How to Create Enshrouded Server Guide

An Enshrouded dedicated server is a free Windows program from Keen Games, installed through SteamCMD as app 2278520.

Option 1: Rent an Enshrouded server

With Enshrouded server hosting from Survival Servers, the install, port and settings file are handled for you.

1. Order a server: pick the player slots (8 or 16; 16 is the game's own limit), a location near your group and a billing cycle.
2. Open the server in the Command Center once it's ready.
3. Set a Server Title. It's the name your friends search for in the game.
4. Set a Lock Password for your players and a different Admin Pass for admins.
5. Open Server Config to pick a difficulty preset or change world settings.
6. Click Save Settings & Restart, then start the server if it is stopped.

Server Title, Lock Password and Admin Pass in the Command Center.

Option 2: Set up an Enshrouded dedicated server yourself

Requirements

Keen's recommendations depend on how many people play at once:

	4 to 6 players	Up to 16 players
CPU	Intel Core i7 at 3.2 GHz or AMD equivalent, 6 cores / 12 threads	Intel Core i7 at 3.7 GHz or AMD equivalent, 8 cores / 16 threads
Memory	16 GB	16 GB
Storage	SSD with at least 30 GB free	SSD with at least 30 GB free
Upload	About 2 Mbit/s per player	About 2 Mbit/s per player

The 16 GB is for the whole machine. The server process uses about 4.4 GB idle, up to 100 MB more per player, and no more than 6 GB in total. The server files are about 13 GB; a world save is 1 to 100 MB.

Keen only ships a Windows server. Community Docker images run it on Linux under Wine; Keen doesn't support that setup.

Source: Keen's recommended server specifications and dedicated server FAQ.

Step 1: Install SteamCMD

1. Download SteamCMD for Windows from Valve.
2. Make a folder C:\steamcmd and extract the ZIP into it.
3. Pick a separate folder for the server, such as C:\enshrouded-server.

The Enshrouded server downloads with an anonymous login. You never put your Steam password in the script.

Step 2: Download the Enshrouded dedicated server

In C:\steamcmd, create a file named install.bat with this line:

steamcmd.exe +force_install_dir "C:\enshrouded-server" +login anonymous +app_update 2278520 validate +quit

In Notepad choose Save as type: All files so the name ends in .bat, not .bat.txt. Run it and wait for Success! App '2278520' fully installed. Then check that C:\enshrouded-server\enshrouded_server.exe exists.

2278520 is the dedicated server app. The game itself is a different app and won't work here.

You can also install Enshrouded Dedicated Server from the Tools section of your Steam library. Keen's Steam install guide covers that route. SteamCMD is the better choice for a machine you don't play on.

Step 3: Start it once

Run enshrouded_server.exe. A console window opens. When it shows lines like these, the server is up:

[Session] 'HostOnline' (up)!
[Session] finished transition from 'Lobby' to 'Host_Online' (current='Host_Online')!

The first start creates enshrouded_server.json next to the exe, with four roles and random passwords. Stop the server before you edit it.

Step 4: Edit enshrouded_server.json

The top of the file sets the server itself. Edit the values that are there rather than pasting an old example over it.

{
	"name": "Embervale Keep",
	"saveDirectory": "./savegame",
	"logDirectory": "./logs",
	"ip": "0.0.0.0",
	"queryPort": 15637,
	"slotCount": 16,
	"tags": ["LookingForPlayers", "English", "BaseBuilding"],
	"voiceChatMode": "Proximity",
	"enableVoiceChat": false,
	"enableTextChat": true,
	"gameSettingsPreset": "Default",
	...
}

The ... stands for the rest of the file (the world settings, the roles and the ban list). Don't type it into your file.

Key	What to set
name	The name players search for. Keep it distinctive
queryPort	15637 unless you need another port
slotCount	1 to 16
tags	Server list filters, such as LookingForPlayers, a language, BaseBuilding, Exploration or Roleplay
enableTextChat, enableVoiceChat	Both are off by default
gameSettingsPreset	Default, Relaxed, Hard, Survival or Custom

Keep it valid JSON: no comments, no trailing commas. Three traps catch most people:

• Individual world settings only work on Custom. On any other preset the server ignores the numbers under gameSettings.
• Day, night and hunger timers are in nanoseconds. A 30 minute day is 1800000000000, not 1800.
• A misspelled word stops the server. A wrong preset, option or tag makes it quit within 2 seconds, with the error only in the console window.

