Dedicated Server Guide

Requirements

• Linux or Windows system, either physical or virtualised,
  • NOT recommended also running a Stationeers client (there will be issues with router NAT-loopback).
  • Linux Glibcxx 3.4.29 & Glibc 2.34 (Ubuntu 22.04 LTS)
  • if running on Windows you must have the Microsoft Visual C++ 2015, 2017 and 2019 runtime installed, click here to download it.
• ~16GB RAM (Tested and confirmed on Linux). 8GB or less and the server won't load.

Getting the server files

SteamCmd on Windows and Linux
https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamCMD

This is a command line tool

For the stable branch:

steamcmd +login anonymous +app_update 600760 validate +quit

For the beta branch:

steamcmd +login anonymous +app_update 600760 -beta beta validate +quit

For getting back from beta to public use -beta public ,steamcmd has trouble with caching

Default ports

8081: Meta Server port (TCP).
27016: Game port (UDP).
27015: Steam update port (UDP).

Legacy Server Startup Arguments

String parameters can take space with double quotes.

parameter	value	etc
-NEW	Worldtype (string)	Starts a new game at specific world automatically from launch. Must provide world type as argument moon, mars, europa, europa2, mimas, vulcan, vulcan2, space, loulan, venus
-NEWGAME
-LOAD	savefolder (string)	Loads a saved world file, a second argument can be given with worldtype when loading fails it will make a new world instead.
-LOADGAME
-LOADLATEST		Loads the last save or backup from the save name\folder specified (checking world.xml datestamp), second argument is worldtype to fallback to when loading fails.
-JOIN	[address]:[port]	Joins a client to the server
-JOINGAME
-SETTINGSPATH	"path"	Absolute base directory for custom profile Ex) -basedirectory C:\Profile\Player1 Config Path : default.ini C:\Profile\Player1\ Save Path : C:\Profile\Player1\saves\[worldname]
-logfile	"path"	If no output_log.txt use this parameter. Check examples below for syntax.

batchmode, nographics and logfile are Unity3D commands.

https://docs.unity3d.com/Manual/CommandLineArguments.html

[Official Server Guide]

Logging Alternates

Logging seems to be broken, here are some old skool alternatives.
Small downside is they break the input of the console but it doesn't seem to throw warnings like usual.

• Linux rocketstation_DedicatedServer.x86_64 2>&1 | tee filename.txt
  • extra options would be --a or --append in front of the filename to keep appending to the logfile
• Windows (powershell) rocketstation_DedicatedServer.exe &> | tee -file filename.txt
  • extra options would be -Append at the end to keep appending to the logfile
  • Command Prompt powershell rocketstation_DedicatedServer.exe ^| tee -File filename.txt

Quickstart

https://github.com/mandusm/stationeers-dedicated-server/tree/main

Examples

Dedicated server starts new Mars world. Autosave every 5 mins to Mars1.
rocketstation_DedicatedServer.exe -LOAD Mars1 Mars -SETTINGSPATH "C:\Server\User1" -settings StartLocalHost true ServerVisible true GamePort 27016 UpdatePort 27015 AutoSave true SaveInterval 300

Load Mothership file. Autosave every 5 mins.
rocketstation_DedicatedServer.exe -LOAD Mothership -settings StartLocalHost true ServerVisible true GamePort 27016 UpdatePort 27015 AutoSave true SaveInterval 300

Load Mothership file. Autosave every 5 mins. C:\Profile\Player1\saves\Mothership
rocketstation_DedicatedServer.exe -LOAD Mothership -SETTINGSPATH "C:\Profile\Player1" -settings StartLocalHost true ServerVisible true GamePort 27016 UpdatePort 27015 AutoSave true SaveInterval 300

Example -logfile syntax
-logFile "C:\Server_Path\rocketstation_DedicatedServer_Data\output_log.txt"

Example -LOAD "myworld" directory structure.
Note: BaseDirectory is by default in SteamApps/common/Stationeers Dedicated Server/<Contents of BaseDirectory> if installed with SteamCMD

Linux:
-LOAD "myworld" will look for a folder named "myworld" in the saves directory like this:
BaseDirectory/saves/myworld/

Windows:
-LOAD "myworld" will look for a folder named "myworld" in the saves directory like this:
BaseDirectory\saves\myworld\

Details:
In the world directory named "myworld", these files must be present:

• world.bin
• world.xml
• world_meta.xml

Note: The names of these files do not correspond to your custom world name. These will always be called world.bin etc..
The server will automatically generate these upon first start. If you are importing another world, make sure these are in place in the correct directory for the server to load them.
There is also one more file that will be created:

• worldsettings.xml

Configuration from setting.xml

setting.xml will be created once you start it up for the first time. Command parameters reset setting.xml to default

---

The server is mostly a stripped down client as such it inherits certain features

---

Example Setting.xml

  <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
  <SettingData xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">

