Frequent Freezing while running game

[InfoDeprived]

Me and my better half have been playing on a server run by a friend of ours and they've been plagued by really aggressive freezes periodically while playing, several seconds at a time and as often as every minute or so but all very differing in terms of timescale. She is not even slightly technically inclined and I have a slight understanding of this stuff, shes running an Acer Nitro 5 an517-55 and Im running a pc of my own design. The server we are on has had no issues and nor have I. Her settings are incredibly low if not at minimum, and there are mods on the server. we are noticing whenever she freezes her disc usage spikes to up to 100%, additionally her memory usage is pretty consistently high any time the game is open at all (80%-94%~). while running the game she has nothing else open other than maybe discord. We also noticed whenever the game is open her CPU specifically heats to upwards of 197* F, once the game is closed it returns to standard temperature ranging from 140-175~.

Any ideas on what may be causing it or how to fix it?

Graphics settings in use^

Edited February 3 by InfoDeprived

[LadyWYT]

1 hour ago, InfoDeprived said:

there are mods on the server.

How many mods, and which mods? Some mods impact performance more than others--those that add lots of new items tend to be more demanding on system resources especially. It's also possible that there could be a lurking issue in one of the mods that's causing such performance drops, or it could potentially be an incompatibility between mods as well. It's difficult to say for sure though.

Do the issues persist when she plays the vanilla game? If the issues aren't present in vanilla, then it's almost certainly a mod-related issue. If the issues are still present in vanilla though then it's more likely to be a hardware problem, or lurking bug in the code potentially.

[CastIronFabric]

10 hours ago, InfoDeprived said:

Me and my better half have been playing on a server run by a friend of ours and they've been plagued by really aggressive freezes periodically while playing, several seconds at a time and as often as every minute or so but all very differing in terms of timescale. She is not even slightly technically inclined and I have a slight understanding of this stuff, shes running an Acer Nitro 5 an517-55 and Im running a pc of my own design. The server we are on has had no issues and nor have I. Her settings are incredibly low if not at minimum, and there are mods on the server. we are noticing whenever she freezes her disc usage spikes to up to 100%, additionally her memory usage is pretty consistently high any time the game is open at all (80%-94%~). while running the game she has nothing else open other than maybe discord. We also noticed whenever the game is open her CPU specifically heats to upwards of 197* F, once the game is closed it returns to standard temperature ranging from 140-175~.

Any ideas on what may be causing it or how to fix it?

Graphics settings in use^

I am confused as to who specifically is having a problem. I think you are saying your better half is having a problem as well as the people running the server, meaning you are the only one who is not having an issue with the server? also, how do you know specifically the server is fine?

regardless, when a server is added to the equation its usually the source, or the internet connection. By no means is that the overwhelming majority of cases but it is the 'usual'.

Does whoever is having an issue have the exact same issue while NOT connected to the server?

I do not think the size of the game save file would matter in this specific case but it would be nice to replicate a game file locally that is somewhat large

 

 

[InfoDeprived]

apologies for the lack of clarity, she is the only one experiencing issues which is how i can tell the server is fine, no one other than her has had any issues of any variety on the server. Additionally as far as im aware when she has freezes there is no noticeable changes in the server's function (i have access to the terminal) albeit I will be double checking to verify that. it may be worth noting we are hosting through Something Unique Hosting. I will check if her issues persist in vanilla at earliest opportunity and update.

as for the mods, here is the full modlist from the folders:

For the record the server is on version 1.21.6

Edited February 3 by InfoDeprived

[LadyWYT]

Do keep in mind that ACA and Expanded Foods are still in development and don't yet have stable releases for 1.21. That doesn't mean that you can't use them, but it does mean there's a higher risk of issues. That may or may not be the case here, but I will note that when I tampered with those mods in singleplayer I had some hiccups, and removing those mods made the hiccups go away. Difficult to say for sure though.

11 minutes ago, InfoDeprived said:

she is the only one experiencing issues which is how i can tell the server is fine, no one other than her has had any issues of any variety on the server.

If she is the only one having problems then it's probably not a mod issue, but again, hard to say for certain. Is everyone playing on similar hardware/connection strength? If she has weaker hardware compared to the other players her computer could be struggling with the modlist.

[Teh Pizza Lady]

Thermal throttling and disk usage lock... which shouldn't be a thing unless the laptop still has a HDD instead of SSD...which I didn't think possible in 2022 when that laptop was originally launched. Crack it open and confirm it has an SSD and also dust it out/redo the thermal paste on the heat sinks. I had an old laptop that ran HOT all the time until I replaced the thermal paste and blew all the dust out and it has ran fine ever since.

The keyword here, folks, is Acer Nitro 5 an517-55 gaming laptop. Any issues will center around its own performance.

Edited February 3 by Teh Pizza Lady

[InfoDeprived]

21 hours ago, LadyWYT said:

If she is the only one having problems then it's probably not a mod issue, but again, hard to say for certain. Is everyone playing on similar hardware/connection strength? If she has weaker hardware compared to the other players her computer could be struggling with the modlist.

i believe everyone has varying levels of hardware quality but i dont think hers is the worst on there.

