How to Fix Terraria Crashing?

Terraria is an adventure game which is developed by ReLogic and also has a bit of action in it. The game made its way to Windows in 2011 and has been developed and distributed in other platforms since. Terraria, unlike other games is also available to play on Smartphones as well.

Despite the popularity of the game, we came across numerous issues where the game was crashing due to different unknown reasons. There are several different cases as to why the issue occurs ranging from issues with OneDrive to problems in the game itself. In this article, we will go through all the reasons as well as solutions to fix the issue.

What causes Terraria to Crash?

Users are normally setback when they see their Terraria crashing because the game itself doesn’t consume many resources and seeing it crash causes confusion. After we received initial user reports, we started our investigation and found some interesting results. Some of the reasons why Terraria crashes are but not limited to:

Before we start with the solutions, make sure that you are logged in as an administrator on your computer and have good internet access.

Solution 1: Disabling Mods

Before we try any other troubleshooting technique, we will first check whether or not your mods are conflicting with Terraria. Mods are third-party plugins which change the experience of the game by adding custom graphics or actions compared to the stock game. These modules allow the player to enjoy the game more and make it customizable. However, since mods are not regulated, we came across numerous instances where they conflicted with the game’s core process and caused disruptions.

Third-party developers maintain and release versions of mods which should essentially be in sync with the version of the game you are playing. If these two are not in sync, you will experience numerous problems including the one where the game crashes. You can physically copy-paste the mods to a location and then after disabling them, check if the issue gets resolved.

Solution 2: Verifying Integrity of Game Files

Before we start troubleshooting with other methods, we will first check whether the installation files of the very game are good and intact. If any file is damaged, the game will either fail to load or crash in-game. Since you have the game installed on Steam, we will navigate to Steam’s library, locate Terraria and then verify its integrity.

The verifying process will check the local files present against an online manifest. If some items are missing, it will download the latest version of them from the internet and replace it.

1. Open your Steam application and click on Games from the top bar. Now select Terraria from the left column, right-click it and select Properties.
2. Once in Properties, click on Local Files category and select Verify Integrity of Game Files.

3. Now, wait until the process is complete. Restart your computer after the verification is complete and launch Terraria again. Check if the crashing issue is resolved.

Solution 3: Granting administrator access to Terraria and Steam

Another simple workaround on which we received positive feedback was where we gave administrator access to Terraria and Steam. Since both applications are in sync with each other, if any of them don’t have administrator access, you might experience difficulties. Why do we need administrator access? This is because of the Game and Steam, both access a high level of resources on your computer. Sometimes these resources are not granted to Steam and hence the game crashes.

Here, we will grant administrator access to both Steam and Terraria. Make sure that you are logged in as an administrator.

1. Navigate to ‘This-PC’ and look for the directory where Terraria/Stem is installed. Normally, the default location is the Program files in Steam but it can be another location as well if you have installed the game in a custom location.
2. Once in the Steam directory, right-click on the following entry, and select Properties.

Steam.exe

3. Once in the properties, select the Compatibility tab and check the option Run this program as an administrator.

   

4. After you have granted administrator access to Steam, navigate to the following File path:

<Drive>\Steam\steamapps\common

Here, the game files of Terraria will be present. Make sure you navigate inside the directory and grant administrator privileges to all the game’s executables as well.

5. After you have done all the steps, restart your computer completely and launch the game. Now check if the crashing issue is solved.

Solution 4: Checking for OneDrive Syncing of Game files 

Every Terraria game, like others, create temporary configuration files in your computer locally to save all the temporary configurations and preferences of your game. These settings also contain items which your game fetches before it loads the game on your computer. However, once it is in OneDrive’s list, it gets backed up in the cloud and since we don’t change the file physically, it gets deleted locally even though the size is very small.

When this scenario occurs, the game is unable to access the configuration files when it loads up and hence crashes.

In this solution, we will navigate to your game configurations and make sure they are present there locally. Also, we will safeguard it from OneDrive.

1. Press Windows + E to launch Windows Explorer. Once in the explorer, navigate to the following address:

C:\Users\*Username*\OneDrive\Documents\Terraria

2. Here, if you see the StarCraft folder, cut it and navigate to your original documents. Paste the folder there. Make sure that the ‘variables’ file is complete. Then, delete the configuration file from your OneDrive documents.
3. If you have issues placing the file to the correct directory, you can always ask a friend for the file and also take a look at his directory and paste it there.

Solution 5: Reinstalling the Game

Terraria releases numerous updates now and then to make sure that new features are added constantly and bugs are fixed without any issues. These updates are usually installed automatically by Steam and the changes are also reflected inside the game. However, there come cases where updating the game sometimes corrupts the game files.

Same is the case if you try to shift the game from one drive to another. If you are filling these symptoms, our best bet is to reinstall the entire game. Not only will this refresh the game files but it will also initialize everything from scratch and might help if the issue lied with the game itself.

Note: You will be required to enter your credentials in some cases so make sure that you have them on hand.

Using Steam Client:

If you installed the game through Steam, follow the steps below.

1. Launch Steam and click on the Library button present at the top.
2. At the left pane, you will see your game. Right-click on it and select Uninstall.

   

3. After uninstalling the game, restart your computer. Now log back into Steam and download the entire game again. Check if the issue is resolved.

Note: Before you download the game, make sure that you delete all the game files manually as well to make sure there are no remnants.

Using the Windows Store:

If you downloaded the game through Windows Store, follow the steps below:

1. Press Windows + S, type “uninstall” in the dialogue box and open the settings as shown below.
2. Now search for Terraria from the list. Click on the item once and select Uninstall.

   

3. After uninstalling the game, restart your computer and navigate back to Windows Store. Download and install the game again and see if the crashing got fixed.

Solution 6: Updating Graphics drivers

As our last solution, we will attempt at updating your graphics drivers to the latest version. We came across numerous instances where because of the drivers outdated or missing, the game was crashing. Graphics drivers are the main components which transmit commands from your game to the computer.

First, we will attempt at uninstalling your current drivers completely and install default ones. If they don’t work, only then will we proceed to update them to the latest version.

1. Install the utility Display Driver Uninstaller. You can continue without this step but this ensures that there are no remnants of the drivers.
2. After installing Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU), launch your computer in safe mode. You can learn how to boot your computer into safe mode by reading our article on it.
3. After booting your computer into safe mode, launch the application which was just installed.
4. After launching the application, select the first option “Clean and restart”. Your computer will be restarted automatically after all the drivers are removed.

   

5. Boot your computer into normal mode, press Windows + R, type “devmgmt.msc” in the dialogue box and press Enter. Most probably the default drivers will be installed. If not, right-click on any space and select “Scan for hardware changes”. Now try launching the game and see if the default drivers fix the crashing issue.
6. Now there are two methods to update the graphics drivers; either you can update them automatically using Windows update or manually by browsing to the file where your graphics drivers are located. If automatic updating fails, you have to navigate to your manufacturer’s website and download the drivers first.

To update, right-click on your hardware and select Update Driver. Now select any one of the two options according to your case.

7. Restart your computer after installing the drivers, launch the game and check if this solves the problem.