Hosting Issues

Running into problems while hosting a session? This page covers the most common issues hosts experience, from session creation to in-game controls.

Session Won’t Start

If you’re unable to start a new session, check the following:

1. Make sure you have enough credits — Starting a session requires credits. Check your balance at Dashboard > Billing > Credits.
2. Make sure your trivia has at least one question — You can’t start a session with an empty trivia. Add questions first in the trivia editor.
3. Check your internet connection — A stable connection is needed to create and manage sessions.

[!TIP] If you’re planning to host a session at a live event, verify your credit balance and test your trivia beforehand. This way you won’t run into any surprises when it’s game time.

Players Can’t Join

If players are reporting errors when trying to join your session:

1. Confirm the PIN — Make sure you’re sharing the correct 6-digit PIN displayed on your host screen. Read it out loud or display it clearly.
2. Check the session phase — Players can only join during the lobby phase. If the game has already started, new players can only join if “Allow Late Joiners” is enabled.
3. Enable late joining — If the game is in progress, make sure the “Allow Late Joiners” setting is turned on in your session options.
4. Check the player limit — If you’ve set a maximum player count and it’s been reached, new players will be blocked. Increase the limit in your session settings.

For a full reference of join-related error messages and what they mean for your players, see Problems Joining a Game.

”Trivia invalid or belongs to another user”

This error means the trivia you’re trying to use isn’t available for your account:

• You can only host sessions using trivia that you created
• The trivia may have been deleted or archived — check your trivia list in the dashboard
• Try refreshing your trivia list to make sure it’s up to date

If you recently created the trivia and it’s not showing up, try refreshing the page or logging out and back in.

Session Was Automatically Cancelled

TriviaNow has inactivity timeouts to keep things running smoothly and free up server resources. Sessions may be automatically cancelled if they sit idle for too long:

Additionally, if all players and the host disconnect, the session may be cleaned up by the server.

What to do:

• Start a new session to play again
• If you’re taking a break, keep at least one device connected to prevent the timeout
• During longer pauses, consider using the pause feature (though it still has a timeout)

[!NOTE] Inactivity timeouts exist to ensure fair resource usage. If you need longer sessions for special events, keep the game active or stay connected during breaks.

Host Controls Not Appearing

If you don’t see the host control bar during a session:

• The host control bar only appears if you joined as “Host” or “Host & Play”
• If you joined as a regular player, you won’t have host controls — even if you’re the account that created the session
• Only the session creator can be the host

If you accidentally joined your own session as a player instead of a host, you’ll need to leave and rejoin in the correct role.

”Cannot update session” or “Forbidden”

These errors indicate that the change you’re trying to make isn’t allowed:

• The session may be in a state that prevents changes — For example, you can’t modify certain settings once a session has started
• You can only modify sessions you created — If you’re not the session owner, you won’t have permission to make changes
• The trivia may be locked — If the underlying trivia was changed while a session is active, some operations may be restricted

Try refreshing the page. If the issue persists, you may need to end the current session and start a new one with the desired settings.

Other Hosting Issues

The leaderboard isn’t showing all players

• Players who joined but never answered a question may not appear on the leaderboard
• Check that all players are connected — disconnected players may not update in real time
• See Leaderboards for more details

I can’t skip or advance to the next question

• Make sure the current question’s timer has finished or you’ve manually ended it
• Check that you’re using the host controls (not the player view)

The session ended unexpectedly

• Check if the session timed out due to inactivity (see timeouts above)
• Your internet connection may have dropped — see Connection Issues
• If the issue repeats, contact support with your session details

[!NOTE] Still stuck? Chat with Archie, our AI assistant, on the TriviaNow website , or contact our support team directly.