Before You Start Troubleshooting

Whenever you encounter an issue or error with your game and no matter if you try to fix it yourself or ask other people for support with your troubleshoot, there are always a couple of things you can - or even; should - do first to make things easier to deal with. Some preparations can apply to basically every single case of game-issue equally and while they might not bring a solution by itself, they just smoothen out the process.

What follows are some generic steps to go through before starting to look into individual issues with your game. Not everything might be necessary in every case, but we deliberately list actions that need only little preparation, time and understanding while being able to speed up the actual troubleshooting a lot.

Some of them are also just general good advice to do every now and then, even if you don't track actual errors in your game.

While this first step might sound quite like a big task, usually it is done in mere minutes and is mostly automated. Ironically that's thanks to Steam, which is also one reason this step is necessary to begin with though.

Especially in relation to mods, making sure all your files are in their latest version is paramount - so is the fact that your mod-files are not in any way corrupted. Unfortunately (and for reasons too complex to go into here) Steam has a track-record of 'corrupting' mods when updating them. The game-log itself only gives little to no easy to read information about the fact if your mods are properly updated or not though - so to rule out any of them aren't, making a full, clean re-install of all of them is often the best first step when running into errors.

The process of cleaning up your files is covered in its own guide already, for this particular use of the process though, there are a few aspects that are specifically important:

• You always want to at least make clean re-installs of ALL your mods. And you also don't want to use Steam's file-verification or other methods, but want to directly delete the whole mod-folder by hand, so no deprecated files can stay behind breaking things again after re-downloading mods.

• Making a clean re-install of the basegame and a clean-up of your user files is recommended as well. It's not always necessary, but it only takes a few moments and doesn't really hurt.

• If you're using any other method of downloading/updating your mods - besides using Steam itself - you're usually of significantly higher risk to be affected by corrupted mod-files. If that applies to you, there's even more incentive to go through this process.One way to make it more comfortable for non-Steam users is to use methods which specifically delete mod-files before updating them - like the Steam Mod Updater Tool made by orbittwz that you can find in our link-section!

Correct loadorder is a complex topic and will eventually be explained in more detail in a future guide. But the important part for troubleshooting-purposes is to check some cornerstones beforehand to speed up the process. One aspect is that that the in-game 'sort' function in the mod-menu typically is not enough to handle especially larger modlists. So if you're not confident enough to set up things yourself, the most common practice is to use one of the external mod-managers - namely; RimPy or RimSort.

Main feature of this tools is an auto-sort feature that uses additional rules collected by the community to enhance the process when necessary. Unfortunately both tools come with some downsides at this point in time. RimPy's sorting is mostly based on a sort-database which is currently highly outdated. This mostly means that it contains rules that are not true anymore. In the case of obsolete mod-dependencies this will result in 'false-positive' warnings which can be ignored if you're sure it is such an outdated rule. The number of incorrect loadorder rules is quite small though. In practice this means that using RimPy is in 9/10 cases still recommended, especially for less experienced users. RimPy is the out-of-the-box solution - you download & set up the app, subscribe to the the sort-database on Steam and click 'sort' - afterwards just address potentially remaining warnings and you're usually good to go.

RimSort on the other hand is the newer app meant to replace RimPy, but since development is slow and at times stuck, it still can't be considered a straight-up successor. In addition, RimSort needs to be set-up first to use the correct databases and sort-algorithm. While that's not exactly rocket-science, it's a commonly overlooked aspect and leads to worse sorting results than RimPy's. The choice here is with the user, but when in doubt using RimPy should be the simpler and faster process for troubleshooting-purposes. There's nothing speaking against switching between apps later or even use both for different means at the same time.

In addition to those automated methods, there are a few fundamental rules you should follow with your loadorder. One is that some important mods have very specific places they have to be in - most of them will tell you and have rules baked-in so that mod-sorters will automatically place them correctly. But whenever this fails you might want to check yourself on top of the automated process. The most prominent mod here is Rocketman, which should ALWAYS be placed dead-last/at the bottom of your modlist.

Another good rule of thumb is to have important frameworks for other mods load as early as possible. Especially popular mods like the Vanilla Expanded Framework should be moved high/up the loadorder - typically directly after the game DLCs. Of course that doesn't overrule any specific rule set by the mods themselves, so always address if your mod-manager tells you about them being placed incorrectly and adjust accordingly.

There is a list of mods which can make troubleshooting more complicated or can even hide errors from your log. One of the most common reasons here are mods with verbose logging, cluttering the log with non-critical information that distracts from the actual errors. Removing them to make the log easier to read is often a good idea. The following list of mods are typically safe to remove mid-save without causing further issue - otherwise caveats are listed in the notes:

• Better Loading
  Interferes with mod-loading and can cause mods to not initialize at all. There's a likelihood of the mod itself being the cause of your issues, but even if it works fine with your modlist; always disable it before even starting a troubleshoot!
  Info: as of April 2025 the mod was taken off the Workshop by the author anyways. That just means that you should better stay away from eventually uploaded forks of it as well.

• Rocketman
  No direct harm from this mod, but it adds some unnecessary logging and can even show 'false-positive' errors from mod-removal. Seasoned troubleshooter should be able to identify and ignore them, but it does make reading the log harder than it has to be.

