Dedicated Server Setup

A short instruction of how to install, config and run a dedicated server

Server Requirements

Hardware

Since most of the physics is calculated on the server side, it's better to have a CPU with a high clock rate. Intel i7-i9 (8-10th generations) or AMD Ryzen 5-9 (2-3 generations) will be better here. For Xeon's would be good if the clock rate was over 3.5 GHz. Roughly speaking, each server instance will take 2-3 threads, so you can run multiple servers on dedicated machines with the mentioned CPUs.

Of course, it all depends on the number of servers you plan to create and how loaded they will be. For example, I'm running two simple servers (Climb and Battlebots) that can run even on systems with just two cores and clock speed of about 2Ghz. On the other hand, there can be servers that use much more complex vehicles and missions for their game modes. And there is no guarantee that the server will not start slowing down the simulation even if it has a top-notch CPU.

There are only two things that you shouldn't really care about: the GPU and RAM. I don't think you will ever need more than 4 GB per single server (unless you are using mods).

Network

A lot of data is required to be sent and received. The more players online, the more traffic there will be. There are no exact numbers because it all depends on the world scene (the number of objects, vehicles and their logic that needs to be synced) but roughly, I would say you need to expect 50-300Kb/s per player.

System

Only Windows systems are supported for now. Confirmed to work on Window 7, Windows 10, Windows Server 2016 and 2019. It should work with no issues on Windows 8 and 8.1 as well.

Overall

Minimum:
CPU: 2 GHz
RAM: 4 GB free RAM
Bandwidth: 10 Mbps

Recommended:
CPU: 4-5 GHz
RAM: 4 GB free RAM
Bandwidth: 20 Mbps + static IP address for a public server

Server Settings

Dedicated Server executables are located right in the game folder.

Run server.exe or server64.exe from the game folder at least once to create a server_config.xml file in %appdata%\Stormworks directory.

Close the server app and edit that file using any text editor:
Please, keep the XML syntax right.

Server parameters

Server settings are not dependent on the world save and are applied every time you launch your server:

port="25564"			game and query ports that will be used for the server
name="Stormworks"		name of the server
save_name=""			world save name that will be used for saving and loading
max_players="32"		max number of the players for server
password=""			password (empty means no password)
despawn_on_leave="true"		automatic character despawn when player disconnects
physics_timestep="180"		physics resolution: 60, 120, 180 (0 is auto by default)
wildlife_enabled="true"		birds and fish simulation

Remember that you cannot edit server config when the server is running.

Admins

This section is used for giving admin permissions to the clients based on their Steam64 ID. To find Steam ID you can use websites like https://steamid.xyz/ or https://steamidfinder.com/
Example:

	<admins>
		<id value="76561198080294966"/>
	</admins>

Blacklist

Blacklist is basically a ban list. A new entry is created when ?ban command is used on the server. You can manually edit it as well to unban players or sync with other ban lists, for example.

Whitelist

Whitelist also fills in the same way, but note that the server will be automatically switched into whitelist mode if there is at least one entry. In that mode, only players from that list will be able to connect to the server.

Authorized

A list of players that are allowed to interact with the workbench. By default, only admins and whitelisted players are allowed to spawn, despawn and return vehicles, so if you want other players to have that permission as well, then you should add them to that list or use ?auth command.

Playlists

Here we put all addons (missions playlists and environment mods) that we want to be on the server.
Example for enabling all default addons:

	<playlists>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_ai"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_ai_aircraft"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_cargo"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_creatures"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_dock_bollards"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_fish_survey"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_elevators"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_forest_fire_missions"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_landmarks"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_mission_locations"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_mission_transport_locations"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_mission_zones_arctic"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_mission_zones_arid"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_mission_zones_building"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_mission_zones_delivery"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_mission_zones_main"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_mission_zones_moon"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_mission_zones_sawyer"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_mission_zones_underwater"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_natural_disasters"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_oil_survey"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_paths"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_railroad_signals"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_resource_storage"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_resource_trading"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/default_tutorial"/>
		<path path="rom/data/missions/dlc_weapons_ai"/>
	</playlists>

Mods

If you want to create a game with mods enabled then you need to list them like that:

	<mods>
		<path path="C:/Users/User/AppData/Roaming/Stormworks/data/mods/tutorial_block"/>
		<path path="D:/Steam/steamapps/workshop/content/573090/3360543435"/>
	</mods>

Command line parameters

If you want your server config file to be in a more comfortable folder (let's say, in the same folder where you have your server files, like absolutely most dedicated servers do) then you can use +server_dir launch parameter to set the path you need.

