Space Engineers Multiplayer Servers

This guide is all about servers and setting them up.

Overview

This guide is all about servers and setting them up.

This is a work-in-progress so it is not 100% complete nor is it intended to cover each and every possible way to do it. It is meant to give you enough information that you can host your own server the way you want with knowledge of how you can handle managing a basic server from start to finish. If there are any inaccuracies, please point them out and I will verify and correct as time permits.

There are several ways to host a multiplayer game but the main difference is dedicated server vs peer-to-peer (player to player).

A dedicated server is one where the server runs without the graphical game client (nobody has to be connected). This can allow for better performance because the server does not have to load visual or audio components. The performance benefits are nullified if you play the game client on the same machine running the dedicated host.

A peer-to-peer server is one where a player loads their game and shares it while playing at the same time (i.e. player to player). When the hosting player closes the game, it kicks everyone out and the world is no longer available to play until that player starts the game client and loads that world again.

Here are the various combinations of how players can connect with each other:

• Play your world privately (Online mode set to Offline or Private)
  
  • Savegame files exist on your PC
    
• Share your world with just your Steam friends (Online mode set to Friends)
  
  • Savegame files exist on your PC
    
  • Savegame files might be duplicated on other player's PC if they save when "Clients can Save" option is enabled.
    
  • World is only playable when the host player is online and in the game with that world loaded.
    
• Share your world with the entire world (Online mode set to Public)
  
  • Savegame files exist on your PC
    
  • Savegame files might be duplicated on other player's PC if they save when "Clients can Save" option is enabled.
    
  • World is only playable when the host player is online and in the game with that world loaded.
    
• Join a dedicated server (Servers tab)
  
  • Savegame files exist on the remote host's file system.
    
  • Savegame files might be duplicated on other player's PC if they save when "Clients can Save" option is enabled.
    
• Join a shared world on someone else's PC (Games tab)
  
  • Savegame files exist on the remote host's file system.
    
  • Savegame files might be duplicated on other player's PC if they save when "Clients can Save" option is enabled.
    
  • World is only playable when the host player is online and in the game with that world loaded.
    
• Create a dedicated for the entire world (Public mode)
  
• Create a dedicated server shared for a specific group (Steam Group ID)

Savegame file locations

The location of savegame files completely depend on how the game is hosted, your operating system and your username.

Windows 7/8/2012/Vista Dedicated Server:

C:\ProgramData\SpaceEngineersDedicated\{InstanceName}\Saves\{WorldName}\

Windows XP/2003/2008 Dedicated Server:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SpaceEngineersDedicated\{InstanceName}\Saves\{WorldName}\

Windows 7/8/2012/Vista Peer-to-Peer:

C:\Users\{UserName}\AppData\Roaming\SpaceEngineers\Saves\{SteamID}\{WorldName}\

Windows XP/2003/2008 Peer-to-Peer:

C:\Documents and Settings\{UserName}\Application Data\SpaceEngineers\Saves\{SteamID}\{WorldName}\

Move local savegame to dedicated instance

You can copy a local savegame to a dedicated server and vise versa.

See the section above to figure out where you need to copy from and to.

Make sure you have a dedicated server instance created 1st before trying to copy a world to it.

How to get your Steam ID

The Steam ID is used to specify server admins or ban users, you need to use the Steam ID instead of the Steam name.

Example Steam Name: LHammonds
Example Steam ID: 76561197970730192

1. Login to the Steam client.
   
2. Click on Profile under your profile name.
   
3. Right-click on the button called Edit Profile and choose Copy Link Address
   
4. Open Notepad and press CTRL+V to paste the address and it will look something like the following:
   

   http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970730192/edit

5. Highlight and copy the number sequency which is 76561197970730192 in the example above.
   
6. Paste that number in the Server admins field of the server configuration GUI for dedicated server.

How to get your Steam Group ID

If you want to limit your public server to only members in your Steam Group, you need to know the ID, not the friendly name.

Example: My Steam group name is HamCraftSE but the ID is 103582791437191898

1. Login to the Steam client.
   
2. Click on Groups under your profile name.
   
3. Click the Group Name.
   
4. Right-click on the button called Invite Friends and choose Copy Link Address
   
5. Open Notepad and press CTRL+V to paste the address and it will look something like the following:
   

   http://steamcommunity.com/profiles/76561197970730192/friends/?invitegid=103582791437191898

6. Highlight and copy the number after invitegid which is 103582791437191898 in the example above.
   
7. Paste that number in the Steam Group ID field of the server configuration GUI for dedicated server.

How to get the username of the current Windows account

You need to know what your Windows username is in order to find the right savegame folder for peer-to-peer worlds.

