ASA: black screen or endless 'joining server' — including the stall right after a transfer

A black screen after joining an ASA map.
The "joining server" screen stays up for a very long time — on the official tracker a player reported hours.
Right after you downloaded your character on another map, the game stalls while loading in, while other maps work.

There is no single cause, but the official sources point at three:

A profile problem on the server side. On a black-screen report, the official bug tracker asked for the player's Account ID "so our server team can check out if your profile is having some issues on the backend", and suggested getting killed to respawn outside the base (ASAIR-435).
A slow first load. Patch 43.18 gave more connection time to players "who take longer for the initial load". On a first join, or the first join after an update, the game also has to download and install the map's mods before you are in.
A known transfer stall. Patch 72.3 (12/09/2025) "Fixed a stall that can occur when loading in after you transfer to another server which could lead to needing a relog."

A black screen after joining an ASA map.
The "joining server" screen stays up for a very long time — on the official tracker a player reported hours.
Right after you downloaded your character on another map, the game stalls while loading in, while other maps work.

There is no single cause, but the official sources point at three:

A profile problem on the server side. On a black-screen report, the official bug tracker asked for the player's Account ID "so our server team can check out if your profile is having some issues on the backend", and suggested getting killed to respawn outside the base (ASAIR-435).
A slow first load. Patch 43.18 gave more connection time to players "who take longer for the initial load". On a first join, or the first join after an update, the game also has to download and install the map's mods before you are in.
A known transfer stall. Patch 72.3 (12/09/2025) "Fixed a stall that can occur when loading in after you transfer to another server which could lead to needing a relog."

Check first: is this your first join to this map, or the first after an update? Then the mods may still be downloading. Give it several minutes and do not cancel.
If the screen stalls right after a transfer, relog once: close the game fully, start it again and join the same map. The patch note itself names a relog as the remedy. Make sure your game is up to date.
Black screen with your character inside your base: the official tracker's reply suggested asking someone to kill your character so that you respawn outside your base, and seeing if that helps. Your items stay on the body where you died. If that is not possible, ask an admin.
If your character is not there after the relog, do not create a new survivor. Follow Missing character in the troubleshooting guide and the guide Character missing after a transfer.
Still stuck after one relog: ask an admin and include your Account ID (below).

An admin can check your character's profile on that map and the cluster folder for your upload. A damaged profile can be put back from the admins' profile copies or a backup, and this is done while you stay out of the game. Ask when the black screen or the stall comes back after one relog, or when your character is gone.

Tell an admin the map, the time (the clock in your profile menu shows the server's time), your character's name, what you carried or had uploaded, and the exact message on the screen. For a transfer: both maps and both times. Report the same day — the backups reach back only about two days. Contact admin is in your profile menu; the Guides page has a question box.

Your ASA Account ID: start a single-player game, open the console (the "toggle console" key in the settings, the tilde key by default), run whoami and copy the "OSS Id". This is a plain console command, not a cheat.

Update the game before joining after an ARK update — see the guide ASA: after a game update you can't join.
Let the first mod download finish on each map instead of cancelling it.

ASAIR-435: black screen joining a server — official ASA bug tracker, with the tracker's reply
ASAIR-422: stuck on the joining screen — official ASA bug tracker, user report
ASA patch 43.18 — ARK Wiki, CC BY-NC-SA
ASA patch 72.3 — ARK Wiki, CC BY-NC-SA
ASA v72.3 patch notes (via ConsolePCGaming)
CurseForge support: install ASA mods in game
Official support: What is an Account ID?
Our records (internal): OPERATIONS §18 (a character is two files; the profile copies) and SYSTEM §12 (restore from backup)
Our guide: Troubleshooting: connection timeout, server full, missing character

ASA: black screen or endless 'joining server' — including the stall right after a transfer

What you see

Why it happens

Related guides

ASA: black screen or endless 'joining server' — including the stall right after a transfer

What you see

Why it happens

Related guides

What you can do

When to ask an admin

Avoid it next time

Sources