21 hours ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

Thermal throttling and disk usage lock... which shouldn't be a thing unless the laptop still has a HDD instead of SSD...which I didn't think possible in 2022 when that laptop was originally launched. Crack it open and confirm it has an SSD and also dust it out/redo the thermal paste on the heat sinks. I had an old laptop that ran HOT all the time until I replaced the thermal paste and blew all the dust out and it has ran fine ever since.

The keyword here, folks, is Acer Nitro 5 an517-55 gaming laptop. Any issues will center around its own performance.

I considered that as a very real possibility when i saw the heat and realistically I think this is likely the cause, however quite honestly I dont have the expertise or confidence to dink around in there, especially in a laptop, if it comes down to it we would probably have to pay someone to do it but at that point i would want to confirm nothing else could be causing it. Would any part of the system data tell if it runs an HDD or SSD instead of physically looking? ex. system settings, task manager, ect.

 

Should be able to get those singleplayer/vanilla tests this evening, thank you for all the help so far!

[Teh Pizza Lady]

46 minutes ago, InfoDeprived said:

Would any part of the system data tell if it runs an HDD or SSD instead of physically looking? ex. system settings, task manager, ect.

Download Speccy from CCleaner https://www.ccleaner.com/speccy

When it runs, click the storage option and collapse all the entries. You want to see the drive clearly marked as an SSD. See my example here:

[Broccoli Clock]

1 hour ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

Download Speccy from CCleaner https://www.ccleaner.com/speccy

When it runs, click the storage option and collapse all the entries. You want to see the drive clearly marked as an SSD. See my example here:

You can do that natively in Windows...

Get-PhysicalDisk (edit: links to MS documentation, if you want to config the query)

The command will return something like this..

For those unsure how to start PowerShell:
[win key] + [x] will bring up a context menu, then press [i] and PowerShell should open. 

Edited February 4 by Broccoli Clock

[Teh Pizza Lady]

On 2/4/2026 at 11:13 AM, Broccoli Clock said:

You can do that natively in Windows...

Get-PhysicalDisk (edit: links to MS documentation, if you want to config the query)

The command will return something like this..

For those unsure how to start PowerShell:
[win key] + [x] will bring up a context menu, then press [i] and PowerShell should open. 

Yes, but tell me how many people know PowerShell exists, how to start it, etc and what command to type vs visiting a link and downloading a software program that does it for them?

I know it's native to windows, but 9/10 times when I tell someone to pop open the command prompt to type a command, they look real nervous and say they'll just take it to a computer technician.

[Broccoli Clock]

28 minutes ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

Yes, but tell me how many people know PowerShell exists, how to start it, etc and what command to type vs visiting a link and downloading a software program that does it for them?

People know it exists if it's explained to them, and I just did. It's one line, literally one line, it is far easier to open up PowerShell, put in one command, than have a user navigate to a 3rd party website, download, then install an app that you may never need again, and then allow it to scan your computer. If it was a far more complex task, then I'd perhaps defer to an app.

However, here's the reason I mentioned it, and it's specifically related to Piriform. I've used CCleaner for years, but recently they have changed the way the app integrates into windows. It's not a red flag situation but it's in that direction. https://community.ccleaner.com/t/ccleaner-constantly-running-in-background/160270, it is now running as a service rather than an application, as confirmed by one of the support moderators. It is reasonable to suggest that the change from an on-demand app into a permanently-on one is for constant data collection. Something Piriform's privacy policy doesn't preclude. It is also symptomatic of the practices of the Gen Digital, who have bought the group Piriform is part of (includes things like Avast/AVG). 

Ultimately, and I say this as politely as possible, I do not believe it's best practice to suggest 3rd party applications for simple tasks that can be done natively. 10 years ago? Fine. Now? No, the whole financial ecosystem is all about data collection. I'm sorry if this comes across as being condescending. I am sure you are well aware of what I've just written and may have factored it all in when you made the recommendation.

 

[Teh Pizza Lady]

36 minutes ago, Broccoli Clock said:

People know it exists if it's explained to them, and I just did. It's one line, literally one line, it is far easier to open up PowerShell, put in one command, than have a user navigate to a 3rd party website, download, then install an app that you may never need again, and then allow it to scan your computer.

easier? sure. But given that OP couldn't figure out that a gaming laptop would run hot while gaming and that while running hot, it would be slow, then I wager that a powershell command isn't for them. Not being mean, just stating facts. That's why they came here to the forums seeking help.

The number of people who get scared when they see the box with text and don't know what went wrong when they mistype a command is too high for me to bother with that. If you want, to go ahead, but you'll argue yourself blue in the face if you think you can get me to admit I did anything wrong here. I tailored my response for my audience, not for you.

[Broccoli Clock]

1 hour ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

...but you'll argue yourself blue in the face if you think you can get me to admit I did anything wrong here. I tailored my response for my audience, not for you.

Ok, two things here.

I'm not accusing you of doing anything wrong. That's far too emotive, I was merely providing a counter to your point. 