1. Press CTRL+ALT+DEL and select Start Task Manager
   
2. In the Processes tab, there is a User Name column which will have your username. It should show just your username but might show others like SYSTEM or LOCAL SERVICE

You can also open Control Panel, User Accounts and it should show the username of the currently logged in user.

Create a local savegame

The "World" savegame is interchangeable between dedicated server and peer-to-peer.

I find it much easier and faster to just setup a local savegame on your PC and configure it how you like it and then transfer that savegame to your dedicated server.

You can configure it however you like but for this example, I will demonstrate how to setup a world, some options and select various types of mods to be used.

1. In your Steam client, browse the workshop and subscribe to any mods you want to run on your server. Don't bother with Worlds or Blueprints since those types are not for servers.
   Examples:
   
   • [PsyTech] Advanced Ore Processors
     
   • HL Respawn Minimal Solar
     
   • KEEN SWH Astronaut pack v1.0
     
   • Low Earth Orbit Skybox
     
   • Midspace's Admin helper commands
     
   • Midspace's exploration ship scan
     
   • No Respawn Ships (New Method)
     
2. Start Space Engineers
   
3. Create a new custom world with the "Asteroids" scenario.
   
   • Name: Asteroids
     
   • Description: Whatever
     
   • Game mode: Survival
     
   • Online mode: Public
     
   • Max Players: 8
     
   • Environment hostility: Safe
     
   • Asteroid amount: Infinite: Low density
     
   • Auto-save: Checked
     
4. Click Advanced, set the following (or however you like) and click OK:
   
   • Game mode: Survival
     
   • Inventory size: x10
     
   • Assembler efficiency: x10
     
   • Refinery speed: x10
     
   • Welding speed: x2
     
   • Grinding speed: x2
     
   • Max objects: 60
     
   • Limit world size: Unlimited
     
   • Respawn ship cooldown: Default cooldowns
     
   • View distance: 20 km
     
   • Check: Auto-healing
     
   • N/A: Enable copy/paste
     
   • Uncheck: Clients can save
     
   • Check: Weapons enabled
     
   • Uncheck: Trash auto-removal
     
   • Check: Enable oxygen
     
   • Check: Delete respawn ship
     
   • Uncheck: Show player names
     
   • Check: Thruster damage
     
   • Check: Cargo ships
     
   • Check: In-game scripts
     
   • Check: Enable 3rd person view
     
   • Uncheck: Enable spectator
     
   • Uncheck: Reset ownership
     
   • Uncheck: Permanent death
     
   • Check: Destructible blocks
     
   • Uncheck: Enable tool shake
     
   • Check: Random encounters
     
5. Click the "Mods" button and double-click the mods you want on the left (Available mods) so they show up on the right (Active mods):
   
   • [PsyTech] Advanced Ore Processors
     
   • HL Respawn Minimal Solar
     
   • KEEN SWH Astronaut pack v1.0
     
   • Low Earth Orbit Skybox
     
   • Midspace's Admin helper commands
     
   • Midspace's exploration ship scan
     
   • No Respawn Ships (New Method)
     
6. Click the OK button to create the world.
   
7. Once the world is loaded, click ESC and save the world, then exit Space Engineers.

Once you copy this savegame to your dedicated server instance, it should show up as a selectable world to use on the server configuration GUI if you placed it correctly.

Making changes to the savegame

If you intend on having special stations for newbies, custom asteroids, etc., you can setup the world initially in creative mode (with private or offline mode) and build/blueprint paste your stations/ships. When ready, save, close the world and edit the settings of that world and change from Creative back to Survival and Public mode.

You can also add/remove mods on the settings page.

If the game world is already on the dedicated server, you can copy that world to your local savegame folder, load Space Engineers client and make changes. Once done, then copy the world from your local savegame folder to the dedicated server folder.

If you only need to make small or quick changes, you might be better off making those changes using the Dedicated Server GUI...such as changing an option like Client can Save

Some options can be made directly to the savegame's .sbc file such as the amount of time between auto-saves for example. The auto-save checkbox defaults to every 5 minutes but you cannot specify the amount of time in the GUI. You can edit Sandbox.sbc with a text editor (while the server is not running) and find <AutoSaveInMinutes>5</AutoSaveInMinutes> and change 5 to the desired amount such as 15. You can change other values directly this way too. Just keep in mind that if you change values like these to non-default values, they might revert back to the original values if you go into the Edit Settings screen for that world.