For example, a server launched with these parameters will look for config and world saves in C:\swds:

server.exe +server_dir c:\swds

Or it will create them with default settings if these files and folders are missing:
But if you want to run multiple servers, you will need to use aseparate path for each one. This is how batch script look for my Mad Max server, for example:

@echo off
title Mad Max Server
:start
C:\steamcmd\steamcmd.exe +force_install_dir c:\swds +login anonymous +app_update 1247090 validate +quit
C:\swds\server.exe +server_dir c:\swds\mad_max
goto start

This will use server_config.xml from the mad_max folder and automatically update and restart the server on process termination (or simply on a server crash).

World Parameters

Besides the server settings, we can also configure some initial world parameters when we're creating a new save. Note that a new game is only created when world save is not found or when that field is empty in the server config.

World parameters are only used when you start a new game (i.e. save_name is empty), which means that changing these settings in the server config file will not change already saved games.

These parameters are only set on world creation and cannot be changed after (without editing world save scene.xml):

seed=""				seed that will be used for the world generation (empty is random)
base_island=""			player base that will be owned on start (empty is start base)
starting_currency="30000"	starting money
settings_menu="true"		custom settings menu (available only for admins if locked)
dlc_weapons="true"		Search & Destroy DLC content for new world
dlc_arid="true"			Industrial Frontier DLC content for new world

These parameters are set on world creation too, but can be changed using a Custom menu anytime:

day_length="30"			length of the day time (in minutes)
night_length="30"		length of the night time (in minutes)
override_time="false"		time override
override_weather="false"	weather override (fog, wind, rain/snow)
override_wind="false"		wind direction override

vehicle_damage="true"		vehicle damage
player_damage="true"		player characters damage
npc_damage="true"		NPC characters damage
aggressive_animals="true"	aggressive creatures
sea_monsters="true"		aggressive monsters
lightning="false"		lightnings that can hit vehicles at some altitude 
infinite_resources="true"	money, fuel and minerals requirement for vehicle workbenches
infinite_batteries="false"	electric power requirement for components
unlock_components="true"	vehicle components research
infinite_fuel="false"		fuel/air requirement for vehicle components
engine_overheating="true"	engine overheating simulation
ceasefire="false"		weapons usage (requires DLC)
infinite_ammo="false"		ammo requirement for weapons (requires DLC)

map_show_players="true"		displays player icons on map
map_show_vehicles="true"	displays player vehicle icons on map
show_3d_waypoints="true"	displays player waypoint on HUD
third_person="true"		allows third person camera for player character
third_person_vehicle="true"	allows third person camera for player vehicle
show_name_plates="true"		displays player name plates above their characters
no_clip="true"			allows no clip camera
map_teleport="true"		allows player teleport using a map
fast_travel="true"		allows player fast travel to bases
teleport_vehicle="true"		allows workbench spawned vehicles teleport back to bases
vehicle_spawn="true"		allows workbench vehicle spawning for authorized players
photo_mode="true"		allows photo mode
respawning="true"		allows player character respawning
cleanup_vehicle="true"		allows player vehicle clean using a map

clear_fow="true"		removes fog of war on the map (cannot be undone using menu)
unlock_all_islands="false"	sets all bases to a purchased state (cannot be undone using menu)

List of bases to use for base_island in server config:

