Troubleshooting

This page lists common technical problems like crashes and error messages (enclosed in quotation marks) and possible solutions or explanations. For general questions, refer to FAQ.

Graphics and sound

The screen is too dark

There currently is no easy solution apart from changing monitor settings, you will have to edit a text file. This only works with shaders enabled. Open (Minetest directory)/client/shaders/solids_shader/opengl_vertex.glsl with a text editor, go near the end of the file, change these lines:

color.r = clamp(rg,0.0,1.0);
color.g = clamp(rg,0.0,1.0);
color.b = clamp(b,0.0,1.0);

to:

color.r = clamp(rg,0.4,1.0);
color.g = clamp(rg,0.4,1.0);
color.b = clamp(b,0.4,1.0);

You can try other values instead of 0.4, the higher the brighter.

Everything in the game is in a weird color (particularly red), looks like rainbows, you can partially see through things etc.

Turn off shaders. Shaders are not supported by your graphics card.

There is no sound under Windows

You need to download OpenAL to play sound on Windows (the file needed is [1], you need to execute the program after it has finished downloading. Firefox and Chrome users may need to either save file or keep downloading, Internet Explorer users will need to just press run. Other browsers maybe the same or different. If one browser fails, try another.)

Error messages without crashes

“Unsupported texture format”

Don’t worry, this is completely normal. Minetest will still work.

“Generating dummy image for […].png”

This means that a faulty mod or texture pack does not supply an image for an object. Minetest will still work normally, but the specified object will use a replacement image (the “dummy image”); it will be a random color. This should normally be reported to the creator of the mod or texture pack.

Crashes

All sub-section titles in double quotes here mean that Minetest crashed with an error message like that.

Any operating system

“Minetest can not load […]/init.lua”

Follow these steps, stopping when the mod works or if you reach the end Make sure the mod folder is correctly named. Find out the correct name by going to the mod's forum page and looking at what is in the [ ] in the title. Report the error to the mod owner by copying and pasting the section in debug.txt that starts with "=====ERROR FROM LUA=====" if any.

“Assertation '0' failed”

This is usually a mod error. Report it to the mod programmer or mod programmers. To find out the name of the mod, look for any error text directly above that gives a path to a mod's init.lua

 ERROR: An unhandled exception occurred: LuaError: error: mods/minetest/<modname>/init.lua:69: [...]

“ServerEnvironment::loadMeta(): EnvArgsEnd not found”

Put something like this in env_meta.txt in your world folder

 game_time = 40053
 time_of_day = 20068
 EnvArgsEnd

it doesn't matter much which numbers you use.

Windows

“MSCP2010.dll is not found” (or similar)

This is because Microsoft C++ Redistribute Package 2010 is not installed. [2]

Minetest doesn’t even start

If it stops working before the main window even opens, and there are no error messages in debug.txt, then try restarting your computer. (sometimes it crashes with a 0x00005 error, which is caused by windows updates.) You can try looking in debug.txt for an error message or searching for a similar article in the forums.

“what()=Access Violation”

This is caused by the Direct3D driver. To fix, go to the minetest.conf file and find:

 video_driver = direct3d9

change it so that it says:

 video_driver = opengl

GNU/Linux

The Arch Linux build seems to be broken.

Try compiling Minetest yourself.
As of (at least) January 19, 2014 the Arch Linux build works.

LuaJIT not Threadsafe

Unloading or disabling LuaJIT has improved stability. Consider removing it from your system.

Reporting Bugs

Minetest is a work in progress. As such, any bug reports trivial, or not, go a long way in helping us make the engine better for everyone. Before you file a bug report, please make sure that the bug has not already been filed/fixed by checking the bugs sub forum, the Minetest GitHub Issues page, and asking about it in the #minetest IRC channel itself.

Once you are sure that the bug you are experiencing is truly new, please collect the following system data.

• Minetest Version: Displayed at the top left of the Minetest game screen. Write it down exactly as it is displayed.
• Operating System: If you are running a Linux distro, please write down the distro name, version and whether it is a 64 bit or a 32 bit variant. If you are running Windows, please note the version name (Vista, 7, 8, 8.1 xp is not supported) and the bit size
• Computer specs: Please note down the CPU name, clockspeed, number of cores, the amount of RAM installed in your system, and the graphics card your system uses. In some cases, you may also be asked to provide the amount of free space in your hard drive.

With that done, open up the debug.txt located in your Minetest /bin folder. Copy the last 50 lines or so of the debug file.

Finally, file a bug report under the Bugs sub forum in the official Minetest Forums. Use the following template while doing so:

 Topic Title: Shortly state what bug you are experiencing
 
 Topic Body: State, and give as many details as possible about the bug you are experiencing.
 Minetest Version: The Minetest Version that you noted above
 Operating System: The OS variant you noted above
 Computer Specs: CPU, RAM, GPU
 
 [spoiler=Debug.txt]Paste debug.txt here[/spoiler]