Help & Troubleshooting

1. Reset the Machine

First, try resetting the machine:

!resetmachine <station>

This will reboot the system without clearing the queue, which resolves most temporary issues.

2. Check Station Status

If the problem persists, check the station status:

!status <station>

If resetting and retrying doesn't resolve the issue, you may need to terminate the instance to avoid draining balance charges.

Audio/Video Desync on Game Feed

If the game feed has audio out of sync with video, use !restartstream to restart the gameplay relay and stream engine. This resynchronizes the audio/video pipeline without disrupting active station gameplay.

!restartstream

This command is moderator/admin only.

Moderator/Admin Recovery Commands

If the controller bot or stream stack itself is wedged, moderators can use:

!restartbot
!restartstream

!restartbot restarts the controller service. !restartstream restarts the gameplay relay and main stream engine services. Both commands are moderator/admin only.

These commands only work when restart control is configured on the host. The controller service must be allowed to invoke the restart helper script with the required systemctl privileges.

Connection Issues

Cannot connect using the domain name

If you cannot connect using <station-name>.umvc3247.site, try using the machine's IP address instead. You can get the IP by typing:

!status <station-name>

in the chat.

Previously paired machine is stuck

If you have an existing machine you previously connected to from a previous session, try deleting it first in your Gamestream client before pairing again.

General connection-phase problems

If you are having trouble during the connect or pair phase, re-read this help page and the How to Play guide for the full flow.

PIN pairing fails

Connection closed or flaky connections

If Moonlight shows "connection closed" errors or you encounter connection issues:

• Keep trying - this is a flaky network issue that usually resolves after 2-3 attempts
• The issue is usually temporary and related to the GameStream protocol

If it keeps failing, try resetting the machine: !resetmachine <station> Then attempt pairing again

See Moonlight latency and performance stats

Moonlight has a built-in stats overlay. Press:

Ctrl + Alt + Shift + S

This is useful for checking stream latency, decode performance, bitrate behavior, and whether the issue is coming from the client side.

Match Timeout

If both players go AFK during a match without calling !win or !forfeit, the match will automatically time out after 45 minutes.

This exists to prevent "ghost" matches from running forever and burning community balance on an abandoned session. When the timeout fires:

• The incumbent keeps their spot — they are not kicked or sent to the back of the queue.
• The challenger is recalled — they must type !accept again within the standard 2-minute accept window to resume the match.
• If the challenger does not re-accept in time, they are sent to the back of the queue and the next player is called normally.

What to do: If you step away for a long break and come back to find the station has recalled you, simply type !accept again to continue playing. You will not lose your place in line.

Timeout FAQ

This FAQ applies to public stations only. Private stations do not use the public queue state machine, do not use these public queue timeouts, and do not auto-terminate just because a public station would have become idle.

Why are there so many timeouts?

Each queue state has its own timeout to prevent AFK players from blocking the cabinet and to stop public stations from draining balance with no real activity.

How do the public queue states flow?

Idle
  -> Waiting for Challenger
  -> Waiting for Accept
  -> Waiting for PIN
  -> Match in Progress
  -> Waiting for Challenger or Idle

How do timeouts move the public queue state?

Waiting for Challenger
  timeout -> Idle

Waiting for Accept
  timeout -> Waiting for Challenger / Idle / next queued player called

Waiting for PIN
  timeout -> Waiting for Challenger / Idle / next queued player called

Match in Progress
  timeout -> Waiting for Accept, recalling the same challenger

What actually causes a station to auto-terminate?

Public stations only auto-terminate when they are truly idle: nobody queued, nobody being called, and no active match. A station that still has one player holding it in waiting_for_challenger is not idle yet.

Can one person keep a station alive while waiting for another player?

Yes. One player can keep a station alive by holding it in waiting_for_challenger. If that challenger-wait timeout expires, they can simply !join again if they still want to keep waiting for an opponent.

Station Not Showing on Stream

If a station is in the "Online" state but doesn't appear on the stream:

• Stations can take 10–20 minutes to fully boot and start streaming after entering the "Online" state.
• The stream pipeline (station relay → gameplay composer → gameplay relay → engine → HLS) needs time to initialize.
• If the station has been in "Online" state for more than 10 minutes and still isn't showing on the stream, try:

  !resetmachine <station>
  

  This reboots the cloud machine, which usually resolves streaming issues.

Controller Not Working After Connecting via Moonlight

If your controller works locally (e.g., on the Firestick home screen or in Moonlight's UI) but stops responding inside the game after connecting to the arcade:

• Moonlight on Firestick: Try exiting the game (Alt+F4 or the Moonlight disconnect gesture) and reconnecting. This resets the controller mapping that Moonlight passes to the virtual machine.
• This is usually a Moonlight/Firestick controller initialization quirk — the game doesn't receive controller input until Moonlight re-negotiates the mapping on a fresh connection.

Banned Users

If you've been banned but have remaining balance on your account, please contact for resolution.