A build runs in stages: the settings sheet checks your inputs, DFS Hero starts the build, the optimizer produces lineups, and the pool lands in the lineups panel. Find the message you see under the stage it belongs to. Every message is quoted exactly, followed by the cause and the fix. For messages about entries, fills, and exports see Entries errors.
Before the build starts
These messages appear in the Build Settings sheet or as a toast when you click Build, Simulate, or Rebuild. Nothing has been built yet.
"Pool too small. {count}/{rosterSize} roster slots. Reset exclusions in the Pool menu." : you excluded so many players that fewer remain than the roster needs. Open the Player Pool filters and click All players (reset), or add players back. See Lock, exclude, and filter players.
"Pool too small to build. {n} players in pool, {rosterSize} roster slots needed. Reset your exclusions in the Pool menu." : the same cause, shown as a toast. Same fix.
"Loading your plan limits." : the sheet has not yet read your plan. If it stays for more than a few seconds, reload the page.
"Scheduling requires a Power subscription." : a lead time is selected on an account without Power, or on a paused subscription. Pick Now, or upgrade or resume under Settings. See Schedule a cloud build.
"Min Unique Players is set higher than this slate's default, which slows the solver more with every lineup. A {N}-lineup build could take about {time} to finish. Lower Min Unique Players, or lower the lineup count, to build faster." : a warning, not a block. Lower Min Unique Players on the Basic tab or lower the lineup count. See Basic tab.
"Smart Randomness turned on" with "Randomness Off builds up to 500 lineups." : you entered a lineup count above 500 while Smart Randomness was off and Manual Randomness was 0, or you set Manual Randomness to 0 with more than 500 lineups. The switch turned on, and the build uses Smart Randomness at the selected tier. For an exact build, set the count to 500 or fewer and turn Smart Randomness off. See Randomness.
"Randomness Off builds up to 500 lineups" with "Set a Manual Randomness value, or {N} lineups use Smart Randomness." : you turned Smart Randomness off with a lineup count above 500, and Manual Randomness is 0 (or rounds to 0 after Divide Between Players). Set a Manual Randomness value, or set the count to 500 or fewer. If you build without a change, the build uses Smart Randomness at the selected tier and shows "Due to speed and the level of constraints, we've automatically turned on Smart Randomness for this build."
"Min salary is greater than max salary" : the lower Salary Range field is above the upper one. Fix either field.
"Min ownership is greater than max ownership" or "Min projection is greater than max projection" : the two constraint fields cross. Fix either field.
"Building isn't supported for this sport/site yet." or "Building isn't supported for {SPORT} on this site/mode yet." : the sport, site, and format combination has no builder. Open a supported slate. See Supported sports and sites.
"Replaces your current lineups. This can't be undone." : the warning above Rebuild. A rebuild also clears the tab's sim results. Add a new build tab first if you want to keep the current pool.
"One team's roster hasn't loaded yet on {site}. The build runs on what's available now." or "{Team}'s roster is still filling in on {site}. The build runs on what's available now." : a showdown slate where the site published one team before the other. Rebuild once both teams show in the Player Pool.
"Couldn't apply your lock on {name}. The build will run without it." or "Couldn't apply your locks on {names}. The build will run without them." : the locked player is out, has no salary or projection, plays in a postponed game, or is excluded. On a showdown slate, a lock on a CPT or MVP row also drops when the player's base row is not in the pool. The build runs without the lock, and an out player stays out. To keep the lock on an excluded player, include the player again. To keep it on a player with no projection, give the player a My Proj value. Then rebuild. For every other cause, unlock the player.
"Couldn't apply your exposure setting on {name}. The build will run without it." or "Couldn't apply your exposure settings on {names}. The build will run without them." : a Min Exp or Max Exp on a CPT or MVP row of a showdown slate did not match a base row for that player. The build makes each captain row from its base row, so it runs without the setting. Set it again and rebuild.
