Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

This page covers common PWAL problems and what to check before reporting a bug.

PWAL is a routing framework.

That means most problems come from one of five places:

• Looting is not enabled.
• The category is not enabled.
• The source type is not enabled or supported.
• The destination is not what you think it is.
• The game state does not support what you are trying to do.

Check the basics first.

Nothing Is Looting

Check this first:

• Is PWAL installed correctly?
• Is the plugin enabled?
• Are the scripts installed?
• Is looting enabled in the terminal?
• Is at least one loot category enabled?
• Are you close enough to valid loot, if range applies?
• Are you in a restricted location?
• Are you expecting PWAL to loot something unsupported?

If looting is off, PWAL will not loot anything.

If the category is off, PWAL will not loot that category.

If the source type is unsupported, PWAL cannot process it just because it looks lootable.

That is not a bug.

That is the framework obeying settings and engine limits.

The Terminal Is Missing

The main PandaWorks AutoLoot Terminal should appear in the Weapons section of your inventory.

Check:

• Did the mod install correctly?
• Is the plugin enabled?
• Did the scripts install?
• Did the startup quest initialize?
• Are you using the current release?
• Did you load the game after enabling the mod?
• Are you looking in the Weapons section?

If the terminal never appears, this is probably an installation or quest initialization issue.

Do not report category or routing bugs until the terminal exists.

The Utility Device Is Missing

The Utility Device is separate from the main terminal.

Check:

• Is the plugin enabled?
• Are the scripts installed?
• Did the startup quest initialize?
• Did you receive the main PandaWorks AutoLoot Terminal?
• Are you using the current release?

If the main terminal exists but the Utility Device is missing, report it as a Utility Device issue.

If neither item exists, the problem is probably install or quest startup.

The Utility Device Does Not Open

Check:

• Does the main PandaWorks AutoLoot Terminal work?
• Does the Utility Device exist in your inventory?
• Are the scripts installed?
• Are you using the current release?
• Did you try closing and reopening the game after installation?

The Utility Device opens a utility terminal.

It is not the main configuration terminal.

Use the main PandaWorks AutoLoot Terminal for full setup.

Loot Goes To The Wrong Place

Check the destination settings.

PWAL routes loot based on category and destination rules.

If an item did not go to your player inventory, it may have gone to:

• PandaWorks Inventory
• Player Ship Cargo
• Lodge Safe
• The Void, where available

Also check whether the item is forced to a specific destination.

Some items ignore normal destination settings.

That is intentional.

Supported space salvage is intended to route into Player Ship Cargo.

If asteroid deposits, space cargo, or hostile ship debris salvage does not appear in your player inventory, check ship cargo first.

Loot Is Missing

Check all possible destinations:

• Player inventory
• PandaWorks Inventory
• Player Ship Cargo
• Lodge Safe

If the missing loot came from supported space salvage, check Player Ship Cargo first.

If The Void is enabled and you routed the item there, it may be gone.

That is what disposal means.

Do not route items to The Void unless you are comfortable losing them.

Collectibles Are Going To Player

This is intended.

Collectibles always go to the player.

Do not report this as a routing bug.

PWAL does this so collectible pickups do not disappear into storage and confuse people.

The panda does not hoard your action figures.

Contraband Goes To PandaWorks Inventory

This is intended.

Contraband defaults to PandaWorks Inventory because Starfield’s contraband scan system can create stupid arrest-loop problems.

PWAL is trying to prevent automated contraband handling from getting the player repeatedly busted.

If you want to smuggle contraband, move it manually when you are ready.

Ship Cargo Does Not Work

Ship cargo requires a valid player home ship.

Check:

• Do you have a home ship?
• Are you past the point where the game gives you ship access?
• Is the ship cargo available?
• Are you checking the correct ship?
• Did the action fail safely because no valid ship exists?

If you do not have a valid home ship, PWAL cannot use ship cargo properly.

The panda cannot store loot in a ship the game has not given you yet.

