Switch [BUG] Multiplayer game freezing every 1/2 minute(s)

kohlrak

Farmhand
Hi, got an update video attached. It's the thing were I get attacked in the mines at the moment of freezing. I'm the only one in this server. Hopefully this helps.

It is. What's interesting is that, unlike the previous video where the AI stopped, in this case the AI kept going. Were you host in this video, or were you connected to someone else?

Also, I figure you'll be continuing to play this during all this. Could you tell me when these are happening, like month, day, weather, hour, minutes? If it is AI, this could narrow down OoS processing if Stardew does it. For example, right now (in the second video), Abigail is leaving her room for the general store area either from the kitchen or her room. Haley just got to her room. Jas is going to Marnie's ranch. Jodi's just got home. Penny could be heading home. Sebastian just got to the beach. Shane might've just gotten to his room. Vincent would've just been on the move. And that's just right at that moment. I'll have to compare what would've been going on at the other time.

Also, what can you tell me about your SD Card?

EDIT: First video, abigail just got done moving. I think Emily just got up. Harvey just got to the clinic. Jas might be on the move. Leah might be on her way to her cottage. Linus is on the move. Pierre is moving. Vincent's moving to go get some breakfast. Willy is heading into his shop.

In both cases, we have some busy work for the AI. If there's anything in the way of any of these individuals, their AI might get complicated. It might even get complicated checking for that stuff, but i would hope that ConcernedApe did not actually simulate all the walking and stuff when you're not even in the same area as them. However, it's possible, and could explain a bit.
 
Last edited:

Celluloid

Tiller
I was the host in the video and the only one connected.

Yes indeed, I keep playing with some friends in a server, despite the freeze issue. Somehow I even made it to the bottom of the mine 😅
I have played a full year and the freezes have occurred on every single day. Time wise it's also completely random. It happens early in the morning and late in the evening (after 12am) as well. It also happens at least 3 times in a day.

I'm also keeping an eye on Reddit where some more people showed up having the exact same issue (since someone shared my vid). One situation described on Reddit are two people in the same server having this issue and the freezes are not at the same time for them.

SD is a speed class 10, U1, 128gb, 100mb/s card. The game however is now on the consoles internal storage.
 

kohlrak

Farmhand
I was the host in the video and the only one connected.

Yes indeed, I keep playing with some friends in a server, despite the freeze issue. Somehow I even made it to the bottom of the mine 😅
I have played a full year and the freezes have occurred on every single day. Time wise it's also completely random. It happens early in the morning and late in the evening (after 12am) as well. It also happens at least 3 times in a day.

I'm also keeping an eye on Reddit where some more people showed up having the exact same issue (since someone shared my vid). One situation described on Reddit are two people in the same server having this issue and the freezes are not at the same time for them.

SD is a speed class 10, U1, 128gb, 100mb/s card. The game however is now on the consoles internal storage.
Right, but if it's tied to the AI, it'd be interesting to know what's going on at that time. The time might seem "random", but could this be the result of the AI "getting stuck on something" somewhere? It's also worth noting, though, that your graphics got stuck. Music didn't get stuck. CPU kept going.

During that cave dive there, were you on the right side of that cave before this issue happened?
 
I’m experiencing the same thing while hosting an online game with my son, while he experienced no freeze. He is using a previous generation Switch while I’m playing on the newer model.

The freeze has occurred while it’s been raining and also while sunny in game. It’s happened during the day and evening. It’s also happened while fishing, in the mine, walking around, and on the farm. I’ve noticed the graphics freeze, but audio continues similar to the videos posted here. I’ve also tried to move the game from SD to system memory but it hasn’t had any impact.
 

Celluloid

Tiller
At this point it most likely seems like a bug. Especially since there are more people popping up with the same issue, only since the latest update. I just hope this issue is known and hopefully gets fixed in a next update. I still play multiplayer, but it's a really frustrating issue.

If a moderator is reading this; Is it worth it to update the title to Bug instead of Help?
 

Lonnie123

Greenhorn
Just jumping in here to add that this same exact thing happens to me and has every time my friend and I play for probably 6 months now. We push through but it’s annoying.
 

Soldat

Greenhorn
Looks like this is a popular thread on this issue.

