Game Is Crashing / Game Won't Start (PC/Mac/Linux)

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If you are having an issue that affects your ability to play the game such as major graphical issues, crashing issues, or performance problems, there are a few steps you can take before reporting the problem. Choose your platform via the links below:

WINDOWS PC
MAC OSX
LINUX
PLAYSTATION 4 / PS5
XBOX ONE / XBOX SERIES S/X
NINTENDO SWITCH
IOS
ANDROID


WINDOWS PC

 

General Game Troubleshooting Guide

Video Memory:
Players with video cards under 256 MB will experience intermittent crashing issues (or not start) as Don't Starve requires video cards with at least 256 MB or over for Dedicated RAM.

Verify Integrity of Game Files on Steam

  • Missing Textures
  • Crashes

Often the problems that users are experiencing are a result of their local game files being either corrupted, or incompletely downloaded from Steam. These problems include missing textures or effects, or crashing when loading specific areas or items; while the rest of the game generally runs fine.

Fortunately there is an easy way to verify and fix these files.

  • Go to your Steam Library
  • Right-click on "Don't Starve"
  • Select "Properties"
  • Select "Installed Files" tab
  • Click the "Verify Integrity of Game Files" button
  • When the process is complete, launch Don't Starve

From Steam's online support: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2037-QEUH-3335

Ensure that there are no programs running that may interfere with Steam - If you are encountering issues or poor performance, you may want to check if you have any applications/programs running that potentially, negatively affecting Steam. Please visit Steam Support's guide for more information on this.

Check your drivers - First, check to make sure that your drivers are up-to-date. Do some searching to verify that you have the latest driver versions available.

Check your system specs - Make sure your system meets the requirements. If it does not, you are still welcome to file a report; just make sure to let us know what the specs are.

Disable or remove mods - It could be that one or more of the mods you have installed is causing an issue with your game. Try disabling your mods to see if that resolves your issue. Also, please check that the mod you are trying to use is compatible with your version of the game.

If you are sure that the issue is being caused by an outdated or broken mod, delete the mod files from your Steam folder for Don't Starve. Once all mod files have been deleted from your Steam folder for the game, unsubscribe all of your Don't Starve mods from the Steam Workshop. This will ensure that any mods that may have been causing issues delete the mod files from your Steam folder for Don't Starve.

Security software - Unfortunately malware, firewall and virus protection programs can be a bit unpredictable at times. Try disabling anything you have running then try running the game again.

3rd-party software - Pop-up blockers, ad-blockers, and other types of software running in the background can sometimes cause problems. Try temporarily turning off anything you have running in the background then try running the game again.

Dual-Card Setup - If you have two graphics cards installed, it may be that your integrated card is trying to run the game instead of your dedicated card. If you have an NVIDIA or AMD/ATI card installed, go into your NVIDIA or CCC Control Panel and force your card to run Don't Starve. It should be called the "Dedicated" card. 

RivaTuner /  MSI Afterburner - If your system is displaying a black screen when trying to launch Don't Starve, Check to see if RivaTuner Statistics server or the MSI Afterburner software are running in the background. If so, close down these software as they are known to conflict with the game.

Black screen with sounds / no display or output  - If your system is able to run the game seemingly in the background, with sounds, but no visual display or output, it may be that the computer is trying to output the game in an unsupported resolution, a non-existent display, or is running into a display issue. You can resolve this by deleting the settings.ini file in your documents folder. On PC, this will be located in /Documents/Klei/DoNotStarve/settings.ini - this will reset all of your game's settings and output to their default values.

Windows Administrator Permissions
Please ensure that your Windows User Account has been set to allow the Steam client (and the game .exe) the proper administrator permissions it needs to read/write to the hard drive. More information about Windows Account Admin Permissions: https://support.microsoft.com/en-ca/help/4026923/windows-10-create-a-local-user-or-administrator-account

1) Run the Steam client as an Administrator 
- Fully close out of Steam and restart your computer.
- After restarting your computer, right-click on the Steam icon > select "Run as Administrator"
- If that does not work, go to step #2.

2a) Run Don't Starve as an Administrator (If you are on standalone)
- Run Don't Starve's .exe file (dontstarve_steam.exe) as an administrator in your game folders (\Steam\steamapps\common\dont_starve\bin\dontstarve_steam.exe)
- Right-click on it and select "Run as Administrator"

OR

2b) Run Don't Starve as an Administrator (If you are on Steam)
- On your Steam game library list, right-click on Don't Starve and choose "Properties"
- On the Properties window, select the "Installed Files" tab and click "Browse..."
- On the Installed Files folder for Don't Starve, go to Bin > right-click on dontstarve_steam.exe and choose "Run as Administrator"

You may want to try re-running your game's VCRedist and DXSetup installers if:

  • you can't start the game
  • .exe program crashes
  • you get a black screen

To re-install VCredist in folder:

  • C:\Program FIles\Steam\steamapps\common\dont_starve\VCRedist\VCRedist_x86.exe

To re-install DXSetup in folder:

  • C:\Progarm FIles\Steam\steamapps\common\dont_starve\DXRedist\DXSETUP.exe

After re-installing both VCRedist and DXSetup, try running the game again.