• Mod Manager (Continued)
  Mostly irrelevant or inconsequential mod these days - ideally you'd use an external mod-manager like RimPy or RimSort to begin with, which makes this mod obsolete. Also a chance of causing issues due to some deprecated features.

• RimThreaded
  Massively gamebreaking - shouldn't be used - full-stop.

• Multiplayer
  If you're currently playing in single-player, this mod shouldn't be on your modlist. Otherwise; this mod can easily be the source of your issues since it has a very strict compatibility with other mods. If it turns out to be related to your issue, you better ask for support on the Multiplayer-Discord in the first place.

• Mod Error Checker
  Pretty much useless, also overlaps and clashes with other, similar mods we actually recommend using.

• Visual Exceptions
  Same as 'Mod Error Checker' but has additionally been seen as the cause of some errors. Author also stopped modding RimWorld, thus little chance of bugfixes.

• Phinix
  Mostly verbose logging, but also possible to spawn in items in bugged states. Removing this mod does not fix such bugged items though. We recommend against the use of cheat-mods like this just in general.

• Dub's Performance Analyzer (Steam Version)
  As explained in the link below, the current Steam version of Performance Analyzer has some harmless error-spam. If you're investigating performance-related issues, this is your go-to method - so no chance of removing it - but if you're not, there's not much reason to have it on your list. Optionally just get the fixed version which removes the error-spam.
  
  

Generally Verbose Mods:

• Melee Animation

• Lights Out

• Research Tree (Continued)

• Sense Of Depth For Tall Buildings

• Turn It Off And On 

• SOS2 EVA auto patcher

• SOS2 EVA Patcher

• Simple FX: Splashes

• Permeable Terrain

• Mod Medicine Patch

• Mark That Pawn

• Relevant Stats In Description

• Weapons Sorter

• Mechanoid Armor Editor

• Compressed Raids

• Muzzle Flash

• Cover Autonomy

• Pawn Task Display

• Better Vents

• [SYR] Trait Values

Other Verbose Mods - Potentially Unsafe To Remove Mid-Save:
Only remove if you know what you're doing, otherwise they might cause additional errors!

• World Tech Level

• Remove Industrial Stuff

• Tweaks Galore

• CTB-AT Equipment Mod

• RIMMSQol

• CAI5000

• Architect Icons

• Tech Advancing

Contrary to the previous step, there are also mods that can benefit the troubleshooting-process when added to your modlist. Typically those are mods that improve the logging-process or add additional info that can help with finding the cause of your issues. This list contains mods that can be added (and typically removed) whenever without problems - some of them will even be some general recommendation to have on your list at all times - while others will only make sense while troubleshooting.

• Log Publisher from Hugslib
  The go-to methods to produce and share Hugslogs these days. Typically you want to have this one on your list 24/7 anyways, but just in case you don't - always add it whenever you're starting to investigate issues with your game to have it ready when needed.

• Performance Fish
  Adds some additional information to specific errors for easier investigation.

• Better Log
  A lot of different features in regards to the game-log. Can remove informational logging (white text) from the in-game log to make it easier to spot actual errors, can disable zalgo-text even with dev-mode turned on, removes line-limits in the written log, etc. Has to be set up accordingly before use, but is in general a handy mod to have around even for regular gameplay.

• Log After Def Error
  Another mod meant to add more info about the source of errors. In this case specifically for some errors that would otherwise don't have any hint about what is causing them. Typically adds the source of the affected Def to the log, which doesn't automatically mean this is what's causing the error, but makes further investigation easier. 

• All Your Base
  Adds information about mods that use archaic methods of overwriting DefBases and a few other features. It is rarely necessary these days due to the practice being less prevalent than in the past, but there are still mods doing it. Overall it's more a tool that should be used by modder to check their own work before making it public, but can at times help with troubleshooting as well. Just be aware to not use it with verbose-logging turned on because its auto-repair function can directly alter files which can lead to even more issues. Typically a troubleshooter will tell you specifically to use AYB if applicable to your case.

Last but not least there are some additional aspects to pay attention before actually asking for troubleshoot-support. Keep in mind that you're not only helping troubleshooter that way, by respecting their time and effort, you WILL also make your own case to be addressed quicker and at times might even increase your chances of getting support at all. Time just is limited and the few active troubleshooter in the Rimworld-community might just ignore cases where they know that they have to invest a long time to actually even get them started properly.

While you're preparing RimWorld for sharing your log with someone, make sure you've also dealt with any duplicate mods if applicable to your setup. Make sure to check your log beforehand and then unsub from the listed duplicates before producing the actual log used for troubleshooting.

Another rule before producing/sharing your error-log - no matter if it's a Player.log or Hugslog - is to always disable 'Verbose Logging' in RimWorld's settings. You find the entry in the dev-options after activating dev-mode and it's actually deactivated by default. Verbose Logging adds a lot of additional information to your log which is typically irrelevant for troubleshoots. If it turns out that your situation is one of the rare cases such a log is helpful, troubleshooter will ask you specifically to enable it.

Additionally; since RimWorld's 1.5-update there's also a widespread issue with incompatible security settings (often disabled by tools debloating - or pirating - Windows, etc.) which is causing different types of game-crashes as blackscreens. More on that issue can be found here and should be checked first especially if you're experiencing such behaviour.