persistent connection problem on the Discovery server

[Faven95]

Greetings Dear Pilots,

I am having a persistent connection problem on the Discovery server and I would like to ask for help because I have already gone through the obvious local troubleshooting steps.

Problem:
I can start Discovery normally, log into the server, and select my character without any issue. The loading process completes and I enter the game world, but after about 1–2 seconds I get disconnected with the message:

“The connection to the server has been lost. This can happen if your internet connection is interrupted or if the server is experiencing difficulties. In rare cases, anti-virus software or firewalls may interrupt the connection to the server.”

Important detail:
The disconnect does not happen before character selection. I can reach the server and choose the character. The problem happens only immediately after the character has loaded in.
I have Windows 10.
What I already tried:
1. I checked my antivirus software (ESET Internet Security).
2. I created a firewall allow rule for Freelancer.exe in ESET.
3. I added the Discovery folder as an exclusion in ESET.
4. I confirmed that DSAce.dll is present and was not deleted by ESET.
5. I tested even after temporarily disabling ESET, but the same disconnect still happened.
6. I performed a completely clean reinstall of Discovery.
7. I tested again after reinstall, with the same result.
8. I did not change router settings, public IP, or advanced network configuration because I wanted to rule out the simple client-side causes first.

Additional note:
At this point, because the issue still happens even after a clean reinstall and after the ESET checks, I suspect this may no longer be a simple local installation issue. It may possibly be related to the specific character, account, ID, or a server-side disconnect condition.

Character name:
Favenius_Ricus
Question:
Could someone please check whether there is anything wrong with this character, my account, or my ID on the server side, or whether there is any known reason why I would be disconnected immediately after loading into the game?

Thank you very much.

[Deity]

Hey, this type of disconnect usually isn’t caused by antivirus or installation issues since you can log in and select your character normally.

You should try a few quick things:

1. Create a new character and see if the problem still happens
2. Run the game and launcher as Administrator
3. Try connecting using a different network (for example, mobile hotspot)
4. If the issue only happens on that one character, it’s very likely a bugged character and you should contact server admins

Most likely this is either a character-related issue or something server-side.

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[Faven95]

Thank you for your reply. I already tested the points you mentioned. I ran both the launcher and the game as Administrator, I tested a completely different connection through my phone using USB tethering / hotspot internet, and I also created multiple new characters. In fact, by now I have tested 4 separate accounts and 9 completely new characters, and the result is always exactly the same. I can log in normally, select a character, and load into the game world, but about 1–2 seconds later I get disconnected every single time. Because the issue happens across multiple fresh characters, multiple accounts, and even a different internet connection, it no longer seems to be tied to one specific character. At this point it looks more like something server-side, or some kind of client validation / rejection happening immediately after loading in. If possible, could someone please check whether the server logs show a specific reason for the disconnect when my client enters the game world?

Hey, this type of disconnect usually isn’t caused by antivirus or installation issues since you can log in and select your character normally.

You should try a few quick things:

1. Create a new character and see if the problem still happens
2. Run the game and launcher as Administrator
3. Try connecting using a different network (for example, mobile hotspot)
4. If the issue only happens on that one character, it’s very likely a bugged character and you should contact server admins

Most likely this is either a character-related issue or something server-side.

[Faven95]

In the meantime, I also checked the Windows Security provider and firewall status on my system. ESET is the active antivirus and firewall provider, while Microsoft Defender and the Windows Firewall are disabled as expected in that setup, so there does not appear to be anything unusual on that side either. I have also ruled out the more obvious local causes as far as I reasonably can: I already did a completely clean reinstall of Discovery, set firewall permissions and exclusions in ESET, confirmed that DSAce.dll is present, tested with ESET disabled, and tested both through my normal home internet connection and separately through my mobile phone connection using USB tethering / hotspot internet, with exactly the same result in both cases. this no longer looks like a simple local installation, firewall, antivirus, single-character, account, or home-network problem on my side. At this point, could someone please check whether there is a server-side reason, an anti-cheat or client validation issue, or some kind of machine/client-related rejection that is causing this immediate post-login disconnect?