How to Make an Enshrouded Server (2026 Guide)

An Enshrouded dedicated server keeps your world online for up to 16 players, so your group can build and explore without waiting for the host to log in. The server is free to download and does not need its own copy of the game. This guide covers the full setup on your own machine, ready for the 1.0 release on 15 October 2026, and ends with a quicker option if you would rather not run it yourself.

Short on time? A hosted Enshrouded server skips SteamCMD, Wine and port forwarding, and is online in about a minute with its own address. Our quick start for hosting an Enshrouded server walks through it.

What you need

• A Windows PC or server that stays on. Keen Games only ships a Windows build of the server, enshrouded_server.exe. It runs on Linux through Wine or Proton, covered below, but there is no native Linux version. It also has to stay on whenever anyone wants to play, which is the part most groups underestimate.
• Plenty of RAM. Enshrouded keeps the whole voxel world and every base loaded, so it is heavier than most survival servers. Plan on roughly:

• A fast CPU with several cores. CPU load rises with player count and base size.
• About 30 GB of free SSD space for the server and saves.
• Access to your router so friends outside your home can connect.

For a deeper explanation of these numbers, read how much RAM a game server needs.

Step 1: Install SteamCMD

SteamCMD is Valve's command line tool for downloading dedicated servers. On Windows, download it from Valve's developer site, extract steamcmd.exe into a folder such as C:\steamcmd and run it once so it updates itself.

Step 2: Download the Enshrouded server

The Enshrouded dedicated server is Steam app ID 2278520 and downloads with an anonymous login. From a Command Prompt in your SteamCMD folder, run:

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

Run the same command again whenever the game updates, including on 1.0 launch day. Your players cannot join a server on an older version, so someone has to be around to update it, or you let a host handle it.

On Linux

Because the server is a Windows program, tell SteamCMD to fetch the Windows files, then start it with Wine or Proton:

steamcmd +@sSteamCmdForcePlatformType windows +force_install_dir /home/enshrouded/server +login anonymous +app_update 2278520 validate +quit

Running it under Wine works for many people but is unofficial, so expect to troubleshoot Wine versions. Community Docker images that bundle Proton, such as sknnr/enshrouded-dedicated-server, are the easiest route on Linux.

Step 3: Start it once to create the config

Open the install folder and run enshrouded_server.exe. A console window appears, the server starts, and it writes a default enshrouded_server.json next to the executable plus a savegame folder for the world. Close the server cleanly once you see it running, then edit the config.

Step 4: Edit enshrouded_server.json

The file is plain JSON, so keep the quotes and commas intact. The settings most people change:

• name: the server name shown in the server list.
• slotCount: the player limit, up to 16.
• ip: leave it at 0.0.0.0 so the server listens on every network adapter. Putting your public IP here stops it from starting.
• queryPort: 15637 by default.
• saveDirectory and logDirectory: where the world and logs are written. Saves go to ./savegame by default.
• gameSettingsPreset: Default, Relaxed, Hard, Survival or Custom. The detailed values under gameSettings only apply when this is set to Custom.
• userGroups: the roles players join as.

Passwords and admin rights

Enshrouded no longer uses a single server password. Instead each entry in userGroups has its own password and permissions, for example:

"userGroups": [
  {
    "name": "Admin",
    "password": "pick-a-strong-one",
    "canKickBan": true,
    "canAccessInventories": true,
    "canEditBase": true,
    "canExtendBase": true,
    "reservedSlots": 0
  },
  {
    "name": "Friend",
    "password": "a-different-one",
    "canKickBan": false,
    "canAccessInventories": true,
    "canEditBase": true,
    "canExtendBase": true,
    "reservedSlots": 0
  }
]

When a player joins they type a password, and whichever group it matches decides their permissions. Give the Admin password only to people you trust, and use a different password for each group. Your generated file may contain extra permission fields, keep them as they are unless you know what they do.

Save the file and start the server again. Every setting in the file, including custom difficulty, is covered in our Enshrouded server settings guide.

Step 5: Open the ports

Current builds use one UDP port, the query port 15637. Older builds also used 15636 for game traffic, and many guides still list it, so forwarding the range 15636 to 15637 UDP covers both and does no harm.

1. Give your server PC a fixed local IP address in your router.
2. Forward UDP 15636 and 15637 to that address.
3. Allow enshrouded_server.exe through Windows Defender Firewall on private and public networks.

Every router names these menus differently. Our port forwarding guide walks through the process and how to test it. If your provider uses CGNAT, forwarding will not work at all, and a hosted server with its own address is the simplest way around it.

Step 6: Let friends connect

1. Launch Enshrouded and click Play, then Join Game.
2. Tick Show dedicated servers, and Show password protected servers if you use passwords.
3. Search for your server name and click Join. If it does not show up, friends can add your public IP and query port, for example 203.0.113.10:15637, to their favorites in the Steam server browser.
4. Enter the password for the role they should have.

Everyone needs their own copy of Enshrouded on Steam and must be on the same version as the server.

Moving your world and keeping it safe

The world lives in the savegame folder. Stop the server before copying it, then zip the whole folder as a backup. Do this before every update, and especially before 1.0, since big releases can change how saves load. Moving a single player world to a dedicated server is possible, but it involves locating and renaming the save files, so keep a copy of the original before you try. The steps are in how to transfer an Enshrouded save to a dedicated server.

Common problems

• The server does not appear in the list: the query port is not forwarded, it is forwarded as TCP instead of UDP, or the firewall is blocking the executable. Also make sure the empty and password protected filters are ticked. More in Enshrouded server not showing up.
• The server will not start after editing the config: the JSON is invalid, usually a missing comma or quote, or ip was changed from 0.0.0.0.
• Custom settings are ignored: gameSettingsPreset is not set to Custom.
• "Version mismatch" when joining: the server was not updated after a game patch. Run the SteamCMD command again.
• Lag with a full server: the machine is short on RAM or CPU. Large bases and 16 players need a strong CPU and around 16 GB. See Enshrouded server lag fix.
• Everyone lost their connection: your home public IP changed. Send friends the new address, or use the server name search instead.

The easy way

Running Enshrouded yourself works, but it asks a lot: a Windows machine with 8 to 16 GB of RAM left on around the clock, Wine or Proton if you are on Linux, UDP ports open on your router, and you updating and backing up the world every time Keen ships a patch.

A hosted server handles all of that. Pick a plan from 19.99 USD a month, or split it with up to 10 friends, and your world is online in about 60 seconds with its own address. You edit enshrouded_server.json and the role passwords in the browser, upload your save to savegame, and press Backup before the 1.0 update on 15 October. See Enshrouded server hosting for plans, or the quick start for hosting an Enshrouded server.