How to fix an s&box server that breaks after players spawn items

Your s&box server suddenly breaks after someone spawns an item, and everyone who joins afterwards gets errors, because Sandbox has no way to block or undo a broken item while it runs. RCON Hub fixes it: its s&box Manager spots the breakage in the server's log, posts what happened and who was on, and restarts the server for you, straight away if nobody's on.

Why s&box servers break after spawning items

Sandbox lets players spawn items straight from sbox.game. Most are fine. Some bring their own code, and some are simply buggy.

We've seen two kinds of breakage on a real server:

• The game's code loads twice. The log fills with Command kick already exists - not overwriting for every command. From then on, anyone who joins gets errors like Object type Player does not match target type Player or Invalid Controller.
• An item errors every frame. The same Exception when calling 'Update' on … line repeats about 60 times a second. The log grows by megabytes, and the server never settles.

Both happened from the normal spawn list, not from cheating. Only a restart fixes either one.

So the manual fix looks like this:

• Notice something's wrong, usually when a player complains.
• Dig through a huge log to find out why.
• Restart the server by hand, and hope nobody spawns it again.

What the game and other tools leave out

• No way to block items. Sandbox has no setting to stop cloud items or code reloads. s&box Manager can't block them either, so it watches the log and recovers fast instead.
• No warning when it breaks. The server keeps running, so it looks fine from outside. s&box Manager reads every log line and recognises both breakages the moment they start.
• No record of who was on. Sandbox doesn't log who spawned what. s&box Manager posts who was online at that moment, and adds it to each of those players' history.
• A flood can jam other tools. A log that never goes quiet can stall anything waiting on the console. s&box Manager caps its answers, collapses repeated lines, and always gets a Stop or Restart through.
• No limits by default. Sandbox's per-player limits are all off. s&box Manager puts them on the Server page.

How RCON Hub fixes it

When the game breaks, s&box Manager posts Game code loaded twice or Server stuck on an error to its news and to Discord. The post names the item when the log shows it, and lists who was on. Then it restarts the server: at once when it's empty, or after the normal countdown when players are on. s&box has no in-game chat command, so the countdown goes to Discord.

Step-by-step setup

1. Install RCON Hub. Download it from rconhub.gg and run the installer. It's free for Windows 10 and 11.
2. Add the s&box game pack. Open RCON Hub. On Your games, click Add game, pick s&box and click Install.
3. Set up your server. Open the s&box card. Click Install it for me, or paste the folder that holds sbox-server.exe.
4. Turn on the automatic fix. On the Server page, tick Restart the server when the game breaks (its code loaded twice, or an error repeating every frame). It's on to begin with.
5. Set Sandbox limits. In the Sandbox limits card, set Props and Explosives per player, tick Players can only interact with their own props, and set Spawn protection (seconds). Click Save. They apply now and at every start.
6. Connect Discord. Add a webhook on the Automation page, so the breakage posts and countdowns reach your players.
7. Check the news after a breakage. It tells you what broke, which item it likely came from, and who was on.

Limits cut down prop spam and griefing. They can't stop a broken item, so the automatic restart is your safety net.

Is it safe?

Yes.

• It runs locally. RCON Hub and s&box Manager run on your own Windows PC, and the server's console is reached on the same PC.
• No injection. RCON Hub never touches the game client or your players' games. There's nothing for anti-cheat to flag, so it won't get anyone banned.
• Nothing is blamed blindly. Who was on is shown so you can judge for yourself. Breakages come from the game, so nobody is banned automatically.

It's beta software. Back up your server's settings and data before you change things.

Keep your server playable

Broken items will keep turning up while s&box grows. Download RCON Hub, add the s&box pack, and let your server fix itself. Banning in every game is covered in the s&box ban guide.

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