How to setup 64-bit SE dedicated server on Windows Server 2012 R2 64-bit

NOTE: Similar to Windows 7 and Windows Vista

1. Open Control Panel, Folder Options. On view tab, allow Show hidden files (this allows you to see C:\ProgramData)
   
2. Deactivate UAC (User Account Control) (UAC was 1st introduced in Windows Vista):
   
   1. Run MSConfig.exe, Tools tab, launch Change UAC Settings and set to Never notify
      
   2. Run regedit.exe, change 1 to 0 for HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\system\EnableLUA
      
   3. Reboot for change to take effect.
      
3. Make sure Microsoft .NET Framework 4 (or higher) is installed.
   
4. If you have a software firewall running, be sure to open the port you intend on using. Default port is 27016 (UDP). If using Windows Firewall, you can use the Firewall GUI in Control Panel or run the following command to open that port:
   

   netsh advfirewall firewall add rule name="Space Engineers Dedicated Server" dir=in action=allow protocol=UDP localport=27016

5. Download SteamSetup.exe from http://www.steampowered.com
   
6. Run SteamSetup.exe and install to a location such as D:\Steam where you have lots of free space.
   
7. Start Steam and login with your Steam account.
   
8. Select Space Engineers from your Library and install it.
   
9. Create a folder on your desktop called SE
   
10. Create the following shortcuts for quick access to common locations:
    
    • Location: D:\Steam\steamapps\common\SpaceEngineers\DedicatedServer64\SpaceEngineersDedicated.exe
      
    • Name: Server GUI
      
      
    • Location: C:\ProgramData\SpaceEngineersDedicated\
      
    • Name: Instances
      
11. Right-click SpaceEngineersDedicated.exe and select Run as administrator
    
12. Click Add new instance
    
13. Name of service - Type SE1 and click Insert (this creates a new service which is set to automatically start upon reboot)
    
14. Select SE1 from the list and click Continue to server configuration
    
15. Set options, click Save config and start
    
16. NOTE: You can also just save the config and start the service in Windows Service manager. Click Start, Run and type services.msc to bring up the services list. Select SE1 (or whatever you called it) and click Start.
    
17. See Server Configuration GUI for more details.

How to setup 32-bit SE dedicated server on Windows Server 2003 R2 32-bit

NOTE: Similar to Windows XP, Windows 2003 and Windows 2008

1. Open Control Panel, Folder Options. On view tab, set Show hidden files and folders and uncheck Hide extensions for known file types
   
2. Deactivate DEP (Data Execution Prevention) (DEP was 1st introduced in Windows XP SP2):
   
   1. Login as Administrator
      
   2. Right-click My Computer -> Properties -> Advanced -> Startup and Recovery Settings -> Startup Options Edit and change the following:
      From: /noexecute=optout
      To: /noexecute=AlwaysOff
      
   3. Save boot.ini, close dialog boxes and reboot the server.
      
   4. To verify it is disabled, Right-click My Computer -> Properties -> Advanced -> Performance Settings -> Data Execution Prevention tab -> All options should be disabled on this screen.
      
3. Make sure Microsoft .NET Framework 4 (or higher) is installed.
   
4. If you have a software firewall running, be sure to open the port you intend on using. Default port is 27016 (UDP). If using Windows Firewall, you can use the Firewall GUI in Control Panel or run the following command to open that port:
   

   netsh firewall add portopening UDP 27016 "Space Engineers Dedicated Server"

5. Download SteamSetup.exe from http://www.steampowered.com
   
6. Run SteamSetup.exe and install to a location such as D:\Steam where you have lots of free space.
   
7. Start Steam and login with your Steam account.
   
8. Select Space Engineers from your Library and install it.
   
9. Create a folder on your desktop called SE
   
10. Create the following shortcuts for quick access to common locations:
    
    • Location: D:\Steam\steamapps\common\SpaceEngineers\DedicatedServer\SpaceEngineersDedicated.exe
      
    • Name: Server GUI
      
      
    • Location: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SpaceEngineersDedicated\
      
    • Name: Instances
      
11. Right-click SpaceEngineersDedicated.exe, select Run as and use the Administrator account for the local machine.
    
12. Click Add new instance
    
13. Name of service - Type SE1 and click Insert (this creates a new service which is set to automatically start upon reboot). The service name is not important or seen by anyone but you. Just make sure it is unique among other service names and SE instances.
    
