ChunkRegeneration: EXC Object reference not set to an instance of an object

Marcin

New member
Hello, good morning,
here are some details regarding my problem:

Did you start a new game and re-create the issue? - Yes I did.
Have you validated your files through Steam? - Yes I have. After each of this exception occurrence "1 file failed to validate" and needs to be reacquired.
After validation, did you re-try with a brand new game? - Yes I did. The problem occurs around 20-40 minutes in the game session.

Server Enabled: Offline, Single player, no mods. I got the same problem on a friend's server, on my server and on many types of Game World Pregen, Navez, generated etc.

When it comes to settings : 2560x1440, everything as default here, quality High, with SSAO off. I tested many of configurations, I was hopping to play 4K with VSync half, because it's pretty much nothing for my rather high end setup, but I decided to go lower because of my problem which is pretty much eventually occurring in every configuration. 

Here's the error log:
https://pastebin.com/un3EhFx8

at the line 856 and 857 you can see 
2024-08-16T21:20:06 1231.629 ERR Exception in thread ChunkRegeneration:
2024-08-16T21:20:06 1231.633 EXC Object reference not set to an instance of an object

The second one is showing in my in game logs (F1) but it's forced to show as a red label. After this problem occurs, when, for example, I hit grass, I get the grass, but it still remains on the screen. When I cut down a tree, I receive the wood, but it also remains visible on the screen. Furthermore, when I move a bit further, the grass stops rendering, the ground becomes barren, and eventually, I fall through the textures and start falling down.
The problem usually appears around 20-40 minutes after I start playing the game. I would greatly appreciate any help, as I'm a huge fan of this game and I bought new hardware mainly to play it. I don't have any problems with other games on this setup; on the contrary, I've never encountered any issues. I've had this hardware for over a year. The problem appeared earlier, but it was very sporadic, happening only once every 3 hours. However, after version 1.0, it has become much more frequent. I should add that, in an attempt to solve the issue, I formatted my drive yesterday and reinstalled all the drivers, but unfortunately, that didn't help either.
Thank you in advance for any assistance.

 
That's strange. Is it on the same map? I wouldn't expect this to happen in single player too. Have you tried other maps? 

 
This is certainly perplexing. Have you added the game install and save folder to any antivirus exception lists? Normally, that would happen on a server that either the client lost connection to or the server died, I've not heard of it in single player. I know the 13th and 14th gen intel cpus have a fatal flaw in them, but that would cause crashing and I don't believe it would cause an error in a single thread like that. 

I am taking off on a much needed vacation this week, but I'll be around tomorrow/sunday a bit, maybe you can join my debug server and try to reproduce it, maybe I'll get something more revealing.

 
Hi Jugginator,

I really appreciate your responses and involvement.
 

I considered the issue with antivirus programs, but at the moment, I haven't installed anything additional in terms of antivirus software. As I mentioned, I did a clean disk format, and since then, I haven't installed any antivirus programs.
Is it possible that the default antivirus in Windows 11 Pro, which is Defender, requires any customization from me?
 

I'm Polish, and I assume we are in different time zones, so apologies if I don't always respond immediately, but I'm fully committed to solving this problem.

Yes, I would gladly join your debug server if it helps us analyze the issue.
Thanks!

 
I had a brief chat with GPT, and it suggested that Defender rarely causes issues with games, but there is an option to add an exclusion. What do you think I should include there, and do you think it's worth trying? Thanks
 

 
I added the game-related folders as exclusions in Defender and played for about an hour and 15 minutes, and this time the game froze and then closed by itself. I occasionally get this kind of error too. I'm sending the logs:
https://pastebin.com/urg9tFK2
The error message is at the very end.

Unfortunately, the error report was not generated in the location indicated by the logs.
Thanks.

 
Is it possible that the default antivirus in Windows 11 Pro, which is Defender, requires any customization from me?


yes!

there is an option to add an exclusion. What do you think I should include there, and do you think it's worth trying? Thanks


yes, it is worth it.

Just add 2 exclusions - one for the games installation folder and another one for your user folder (save games etc.): %appdata%\7DaysToDie\

Edit: lol, I'm to slow ;)

 
Last edited by a moderator:
Thanks, q123, for the response.