Configure NVIDIA Control Panel if:

  • You notice slow performance on your laptop using NVIDIA graphics
  • You encounter red outlines
  • You encounter a dark screen
  • Your game color turns green

Some laptops with NVIDIA graphics actually contain two graphics chips; an Intel integrated chip for power-saving and a dedicated NVIDIA chip for high-performance uses such as gaming. Your graphics driver will detect which chip to use based on the program that you're running, but may not correctly detect that the high performance chip is required to run Don't Starve.

You can manually set the game to run in high-performance mode, which can improve performance significantly by:
(From http://gaming.stackexchange.com/a/72576)
​

  • Going to the NVIDIA Control Panel by right-clicking on your desktop and choosing "NVIDIA Control Panel"
  • Select "Manage 3D Settings" on the left-hand list, and the "Program Settings" tab on the right-hand side
  • Under "1.Select a program to customize:" hit the "Add" button
  • From here, navigate to the folder when your Steam games are located
    Probably C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\Steamapps\common\dontstarve\bin
  • Select "game.exe" and hit open
  • Then, under "2.Select the preferred graphics processor for this program:" open the drop-down menu and select "High-performance NVIDIA processor"
  • Finally, hit apply in the far bottom right corner.


​Your system should now use the high-performance graphics chip the next time you run Don't Starve.

Integrated Graphics
If you are running the game with integrated graphics, please make sure to check this option in the NVIDIA control panel as well. *Note that the NVIDIA Control Panel may display the name of the game incorrectly, but the icon should be identifiable as Don't Starve.

If you know that you have an NVIDIA or AMD Radeon card that meets Don't Starve's specs, but you're still unable to run the game, you may have to force your graphics card to run instead of your integrated card. Go to your NVIDIA Control Panel or Radeon Catalyst Control Panel and force your NVIDIA/Radeon card to run whenever you're playing Don't Starve. It should be called the "Dedicated" card.

Configure Radeon Card if:

  • You notice slow performance on a laptop with ATI graphics
  • Your game displays red outline 
  • You encounter a dark screen
  • or your game color turns green

​​In Catalyst Control Center (CCC) under "Use application configuration," check anisotropic filtering.

If you have tried all troubleshooting steps and are still unable to play the game, visit our Bug Tracker to see if anyone else has encountered your issue. If not, please do post about the issue and provide as much information as you can. 

 

MAC OSX

 

General Game Troubleshooting Guide

Verify the integrity of your game's files on Steam - Verifying the integrity of your game files ensures that there are no game files missing and corrupted files are replaced.
- Right-click Don't Starve. in your Steam Library > "Properties"
- Select the "Installed Files" tab;
- Click the "Verify Integrity of Game Files" button
- When the process is complete, launch Don't Starve once more

From Steam's online support: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2037-QEUH-3335

Ensure that there are no programs running that may interfere with Steam - If you are encountering issues or poor performance, you may want to check if you have any applications/programs running that potentially, negatively affecting Steam. Please visit Steam Support's guide for more information on this.

Check and update your drivers - Outdated graphics, audio, and hardware drivers are three of the first things to check when any software is having problems. Make sure that all of your drivers are updated to the latest version.

Check your system specs - Make sure your system meets Don't Starve's minimum system requirements. If it does not, you are still welcome to file a report; just make sure to let us know what the the computer specs are.

Disable or remove mods - It could be that one or more of the mods you have installed is causing an issue with your game. Try disabling your mods to see if that resolves your issue. Also, please check that the mod you are trying to use is compatible with your version of the game.

If you are sure that the issue is being caused by an outdated or broken mod, delete the mod files from your Steam folder for Don't Starve. Once all mod files have been deleted from your Steam folder for the game, unsubscribe all of your Don't Starve mods from the Steam Workshop. This will ensure that any mods that may have been causing issues delete the mod files from your Steam folder for Don't Starve.

Crashes on Startup / Poor Performance
If you are playing on a Mac system with two graphics cards (generally an integrated Intel GPU and a dedicated NVIDIA or AMD GPU), please try disabling "power saving mode" on your Mac as described here: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT202043. This will force your system to use the dedicated GPU when running the game.

Black screen with sounds / no display or output  - If your system is able to run the game seemingly in the background, with sounds, but no visual display or output, it may be that the computer is trying to output the game in an unsupported resolution, a non-existent display, or is running into a display issue. You can resolve this by deleting the settings.ini file in your documents folder. On Mac OS, this will be located in ~/Documents/Klei/DoNotStarve/settings.ini - this will reset all of your game's settings and output to their default values.

If you have tried all troubleshooting steps and are still unable to play the game, please report your issue in the Don't Starve Bug Tracker with your logs and information for bug reports.



