How to Fix Ticking Entity Crashes on Your Minecraft Server

One of the most frustrating errors a Minecraft server administrator can face is a Ticking Entity Crash. This happens when a mob, armor stand, item frame, minecart, or tile entity (like a chest or furnace) gets corrupted. Whenever a player gets near the corrupted entity's chunk, the server tries to update ("tick") the entity, encounters invalid data, and immediately crashes.

If your console shows messages like java.lang.NullPointerException: Ticking entity or Encountered an unexpected exception: Ticking entity, this guide will show you how to fix it in just a few minutes.

Step 1: Locate the Corrupted Entity in Crash Reports

Before you can fix the entity, you need to find out what kind of entity it is and where it is located in your world.

1. Go to your Cubes Hosting Game Panel and open the File Manager.
2. Open the crash-reports directory and click on the newest .txt crash log.
3. Scroll down until you find the section labeled Entity's Exact Location: and Entity's Name/Type:.

Look for lines that look like this:

Entity Type: minecraft:zombie (net.minecraft.world.entity.monster.Zombie)
Entity's Exact Location: World: (124.50, 64.00, -312.30), Chunk: (at 12,4,8 in 7,-20; contains blocks 112,0,-320 to 127,255,-305)
Level Name: world

Write down the World Name (world), the Entity Type (zombie), and the Coordinates (X: 124, Y: 64, Z: -312).

Method 1: Automatic Removal via PaperMC (Recommended)

If your server runs PaperMC or Purpur, you can tell the server software to automatically detect and delete corrupted entities during boot, saving you from having to delete them manually!

1. Stop your server.
2. In the File Manager, open config/paper-world-defaults.yml (or paper.yml on older Paper versions).
3. Search for auto-remove-corrupt-tile-entities and change its value to true:

   entities:
     behavior:
       auto-remove-corrupt-tile-entities: true
   

4. Save the file and Start your server.

When the server boots up and loads the chunk, Paper will automatically purge the corrupted entity, log a notification in console, and keep your server online!

Method 2: In-Game / Console Kill Command

If the server stays online long enough for you to execute commands, or if you can run commands from the Game Panel Console:

1. Open your Console in the Game Panel.
2. Run a targeted kill command using the coordinates from your crash report:

   kill @e[type=zombie,x=124,y=64,z=-312,distance=..10]
   

   (Replace zombie with your entity type and update the X, Y, Z coordinates to match your crash log).
3. This command instantly removes any entities of that type within a 10-block radius of the corrupted location.

Method 3: Removing Corrupted Chunks with MCA Selector

If the entity cannot be killed and the server crashes before Paper can purge it, you can delete the single corrupted chunk using MCA Selector:

1. Stop your server completely.
2. Download your world's region folder to your computer via SFTP or the File Manager.
3. Open the world in MCA Selector.
4. Navigate to the coordinates listed in your crash report (X: 124, Z: -312).
5. Select the single chunk containing the entity and click Selection > Delete Selected Chunks.
6. Upload the updated region file back to your server and restart. The server will safely regenerate that single chunk without losing the rest of your world!

Conclusion

Ticking entity crashes can seem intimidating, but using Paper's built-in auto-remove-corrupt-tile-entities setting resolves 95% of cases instantly. Keep your server software updated, monitor crash reports for exact coordinates, and your server will be back up and running smoothly!