14. Select SE1 from the list and click Continue to server configuration
    
15. Set options, click Save config and start
    
16. NOTE: You can also just save the config and start the service in Windows Service manager. Click Start, Run and type services.msc to bring up the services list. Select SE1 (or whatever you called it) and click Start.
    
17. See Server Configuration GUI for more details.

Server configuration GUI

When you start SpaceEngineersDedicated.exe (make sure to right-click and Run as Administrator) you will first be presented with an instance manager.

The default is a lonely Local / Console option which cannot be deleted. This is used if you want to run the console directly and only when the server is logged in. I tend to avoid doing this since the whole point of a dedicated server is to run all the time even if the server reboots when nobody is there (e.g. after WindowsUpdates, etc.)

When you click Add new instance you are creating a Windows service which can automatically start when Windows starts. The Remove instance uninstalls the service and it will no longer auto-start with the operating system. It does not add or delete world saves so do not worry about losing your files.

Some things to be noted is that when you first create a new instance, there are no worlds that exist yet. Also, all settings are default or empty values. In my examples above, I created a local savegame to be copied to the dedicated server. Once the instance is created, exit the server configuration GUI and copy the local savegame to the SE1 instance we just created.

When you start the Server Configuration GUI and load the SE1 instance configuration, you should see the saved world in the list and it should select it automatically. When it does this, it will also pre-populate almost all of the various setting with the settings used in that world. The exceptions are as follows:

• Listen IP: 0.0.0.0 - This is typically left alone which says to listen to any network interface on the server.
  
• Server Port: 27016 - This is a default. If you are only running one instance, this is fine. If you run more than one, you need to make sure each one uses a unique port number.
  
• Server Name: {EMPTY} - You need to set this. This is what people will see in the server list when joining servers.
  
• World Name: {EMPTY} - You need to set this.
  
• Server admins: {EMPTY} - Add your Steam ID here. Example: 76561197970730192
  
• Steam Group ID: 0 - If you plan to limit who can join the server, add the desired Steam Group ID here. Otherwise leave it as 0.
  
• PermanentDeath: Checked - NOTE: It seems there has been a bug in the GUI for quite some time where it always defaults a checkmark here even though the config has it disabled. If you save your config while this checkmark is set, it will enable Permanent Death. If this is not desired, always remember to uncheck this value before saving each time.
  
• AutoSaveInMinutes: 5 - The default is 5 minutes and you can change it here. Keep in mind this is NOT a backup...it just saves what is in memory to disk.

Backup your world(s)

Schedule a task to run the following batch file on an hourly basis or whatever your needs are and drive space allows:

Archive.bat

@ECHO OFF
REM ******************************************************
REM ** Name: Archive
REM ** Purpose: Compress a folder into an archive file.
REM ** Author: LHammonds
REM ** Creation: 2015-04-16
REM ** Required: 7-Zip
REM ** Output: .7z archive file
REM ** Run Frequency: As often as needed (recommend hourly)
REM ** Modifications
REM ** WHEN        WHO  WHY
REM ** ==========  ===  ==================================
REM ** 2015-04-16  LTH  Created program.
REM ******************************************************

SET STR_YEAR=%date:~10,4%
SET STR_MONTH=%date:~4,2%
SET STR_DAY=%date:~7,2%
SET STR_HOUR=%time:~0,2%
SET STR_MIN=%time:~3,2%

REM ******* Set the below variables to match your environment ********
SET STR_7ZIP=D:\Apps\7-Zip\7z.exe
SET STR_ROOTDIR=C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SpaceEngineersDedicated
SET STR_INSTANCE=SE1
SET STR_WORLD=Oxygen Survival
SET STR_SOURCEDIR=%STR_ROOTDIR%\%STR_INSTANCE%\Saves\%STR_WORLD%
SET STR_TARGETDIR=D:\Archive
SET STR_ARCHIVE=%STR_TARGETDIR%\%STR_YEAR%-%STR_MONTH%-%STR_DAY%-%STR_HOUR%-%STR_MIN%-%STR_INSTANCE%-%STR_WORLD%.7z
SET STR_LOG=%STR_TARGETDIR%\archive.log
REM ********************* End of variable setup **********************