"Couldn't start the build" with "Only one player can be locked into the captain slot. Unlock the others and build again." : on a showdown slate, you locked two or more CPT or MVP rows. A lineup has one captain slot. Keep one captain lock and build again. See Lock, exclude, and filter players.
"Couldn't start the build" with "{name} is locked into the captain slot and into another slot. A player can fill only one slot, so unlock one of the two and build again." : on a showdown slate, you locked both rows of one player, the CPT or MVP row and the base row. A player fills one slot in a lineup. Unlock one of the two rows and build again.
"Couldn't start the build" with "A lineup on this slate needs players from at least 2 games, and your pool has players from only 1 game. Add players from another game to your pool, then rebuild." : DraftKings classic NFL, CFB, NBA, CBB, WNBA, and MLB lineups need players from at least 2 games, and DraftKings rejects a lineup from one game on upload. Your pool holds players from one game only, so the build does not start. Your exclusions, a Max Exp of 0, or a missing projection can remove every other game. Add players from another game back to the pool, or give them a My Proj value, then build again. A playbook run in the browser stops at the same message.
The lineup count and the plan cap
Essential builds up to 500 lineups per build. Power builds up to 10,000. A new build tab starts at your plan's cap.
A typed count rewrites itself to 500 or 10,000 : the count control clamps any number above your plan's cap. Run more build tabs when you need more lineups. See Pool size and lineup count.
"Couldn't start the build" with "This build requests {n} lineups, but your plan supports up to {m} per build. Upgrade to Power for a higher per-build cap." : lower the count, or upgrade under Settings. See Manage your subscription.
"Couldn't start the build" with "You already have {n} server builds running. Wait for one to finish, then try again." : Essential runs 2 builds at once and Power runs 4. Wait for a running build to land.
"Another build is running" with "This build starts as soon as the current one finishes." : one build runs per browser at a time. The new build is queued and starts by itself.
"This playbook has a scheduled run, and the new lineup count is over your build limit. Cancel the scheduled run or lower the count." : cancel the run in Scheduled builds or lower Lineups per run.
"Can't be ready by then at this lineup count" : the estimate does not fit before that lead time. Lower the count or pick a shorter lead.
The build could not start
"Couldn't start the build" with "Try again in a moment." : the build did not start after several automatic tries. Click Build again. If it repeats, lower the count.
"Couldn't start the build" with "The build settings were rejected. Check your contest values and player locks, then build again." : the build request failed its input checks, for example because of a contest value that cannot form payouts. The same settings fail the same way every time. Check the contest values and your locks, then build again. If it repeats, see Contact support.
"Couldn't start the build" with "Builds aren't available right now. Try again shortly." : the build service did not answer. Wait a minute and try again. If it keeps failing, see Contact support.
"This app needs to be refreshed to continue" with "Please reload the page." : DFS Hero shipped an update while this tab was open. Reload the page and click Build again.
"Builds can run faster in Brave" with "Brave Shields hides your device's real speed from this site. Allow this site in Shields to build up to 3x faster." : not an error. Allow the site in Shields for faster builds, or dismiss it.
"Failed to schedule build." or "Failed to start server build." : the request did not reach DFS Hero. Check your connection and try again.
"A server build is already in progress for this tab." : wait for it to finish.
"Player pool is empty. Reset your exclusions in the Pool menu." : a Playbook run with every player excluded. Reset the exclusions and run again. See Run a playbook in the browser.
"This playbook needs reconfiguration before it can run" : the Playbook's stored settings could not be read. Open it in the library, set the stages, save, and run again.
While the build runs
The loader's lineup count is the earliest sign of an over-constrained build. A count that stops rising for a long time means your rules leave few valid lineups. These progress states need action:
"Still building · {n} combinations checked" : the optimizer is checking many combinations without accepting a new lineup. Let it run, or cancel the build and loosen the rules.
"This build is taking longer than usual" : the build moved to a faster path and continues. Nothing to do.
"Build cancelled. {n} lineups preserved" : the lineups accepted before the cancel stay in the pool. Use them or rebuild.
