The configured port is not the one assigned to the server, or already in use	Use the IP and port shown in the panel
`UnsupportedClassVersionError`	The server or a mod needs a newer Java	Change the Java version in Startup or ask support
A mod or plugin name in the first `Caused by`	That add-on failed to load or crashed	Remove it, update it, or check that its version matches the server

For Minecraft specifically, our guide on a Minecraft server not starting walks through each of these in more depth. For a Project Zomboid server stuck while loading, see Project Zomboid server stuck initializing.

logs/latest.log (example)

[Server thread/ERROR]: Encountered an unexpected exception
java.lang.OutOfMemoryError: Java heap space
    at ...
Caused by: ...

Getting help fast

If the log does not make sense, you do not have to decode it alone. When you contact support, send three things: the panel lines with the exit code and memory status, the first error with 10 lines above it, and what changed last. That is usually enough to find the problem in one reply. Never paste passwords, tokens or RCON keys from config files along with the log.

If nothing works, a clean reinstall is the last resort. Read how to reinstall your game server first, because a reinstall can delete files.

Crash logs, backups and help in one place

On TheGameHosting every plan has the live Console, the Files editor to open logs in the browser, Activity to see the last change, and Backups to roll back. If the log says out of memory, you can move to a bigger plan instead of guessing, and our support team reads logs with you 24/7 on live chat and tickets. Servers run on AMD Ryzen 9950X and 7950X3D CPUs with DDR5 and NVMe, with DDoS protection in Dallas and Amsterdam.

Plans go from 2 GB at $1.90 USD to 64 GB at $44.19 USD a month, for 60+ games. See them on the pricing page and use FULL2026 for 15% off for life.

FAQ

Where are Minecraft server crash logs?

In the server folder: logs/latest.log for the current log and crash-reports/ for full crash reports. Open them in the panel's Files tab.

What does "Out of memory: true" mean?

The panel stopped the server because it reached its RAM limit. Reduce what the server loads (mods, plugins, view distance) or move to a plan with more RAM.

Why did the panel stop restarting my server?

"Aborting automatic restart" means the server crashed again shortly after the previous crash, so the panel stopped retrying to avoid a loop. Fix the error first.

Which error in the log is the real cause?

Usually the first ERROR, Exception or Caused by line, read together with the lines just above it. Later errors are often consequences of the first.

Hosting for these games

Written by TheGameHosting Team, the people who run our servers in Dallas and Amsterdam and answer your tickets.

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