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Ticking Entity Error
- If it’s likely your error is caused by a ticking entity, this article should help you with that!
It’s extremely important to read the entire article to understand the issue and to fix it so there is minimal possibility of data loss or corruption.
❓ What is the Ticking Entity Error ❓
A Ticking Entity is a mob/creature/NPC that has become corrupt in your world.
Usually, when the game is trying to load or process anything about that entity, it simply crashes due to its corrupted state and you will most likely find the following error:
java.nullpointerexeption:tickingentity
A tick can be referred to as the process of the game updating each creature, block, or event for every chunk of the world.
This usually happens at 20 times per second rate. Even your actions with the world are processed with ticks such as placing or removing a block.
A chunk is a zone of 16×16 blocks and its height is effectively from the lowest point of your world to the highest.
The game’s map is organized into chunks that need to be loaded into your memory for you to be able to interact with your world (e.g. see, move, built, etc.).
✔ An entity can be thought of as an NPC from the Minecraft world such as mobs, villagers, etc.
⚠ NOTE⚠: This type of error can appear in any game type, even vanilla. However, usually ticking entities are the result of a mod or combination of mods that change the core of the game in any way.
❓ What is a Ticking Block Entity Error ❓
- A ticking block entity is the same as a ticking entity. The only difference is that this refers to a corrupt block rather than an NPC.
Errors like these occur with special blocks added by mods like modded crafting tables.
How to solve:
The Ticking Entity Error and Ticking Block Entity Error can be solved using the Crash Report that is generated by the server because it will contain the type of creature/ block that causes the crash, the region it is in, and also its exact coordinates (X, Y, Z).
⚠ NOTE⚠: For the Ticking Entity Error, you will find a section in the Crash Report titled ‘ Entity Being Ticked ’ and it contains the name, type, region, and coordinates of the Entity that caused the error.
⚠ NOTE⚠: All of these methods start by backing up your world folder to prevent the loss of your work. In case something gets damaged, this allows you to start over with the process. As soon as you have all the necessary details you can proceed to solve the issue.
How to Solve
Use CoFHCore
CoFHCore can erase the entity for modded servers.
CoFHCore is a mod that permits erasing entities through console commands.
All you have to do is add the CoFHCore mod into your server (a lot of modpacks have this mod already installed, so check if this is the case first) and use the following command into your Multicraft console: cofh killall (erase all entities from your world) cofh killall creeper (erase all creepers from your world)
NOTE:
- You will have to consult the Crash Report to find out which entity you need to erase.
- You need to be able to start the server to use this command. However, you do not have to join the game, you can use it from the Multicraft console.
- This command is not killing entities like the vanilla /kill command. Instead, it erases them so no loot will be dropped when you’ve killed the mobs.
- This command takes place even in unloaded chunks.
ℹ You can find the official page of the mod as well as the download link and more info here: https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/mc-mods/cofh-core
Thus, for modded servers, this is one of the best ways to solve a Ticking Entity error.
Use ClearLagg Plugin
ClearLagg is a Bukkit plugin (CraftBukkit/Spigot/PaperSpigot) servers.
ClearLagg is a plugin that also permits you to erase entities from your world through console commands.
All you have to do is add ClearLagg to your server and use the following command into the Multicraft console: laggclear (it removes configured entities)
NOTE:
- You need to be able to start the server to use this command. Also, you do not have to join the game, you can use it from the Multicraft console.
- This command removes the configured entities. If you want to make a filter for the cleared entities then you will have to open the config file for this plugin and set up this command as you like.
ℹ You can find more information about this on the official page of the plugin: https://www.spigotmc.org/resources/clearlagg.68271
Teleport to the entity and kill it
Given the fact that you have a crash report that tells you the exact X, Y, Z coordinates of the ticked Entity, you can note down its coordinates and attempt teleporting to it and killing it manually using the following command:
tp X Y Z
(teleport you to the given X, Y, Z coordinates)
NOTE:
- This method is not effective at all times. You need to ensure you have enough time to teleport and kill the entity before the server crashes, which is a complicated task.