Space Salvage Is Not Working

Space salvage uses its own pipeline.

It is not the same thing as normal ground looting.

Check:

• Is PWAL installed correctly?
• Is the correct version/plugin installed?
• Is looting enabled?
• Is space salvage support included in the version you are using?
• Is the related space salvage feature enabled, if separately configurable?
• Is the target actually a supported space salvage source?
• Do you have a valid home ship?
• Is Player Ship Cargo available?
• Are you checking Player Ship Cargo instead of player inventory?
• Is the object scenery, a quest object, an unsupported activator, or decorative space trash?

Supported space salvage may include:

• Asteroid deposits
• Space cargo
• Destroyed hostile ship debris

Space salvage does not mean PWAL can loot every object floating in space.

Some objects are just Bethesda confetti with ambition.

Asteroid Deposits Are Not Looting

Check:

• Is looting enabled?
• Is space salvage support installed and active?
• Is asteroid deposit support enabled, if separately configurable?
• Is the object actually a supported asteroid deposit?
• Are you in a valid ship state?
• Do you have a valid home ship?
• Is ship cargo available?
• Are you checking Player Ship Cargo?

Asteroid deposits are handled as space salvage sources.

They are not normal loose ground items.

They may produce resources, but the asteroid deposit itself is still a space salvage source.

If resources from asteroid deposits do not appear in player inventory, check ship cargo before reporting a bug.

Space Cargo Is Not Looting

Check:

• Is looting enabled?
• Is space salvage support installed and active?
• Is space cargo support enabled, if separately configurable?
• Is the object actually supported space cargo?
• Do you have a valid home ship?
• Is Player Ship Cargo available?
• Are you checking the correct ship cargo?

Space cargo is not the same thing as a normal ground container.

Do not troubleshoot space cargo like a storage crate sitting in a room.

If the object is scenery, quest clutter, or an unsupported reference, PWAL may not be able to process it safely.

Ship Debris Is Not Looting

Check:

• Is looting enabled?
• Is space salvage support installed and active?
• Is hostile ship debris support enabled, if separately configurable?
• Was the debris created from a destroyed hostile ship?
• Is the destroyed ship/debris actually supported?
• Does the debris have exposed loot PWAL can process?
• Do you have a valid home ship?
• Is Player Ship Cargo available?
• Are you checking Player Ship Cargo?

Destroyed hostile ship debris is handled through the space salvage pipeline.

It is not a corpse.

It is not a normal container.

It is not a loose item sitting on a table.

Not every destroyed object in space is guaranteed to be salvageable.

Some of it is just the game throwing shiny wreckage at you and whispering, “good luck, idiot.”

Space Loot Went To The Wrong Place

Supported space salvage is intended to route into Player Ship Cargo.

If you expected space salvage to appear somewhere else, check Player Ship Cargo first.

This applies to supported loot from:

• Asteroid deposits
• Space cargo
• Destroyed hostile ship debris

Space salvage does not follow every normal ground-loot destination assumption.

It has its own pipeline because space loot sources behave differently from normal ground loot.

Lodge Safe Does Not Work

Check:

• Is the Lodge Safe destination available?
• Are Lodge-related settings enabled?
• Are you checking the correct storage?
• Is the item forced somewhere else?
• Did the item route to Player, PandaWorks Inventory, or Ship Cargo instead?

The Lodge Safe is a supported storage destination, but forced routing rules still apply.

PandaWorks Inventory Does Not Show Items

If loot is routed to PandaWorks Inventory, open PandaWorks Inventory through the terminal or Utility Device.

Do not expect PandaWorks Inventory items to appear in your player inventory.

That is the entire point of separate storage.

If you routed something to PandaWorks Inventory, check PandaWorks Inventory.

Contraband should usually be checked here first unless you manually moved it somewhere else.

A Category Is Not Looting

Check:

• Is looting enabled?
• Is the category enabled?
• Is the related source type enabled?
• Is the item actually part of that category?
• Is the item in range, if range applies?
• Is the location allowed?
• Is the item blocked by forced routing or validation rules?
• Is the item exposed to Papyrus/CK in a way PWAL can process?

