Removal of --disable-shutdown-check breaks automated background workflows

[Shpadoinkle69]

Operating System Info

Windows 11

Other OS

No response

OBS Studio Version

32.0.0

OBS Studio Version (Other)

No response

OBS Studio Log URL

https://obsproject.com/logs/JlfFFjMDF7WYfiG2

OBS Studio Crash Log URL

No response

Expected Behavior

When OBS is launched automatically at login via a shortcut in shell:startup with flags such as:

"C:\Program Files\obs-studio\bin\64bit\obs64.exe" --disable-crash-handler --disable-shutdown-check

I expect OBS to start minimized and run silently in the background without showing any “didn’t shut down properly” / Safe Mode popup. This allows OBS to function as a headless/background audio processor (filters → VB-Cable) without any manual interaction after reboot.

Current Behavior

After updating to OBS 32.0.0 (and later), the Safe Mode / crash popup appears on every restart even when OBS is launched with the above flags. The --disable-shutdown-check flag appears to be removed/ignored in the new version, so OBS always complains that it didn’t shut down properly and blocks the intended hands-off startup. This prevents automated background workflows (OBS running as an audio processor) from working, because OBS must be manually dismissed before it will run minimized and route audio.

Steps to Reproduce

1. On Windows, create a shortcut to OBS (obs64.exe) and set its Target to: "C:\Program Files\obs-studio\bin\64bit\obs64.exe" --disable-crash-handler --disable-shutdown-check

2. Place that shortcut in the shell:startup folder so OBS launches at login.

3. Configure OBS to process your microphone (apply filters) and output to a virtual cable (e.g., VB-Cable) so other apps use the processed mic as their input.

4. Reboot the machine (or restart while OBS is running).

5. On login, observe that OBS shows the Safe Mode / crash popup and does not run silently in the background unless the popup is manually dismissed.

Observed result: Safe Mode / crash popup appears every boot, blocking automatic startup.

Anything else we should know?

This behavior did not occur in the 31.x series. Reverting to OBS 31.1.2 restores the previous behavior where the --disable-shutdown-check flag allowed unobtrusive background startup.

Downgrading to 31.1.2 fixes the issue for me.

Use case: I run OBS as a headless/background audio processor (microphone filters and monitor) and route the output to a virtual audio cable (VB-Cable) so games/Discord receive the processed mic. This must be fully automated — on every login — without user interaction. The removal/ignoring of the shutdown-check flag breaks that workflow.

[Fenrirthviti]

The flag was removed in OBS 32.0. We recommend fixing the issue causing OBS to uncleanly shutdown, or using our forums or Discord for further assistance with your automations.

Thank you!

[L4cache]

A unclean shutdown doesn't necessarily mean there's an issue that can be fixed by the user, nor does it mean subsequent launches will certainly crash (thus needs safe mode), please don't just take that away.
Does having this flag in the program cause any burden for the development or maintenance? I can't imagine.

[Fenrirthviti]

Yes, it does. It erodes the trust of the application by accepting that crashes are a normal expectation of using OBS. We'd prefer that these issues are reported and fixed, rather than silently ignored until something catastrophic happens, and we have to hear about how OBS deleted all their data.

Removing the flag has already had the intended effect, as we've had constructive conversations about several before unreported issues/crashes on shutdown that users were explicitly ignoring and not reporting to us.

If we fix even just one of those issues (work for which is already underway) because of the removal of this flag, I consider that enough to confirm we made the right decision.

[xamspanda]

I also use OBS as a silent background process, mainly as a ShadowPlay replacement via the replay buffer, and often shut down without stopping OBS. With 32.0.0 removing --disable-shutdown-check, every reboot now triggers the Safe Mode prompt and blocks automation.

I understand that this thread is marked "not planned" so I'm not asking to bring back the flag. But it would be helpful to have an official way to indicate a managed shutdown. Right now, the best option is scripting against obs-websocket to stop the replay buffer before exit, but there's no documented way to request OBS to shut down cleanly, and OS-level termination still trips the unclean sentinel.

Is there any openness to adding:

• an RPC that stops outputs and exits OBS while marking the session clean, or
• a launch flag to skip Safe Mode only if the previous session exited via that RPC?

This would preserve the intent of Safe Mode for real crashes while making OBS viable again as a persistent, headless background process.

[Fenrirthviti]

it's not as though we haven't attempted to get Windows shutdown to correctly work with OBS by having WM_QUERYENDSESSION return false:
#9927
#9928
#10132

I will quote another project member here, we've been discussing and investigating this since the start of beta. We're working on it, I promise. :)

[klNuno]

Same issue, me and my friends are using OBS as a replacement for ShadowPlay as well, and the removal of --disable-shutdown-check breaks startup automation.

While I understand the importance of Safe Mode, and that the flag will not probably be added back, this also means that whenever the system gets shut down in a different way, we will still get the OBS crash popup.

Please reconsider a way for us to enjoy a life without popups after signing in 🙏

[MinaPoppins]

I also use it as a replacement for ShadowPlay, please add some way to add this functionality back

[Warchamp7]

The scenarios where this dialog was showing up as a nuisance rather than helping identify problems, should hopefully be addressed by my fixes in #12668

[xamspanda]

@Warchamp7 I downloaded the Windows x64 artifact from #12668 and tested signing out/shutting down with the replay buffer active, and no crash dialog popped up after signing in! Additionally, the crash dialog still shows up as expected when killing the process with task manager.

Thank you very much!

[Lordmau5]

I'm gonna chime in as well - so far over several reboots (with and without safe mode / plugins) I've not been seeing the crash dialog on both of my PCs with that artifact (Dual PC setup)

I'll definitely be keeping an eye out and hope it'll make it into one of the 32.0 subversions :)

[angelkurisu]

While fixing the windows shutdown bug is good, pretending that OBS will never shutdown unexpectedly (either via a legitimate bug, an unexpected power outage) is frankly silly. This command line option was and is necessary.

[iandol]

We have been using OBS on Linux as a headless background data streamer for a neuroscience project (try to use open source where possible) with many remote systems that are not easy to access, and remote control via systemd was working before 32. We need to have silent restart be utterly reliable and this is now broken on Linux. We will just roll back to the older OBS for the moment, which seems counterproductive to a desire for continued improvement, while we look for a service we can use that allows for robust background use. I understand you want to expose potential problems, but it is still a legitimate point that an end user benefits from flags to bypass technical issues that are tangential or irrelevant to their usecase.