Help CenterThis guide will show you how to read and review crash reports on your Minecraft Server!
❗ Crash Reports can seem intimidating, but don't worry! This guide will go through it step by step!
🚩The Crash-Reports folder will only be viewable if the server has crashed, if the server crashes and there isn't a folder, it may be due to RAM issues.
Step 1: Checking the server files
If your server crashes, the first thing you'll want to do is click on the 'File Manager' button on the top of your screen. In the File Manager, you'll see a crash-reports folder. Click on the folder and view the contents. 
Step 2: Viewing the Crash-Reports folder
In the Crash-Reports folder, you will see multiple files. On the left you will see the date of when the files were submitted, click on the file with the most recent date/time. 
Once inside the file, you will see a mess of text. Don't worry! It's fairly simple to understand. First, scroll down until you see the section labled --head--.
This is the area you will want to look at. In this example, you can see that Biome's O' Plenty was missing a dependency. Now I know to go and grab the dependency!
Step 3: Fixing the server
Once you have identified why the server is crashing, fix whatever is causing the crash, and attempt to start your server. If the server crashes again, try looking at the most recent crash report and identify the problem! Once your server is fixed, you can play!
Anatomy of a Crash Log
Crash logs are typically formatted in very specific ways, meaning that you only have to look in a few areas to figure out where exactly the problem lies.
Crash logs typically begin with a header of "Minecraft Crash Log" and a short error description describing the problem that lead to the crash. For our first example, we're going to look at a "Mod loading error has occurred" crash, a very common error especially for custom modpacks.
Afterwards, you'll be met with a technical breakdown of the error. For the most part, this section doesn't provide information that is easy to point towards the problem, but can be particularly useful for advanced users.
The next area will be a walkthrough of the error that occurred upon the server. If the server crash was caused by a mod loading error, this section will likely detail the mod that failed to load, and the steps that should be taken in order to fix it.
In our case, I have installed the Create mod for the wrong version of Minecraft. This specific version of the mod needs any versions between 1.20 and 1.21, but the server is currently running 1.21.1. Due to this, the mod cannot load, thus crashing the server. Multiple mods can be listed in this section, but will generally follow the same structure.
A quick note, Fabric servers do not tend to create crash logs upon failing to load mods. Instead, it puts a crash log in the server console, and provides a list of steps that should be taken to fix the server. It is somewhat similar to Forge's crash logs, but can be easy to miss:
In this instance, the From the Fog mod has failed to load due to being on the wrong version of Minecraft. Additionally, it is missing the Fabric-API mod.
Example 2
In this example, we're going to go over a much less common crash called a "Watchdog". In essence, a Watchdog is a timer that is reset by the server while it is running, and under normal operation, will never elapse. If for whatever reason this timer elapses, such as when the server freezes for an extended period of time, the server automatically shuts down and restarts. Watchdogs have a variety of causes, but will generally indicate a mod issue of some sort.
Watchdogs can be easily detected through their unique crash log:
In this example, the description is simply "Watching Server", and below it, and error stating that a tick took longer than a specific amount of time.
Unfortunately, crash logs from this specific crash do not provide much useful information outside of this section.
This error can typically be resolved by disabling the watchdog entirely within the server.properties file by setting the max-tick-time value to -1, but keep in mind that this may not resolve the issue. If it does not, it may be best to revert to a backup if you have the option to do so.
A word of note
Not all possible crash logs are present within this guide, but generally speaking, they can set you on the right track for fixing the problem. Generally, the most important things to look for are the error description, and if they are present, any mods that have thrown an error within the logs.
As always, if you cannot find the problem from within the logs, or would like assistance with troubleshooting, feel free to contact us!