  <AutoSave>true</AutoSave>
  <SaveInterval>300</SaveInterval>
  <SavePath />

  <StartingConditions>Default</StartingConditions>
  <RespawnCondition>Easy</RespawnCondition>
  <HungerRate>0.5</HungerRate>
  <SunOrbitPeriod>1</SunOrbitPeriod>

  <ResearchPoolKey>ResearchOff</ResearchPoolKey>

  <RoomControlTickSpeed>1</RoomControlTickSpeed>
  <WorldOrigin>false</WorldOrigin>

 <ServerName>Stationeers</ServerName>
  <StartLocalHost>true</StartLocalHost>
  <ServerVisible>true</ServerVisible>
  <ServerPassword />
  <AdminPassword>randomstringhere</AdminPassword>
  <ServerMaxPlayers>10</ServerMaxPlayers>
  <UpdatePort>27015</UpdatePort>
  <GamePort>27016</GamePort>
  <UPNPEnabled>true</UPNPEnabled>
  <DisconnectTimeout>10000</DisconnectTimeout>
  <NetworkDebugFrequency>500</NetworkDebugFrequency>

---

XML Attribute	Parameter Case Sensitive	Details
<RespawnCondition>	Easy, Normal, Stationeer	Or a custom key from a mod. Seems to be used as spawn conditions instead for new players
<StartingConditions>	Default, Minimal, Vulcan, Venus, BareBones	Or a custom key from a mod. Server ignores this, define custom worldtype
<ResearchPoolKey>	ResearchOff, ResearchOn	Or a custom key from a mod. Server ignores this
<SunOrbitPeriod>	default=1	Multiplier on the time it takes for the sun to orbit, default is 20 minutes, 10 minute day 10 night.
Undocumented
<UseCustomWorkThreadsCount>false</UseCustomWorkThreadsCount>	true, false
<MinWorkerThreads>	number	default=8
<MinCompletionPortThreads>	number	default=8
<MaxWorkerThreads>100</MaxWorkerThreads>	number	default=100
<MaxCompletionPortThreads>50</MaxCompletionPortThreads>	number	default=50
<CoroutineTimeBudget>1</CoroutineTimeBudget>	number	default=1

Savegames

Configuration from worldsettings.xml

Undocumented feature

The server is mostly a stripped down client as such it inherits certain features

XML Attribute	Parameter	Details
<GameMode>	Creative, Survival
<HungerRate>	default=0.25	Multiplier on the amount of hunger generated per game tick.
<StartingCondition>	N/A	Can only be defined in custom world before generation

Configuration from world.xml

XML Attribute	Parameter	Details
<ResearchKey>	ResearchOff, ResearchOn	Or a custom key from a mod.
<RespawnCondition>	Easy, Normal, Stationeer	Or a custom key from a mod. Seems to be used as spawn conditions instead for new players

Server Administrator

In Game Admin

<ServerAuthSecret/> parameter must be added to setting.xml on both server and client and be the same token.

All commands are typed in the chat (F3) by default and prefixed by serverrun

Server Program Console

You can type commands in the running application which acts like a console

Command Lists

Command	Details	Parameter
HELP	Displays helpful stuff	Arguments: commands list (l) <key> tofile: prints the help output to file
CLEAR	Clears all console text
QUIT	immediately quits the game without any prompts
EXIT	Leaves a game session and goes back to 'StartMenu'
LEAVE
NEW	Starts a new game at specific world automatically from launch.Must provide world name as argument	worldName
NEWGAME
LOAD	Loads a saved world file	<foldername>
LOADGAME
LOADLATEST	Loads the latest saved file, including auto saves	<foldername>
JOIN	Joins a client to the server	[address]:[port]
JOINGAME
STEAM	Commands to test Facepunch API. Just checks if steam is initialised and if DLC is purchased
LISTNETWORKDEVICES	No help text :(	id
TESTBYTEARRAY	Tests every item in world to check its network read/write functions are parallel. Only enabled in Editor. Supply a reference Id to check ONLY that item
ROCKETBINARY	Starts logging the size of each section of a delta update.	Arguments: toggleloglength togglelogbps
IMGUI	Toggles ImguiInWorldTestCube on/off
ATMOS	Enables atmosphere debugging	Arguments: pipe world room global thing
THING	Thing related commands	Arguments: No args returns total thing count find delete spawn
KEYBINDINGS	Displays all the keybindings bound to LocalHuman	Arguments: reset (Resets the keybindings stack. Can help solve input issues)
RESET	Restarts the application
VERSION	Returns the game version
LOGTOCLIPBOARD	Copies the content of the console buffer to the system clipboard buffer
KICK	Kick clients from server commands	clientId - disconnects the client from the game
BAN	Bans a client from the server (server only command)	clientId
UPNP	returns universal plug and play (upnp) state
NETWORK	returns the current network status
PAUSE	will pause/unpause the game (including for clients)	Arguments: true false
SAY	sends a message to all connected players
SAVE	Saves the current game to specified path	Arguments: <foldername> delete <foldername> list
LOG	Dumps all the logs to a file	Arguments: <logname> (optional) clear
DISCORD	Interaction with the Discord SDK
SETTINGS	Change the settings.xml. e.g settings servermaxplayers 5	Arguments: list print <PropertyName> <Value>
NETCONFIG	Change the master server setting in NetConfig.xml. e.g netconfig ip 127.0.0.1	Arguments: list print <PropertyName> <Value>
SETTINGSPATH	Sets the default settings path to a new location. Launch command only. If none found default is used.	<full-directory-path>
DIFFICULTY	Sets game difficulty to one of the predefined settings	-DIFFICULTY [<difficulty>]
REGENERATEROOMS	Regenerates all rooms for the world
STORMBEGIN	Starts weather event
STORMEND	Stops weather event
DEBUGTHREADS	Show the times that the worker threads take to run.	GameTick
STATUS	Displays a bunch of info to give insight into state of server.
MASTERSERVER	Commands to help with interacting with the Master Server.	refresh
DELETELOOSEITEMS	Removes all items in world that isn't in a slot
SUNTIME	Set the time of day between 0 and 1 (e.g. 0 is sunrise, 0.5 is sunset)	Arguments: time
CLEANUPPLAYERS	Cleans up player bodies	Arguments: dead disconnected all
TEST	No help text :(