Categories control what PWAL is allowed to loot.

Destinations do not matter if the category itself is disabled.

Some loot also depends on source support.

An item category can be enabled while the source type is still unsupported or disabled.

Yes, both things matter.

A Category Is Missing

Some older or separate categories may have been merged.

For example, several collectible-style misc categories may now be handled under Collectibles.

Some scanner, harvest, or space salvage behavior may also be grouped under broader framework settings instead of appearing as separate player-facing toggles.

That does not mean the category was forgotten.

It means the system was cleaned up.

Not every tiny item type needs its own menu goblin.

Resources Are Not Going Where Expected

Check whether you are dealing with:

• Inorganic resources
• Organic resources
• Manufactured resources
• Harvest resources
• Spell-harvest resources
• Nonlethal harvest resources
• Asteroid deposit resources
• Scanner-based resource pickups
• Space salvage resources

Some resource systems may use internal routing rules.

Extra harvest and spell-harvest variations should generally follow the main resource handling instead of acting like separate player-facing destination systems.

Asteroid deposit resources and other supported space salvage resources are intended to route into Player Ship Cargo.

If a resource does not route as expected, report the exact item name, source, and where it went.

Containers Are Not Looting

Check:

• Is container looting enabled?
• Are the item categories inside the container enabled?
• Is the container valid?
• Is the container in range?
• Is the container in a restricted location?
• Is the container owned or protected by game rules?

Container looting and item category looting are separate checks.

A container can be detected while some items inside it are still ignored.

Corpses Are Not Looting

Check:

• Is corpse looting enabled?
• Is the corpse valid?
• Is the corpse in range?
• Is the location allowed?
• Is the corpse using unusual actor or inventory behavior?
• Is the selected corpse loot destination available?

Corpses are not always the same as normal containers.

In the current release, corpse looting uses TakeAll on the corpse inventory.

That means corpse inventory is transferred as a whole.

Armor, weapons, ammo, credits, throwables, apparel, and other corpse inventory items are not filtered individually by category toggles in the current release.

All corpse loot goes to the selected corpse loot destination.

Filtered corpse looting is planned, but it is not available in the current version.

Bethesda corpse inventories can involve actor data, equipment behavior, race handling, and other engine swamp nonsense.

Harvestables Are Not Looting

Check:

• Is the harvest category enabled?
• Is the resource category enabled?
• Is the object actually a supported harvestable?
• Is it in range?
• Is the location allowed?
• Is the harvest object exposed in a way PWAL can process?

Some harvestables are activator-based.

Some activator-style pickups may need to go directly to the player.

That is not always configurable.

Scanner-Based Loot Is Not Working

Check:

• Is scanner-based loot support enabled, if separately configurable?
• Is the related item category enabled?
• Is the object actually a supported scanner-based loot source?
• Is the object in range, if range applies?
• Is the location allowed?
• Is the source exposed in a way PWAL can safely process?

Scanner-based loot sources are not always normal loose items.

Some behave like activators, harvestables, resource pickups, or other game-specific references.

If a scanner-based source does not loot, report the exact source name, location, and expected item.

Do not just say “scanner loot broken.”

That summons the support goblin.

Looting Is Slow

Check:

• Scan radius settings
• Number of enabled categories
• Number of nearby lootable objects
• Whether you are in a dense area
• Whether multiple destinations are being used
• Whether transfer/routing rules are doing extra work
• Whether space salvage or scanner-based systems are being tested at the same time

Higher radius means more work.

More enabled categories means more work.

Routing to multiple destinations can be slower than routing everything to one destination.

Do not max every setting and then act surprised when the engine starts wheezing like a dying accordion.

The Game Stutters When Looting

Try:

• Lowering scan radius
• Enabling fewer categories
• Testing in a smaller area
• Avoiding massive loot piles
• Routing fewer categories to different destinations
• Checking for other script-heavy mods
• Testing ground loot and space salvage separately

PWAL is built for performance, but Starfield still has limits.