All 38 world settings, with the ranges the server really uses and what each preset changes: Enshrouded server settings.

Step 5: Make it a private server

Enshrouded has no hidden or friends-only switch. Every dedicated server shows in the server list, and the passwords decide who gets in.

• Each role in userGroups has its own password. The password a player types decides their role.
• The fresh file has four roles, Admin, Friend, Guest and Visitor, each with a random password. Change the ones you use and keep the rest random so nobody can guess their way in.
• Hand out the Friend password to your group and keep Admin to yourself.
• Leave out the LookingForPlayers tag so the server doesn't come up for strangers filtering for open servers.

What each role can do, and how to kick and ban: Enshrouded admin commands and roles.

The 19 server list tags the game accepts, shown in the Command Center's Server Config.

Step 6: Open port 15637

The server needs one port: queryPort, 15637 UDP by default.

1. Give the server machine a fixed address on your network, for example a DHCP reservation on your router.
2. Allow 15637 UDP through Windows Firewall on that machine.
3. Forward 15637 UDP on your router to the machine's address. If you changed queryPort, use your number in both places.

Keep the firewall on and don't put the machine in the router's DMZ to fix one port. If your provider uses carrier-grade NAT, port forwarding can't work at all; ask them for a public IPv4 address. Keen's network troubleshooting has more checks.

Step 7: Join the server

1. Start Enshrouded and choose Join.
2. Open the Dedicated Server tab.
3. Search for your server's name and enter a role password.
4. Mark it with the star icon and it sorts to the top from then on.

If it doesn't show up, add it to Steam's favorites: in Steam choose View, then Game Servers, then the + on the Favorites tab, and enter your public IP and query port, for example 203.0.113.10:15637. More help: How to join an Enshrouded server.

A test from your own network doesn't prove outside players can connect. Have a friend try.

Updates and backups

The server saves the world on its own and keeps ten backup copies in the save folder's backup folder. Characters aren't on the server: each player's character is saved on their own PC.

Before an update, stop the server and copy the whole save folder plus enshrouded_server.json somewhere safe. Then run install.bat again; validate checks every file. Start the server and make sure the world loads before you delete the old copy.

When Keen patches the game, players' games update through Steam and the server has to match. Until it does, players see Version Mismatch: Enshrouded server Version Mismatch.

What changed in 1.0: Enshrouded 1.0 server guide.

Fixes

• Server not in the list: wait for the HostOnline line, check you're on the Dedicated Server tab, check the server and game are on the same version, and check 15637 UDP is open. Try a Steam favorite.
• Server closes right after starting: a wrong word in enshrouded_server.json. Read the console window before it closes, or run the exe from a Command Prompt so the error stays on screen.
• Settings don't change anything: the preset isn't Custom, or you edited a copy of the file that isn't next to the exe.
• Friends have the wrong permissions: they joined with a different role's password. Each role needs its own.
• Rubber banding or Server overloaded: the machine can't keep up. Compare it with the requirements above, lower the slots, and restart the server.

Questions

Is the Enshrouded dedicated server free?

Yes. It's a free download through SteamCMD or the Steam Tools library, with an anonymous login.

Can I run the server on the PC I play on?

Yes, if it can handle both. Plan for the game and up to 6 GB for the server at the same time.

How many players can join an Enshrouded dedicated server?

1 to 16, set by slotCount.

Can PS5 players join?

Not on a server you set up yourself. Players can't host a PS5 dedicated server, and there's no crossplay with Steam. PS5 groups rent a separate PS5 server from a host: Enshrouded PS5 server hosting. Players need PlayStation Plus to join. Step by step: Enshrouded PS5 dedicated server guide. See Enshrouded crossplay: PC, PS5 and Xbox.

Does it run on Linux?

Not officially. Keen ships a Windows server only.

Does it need a Steam account?

Not for the download: SteamCMD logs in anonymously. Players need their own copy of the game on Steam.

See also

• Enshrouded server settings
• Enshrouded admin commands and roles
• How to join an Enshrouded server
• Enshrouded crossplay: PC, PS5 and Xbox
• Enshrouded PS5 dedicated server
• Enshrouded 1.0 server guide
• Enshrouded server Version Mismatch after 1.0
• Enshrouded mods
• Keen's multiplayer and server hosting documentation