The server shows as online, but a player cannot find it, gets refused, or waits on a loading screen that never finishes. For 7 Days to Die it is nearly always one of the causes below. Work down the list in order: the first two cover most cases.
1. The server has not finished starting
A 7 Days to Die server takes a while to come up, and connections during that window fail.
- A new server first downloads about 17 GB of game files from Steam. On our test server that took about six and a half minutes.
- After a version switch, the server downloads the other version while starting, which takes a few minutes.
- On every start, the world has to load. On our test server (V3.4.0, Navezgane) that took about 70 seconds.
Fix: open the console and wait for StartGame done. Tell players to connect after that line.
2. The server and the game are on different versions
A client can only join a server on the same version. TFP's note with V3.1.0 said it directly: "If you're playing on a dedicated server and can't connect yet, you will need to select the correct branch". Owners report seeing errors such as "Unknown Server version" when the two do not match.
If the server is on Latest: the player updates the game in Steam, and you restart the server so it installs the newest build too. Straight after a patch, one side has usually updated before the other.
If the server is pinned (the Game version card on the Server Settings tab names the version): every PC player picks the same branch for 7 Days to Die in Steam. Console players cannot join a pinned server at all, because consoles are always on the latest version. See Game versions.
Check: the Console crossplay card shows the version the server's last start ran, for example V 3.4.0 (b10).
3. The address or port is wrong
Players who have hosted before tend to type 26900, the game's default port. Your server's port is the one shown at the top of the dashboard and under Connection Details on the Overview tab, and it may not be 26900. Your server needs only that one port.
Fix: send the IP and port from the dashboard by copy-and-paste, and have the player connect by IP.
4. The server is not in the browser
If a player can connect by IP but cannot find the server in the server browser, check:
- The name. The browser searches by server name. Check the exact name on the Server Settings tab.
- Visibility. Public is the setting to use. The game's config file, as the community wiki quotes it, explains why friends-only is a trap: "As you are never friend of a dedicated server", it "will only work when the first player connects manually by IP".
- The region filter. Browser region on the Server Settings tab is the region players filter by. If it does not match where your group is looking, the server is hidden by their filter.
- The server is still starting (section 1). Search again after the console prints
StartGame done.
Connecting by IP works while you sort out the listing.
5. A console player cannot see the server
PS5 and Xbox Series X|S players find the server in the console server browser, and only while crossplay is active. Look at the Console crossplay card at the top of the Server Settings tab:
- Off: turn on Allow PS5 and Xbox players, save, restart.
- The game switched crossplay off for this session: the card shows the game's reason. Fix it and restart. A server with mods, EasyAntiCheat off, or Ignore EOS sanctions on is PC-only.
- Pinned: console players can only join a server on Latest.
The full rules are in Console crossplay.
6. Wrong password
If the player reaches the server and is refused at the password prompt, the network side is fine. The password is Join password on the Server Settings tab.
Fix: send the password exactly. If you just changed it, restart first: the server reads it at start.
7. The server is full
Every plan has 8 player slots. Reserved slots on the Server Settings tab are held for players with the reserved-slot permission, so they reduce the slots open to everyone else. Admin slots are extra slots only admins can use when the server is full.
Fix: check how many players are on in the console, and set Reserved slots to 0 if you do not use them.
8. Mods
A modded server is PC-only. The community modding wiki says compiled mods, the kind that ship a .dll, need EasyAntiCheat off, and whether players must install a mod too depends on the mod: its own page says. Owners of modded servers report players stuck on "receiving and loading configs". If that happens, check the player has what the mod's page asks for, on the same game version as the server. See Mods.
9. One player, everyone else fine
If exactly one person cannot join while the rest are in, it is their side: their game version or branch (section 2), their platform (section 5), their mods, or their connection.
Still stuck?
Open a ticket from your dashboard with: the exact message the player sees, their platform, their game version or branch, the version on the Console crossplay card, and whether anyone at all can join. Those five answers usually let us solve it in one reply.