Debugger freezes

Questions
1

Im having an issue where whenever I build my project it loads I can see the scene but then freezes on that frame all in very quick succession I know its not the code because my friend on an identical computer had no issue this issue is new as well as it used to work I am on a silicon Mac if it helps

2

In the title you write “Debugger freezes” but this does not have anything to do with the Lua code debugger right? I assume you are referring to your game when running it using Project->Build or Debug->Start/Attach?

  • Which version of Defold are you using?
  • Are there any errors in the editor console log?
  • Is it the same with all projects or just one?
3

I am using the most recent version of defold as ive deleted and reinstalled the app to no avail

No there is no errors in the console it just freezes and I get the spinning wheel of death as my cursor is also have to force quite the debugger as it fails to respond

Yes I has this issue with all codes I tried using the pixel line game and it also froze

4

Which OS are you using? Could it be antivirus or something blocking?

Does Project->Build HTML5 work?

No there is no errors in the console it just freezes

Is there any output at all?

5

Im using mac os

Building an html5 does work with no issues

Yes the debugger opens and appears full loaded but the freezes

6

And you are saying it happens even with a completely empty project?

Which version? Please share a screenshot of “About this Mac”

Can you please also share a screenshot of Help->About in Defold.

7

Yes it even happens in a empty project

20260610_100749
20260610_1007491920×2560 1.54 MB

20260610_100811
20260610_1008111920×2560 1.72 MB

8

I noticed the text “… District School Board” in one screenshot. Do you happen to have some security software installed that may prevent the engine from starting?

Next thing to try:

  • Do Project - Bundle - macOS and create an application bundle in Downloads
  • Make sure you bundle a debug version
  • Open a terminal and change directory to where the application bundle was created
  • If you did not change project name in game.project then it is likely that the file will be named unnamed.app
  • Type ./unnamed.app/Contents/MacOS/dmengine and hit enter
  • This should attempt to run the game
  • Share the output from the terminal here please
9

Im not quite sure how to do that i did run the bundled game but it did not work if you could explain it to me that would be awesome

10

Ok I got the bundled project to work still not sure about changing the directory

11

Open the Terminal app and

  • type cd and drag drop the folder(where bundled app file located) to the terminal so it will became cd /your_project/bundle_folder/, press enter
  • Type ./unnamed.app/Contents/MacOS/dmengine and hit enter

(Check app name in this folder, it might be different → unnamed.app)

1 Like
12

Also, this is very important. You probably have something on that Mac that might be blocking the debugging port.

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13
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14

You can also from Finder right click on the app and select “New Terminal at Folder”:

CleanShot 2026-06-11 at 18.14.20@2x
CleanShot 2026-06-11 at 18.14.20@2x731×1041 132 KB

Next step you type what me and Selim suggested, and hit enter:

CleanShot 2026-06-11 at 18.15.48@2x
CleanShot 2026-06-11 at 18.15.48@2x1158×761 57.7 KB

You should then hopefully get some output, like this:

 [√] ~/Downloads/arm64-macos/unnamed.app > ./Contents/MacOS/unnamed 
INFO:DLIB: Log server started on port 62279
INFO:ENGINE: Target listening with name: mac.lan - 192.168.86.27 - Darwin
INFO:ENGINE: Engine service started on port 8001
INFO:GRAPHICS: Installed graphics device 'ADAPTER_FAMILY_VULKAN'
INFO:ENGINE: Defold Engine 1.12.2 (e43be33)
INFO:PROFILER: Initialized Remotery (ws://127.0.0.1:17815/rmt)
INFO:GRAPHICS: Vulkan device selected: Apple M3 Pro
INFO:ENGINE: Loading data from: archive:/Users/bjornritzl/Downloads/arm64-macos/unnamed.app/Contents/Resources/game.dmanifest
INFO:LIVEUPDATE: Found no legacy liveupdate zip file references
INFO:LIVEUPDATE: Found no legacy liveupdate index paths
INFO:SOUND:   DSP backend: Fallback
INFO:SOUND: Sound
INFO:SOUND:   nSamplesPerSec:   48000
INFO:SOUND:        useThread:   1
INFO:ENGINE: Initialised sound device 'default'

Copy all of it: Edit → Select All then Edit → Copy and paste it here.

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15

17812744307423920825537947580047
178127443074239208255379475800471920×1440 1.44 MB
Sorry im just Sending a picture as I dont want to log into a personal account on a school computer I tried multiple times under different names just incase

About the point with anti-virus and such from the school it should have any effect as my friend has no issues on the same type of computer on the same connection

16

Not /MacO/ → /MacOS/
Case matters: Not /contents/ but /Contents/.

type ls if you want to see the content of this folder.

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