Modding on Servers

Undocumented feature
Mods are supported on Dedicated servers, however it requires additional manual configuration - Necessitating direct file access and editing on the dedicated server. To install mods, you'll need to manually obtain the mod data first - Either from the Steam Workshop, or built yourself. Upload/Store the mods in a specific folder on the server - You will also likely want to edit default.ini on the server to point to a particular server folder rather then the default directory, defined below. Then manually add ModConfig.xml in the root directory of the server executible files, and manually edit the file to add each individual mod.

modconfig.xml

Place a modconfig.xml in the serverfiles root (next to executable). Filename case is significant on Linux.

---

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ModConfig xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
  <Mods>
    <ModData>
      <Id>1</Id>
      <IsEnabled>true</IsEnabled>
      <LocalPath />
    </ModData>
    <ModData>
      <Id>0</Id>
      <IsEnabled>true</IsEnabled>
      <LocalPath>YourFirstModFolderHere</LocalPath>
    </ModData>
    <ModData>
      <Id>0</Id>
      <IsEnabled>true</IsEnabled>
      <LocalPath>YourSecondModFolderHere</LocalPath>
    </ModData>
  </Mods>
</ModConfig>

---

Local mods have Id 0.
So try and keep the same structure in the server to prevent complications.
1 is core file and always need to be enabled

Alternate ModConfig.xml

If the above modconfig don't work, try this one:

---

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<ModConfig xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
    <Mods>
        <unsignedLong>1</unsignedLong>
        <unsignedLong>1001</unsignedLong>
        <unsignedLong>1002</unsignedLong>
    </Mods>
    <DisabledMods>
    </DisabledMods>
    <LocalMods>
        <LocalMod>
            <folder>"FirstModFolderPath"</folder>
            <modID>1001</modID>
        </LocalMod>
        <LocalMod>
            <folder>"SecondModFolderPath"</folder>
            <modID>1002</modID>
        </LocalMod>
    </LocalMods>
</ModConfig>

Storing Mods

WIN: C:\Users\USERNAME_HERE\Documents\My Games\Stationeers\mods\
LIN: /home/USERNAME_HERE/My Games/Stationeers/mods/
OSX: /Users/USERNAME_HERE/My Games/Stationeers/mods/

Mods folder root is displaced by the <SavePath> setting in setting.xml,
not sure if it's a bug or feature

\Modname or workshopid\About\

(file containing description about mod and thumbnail)

\Modname or workshopid\GameData\

(files you want to append to the core gamedata)

It's recommended to only put entries in the mod files you want to add or replace,
do not try and replace the whole file for compatibility issues and errors.

There are some examples of how to make your own mods in:

\Steam\steamapps\common\Stationeers\rocketstation_Data\StreamingAssets\

Look for ExampleMod.zip and AttributesExampleMod.zip .

Note: There seems to be some changes as to how where the dedicated server loads mods from. The above solution seems to be deprecated, see below if above solution doesn't work.

WIN:[Where you've installed the server]/Steam/steamapps/common/Stationeers Dedicated Server/rocketstation_DedicatedServer_Data/StreamingAssets/Data/Mods
LIN:/home/USERNAME_HERE/Steam/steamapps/common/Stationeers Dedicated Server/rocketstation_DedicatedServer_Data/StreamingAssets/Data/Mods
OSX:[Where you've installed the server]/Steam/steamapps/common/Stationeers Dedicated Server/rocketstation_DedicatedServer_Data/StreamingAssets/Data/Mods

The Mods folder in /StreamingAssets/ is not premade, but needs to be added manually. Put the mods you want in here, and the server will load them. It is unknown if a ModConfig is even needed when doing it this way.