Unfortunately, I had already done as you suggested before the last crash. I added C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps and C:\Users\marci\AppData\Roaming\7DaysToDie.
The error with "ChunkRegeneration: EXC Object reference not set to an instance of an object" as well as the screen freeze and the game ultimately closing itself with the above error occur randomly, but the "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error happens more frequently. ThanksI

 
so, your file download problems are gone, looks like it helped :)

But now there is this crash...

The stack trace is pointing to memory problems (MemoryManager::Reallocate) - but there is also a chance, it could be an actual Intel problem (i9-13900K)? dunno :(

 
I apologize if I wasn't clear in my previous message. The freezing and crashing issue had occurred before as well. Today, I plan to run a few more test sessions, and I expect that the ChunkRegeneration: EXC Object reference not set to an instance of an object error will unfortunately appear again. I'll keep you updated.
Thanks

 
Hello again,
I have a small thought regarding memory management.
I'm using Kingston FURY 64GB (4x16GB) 5600MHz CL36, which requires me to enable the XMP profile, which is considered a form of overclocking and theoretically could cause memory instability in some cases. Do you think this could make sense? Can you think of any way to verify this, apart from disabling the XMP profile in the BIOS?
Thanks

 
Hello again,
I have a small thought regarding memory management.
I'm using Kingston FURY 64GB (4x16GB) 5600MHz CL36, which requires me to enable the XMP profile, which is considered a form of overclocking and theoretically could cause memory instability in some cases. Do you think this could make sense? Can you think of any way to verify this, apart from disabling the XMP profile in the BIOS?
Thanks


XMP isn't technically overclocking anymore. It is the "optimal" configuration for your RAM. You would only run into a problem using the XMP profile if it was configured higher than what your hardware is capable of supporting.

7 Days is a fully 3D Voxel game. Small things like CPU ability, RAM timings, and disk access speeds will have a huge impact on performance.

Your 13th-gen Intel setup should be plenty capable of supporting that. 

Do be aware of the problems with your CPU though. They are pretty big.

This Youtube video gives an excellent overview & cause analysis for this problem, if it applies to you.

(For anyone running a potentially affected 13th or 14th gen CPU, you'll need to look into applying the microcode update ASAP, or potentially warrantying your CPU if it's too late to update).

Intel forum post about July 2024 Update on Instability Reports on Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen Desktop Processors

https://community.intel.com/t5/Processors/July-2024-Update-on-Instability-Reports-on-Intel-Core-13th-and/m-p/1617113

Intel forum post about Additional Warranty Updates on Intel Core 13th/14th Gen Desktop Processors

https://community.intel.com/t5/Processors/Additional-Warranty-Updates-on-Intel-Core-13th-14th-Gen-Desktop/m-p/1620853#M75727



 
Thanks, SylenThunder,
I really appreciate your detailed response. I’ll look into it, do what I can, and I’ll let you know if the problem persists. Many thanks!

 
Yeah, I'm not fond of talking down to companies I don't do business with anymore, but there are a lot of very solid reasons why I switched AMD for both CPU's and GPU's.  It is more about making sure people who might be affected by this very serious issue Intel created can get the assistance they need.

Oh, and if you ever run into serious performance loss, it is likely because the main thread for the game got stuck on an E-Core. 

 
Hello,
I updated the BIOS today to the version that introduces Intel microcode 0x129. I was able to play for 2 and a half hours without any errors or freezes. My problem used to appear at different times, but for now, it looks very promising. I'll let you know in a few days how it goes, or of course, if the error happens again. SylenThunder, once again, huge thanks to you for your help and involvement. Best regards

 
Hiya @Marcin, Sylen suggested what I was going to, apologies for the delay but with vacation coming up and given the curious case you were having I wanted to do a bit more research on this.

The microcode update worked, which is good. But, looking at your crash log along with the way your game was dying generating chunks - and the fact of the issue Intel is having - it leads me to a logical conclusion that it was indeed your CPU that was dying on a core. The thread dying in the crash log is what got my attention there, that wouldn't be a RAM issue, and you're not on a server so it's not the server dying, and the crash pointed to the CPU.

Keep in mind with that issue there's a very likely chance there's been some permanent damage to the CPU (as stated by Intel), which Intel will replace it if you do an RMA. I suggest when you have some free time and aren't planning on using your computer too much look into that. 

 
Hello, update from my side: it looks like everything is working smoothly now. Several long sessions without any crashes or freezes. Huge thanks to @Jugginator, @q123, and @SylenThunder for your help and support. Not only did you solve my game issue, but you probably also saved my processor. Many thanks!

 
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