"Lineups kept on this device only" with "Cloud sync failed. This pool won't appear on other devices." : a cancelled build's partial pool could not be saved to your account. Rebuild to get a pool that follows your account.
No lineups: the settings cannot be satisfied
An infeasible build stops at once with the toast title "Couldn't build lineups" and one of five descriptions. DFS Hero never retries an infeasible build, because the same settings give the same answer.
"No players available for the "{slot}" slot. Add an eligible player back to your pool, or loosen your projection/ownership filters, then rebuild." : every player for that roster slot is excluded, filtered out by Min Player Projection or the ownership constraints, or locked elsewhere. Add a player for the slot back, or widen the constraints on the Basic tab.
"Your per-game rule for "{game}" needs more players than your pool has from that game. It may be from another slate's settings. Turn off or edit the Team/Game Min-Max rule, then rebuild." : an Individual Games minimum on the Min/Max tab asks for more players than the pool holds from that game. Turn the rule off or lower it. See Min/Max tab.
"Your per-team rule for "{team}" needs more players than your pool has from that team. Turn off or edit the Team/Game Min-Max rule, or widen your pool, then rebuild." : the same for an Individual Teams minimum. Turn it off, lower it, or add the team's players back.
"A lineup on this slate needs players from at least 2 games, and your pool has players from only 1 game. Add players from another game to your pool, then rebuild." : the 2-game rule under "Before the build starts", found after the build started. Min Player Projection or Min Player Ownership on the Basic tab removed every player from the other games. Lower the floor, or set it to 0, then rebuild. See Basic tab. A cloud build shows the same sentence in its Mission Report, and a Replay shows it on the skipped slate's row.
"Couldn't build a valid lineup with these settings. Your locks, filters, stacks, or salary range may be too strict for this slate. Loosen them and rebuild." : every other impossible combination: locks that exceed the salary cap, a stack larger than the per-team maximum, a salary window with no lineup in it, or two rules that cannot both hold. Remove the last setting you changed and rebuild. If the build still fails, click Reset all in the sheet header and add settings back one at a time. See Stacks tab and Group rules.
Fewer lineups than asked
The toast title is always "Built {produced} of {count} lineups". The pool you got is complete and usable. The description names the cause.
"No more lineups satisfy the rules. Loosen a lock, a stack rule, an exposure cap, uniqueness, or your salary range to build more." : a Randomness Off build proved that no other lineup fits your settings. Loosen one of the named settings, or turn on Smart Randomness. See Randomness.
"This Randomness Off build ran out of time after {built} lineups. Each one is an exact top lineup your rules allow. For a full build, lower the lineup count, loosen a rule, or turn on Smart Randomness." : a Randomness Off build ran out of time before it built every lineup, and it kept the lineups it built. They are the first lineups the full build returns, in the same order. A lower count, fewer rules, or Smart Randomness lets the build finish. A cloud build shows the same sentence in its Mission Report, a playbook run shows it in its run notes, and a Replay shows it on the slate's row.
"The pool ran out of unique lineups at your current Manual Randomness %. Raise the Manual Randomness % to build more, or loosen exposure caps, uniqueness, or your salary range." : raise the randomness, or loosen the caps.
"The pool ran out of unique lineups under these settings. Try loosening exposure caps, uniqueness, or your salary range. You can also add more players to your pool." : lower Min Unique Players, raise Max Exposure %, widen the salary range, or reduce excluded players.
"Your rules ruled out most lineups before they could be built. Relax your locks, groups, or stacking rules to build more." : loosen one rule and rebuild.
"Asking each lineup to differ this much used up the combinations available. Lower how different lineups must be to build more." : lower Min Unique Players.
"Your player and team limits ran out of room. Every remaining lineup would break one. Raise a few max exposure limits to build more." : raise Max Exposure % or a few per-player Max Exp values. See Exposure tab.
"Your rules leave very few valid lineups, so each new one takes a long time to find. Try relaxing your locks, groups, or stacking rules." : the build ran out of time under tight rules. Loosen a rule.
