Enshrouded "Joining Game Failed" error (fix)
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Last checked
September 23, 2026
Trying to join a friend's session or a server produces a plain "Joining Game Failed" dialog with no further detail, then drops back to the main menu.
Also appears as: joining game failed, enshrouded joining game failed, joining game failed error, enshrouded crashing when joining game
This is a catch-all connection-failure dialog rather than a single bug, so the fix depends on which of a few known triggers applies to you. The best-corroborated cause is the host's server password: reports across multiple Steam Discussions threads and outlet guides converge on complex passwords (mixed case, numbers, special characters) breaking the join handshake, while simple all-lowercase passwords work reliably. The second most common trigger is a version mismatch — trying to join a dedicated server still running the previous patch after your client auto-updated. Unstable networking and a slow-loading server browser can produce the same dialog with no code to tell them apart.
Fix it, step by step
Change the server password to a short, all-lowercase word
If you're the host, change the server password to a short, all-lowercase word with no numbers or symbols (e.g. "snack" rather than "Sn@ck123"), then have everyone try joining again. This is the single most-repeated fix across player reports.
Restart the dedicated server after any Enshrouded update
After any Enshrouded update, restart the dedicated server before joining — a server still running the pre-patch binary against an updated client is the most common source of version-mismatch join failures.
Join directly by IP address instead of the server browser
Skip the server browser and connect directly: from the main menu choose Play > Join, press T to switch to IPv4/Domain search, and enter the server's IP address. This avoids a slow or stale server-browser listing entirely.
Restart your router and temporarily disable any VPN (some reports)
If none of the above helps, restart your router and temporarily disable any VPN before retrying — a subset of reports describe this clearing an otherwise unexplained join failure.
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