IF EXIST "%STR_SOURCEDIR%\*.*" GOTO SOURCEEXISTS
ECHO No files found in %STR_SOURCEDIR%\*.*
GOTO DONE

:SOURCEEXISTS
ECHO. >> %STR_LOG%
ECHO %STR_YEAR%-%STR_MONTH%-%STR_DAY% %STR_HOUR%:%STR_MIN% >> %STR_LOG%
ECHO Archive Started... >> %STR_LOG%
"%STR_7ZIP%" a -mx -r "%STR_Archive%" "%STR_SOURCEDIR%\*"
IF EXIST "%STR_Archive%" GOTO SUCCESS
ECHO Failed to create %STR_Archive% >> %STR_LOG%
GOTO COMPLETED

:SUCCESS
ECHO Created %STR_Archive% >> %STR_LOG%
GOTO COMPLETED

:COMPLETED
ECHO Process completed. >> %STR_LOG%
GOTO DONE

:DONE
SET STR_YEAR=
SET STR_MONTH=
SET STR_DAY=
SET STR_HOUR=
SET STR_MIN=
SET STR_7ZIP=
SET STR_INSTANCE=
SET STR_WORLD=
SET STR_ARCHIVE=
SET STR_SOURCEDIR=
SET STR_TARGETDIR=
SET STR_LOG=

Purging old archives

You do not want your hard drive space filling up and breaking your backup solution so you need a method for removing old archives.

Schedule a task to run the following batch file on a daily basis or whatever your needs are:

Purge.bat

@ECHO OFF
REM ******************************************************
REM ** Name: Purge Old Archives
REM ** Purpose: Delete old archives.
REM ** Author: LHammonds
REM ** Creation: 2015-04-16
REM ** Required: forfiles (comes with Windows 2003, Windows 7 and later)
REM ** Output: Deleted archive files
REM ** Run Frequency: As often as needed (recommend daily)
REM ** Modifications
REM ** WHEN        WHO  WHY
REM ** ==========  ===  ==================================
REM ** 2015-04-16  LTH  Created program.
REM ******************************************************

SET STR_YEAR=%date:~10,4%
SET STR_MONTH=%date:~4,2%
SET STR_DAY=%date:~7,2%
SET STR_HOUR=%time:~0,2%
SET STR_MIN=%time:~3,2%
SET STR_EXT=*.7z
REM ******* Set the below variables to match your environment ********
SET STR_TARGETDIR=D:\Archive
SET STR_LOG=%STR_TARGETDIR%\purge.log
SET STR_DAYSTOKEEP=7
REM ********************* End of variable setup **********************

IF EXIST "%STR_TARGETDIR%\*.*" GOTO TARGETEXISTS
ECHO No files found in %STR_TARGETDIR%\*.*
GOTO DONE

:TARGETEXISTS
ECHO. >> %STR_LOG%
ECHO %STR_YEAR%-%STR_MONTH%-%STR_DAY% %STR_HOUR%:%STR_MIN% >> %STR_LOG%
ECHO Purge started for files older than %STR_DAYSTOKEEP% days... >> %STR_LOG%
forfiles -P "%STR_TARGETDIR%" -M %STR_EXT% -D -%STR_DAYSTOKEEP% -C "cmd /c echo @PATH" >> %STR_LOG%
forfiles -P "%STR_TARGETDIR%" -M %STR_EXT% -D -%STR_DAYSTOKEEP% -C "cmd /c del @PATH"
ECHO Process completed. >> %STR_LOG%
GOTO DONE

:DONE
SET STR_YEAR=
SET STR_MONTH=
SET STR_DAY=
SET STR_HOUR=
SET STR_MIN=
SET STR_TARGETDIR=
SET STR_EXT=
SET STR_DAYSTOKEEP=
SET STR_LOG=

How to schedule batch files to run on Windows 2003

Rather than running batch files manually, you can have the computer do it for you on a consistant and fully-automated schedule.

1. Control Panel -> Scheduled Tasks -> Add Scheduled Task
   
2. Scheduled Task Wizard - Click Next
   
3. Select program - Click Browse, find the .bat file and double-click on it
   
4. Name - Type a name for the task and set the frequency and click Next
   
5. Time and Day - Set a time for it to run and click Next
   
6. User account - Set the administrator name/password and click Next
   
7. Task created - Place checkmark beside Open advanced properties and click Finish
   
   • Make sure Start in is the folder that contains the batch file
     
   • On the Schedule tab, click Advanced and enable Repeat task and set to every 1 hour (or whatever desired), duration 23 hrs and checkmark if the task is still running, stop it at this time and click OK
     
   • On the Settings tab, make sure it will stop the task if running longer than it should take. If it takes 5 minutes to run, make sure the task will be stopped if it runs for 30 minutes for example.
     