"Asking each lineup to differ by this many players runs out of options fast. Lower how different lineups must be to build more." : the build ran out of time under a high Min Unique Players. Lower it.
"Your player limits ran out of room, so each new lineup takes a long time to find. Raise a few max exposure limits to build more." : the build ran out of time under tight exposure caps. Raise a few caps.
"This build ran out of time before reaching the full count. The lineups above are ready to use." : lower the count, or rebuild with looser settings.
"The build stopped before reaching your target. The lineups above are ready to use. Run it again to try for more." : run it again.
"Some Quick Stacks fell short. Your locks, exposure caps, or player pool left too few lineups for some Quick Stack shapes. {combination}: built {n} of {planned}." at the end of the description : a Quick Stack combination on the Stacks tab ran out of lineups that fit your other rules before it reached its Weight share, for example "5-3: built 90 of 150". No other row takes its share, so the build returns fewer lineups. Move some Weight from that combination to another row, or loosen the rules that limit it: its Teams, a lock, an exposure cap, or your salary range. See Stacks tab.
A full pool with a warning
The pool is complete. The toast turns orange and keeps its title, "Built {n} lineups" or "Simulated {n} lineups", and the warning is its description. A short build shows the same warnings after its cause, under the title "Built {produced} of {count} lineups".
"Exposure floors not fully met. The build couldn't reach the minimum exposure you set for {names}. Try lowering the floor or loosening other constraints." : a Min Exp floor was too high for the rules around it. For four or more players the sentence reads "The build couldn't reach the minimum exposure floors for {N} players. Try lowering the floors or loosening other constraints." Lower the floor or relax stacks, groups, or salary. See Player exposure limits.
"A stack rule did not apply. No player from these teams is in the pool: {rule} ({teams}). The build ran without that rule." or "Some stack rules did not apply. No player from these teams is in the pool: {rules}. The build ran without those rules." : no team that a Team Stack, Position Stack, or Quick Stack rule names has a player in this build's pool, often because the rule came from another slate. Edit the rule's teams or uncheck it on the Stacks tab, then rebuild. The same sentence follows "Build cancelled. {n} lineups preserved" when you cancel a build. See Stacks tab.
"Your Min Player Projection of {value} left too few players for this slate, so this build ignored it." : the floor left fewer players than one lineup needs, so the build put back every player it removed and the floor had no effect. On most showdown slates every seat takes any player, so a high floor does this. Lower Min Player Projection on the Basic tab until it leaves enough players, or set it to 0. The message names Min Player Ownership when that floor is the cause, and both floors when both are. See Basic tab.
"Your Min Player Projection of {value} left too few players for the {slot} seat, so this build ignored it for that seat." : the floor left too few players for one roster seat. The build put back the players for that seat and applied the floor to the other seats. Lower the floor if you want it to apply everywhere.
A cloud build shows the same sentence in its Mission Report, and a Replay shows it on the slate's row. The warning names only a floor you typed. An automatic floor that does not apply gives no warning.
The build failed
"Build failed" with "Something went wrong while building. Check your connection and try again. If this keeps happening, contact support." : click Build again. If it repeats, see Contact support and include the slate, the count, and the time.
"Build failed" with "The build didn't finish. Try again, or lower the lineup count." : try again with a lower count.
"Build failed" with "The build ran out of time. Try again, or lower the lineup count." : the build passed the time limit. Lower the count, or loosen a rule, and build again.
"Build failed" with "This Randomness Off build ran out of time. Lower the lineup count, loosen a rule, or turn on Smart Randomness, then rebuild." : an exact build did not finish in time. A lower count or fewer rules makes each exact lineup faster to prove.
"Build failed" with "Exact build stopped: a lineup could not be proven the best in time. Lower the lineup count, loosen a rule, or turn on Smart Randomness, then rebuild." : the first lineup of an exact build could not be proven the best one within its time limit, so the build had no lineup to keep. Same fixes. When this happens after the build has lineups, the build keeps them and shows the "ran out of time after {built} lineups" message above.