- You need to be able to start the server to use this method and you also need to be able to join. If your character spawns in the same chunk with the entity, the game will instantly crash without allowing you to kill it.
- We recommend changing to creative before heading to kill the entity and also to prepare a weapon that can kill the Entity from a single shot for a higher success rate.
Use a World editor like MCEdit
You can use MCEditEditor to generate a view of your world and also to fly through it.
By using the MCEdit commands you can teleport to X, Y, Z coordinates into the world and you can even erase a block or entity.
NOTE:
- This method has a higher success rate for this kind of issue but it is working only for worlds generated with versions up to 1.11.2.
- This method is not working on Bedrock worlds.
Use NBT editor:
An NBT editor is an explorer for nbt files also known as region files.
Your world is made by this kind of file that can be loaded by the editor.
The NBT editor is showing you all the data from a world in a list grouped by regions.
So when you use the NBT explorer you will find a list of data and not a generated view as in MCEdit.
We suggest being cautious when using this one as it is a hard task. So once you have the Crash Report you can take the details about the entity that is being ticked and delete it using the NBT editor which permits the search of all regions, entities, blocks by name, and coordinates into a data list, not a generated view.
What is NBT Explorer?
NBTExplorer is a graphical NBT Editor based on NBTEdit. The differences between NBTEdit and NBTExplorer are that NBTExplorer is fully compatible with Minecraft’s region files, it has a dropdown directory-tree interface for ease of usage, and it offers support for the latest NBT Standard. NBTExplorer is also built on top of the Substrate.
Why and when should I use NBT Explorer?
!!NOTE: You can also use our Crash Log Scanner to get the information you need, which should make it much easier.
You should use NBT Explorer when you need to attempt to solve any ticking issues without creating a new world. You would use NBT Explorer to generate a crash report. In your crash report, you will get something like this:
-- Entity being ticked --
Details:
Entity Type: null (net.minecraft.client.entity.EntityClientPlayerMP)
Entity ID: 882
Entity Name: TheObster
Entity's Exact location: -432.64, 66.62, 1002.98
Entity's Block location: World: (-433,66,1002), Chunk: (at 15,4,10 in -28,62; contains blocks -448,0,992 to -433,255,1007), Region: (-1,1; contains chunks -32,32 to -1,63, blocks -512,0,512 to -1,255,1023)
Entity's Momentum: 0.00, 0.00, 0.00
Stacktrace:
at net.minecraft.world.World.func_72939_s(World.java:2157)
If your crash report does show this, then the problem is already solved. See below for an explanation.
How to use NBTExplorer:
_Step 1._ Download your world folder from the FTP. (For help, use our article on [How to Access Your Minecraft Server Files Via FTP](https://ggservers.com/knowledgebase/article/how-to-access-your-minecraft-server-files-via-ftp/))
_Step 2._ Download NBTExplorer from [here](https://github.com/jaquadro/NBTExplorer/releases).
_Step 3._ Unzip NBTExplorer and open it.
_ Step 4._ Click on File -> Open Folder, then search for the world folder you downloaded, and open it.
_Step 5._ Now that you opened NBT Explorer, and your world, click on Search -> Chunk Finder. You have this part from the Crash Report "Chunk: at 15,4,10 in -28,62", and also this one " Region: -1,1". Now, the numbers that interest us are "-28,62" and "-1,1". -28 and 62 refer to the chunk the entity is in, and -1,1 refer to the region.
_Step 6._ In the chunk finder, put in the region X and Z the two numbers from the region, in this case, -1 and 1, and the Chunk X and Z, in this case, -28 and 62. Now click on Find Chunk.
