hytale-f2p-mirror/docs/KULVIN_RAM_PRESSURE_CRASH.md

Client Crash: RAM Pressure on Low-End Hardware

Status: Resolved (Feb 24, 2026)

Symptom

Game launches but crashes with exit code 1 after ~32 seconds. Launcher logs show stale java.exe(HytaleServer) killed on every relaunch. Earlier sessions showed game running for ~4 minutes before System.OutOfMemoryException.

Affected User

• Discord: KULVIN
• Hardware: Intel UHD 620 + NVIDIA MX150 (2GB VRAM), low-end laptop
• 22 mods installed
• Platform: Windows x64

Root Cause

RAM pressure from background apps + 22 mods. The game's .NET client ran out of memory, and the embedded singleplayer server JVM (no -Xmx cap) competed for the same limited RAM.

Timeline

1. Morning session: Game ran ~4 minutes, then System.OutOfMemoryException crashed client, server JVM crashed with EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION
2. Evening sessions: Game started crashing in ~32 seconds (system still degraded from earlier OOM)
3. Server JVM orphaned every time (cleaned up by killGameProcesses() on next launch)

Resolution

User fixed by:

1. Closing background applications to free RAM
2. Reinstalling the game

Additional Issues Found

• WeaponStatsViewer mod left a directory (not a .jar) in HytaleSaves\Mods\, causing EPERM on every mod sync
• Stale AOT cache (HytaleServer.aot) cleaned up automatically by launcher

Debugging Steps (for similar cases)

1. Check RAM usage in Task Manager before launching
2. Windows Event Viewer (Win+R → eventvwr.msc → Application) for crash module details
3. Try with all mods disabled
4. Reboot to clear degraded memory state
5. Close background apps (browsers, Discord, etc.)

Recommendations

• Low-end hardware: reduce mod count (10 or fewer)
• Consider adding -Xmx cap to singleplayer server JVM to prevent unbounded memory growth