Main Biome

data/tiles/island_15.xml			Creative Island
data/tiles/island_43_multiplayer_base.xml	Multiplayer Base
data/tiles/island_34_military.xml		Military Base
data/tiles/island_25.xml			Harbour Base
data/tiles/island12.xml				Starter Base
data/tiles/test_tile.xml			Helicopter Base
data/tiles/island_24.xml			Airstrip Base
data/tiles/island_33_tile_33.xml		Mainland Airstrip
data/tiles/island_33_tile_32.xml		Terminal Spycakes
data/tiles/island_33_tile_end.xml		Terminal Camodo

Custom Bases

data/tiles/island_29_playerbase_submarine.xml	Custom Base Submarine
data/tiles/island_32_playerbase_heli.xml	Custom Base Heli (structure workbench only)
data/tiles/island_30_playerbase_boat.xml	Custom Base Large Boat
data/tiles/island_31_playerbase_combo.xml	Custom Base Small Boat
data/tiles/oil_rig_playerbase.xml		Custom Base Oil Rig (structure workbench only)

Arcitc Islands

data/tiles/arctic_island_playerbase.xml		Arctic Island Base
data/tiles/arctic_tile_22.xml			Arctic Mainland Outpost
data/tiles/arctic_tile_12_oilrig.xml		Arctic Oil Platform

Sawyer Islands

data/tiles/mega_island_2_6.xml			Harrison Airbase
data/tiles/mega_island_12_6.xml			O'Neill Airbase
data/tiles/mega_island_9_8.xml			North Harbor Dock
data/tiles/mega_island_15_2.xml			Fishing Village Dock

Arid Islands (Industrial Frontier DLC biome):

data/tiles/arid_island_5_14.xml			North Meier Outpost
data/tiles/arid_island_6_7.xml			Serpentine Trainyard
data/tiles/arid_island_7_5.xml			Ender Airfield
data/tiles/arid_island_8_15.xml			Uran Wind Power Plant Docks
data/tiles/arid_island_11_14.xml		Brainz Train Yard
data/tiles/arid_island_12_10.xml		Mauve Train Yard
data/tiles/arid_island_19_11.xml		Clarke Airfield
data/tiles/arid_island_19_12.xml		Monkey Brain Launch Site
data/tiles/arid_island_24_3.xml			JSI Dock
data/tiles/arid_island_26_14.xml		FJ Warner Docks

Admin Commands

All commands work in the chat only. You can see the session peer ID of player in players menu:

?save <savename>	saves the game (if savename is not set then will save in autosave_server and also overwrite the save defined in server settings)
?kick <id>		kick player
?ban <id>		ban player
?add_admin <id> 	add player to the admins list
?remove_admin <id>	removes player from the admins
?add_auth <id>		add player to authorized list
?remove_auth <id>	removes player from authorized

Firewalls and Portforwarding

To make your server be visible to other players, you need to have a public IP and set your firewall to allow connections for the server executable (Stormworks Dedicated Server). Here is how it looks for the default Windows Firewall:

If you install Stormworks Dedicated Server as a tool using a Steam client, then Steam will add that rule automatically for the default Windows Firewall. For all other security software, you will need to add it manually.

Port Forwarding

If you are running a server on the machine that is behind the NAT (a Wi-Fi router in most cases) then you will also need to forward all three game ports. There are thousands of different router models that go with different hardware and firmware versions, so I can't show you how to forward these ports, but you can use https://portforward.com/ website for that.

Here is how it may look on popular D-Link routers with "orange" firmware:
If you run more than one server from your network, you need to use a different port range for each.

But be aware, that if you run server and client from the same network or even from the same computer then to see your own server you will need to enable NAT Loopback or install Microsoft Loopback adapter for example.

Installing Microsoft Loopback Adapter

This is a workaround for those who run a dedicated server on the same computer/network as the game client. Please, use it only if other players can already see and join your server, but you can't.

