Hi there I had this issue with Vanilla... I was able to fix it by changing the client and server heartbeat to 120. Hopefully that works for you. It does take a little while for that first planet to generate the first time I think that is the cause.
I'm trying to get Reforged Eden working on my server. If you could help me out that would be great! I just loaded up 1.4.5 and I can connect but as soon as the starter planets come up it says internal error. Then if I continue and pick a planet it just loads for ever... and I never actually get in. Could you tell me what version you are using, and how you got it working?