This guide is for multiplayer connection issues. Issues like this one which happens especially often on PCs with Steam Family Share and shared Steam accounts.



You can go through it step by step and check after each step to see if it helped with your problem. Mod users have to consult the mods authors for help.

To fix a problem on your side or on the other side (client <=> host), all players in a party must go through this guide. It will not do you much good if it turns out that you have done everything correctly and your Internet and PC setup is up to the task, if the other party is the one who actually has the problem. You must gather your party before venturing forth.

When connecting to multiplayer, make sure to always use the provided Direct Connection ID code, with direct connections allowed within the options.

By router, I mean the device that connects you to your Internet service provider.

It normally goes like this:

1. Disconnect the device from power by unplugging its power cable

2. Disconnect the device from your internet by unplugging its DSL cable

3. Wait circa five minutes and let the device rest

4. Connect the device back to power and let it boot up

5. Wait circa five minutes for the device to boot up

6. Plug in back the internet cable

If you did everything correctly, for most users, you should get a new internet protocol address.

You can check your IP before starting the procedure and compare it afterwards with this

https://nordvpn.com/what-is-my-ip/
P.S.: if you need a VPN, do not subscribe NordVPN unless it has one of their usual 50% sales. We just want to make use of its free IP tool. NordVPN will always try to sell you something with false advertising



Guess what: I am already using NordVPN and it still wants to sell me NordVPN...

Right-click on the Windows logo on your taskbar



Select Command Prompt (Admin) from the menu



Enter each of the following lines one by one and confirm each with ENTER
(you can use copy & paste)








Then you go to Windows Settings



Select Network & Internet



Select Network reset

the cleanup is best done when no apps are running, as we will also address the OS's temp folder

Tip: all links which are put in the (code) frame can be copy & pasted into your Windows Explorer's address bar for convenience.

Example:




===================================================

Go to


and delete the Launcher folder.




Go to


and delete there everything except PlayerProfiles folder




Go to


and delete there all files except for the folders.




Go to


and delete there everything except for the Savegames folder




Go to


and delete there everything what can be deleted




Right-click on the game's entry in your Steam Library -> Manage -> Browse local files



Enter the subfolder Data



Delete there every file starting with Patch




Right-click on the game in your Steam Library -> select Properties



Go to the Local Files tab and select Verify integrity of game files



The game will replace any missing and corrupted files from the game.

If nothing so far helped, try setting up multiplayer via LAN by using a virtual private network. Hamachi is the most popular one among gamers and easy to use. It is free for up to five PCs in a network, meaning you can fill a whole party with that free of charge.

This method can also reduce stutters caused by lag due to micro-disconnects.

LogMeIn Hamachi can be downloaded for free from here:
https://www.vpn.net/



Make sure that LAN Connections and Direct Connections are allowed by the host

Do not miss out on this Gold Tip
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3028158704

If you have done everything correctly and you are still having problems, rest assured that it has nothing to do with your connection or the game. It is most likely that a third-party application on your PC is causing the problem. Which one? There are so many of the usual suspects that it can be hard to pinpoint without knowing what processes you have running in the background. ASUS, Lenovo and MSI tend to ship their PCs and motherboards with extra software that has been known to cause problems for gamers. Popular overlay applications such as Discord are also often the cause of unusual problems that cannot be solved using standard approaches.

While this issue has nothing to do with connectivity issues, it can be mistaken for such.
Players unable to join a game due to ingame scripting, such as quitting the game before while in a danger zone or before an important scripted event.

The workaround for such would be starting a new game together, and from that new game loading the target savegame. That will bypass the danger zone limitation during savegame loading.