_Step 7._ The chunk's folder should open. Double click on Level, and then do the same for TileEntities. You will have a list of entities. Open each one, until the X, Y, and Z coordinates match with the ones from the Entity's Exact Location, in this case, -432.64, 66.62, and 1002.98. When you find it, simply delete it, and reupload the world to your server.ℹ Here you can find the NBT editor: https://github.com/jaquadro/NBTExplorer/releases
⚠ NOTE⚠: As a last resort, you can also use the NBT editor to delete the entire region where the entity is but this will cause its whole loss. However, it will surely remove the undesired entity that is being ticked and solves the issue.
Restoring a backup
If you have one, you can restore a backup of the world such that the server rolls back to the moment before the ticking entity’s appearance.
For more information, use our guide for restoring a backup.
Use The Entity Purge Tool
As a last resort to solve a ticking entity error, you can also use our entity purge tool which can be found in our Multicraft and which can erase all your entities from the server.
⚠ NOTE⚠: The entity purge tool is not killing the entities like the /kill command, but is erasing them.
Also, please note that this tool will erase ALL entities!
To use the entity purge you need to:
Log in to your Multicraft panel here and stop your server.
Click on
Tools, then onEntity Purge.Select the world you want to delete the entities for and click on
Purge All Entities.
We also have a guide for using the entity purge tool here.
❓ What Is a Ticking World ❓
Ticking World errors are the ones where the server itself doesn’t know where the Ticking Entity is, so as a result, the crash report will not mention any X, Y, Z coordinates or details about it.
This is the hardest to resolve from all Ticking Entity errors due to the lack of knowledge regarding the ticked entity.
⚠ NOTE⚠: The Crash Report will have as header Ticking Entity Crash, but no other info about the entity itself.
How to solve
Delete the player data
- The Player Data is usually what generally breaks first and causes the Ticking World issue because they contain your interactions with the world. It is likely your error is caused by a ticking entity.
A possible solution is removing your player data, which is what breaks first and causes this ticking problem. - The playerdata contains mostly all the player’s information. By removing this the player will need to rejoin as a new one, but it should fix the issue if the error is not too severe.
Steps:
- Log into your control panel https://mc.ggservers.com/
- Go to your server and look at the world section. Remember the name it has then stop your server.
- Go to Files -> FTP File Access.
- In here go to the folder described in STEP 2.
- Go to the playerdata folder.
- Use this lookup tool to find the UUID of the player. It will be a long string of letters and numbers https://minecraft-techworld.com/uuid-lookup-tool
- Delete the file that has the name of the UUID. If there are other files with the player name, removing them is generally not needed.
- Start your server. If the problem still happens you might want to delete all of the players’ playerdata files, including the ones with the name of the player.
Use the Forge Mod Loader
- We suggest using this method only if all the others did not help because it has the highest chance to damage your world. You can set forge to erase any creature or block that would cause your crash, but you give Forge permissions to erase any block or entity from your world.
- We do not recommend it if you didn’t try all the other alternatives.
⚠ NOTE⚠: This method should start with a backup of the world in case Forge damages it beyond repair/irreparably.
To proceed, you need to:
- Go to your Multicraft -> Files -> FTP files access and log in.
- In the
configfolder, find and open the file calledforge.cfg. - Find ‘removeErrorEntities’ and ‘removeErroringTileEntities’ which will both be false.
- Give the ‘true’ value for the ones mentioned above depending on the error you have (Ticking Entity or Ticking Tile Entity), then save the file.
- Start your server and close it immediately after it starts.
- Now go back to the
forge.cfgand set both of them back to false. - Start the server and join to see if the issue is fixed.
It could be a completely damaged world or it could solve the issue. In most cases it’s just damaging the world. We do not recommend using this method without doing a backup before and without trying all other methods.
Restoring a backup
If you have one, you can restore a backup of the world so it rolls back to the moment before the ticking entity’s appearance.
For more information, use our guide for restoring a backup.
If your server is a modded server, you can also use https://www.curseforge.com/minecraft/mc-mods/extra-utilities to kill entities in general with its commands such /xu_killitem.
Sadly, if nothing above fixes the error, you will need to start a brand new world.
If you find any issues solving the ticking entity error please contact us on live chat or via the ticket system.