Any audience you tailor your answer to also has the right to know about any possible negative affects from taking that advice. I was very clear as to why that particular developer may have issues going forward. 

The fact that that issue has been raised is enough for me, I'm not here to police people's decisions, if you or anyone wishes to use that product or others is up to them, it's not "wrong". I hope you see that I wasn't throwing shade, but providing more context.

 

[Teh Pizza Lady]

3 hours ago, Broccoli Clock said:

I'm not accusing you of doing anything wrong. That's far too emotive, I was merely providing a counter to your point.

I would argue that it wasn't needed, but the fact remains that once you spend enough time in IT support, you stop telling people to use cmd/powershell/terminal commands and just point them to the program that does it all for them. 

And for what it's worth, CCleaner running as a service is not inherently a bad thing as it does monitor your system for things like outdated drivers, disk clutter, and the like. I've been using it for a couple of years now and highly recommend it to everyone who wants to maximize their hard drive space.

[Bumber]

23 hours ago, Teh Pizza Lady said:

And for what it's worth, CCleaner running as a service is not inherently a bad thing as it does monitor your system for things like outdated drivers, disk clutter, and the like. I've been using it for a couple of years now and highly recommend it to everyone who wants to maximize their hard drive space.

Except when it slows your computer down, and then connects to the internet to nag you to buy their product, downloading 1MB of temporary data after you just ran the app to clean temporary data. The registry "fixes" it offers are at best unnecessary. It won't help you update drivers unless you have the paid version, but collects the data anyway. (I personally wouldn't trust the drivers provided to be correct.) It easily lets you remove context menu options added by other programs, I guess? IDK if the professional version is better, but CCleaner free has really gone downhill. I've considered writing my own batch script that just cleans the correct directories.

I'm with Broccoli on this. Win+R "powershell" Enter.

Edited February 7 by Bumber

[InfoDeprived]

On 2/5/2026 at 3:45 PM, Teh Pizza Lady said:

easier? sure. But given that OP couldn't figure out that a gaming laptop would run hot while gaming and that while running hot, it would be slow, then I wager that a powershell command isn't for them. Not being mean, just stating facts. That's why they came here to the forums seeking help.

The number of people who get scared when they see the box with text and don't know what went wrong when they mistype a command is too high for me to bother with that. If you want, to go ahead, but you'll argue yourself blue in the face if you think you can get me to admit I did anything wrong here. I tailored my response for my audience, not for you.

I mean I recognize that it running hot will infact make it run slower, the slow running is expected, my point of unawareness is the freezing specifically aswell as how to conteract it. I have a passing familiarity with the shell and even my better half who knows nothing about computers had no trouble operating it when directed properly. While im sure these seem as facts from your point of view and reasonably so given I have only really elaborated on technical details rather than my own personal experience or understanding, I would argue the truth is as with all things more complex. Additionally they did specifically give detailed instruction as to how to carry out the suggestion they gave. At the end of the day all of these are valid suggestions to help solve the issue which I appreciate greatly. 

 

On 2/3/2026 at 12:41 PM, Teh Pizza Lady said:

 Crack it open and confirm it has an SSD

To answer your question, Yes it is an SSD

On 2/2/2026 at 11:15 PM, LadyWYT said:

Do the issues persist when she plays the vanilla game? If the issues aren't present in vanilla, then it's almost certainly a mod-related issue. If the issues are still present in vanilla though then it's more likely to be a hardware problem, or lurking bug in the code potentially.

Freezing issues remain persistent in singleplayer vanilla. we are pretty sure at this point its a hardware issue but like I said I want to check everything else before commiting to that. 

Edited February 7 by InfoDeprived

[Dark Thoughts]

Sorry but people here are completely off with their CCleaner crap and whatnot.

Her laptop only has 8 GB of ram, that's the issue. Despite the weird gaming marketing name, it's not suitable for gaming at all.
Modded Vintage Story eats up insane amounts of ram, and she's running out of it, causing her system to use a swap file on her drive, which is significantly slower than ram. I have 32 GB of ram and even I often run out of memory. Today I removed Wildcraft and gained 8 GB back for example, for just two mods + a dependency mod. As far as I can tell, any mod that adds a lot of different items, static or dynamically, is going to bloat your ram usage like crazy, because it's all being loaded at any time. Your two food items and I think Better Ruins are also well known offenders. But with 8 GB of ram I'm not even sure how well even vanilla would run.

[pigfood]

If the laptop only has 8GB RAM, that would certainly explain things. There are a lot of different Acer Nitro 5 an517-55 versions with different RAM configs.

The Laptop has some Alder Lake 12xxxH CPU. It runs very, very hot. 197F is normal. The CPU starts thermal throttling at 100°C / 212F. Thermal throttling isn't going to result in long stutters in the first place. Thermal throttling will reduce CPU performance fairly smoothly and not in sudden long stutters.

Running out of RAM and swapping (which your initial post points at) would explain the long stutters.

If the laptop only has 8GB RAM, that's the issue. If it has 16+ GB, there might be a hardware issue.

Edited February 8 by pigfood