BAR scavengers and ruin settings not resetting when someone else hosts

Scavenger games in Beyond All Reason should pull wrecked units from previous matches onto the battlefield. Sometimes the scav settings stick to weird values that no lobby host remembers choosing. If having someone else host produces different results, the problem lives in local config files, not the lobby itself.

Tags: scavengers, ruins, lobby settings, host settings, BAR troubleshooting

What scavengers do and why settings matter

Scavenger mode spawns dead units from earlier games as neutral wrecks on the map. Both teams can reclaim them for mass and energy. It is one of the most popular custom game modes because it changes economy planning from the opening minutes. Hosts adjust how many wrecks appear, what condition they are in, and how long they persist.

When those settings refuse to change back to defaults, every game you play starts with the wrong scav rules. Hosts get confused because they set the options correctly but the game uses old values anyway.

Why hosting changes the behavior

If you host and the scav settings look wrong, then someone else hosts and the settings are fine, the problem is stored locally on your machine. BAR keeps lobby configuration in files on your hard drive. Corrupted or stale entries in those files override the values you select in the lobby UI.

Some players report that reinstalling the game clears the issue. That works because a fresh install removes the old config files. But there is usually a faster fix that does not require a full reinstall.

How to fix stuck scav settings without reinstalling

First, try having another player host a scav game. If their lobby shows the correct settings, your local config is the culprit.

Check the BAR settings directory for configuration files related to lobby and game defaults. Look for entries about scavengers and ruins. If you find values that do not match what the lobby shows, edit or delete those lines. The game rebuilds defaults on next launch.

Some players also find that clearing their full settings folder and reconfiguring from scratch works faster than hunting individual lines. Back up the folder first in case something else you want in there gets lost.

If editing config files does not help, a clean reinstall remains the nuclear option. Make sure to delete the settings directory during that process, not just the game binaries.

Preventing this from happening again

The settings corruption usually happens after playing many custom games with heavily modified rules. Each time a host changes scav parameters, a local copy gets saved. Over dozens of games, those files accumulate stale entries. Resetting them periodically keeps things clean.

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When to get help

If the scav settings issue persists after a clean reinstall, bring the problem to the BAR community forums or Discord support channels. Include details about what you tried and what the lobby shows. Other players with the same problem may have found fixes that do not appear in the main documentation.

Creed of Champions runs regular custom game nights with clean lobby setups. Joining those sessions means someone experienced handles the hosting and configuration every time. Less tinkering, more playing.