LINUX

 

General Game Troubleshooting Guide

Verify the integrity of your game's files on Steam - Verifying the integrity of your game files ensures that there are no game files missing and corrupted files are replaced.
- Right-click Don't Starve. in your Steam Library > "Properties"
- Select the "Installed Files" tab;
- Click the "Verify Integrity of Game Files" button
- When the process is complete, launch Don't Starve once more.

From Steam's online support: https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2037-QEUH-3335

Ensure that there are no programs running that may interfere with Steam - If you are encountering issues or poor performance, you may want to check if you have any applications/programs running that potentially, negatively affecting Steam. Please visit Steam Support's guide for more information on this.

Check and update your drivers - Outdated graphics, audio, and hardware drivers are three of the first things to check when any software is having problems. Make sure that all of your drivers are updated to the latest version.

Check you system specs - Make sure your system meets Don't Starve's minimum system requirements. If it does not, you are still welcome to file a report; just make sure to let us know what the the computer specs are. On Linux, please also ensure that the distro that you are using is compatible with the game.

Disable or remove mods - It could be that one or more of the mods you have installed is causing an issue with your game. Try disabling your mods to see if that resolves your issue. Also, please check that the mod you are trying to use is compatible with your version of the game.

If you are sure that the issue is being caused by an outdated or broken mod, delete the mod files from your Steam folder for Don't Starve. Once all mod files have been deleted from your Steam folder for the game, unsubscribe all of your Don't Starve mods from the Steam Workshop. This will ensure that any mods that may have been causing issues delete the mod files from your Steam folder for Don't Starve.

Black screen with sounds / no display or output  - If your system is able to run the game seemingly in the background, with sounds, but no visual display or output, it may be that the computer is trying to output the game in an unsupported resolution, a non-existent display, or is running into a display issue. You can resolve this by deleting the settings.ini file in your DoNotStarve folder. On Linux, this will be located in ~/.klei/DoNotStarve/settings.ini - this will reset all of your game's settings and output to their default values.

If you have tried all troubleshooting steps and are still unable to play the game, please report your issue in the Don't Starve Bug Tracker with your logs and information for bug reports.

 

 

PLAYSTATION 4 / PS5


General Troubleshooting Steps

Check and update your game
Outdated versions of the game may have unpatched bugs, and will not allow you to play with or connect to servers with the updated version of the game. Please ensure that your game has been updated to the latest version.

Generally the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 consoles download updates for your games automatically if you are connected to the internet, however, if Automatic Downloads is disabled, you will have to download these updates manually. Please visit PlayStation Support's guide for setting up automatic updates for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 consoles.

Encountering a crash with error "CE-34878-0"
CE-34878-0 is a general error, and the message pops up when the application or game being run has crashed. Please see PlayStation Support's troubleshooting guide for this issue.

You can also contact PlayStation Support via the official PlayStation Support website: https://www.playstation.com/support/contact-us/

If you have tried all troubleshooting steps and are still unable to play the game, please report your issue in the Don't Starve: Bug Tracker with as much information about the issue as possible.

 


Xbox One / XBOX SERIES S/X


General Troubleshooting Steps

Xbox One game troubleshooting
Should you ever run into any issues while playing any game, digital or otherwise on the Xbox One, we recommend visiting the Xbox One troubleshooting guide for steps to resolve most issues.

Check and update your game
Outdated versions of the game may have unpatched bugs. Please ensure that your game has been updated to the latest version. Generally the Xbox One downloads updates for your games automatically if you are connected to the internet, however, if Automatic Downloads is disabled, you will have to download these updates manually.

You can also contact Xbox Support via the official Xbox Support website: https://support.xbox.com/en-CA

If you have tried all troubleshooting steps and are still unable to play the game, please report your issue in the Don't Starve: Bug Tracker with as much information about the issue as possible.

 

 

NINTENDO SWITCH


General Troubleshooting Steps

Nintendo Switch game troubleshooting
Should you ever run into any issues while playing any game, digital or otherwise on the Nintendo Switch, we recommend visiting Nintendo Support's troubleshooting guide for steps to resolve most issues.

Check and update your game
Outdated versions of the game may have unpatched bugs. Please ensure that your game has been updated to the latest version. Generally the Nintendo Switch automatically downloads updates for your games if you are connected to the internet, however, if Automatic Downloads is disabled, you should be able to set it up for your system (or manually update the game) by following Nintendo Support's guide.

Moving your game installation
If you are encountering any crashes or errors, it may be worth trying to move your game installation from your Switch's internal memory, to a MicroSD card, or vice versa. 

Internal Memory/Free Space on Nintendo Switch
If you are encountering any crashes or errors, and your internal memory (or wherever your game is installed) is full, or very low, it may be worth trying to empty up a bit more space when trying to run the game.

You can also contact Nintendo Support via the official Nintendo Support website: https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/ 

If you have tried all troubleshooting steps and are still unable to play the game, please report your issue in the Don't Starve: Bug Tracker with as much information about the issue as possible.

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