Dirty Business Controls Troubleshooting — July 2026 | Dirty Business Wiki

When prompts disappear, crates float, or co-op partners watch you walk through walls, the problem is often controls or network state—not your grow weed strategy. This troubleshooting guide collects common Dirty Business input issues during Early Access, ordered from quick fixes to deeper steps. Start with the controls overview and keybinds to confirm defaults before assuming a bug.

Quick Checklist (Try First)

1. Pause and resume — Clears soft-locked interact states
2. Press F8 unstuck — Added in patch v0.1.1; frees you from collision traps
3. Empty hands — Drop carried items; many machines reject busy hands
4. Verify keybinds — Patches reset settings; see keybinds page
5. Restart session — Host reload fixes many co-op desyncs per co-op guide
6. Read patch notes — Updates may document known issues

If five minutes of checks fail, continue below.

Interact Prompt Missing

Symptoms: No “Press E” at terminals, doors, or benches.

Causes and fixes:

• Standing off-center from interact volume — circle the object
• Partner already using station in co-op — wait or swap roles
• Power outage in room — restore power via upgrade base generators
• Quest gate — campaign may lock terminal until walkthrough step completes
• Stuck carry animation — open inventory, drop all, jump once

Weapon benches from manufacture weapons are strict about stage order; wrong stage looks like broken interact but is actually progression.

Stuck Inventory or Carry State

Symptoms: Invisible crate, cannot sprint, UI thinks you carry item.

Fix path:

1. Interact with empty storage to force deposit
2. Open inventory and drop item
3. Leave and re-enter room
4. Reload save

If disposal bins caused stuck state during evidence disposal, verify bin not full and accept list includes item type.

Co-op Desync and Input Lag

Symptoms: Actions delay, crates duplicate, partners see different world states.

Fix path:

• Host uses wired connection; guests restart Steam
• Reduce simultaneous machine interactions—one player per bench during rush
• Lower graphics settings on host to stabilize simulation tick rate
• Avoid rapid save-scumming while guests connected

Assign disposal and staging roles from co-op to reduce physics contention in tight halls.

FPS Drops and Input Feel

Low FPS makes timing-based production feel broken. Mitigations:

• Lower shadow and crowd settings
• Cap workers actively pathing during peak production; revisit hire workers assignments
• Split co-op across wings instead of one crowded grow room

Input lag from V-Sync or frame cap—try borderless window and disable extra overlays.

Keybind and Steam Input Conflicts

Steam Input profiles can override E and Tab. Disable per-game controller configuration if you play keyboard-only. Dual software—RGB suites, macro tools—sometimes steals keys.

Document working binds after fix for squad consistency.

Crashes When Opening Menus or Map

Update GPU drivers. Verify game files through Steam. Remove outdated mods if any exist—Early Access may not support mod stacks.

Check updates for hotfix builds addressing UI crashes.

Order Terminal and Delivery Bugs

Accepted job not tracking? Delivered crate not registering?

• Confirm correct product tier at staging per complete orders
• Re-interact drop-off marker from different angle
• Host completes delivery if guest triggers fail—known co-op edge case in some builds

Demo vs Full Game Issues

Demo saves do not transfer; demo-specific bugs may already be fixed in full Early Access. Re-test in full game before reporting duplicate tickets.

Demo teaches fourteen levels of fundamentals—use beginner guide when migrating.

When to Report a Bug

Gather before posting:

• Game version from main menu or Steam build ID
• Solo or co-op, host or guest
• Room and machine involved
• Steps to reproduce
• Screenshot of missing prompt

Use official Discord from the game page or forums linked via tools hub.

Preventive Habits

• Test binds after every patch
• One disposal sweep before long sessions—prevents physics pile crashes
• Do not block doorways with placed production props
• Save before large upgrade base layout demolitions

Still Broken?

Reinstall only after verify-files fails. Compare notes on review and community threads for widespread vs isolated issues.

Most control problems in Dirty Business are state bugs, not permanent defects. Reset hands, reset session, reset binds—then get back to business.