I am experiencing the same issues with my wife. We are playing in the same house under the same WiFi connection on two different Switches. The freezing does appear to be random for the both of us, it seems to be more often for me (because I'm hosting our farm?) than it is for her. In addition, me and my wife started playing our farm on Local Communication first, but had to switch to Online Communication because she was unable to see me hosting our farm. While on Local Communication, we did experience this issue, but it was not as frequent as Online Communication. The freezing appears to happen at random intervals for a random amount of time. I think the longest freeze I have experienced is somewhere in the realm of about 30 seconds. Time, weather, season, location, combat, fishing, etc. do not matter, freezing will happen at any time.
 

arthur00

Greenhorn
Looks like this is a popular thread on this issue.

I am experiencing the same issues with my wife. We are playing in the same house under the same WiFi connection on two different Switches. The freezing does appear to be random for the both of us, it seems to be more often for me (because I'm hosting our farm?) than it is for her. In addition, me and my wife started playing our farm on Local Communication first, but had to switch to Online Communication because she was unable to see me hosting our farm. While on Local Communication, we did experience this issue, but it was not as frequent as Online Communication. The freezing appears to happen at random intervals for a random amount of time. I think the longest freeze I have experienced is somewhere in the realm of about 30 seconds. Time, weather, season, location, combat, fishing, etc. do not matter, freezing will happen at any time.
I have the same experience with my wife. we both play on the same wifi at home. she hosts, and I freeze about 5/6 times a day. Also recently the town takes 20 seconds to load after the trash bear made some.changes to it. Devs please look into these bugs..

If I had to guess, the multiplayer must be completely synchronous, and the thread that runs the socket is getting busy doing something. since it doesn't return, the game loop gets stuck on that state. if it's because of network delay and the protocol is TCP-based, it could be Nagle's algorithm. Or something else entirely, but it's fun to guess 😂
 

Maple2786

Cowpoke
Hopefully, this thread gets some attention and we finally see a fix. Love the game, been playing it since it came out on the switch. Like previous posters, my GF and I power through but it is irritating.
 

Chemille

Farmhand
I specifically made an account to come looking for this very issue getting addressed. This is specifically an issue for Switch (PS4/Xbox have stronger WiFi capabilities so no one on those consoles will likely see this issue). Mind you — the switch’s connection capabilities over WiFi is SEVERELY underpowered in terms of having a “strong connection” regardless of how close it is to a router or modem. I play exclusively on switch with friends using multiplayer online all the time. On ANY save I have, any time I play multiplayer, this freezing issue occurs. Seasons, NPCs, events, etc. have no impact on when/whether it happens. It does every season, every day, several times during the entire day/night cycle. I have a friend in the states I play with, same freezing issues. I have a friend in the UK I play with, same freezing issues. Regardless, it happens even with all the WiFi/pinging boosting possibilities on the switch (which doesn’t do too much really anyway). It’s only an issue with Stardew and the Switch from what I’ve seen/experienced. If there’s a patch or a solution coming, I’d really like to be quoted for it please 🙏🏼

The reason I urge this issue to get fixed is because during mining adventures and on enemy-spawning farm maps, dealing with enemies and freezing at the same time literally can turn into a “knocked unconscious” scenario and really makes the game irritating to deal with, when you you wanna go cave spelunking 😭

Edit// I thought I should note it doesn’t matter how old/new the switch is. I’ve had these issues on a launch switch AND on an animal crossing new horizons switch.
 
Last edited:
My friend and I have this exact same issue. Switch, both using Ethernet connections with network speeds of 500+, and its making it absolutely unplayable for me, since I like to fish. Completely kills it for me.
 

Raxcental

Greenhorn
My boyfriend and I both play multiplayer and are having this issue. Both of us will periodically freeze for a few moments randomly. It happens every couple minutes or so. It makes the quarry mine and the skull caverns nearly unplayable. We have really fast wifi too. Doesn't matter which wifi band we connect to. 5ghz or 2.4ghz. Still the same results. We really hope this gets fixed because it's pretty bad.
 

Alurith

Greenhorn
Same issue here. Made an account looking for answers. Me and my fiance are playing the game for multiplayer, and every few minute, one of us will freeze from 2-10 seconds. The issue can happen literally anywhere, at any time. Fishing, mining, trying to both get in bed before midnight, doesn't matter.

It's even happened while we were both standing still.
 
Top