How to update to a new version

I do not care for automatic updates to versions so I would rather update manually to ensure backups were made and that everything goes smoothly.

1. Stop all instances and ensure SpaceEngineers.exe and SpaceEngineersDedicated.exe are not running in memory (use Task Manager to verify)
   
2. Make a backup of your world(s).
   
3. Start Steam and login. The auto-update process should begin to download the newest version of Space Engineers.
   
4. Once the update is complete, exit Steam.
   
5. Start the instance(s) either from Services or SpaceEngineersDedicated.exe

Maintenance tools

SEToolbox[setoolbox.codeplex.com] - Allows editing of the Save content, and importing of items into the 'world'.

I install SEToolbox with each server I setup. It is used to load savegames, delete all floating objects (ore, tools, components) and deleting ships flying off into oblivion. If the game is corrupted, there is a repair option that might fix it.

Processor affinity and priority

Space Engineers while in alpha development will only utilize a single CPU core. If your server has 8 cores, it won't run any better than if it only had 1 core.

However, you can improve overall performance by making use of processor affinity...which means your tell the operating system to only use certain CPU(s) for a process. For example, you could reconfigure your antivirus program to only use CPU #8 and set priority to below normal. Then configure Space Engineers to use only CPU #7 with priority above normal (never use High or Realtime to avoid system stability issues).

If you have other CPU-intensive processes that are not very important, you can push them off of the CPU that Space Engineers is using.

References

Official Guide: Space Engineers - Dedicated Servers
Official Dedicated Servers Page[www.spaceengineersgame.com]
Marek Rosa Dev Blog - Dedicated servers and multi-player[blog.marekrosa.org]
Official Dedicated Servers Forum[forum.keenswh.com]
Space Engineers Wiki - Multiplayer[www.spaceengineerswiki.com]

[LHammonds]

I am certain things have changed such as the section showing a list of items you can check/uncheck and the example mods I mentioned. As for the rest, it is probably the same or very similar but I have not touched SE in years to know for sure. SE used to work on Win2003 but that changed when they required DX11 and as such, I needed Win2008 or better and never really messed with it again at that point. Hosting on Linux would be my preference but there was no option for that either.

[Zaƒlow]

Has these things changed since this was pubished?
I want to start a dedicated server, once I have the fastest starlink! :]
I know the best world settings of all time, because I have played a billion years
there is one thing about block limits and cpu limits that is up for debate, but, I will just do more work as an admin to just delete bad grids, and even just ban dumb players...

I know that seems kinda bad, but otherwise there's no real need for block limits and cpu limits.

I hate when someone doesn't know how to play with rotors and pistons correctly, so they just limit them waaaaay down.. Drills too, like maybe 25 drills is a good limit, per grid, not 5 drills and that's all forever and ever..................... :[

and welders, if I see an over sized welder wall in a multiplayer server, I will as the admin, just replace it with a snazzy robotic arm that will also print the same printable area... Free of charge lol

[LHammonds]

Oh, then yes, running a dedicated server is not for the faint of heart. Saves are just that....the changes in the world/universe that players have made while there. So if you create a ship, that ship remains after you logoff or reboot the server BECAUSE of the save file. Depending on how you are playing this game, it places those save files in different locations. Yes, I know, it is rather painful but keeps your server saves separate from your singleplayer saves so you don't accidentally mix them up I suppose. Steam ID is your unique identifier that lets the server know that you are the one and true server admin...anyone can rename themselves to mimic the server admins name but the underlying ID does not change.

[AIM-9X]

no I mean that this is complex not outdated. what is a savefile? Steam ID?

[LHammonds]

@The Pickaxe Gamer, sorry. I am positive changes have been made over time where this guide no longer matches the click-for-click settings I documented but overall it should be close enough to get you there. Just take it with a grain of salt because this was based on how it worked...a long time ago.

[AIM-9X]

I can't understand this.

[LHammonds]

Just upgraded my Win2003 server to Win2008. ya ya, not the latest OS but should be able to host an SE server. Now I just need to find some time to go through this document and clean it up for 2008 server. However, I am currently working setting up Ubuntu Server as a domain controller and file share for local network 1st before I update this tutorial.

[Excalium]

The service is running, but I cant connect

[Showdown Samurai Sam]

pretty good
thx

[Eternal Void]

they worked, i had to do some port forwarding