"Build failed" with "Exact build stopped: the exact solver could not load. Build again in a minute." : the solver for an exact build did not start. Your settings did not cause it. Wait a minute, then click Build again.
"Build failed" with "Exact build stopped: the solver returned a lineup with {found} of {size} players. Turn on Smart Randomness, then build again." : the solver returned a lineup that does not fill the roster. This is a fault in the exact build, and the same settings stop at the same lineup every time. Turn on Smart Randomness, then click Build again. If you can, report it through Contact support with the slate and the count.
"Build failed" with "Exact build stopped: the solver returned lineup {number} as a copy of an earlier lineup. Turn on Smart Randomness, then build again." : the solver returned a lineup the build already has. Same cause and same fix.
"Build failed" with "This build was interrupted before it finished and can't be resumed. Re-run the build." : the page closed or the connection dropped mid-build. Click Build again.
The pool did not save or load on this device
The pool is stored with your account, and this device keeps a working copy. The first message below concerns the account copy. The others concern the working copy on this device, usually because the device is out of storage.
"Lineups saved locally. Remote sync failed." with "Your lineups are available on this device." : the build finished, but its pool did not save to your account after several tries. The lineups work on this device, and other devices do not show this pool. Rebuild to get a pool that follows your account.
"Couldn't save this pool to your device" with "Trying to fetch it back from the server." : DFS Hero fetches the pool again. Wait for the next toast.
"Pool restored" with "{n} lineups reloaded." : the fetch worked. Nothing to fix.
"This pool isn't saved on this device" with "The server copy isn't ready yet. Your device may also be out of storage. Free some space and rebuild." : free storage space on the device, then rebuild.
"Couldn't reload this pool" with "Free some storage space and rebuild, or reload the page to try again." : free space, then reload.
"Couldn't save this build's lineups to your device" with "Reloading them from the cloud." : wait for the reload.
"Couldn't reload this build's lineups" with "Free some storage space, then reload the page." : free space, then reload.
"Couldn't load this build's lineups" with "The lineups for this build are missing from cloud storage. Re-run the build to restore them." : rebuild on the same tab.
"Could not read this build's lineups" with "Exposures show as 0% until the read succeeds." : press Try again on the message. Entries Preview also says it did not load, and Fill waits until the read succeeds.
"Restoring this build's lineups..." : not an error. The lineups are loading onto this device. A large build takes several seconds.
"Preparing your lineup storage." then "One-time lineup storage upgrade: {pct}%. Your lineups will load when it finishes." : a one-time upgrade after an app update. Wait for "Lineup storage upgrade complete."
Cloud and scheduled builds
"Build complete. Loading your lineups..." : the scheduled run for this tab finished. The lineups load now.
"Scheduled build complete. Open it from the build tabs." : the run landed in a new build tab. Click it in the toolbar.
"Cloud build failed." or a named error : open the Mission Report from the slate in the Day View, read the Error block, fix the cause, and schedule again. See Scheduled builds.
"The scheduled build is no longer running." : the run this tab was waiting on was cancelled or removed. Schedule again.
"The build finished but its record could not be saved, the build tab would not appear. Re-run the build." : schedule the build again.
"An active subscription is required to run cloud builds. Resubscribe to continue.", "Your subscription is paused. Resume it to run cloud builds.", "Playbooks require a Power plan. Upgrade to continue using cloud playbooks.", or "Scheduled builds require a Power plan." : resume or upgrade under Settings, then schedule again. See Manage your subscription.
"This feature requires a Power subscription" : upgrade from Settings > Subscription.
Tips
- Change one setting at a time between builds. The shortfall message names the setting to loosen, and a single change tells you whether it helped.
- Keep the count near your entry count for tight rules. A 20-entry contest rarely needs a 10,000-lineup pool with 5 unique players per lineup.
- Use two build tabs to compare a loose build and a tight build on the same slate.
Related
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