Startup Issue with Enshrouded - Enshrouded crashes when launched through AMP

Technical Support
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1

System Information

Field Value
Operating System Windows - Windows Server 2019 on x86_64
Product AMP ‘Proteus’ v2.8.0.8 (Mainline)
Virtualization None
Application Enshrouded
Module GenericModule
Running in Container No
Current State Stopped

Problem Description

Issue

I am experiencing a startup issue with Enshrouded when running it through AMP on Windows Server 2019.

System information:

  • Operating System: Windows Server 2019 Standard (Build 17763)
  • CPU: Intel Xeon Silver 4208
  • RAM: 64 GB
  • AMP: Up to date
  • Enshrouded Dedicated Server: Steam App ID 2278520
  • Game Version (SVN): 1267041
  • Installation Path: C:\AMPDatastore\Instances\Enshrouded01\enshrouded\2278520

Problem:

When I start Enshrouded through AMP, the server initializes and successfully connects to Steam, but the process unexpectedly terminates before completing world loading.

AMP reports the following error:

This task could not be completed:
Starting Enshrouded... - State: 3.

Application stopped unexpectedly with exit code -532265403.

After two consecutive failures, AMP stops attempting to restart the application.

Important finding:

If I manually run enshrouded_server.exe from the same installation directory, the dedicated server starts and remains running without crashing.

The manual startup logs confirm:

[online] Server connected to Steam successfully
[server] Savegame deserialization took 852.48 ms
Path Grid Game Loaded State Changed : true
[game_server] Switching state from LoadEcsScene to Run

I also verified that the server process successfully binds to UDP port 15637.

This suggests that the issue may be related to how AMP launches or manages the game process rather than the dedicated server executable itself.

Troubleshooting performed:

  • Verified the game installation using SteamCMD successfully.
  • Updated AMP and refreshed the Enshrouded template.
  • Recreated the Enshrouded instance.
  • Tried configuring one or multiple server tags, without success.
  • Confirmed that the installation path contains no spaces.
  • Verified that the CPU supports AVX and AVX2.
  • Confirmed that the AMP service runs under NT AUTHORITY\NETWORK SERVICE, while the manually launched game process runs under Administrator.
  • Checked NTFS permissions on the installation and savegame directories.

I also encountered an access-denied error when attempting to delete the instance through AMP and had to manually remove its files before completing the deletion.

Could you please investigate whether this is related to the Enshrouded AMP template, the startup working directory, environment variables, or the Windows service execution context?

I can provide additional AMP logs and server logs if needed.

Thank you for your assistance.

Reproduction Steps

  • Create a new Enshrouded instance in AMP on Windows Server 2019 Standard.
  • Install the dedicated server using AMP and wait for SteamCMD to finish downloading and verifying the game files.
  • Start the Enshrouded server using the Start button in AMP.
  • Observe that the server connects to Steam successfully but crashes during startup with exit code -532265403.
  • Stop the failed AMP startup attempts, then manually launch enshrouded_server.exe from the game installation directory.
2

Would simply like to add that I am also experiencing this exact issue. Also runs fine for me if I skip Amp and run it manually.

3

Actually I think it’s an issue where it doesn’t like running as a service - for now the workaround would be to use the containers.

4

I’ll give that a try, thank you the suggestion.

5

Same problem here. Server 2019 Datacenter running in a Hyper-V VM, AMP 2.8.0.10. If I run enshrouded_server.exe manually from the instance folder it works fine, it only dies when AMP starts it.

Few things I noticed while digging into it, in case it’s useful. It always dies about 2 seconds after launch, but not at the same spot in the startup log each time, so it seems to be on a timer rather than failing at a specific step. The server’s own log just stops, no error at all. Event Viewer shows exception 0xE0464645 with the faulting module as “unknown” and offset 0x0.

So Mike’s service theory makes sense to me. Problem is containers aren’t really doable on my end since this box is already a VM and I’d need nested virtualization for Linux containers. Any chance of a fix for regular Windows instances? Or is this on Keen to sort out? Just running it manually for now and using AMP for updates/config.

6

This might actually be something that will start working on AMP 3 which uses a different method to handle its services. We’ll know more later this week.

7

I can confirm that Enshouded works fantastically in AMP 3 on Windows, assuming that it’s not a Windows Server specific issue here though.

8

This was an issue with multiple games on Windows Server setups. We don’t see the issue on Server 2022 and higher.

9

I guess I’ll just have to wait for AMP 3 to come out and give it another try, assuming I haven’t gotten bored of Enshrouded by then. xD

For now, I’m using WindowsGSM instead.