The engine is not magic.

It is a haunted spreadsheet with lighting effects.

A Transfer Did Nothing

Check:

• Is the source container empty?
• Is the destination available?
• Is ship cargo available?
• Does the transfer only move certain item types?
• Are the items actually eligible for that transfer?
• Did the transfer complete but send items somewhere you did not check?

Transfer utilities move existing stored items.

They do not create items.

They do not loot nearby objects.

They do not move what is not there.

The Ship Transfer Did Nothing

Check:

• Do you have a valid home ship?
• Is ship cargo accessible?
• Is the source container empty?
• Are the items eligible for the transfer?
• Did the transfer fail safely?

Ship cargo depends on game state.

If the game does not expose a valid ship cargo reference, PWAL cannot use it.

Logging Is Too Noisy

If logging is enabled, PWAL may produce debug output.

Use logging when testing or reporting bugs.

Turn it off for normal play if you do not need it.

If you are reporting a bug, logs are useful.

If you are not reporting a bug, log spam is just the engine whispering threats.

Restricted Locations

Some locations may be restricted by settings.

Check location-related settings if PWAL does not loot in:

• Lodge
• Outposts
• Player homes
• Ships
• Cities
• Special interiors
• Other protected areas

If location rules block looting, PWAL is doing what the settings tell it to do.

The Mod Worked Before Updating

After updating:

• Exit the game completely.
• Replace old files with the new version.
• Make sure the plugin is enabled.
• Make sure scripts updated correctly.
• Load the game.
• Test the terminal.
• Test one small category.
• Test ground loot before testing space salvage.
• Test space salvage with one supported source at a time.

Do not hot-swap scripts mid-session and expect Papyrus to behave.

Papyrus remembers.

Papyrus always remembers.

Before Reporting A Bug

Include this information:

• PWAL version
• Starfield version
• Platform
• Mod manager used, if applicable
• Load order if relevant
• What you expected to happen
• What actually happened
• Which category was enabled
• Which source type was involved
• Which destination was selected
• Where you were in-game
• Whether this was ground loot, scanner-based loot, container loot, corpse loot, harvest loot, or space salvage
• Whether logging was enabled
• Any relevant log output
• Whether the issue happens on a small test case

For space salvage reports, also include:

• Whether it was asteroid deposits, space cargo, or hostile ship debris
• Whether the loot appeared in Player Ship Cargo
• Whether you had a valid home ship
• Whether you tested more than one salvage source

Do not report “it does not work” with no details.

That is not a bug report.

That is a distress signal from a fog machine.

Good Bug Report Example

Good:

“PWAL v1.1.2. Looting enabled. Junk category enabled. Junk destination set to PandaWorks Inventory. Tested in New Atlantis interior. Loose junk nearby did not move. PandaWorks Inventory checked. Logging enabled. No transfer message appeared.”

Good space salvage report:

“PWAL v1.1.2. Looting enabled. Space salvage enabled. Tested destroyed hostile ship debris after combat in orbit. Player has valid home ship. Checked Player Ship Cargo and salvage did not appear. Logging enabled. Asteroid deposits worked in the same session.”

Bad:

“Mod broken.”

One of these can be fixed.

The other gets thrown into the void.

Support

Support, bug reports, testing feedback, and general discussion are handled through the PandaWorks Discord.

https://discord.gg/aGJhkYb4

Summary

Most PWAL issues come down to settings, routing, source support, location rules, game state, or installation.

Check:

• Looting enabled
• Category enabled
• Source type supported
• Destination configured
• Destination available
• Location allowed
• Item supported
• Scripts installed
• Plugin enabled
• Valid home ship, if using ship cargo or space salvage

Supported space salvage routes into Player Ship Cargo.

Ground loot and space salvage do not always fail for the same reasons.

The panda usually does exactly what it was told.

Unfortunately, players do too.