• Open Control Panel > Device Manager and select Network Adapters
  
• Select menu Action > Add legacy hardware
  
• Next
  
• Select Install the hardware that I manually select from a list (Advanced)
  
• Next
  
• Select Network Adapters in the list
  
• Next
  
• Select Microsoft in Manufacturer list
  
• Select Microsoft KM-TEST Loopback Adapter in Model list
  
• Next > Next > Finish
  
• Close Device Manager window
  
• Open Control Panel > Network and Internet > Network Connections
  
• You should see a new connection that uses Microsoft Loopback Adapter but cannot establish connection
  
• Right click on that connection and select Properties
  
• Double click Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4)
  
• Select Use the following IP address
  
• NOTE: If it was already selected and you see some IPs entered then you opened a wrong connection. Get out of here by clicking Canel in both windows.
  
• Enter in IP address field your external IP address (you can see it here for example https://www.myip.com/)
  
• You can leave default Subnet mask
  
• Click OK buttons in opened windows to save settings

If you did all right, you should be able to see your own server when that connection is enabled.
If you lost your Internet connection, then you probably changed IPv4 parameters of your actual Internet connection.

Known Issues

Server is not launching at all

Make sure that Visual C++ Redistributable 2013[www.microsoft.com] is installed.

Server stops on launch with settings parse error

It's usually means that server config file is corrupted or have a syntax error.

I can launch but don't get to the status screen

It could be server config error or something wrong with the missions or environment mods. Try to start a server with the default config.

Server is running fine but it does not shows up on Internet tab

Make sure that server ports are forwarded on your router and that your firewall is not blocking server executable. Check server in the Steam server browser [url]steam://open/servers[/url] or ask your friends to check server visibility. It could be that it's just because of NAT.

Server is running fine and shows up on Internet tab but have an empty name

There is no support for non-latic characters so you better to avoid them in server naming.

[Jodian]

Just wondering if you would get a noticeable performance boost by disabling;

<path path="rom/data/missions/default_ai"/>
<path path="rom/data/missions/default_ai_aircraft"/>
<path path="rom/data/missions/default_cargo"/>

Or would this severely hamper the game experience on the server?

[Matt Horsecock]

@Petals_Sora We tried the suggestion, but it didn't seem to work. We have no idea what the issue is, as the ports work correctly, that isn't the issue we think.

[Petals_Sora]

@Matt Horsecock Have you ever tried run the exe as admin? I had the same problem with you and fixed using this method

[koupichi]

I have one more question.
How can I add add-ons from the workshop to my server?
If I put it in <mods> in the xml of server_comfig like any other mod, it will not be added and worked.

[koupichi]

Sorry,I was mishearing.
I would be happy to answer again if you don't mind.
The correct is that my internet speed has been slow ever since I opened the server, it won't go faster than double digit KB/S.

The person who set up the server takes a few seconds to connect, but my friend takes tens of minutes to connect.

I could not find anything related to internet speed in the server settings.
What should I do?

[koupichi]

Thank you for teaching Lawh.
OK,I'll play with it in this state for a while and wait until the development supports it.

[Lawh]

It's possible that his machine or connection is not good enough for the game. I don't know why, but I think the developers made it so that if someone lags the server, everyone will suffer. The server seems to start waiting on the slowest person. t's not a great way to handle traffic.

[koupichi]

I was able to successfully set up the server and it runs very comfortably when I, the host, connect to it.
However, when my friend connects, the internet speed drops only on the server and it takes a long time to load.
Other apps and browsers work fine as usual, only this server at StormWorks is very slow.
Is there a solution?

[Lawh]

Local IP should probably be the IP to your PC, and that should be made static in your PC settings. You have a public IP given to you by your internet provider, which might change when you disconnect. Then you have IP addresses for each device behind your router.

The local port is to your PC, and the external port is what others will use. I think they can be the same.

You can set the protocol to both if you are unsure which is needed.

[WillTP]

when forwarding ports, I'm in my routers settings to forward ports but there's a local range, "Local start port" and "Local end port", and an external range with start port and an end port. all four of these numbers i have to put somethin in for, what do i put? also is it protocol TCP or UDP or both?
also i don't know what to put as local ip, would it stay the same?