diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/Server/OrderBuffer.cs b/OpenRA.Game/Server/OrderBuffer.cs
index 397a594267..3027a937d5 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Game/Server/OrderBuffer.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/Server/OrderBuffer.cs
@@ -88,6 +88,9 @@ namespace OpenRA.Server
 
 			nextUpdate = now + Interval;
 
+			if (deltas.IsEmpty)
+				yield break;
+
 			if (deltas.Values.Any(q => q.Count != NumberOfFrames))
 				yield break;
 
diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/Server/Server.cs b/OpenRA.Game/Server/Server.cs
index 9600d080ae..ed44ae4e30 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Game/Server/Server.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/Server/Server.cs
@@ -1339,7 +1339,6 @@ namespace OpenRA.Server
 				}
 
 				SyncLobbyInfo();
-				State = ServerState.GameStarted;
 
 				var gameSpeeds = Game.ModData.Manifest.Get<GameSpeeds>();
 				var gameSpeedName = LobbyInfo.GlobalSettings.OptionOrDefault("gamespeed", gameSpeeds.DefaultSpeed);
@@ -1349,6 +1348,8 @@ namespace OpenRA.Server
 				orderBuffer = new OrderBuffer();
 				orderBuffer.Start(gameSpeed, Conns.Where(c => c.Validated).Select(c => c.PlayerIndex));
 
+				State = ServerState.GameStarted;
+
 				if (Type != ServerType.Local)
 					OrderLatency = gameSpeed.OrderLatency;