Setting up a Multiplayer Server

Basic Setup

Ad-hoc Server

If you want a temporary multiplayer experience it is enough to open a single player world, then click on "Open to Lan" in the escape menu. This will allow players in your local network to join. If you want to allow players outside of your local network to join, you can then also click "Open to Internet" which will attempt to set up an external connection to join your server from the internet. This is done by a technique called UPnP and has to be enabled on your internet router, which it often is by default. In short, we estimate there's about a 60% success chance that 'Open to Internet' works instantly without issues. If it doesn't you would need to set up a so-called "port forwarding" on your internet router, which can be tricky and frustrating at times, unfortunately. You would need to forward TCP Port 42420 to your computer in that case. (Google 'Port forwarding' with the name or model of your internet router to find help.)

For this server to work, your single player world has to stay open.

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Dedicated Server

As an alternative, the game ships with a dedicated server program that you can start and leave on permanently without needing to log in yourself. There are several ways to get a dedicated server up and running.

Paid hosts

See List of server hosting providers

Dedicated Servers on Windows

To keep your multiplayer server's settings from interfering with your single-player settings, use a custom --dataPath argument.

Shortcut method:

1. Navigate to the location where you will store the server's data, such as a new VintagestoryServer folder created in C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming
2. Create a folder for the server's data and give it a clear name, such as VSserverData
3. Open that folder and copy the entire path from the address bar of File Explorer. (example: C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\VintagestoryServer\VSserverData)
4. Open the game's application folder, it is %appdata%/VintageStory by default.
5. Create a shortcut of VintagestoryServer.exe. This can usually be accomplished through the right-click menu; google instructions specific to your operating system version if needed.
6. Open the Properties of the new shortcut. This can usually be accomplished through the right-click menu.
7. Click in the Target field of the shortcut's Properties, then go to the very end of what's written there. Add one space, then --dataPath=, then Paste the folder path you copied earlier, in quotes. The entire contents of the Target field should now be something like this: "C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\Vintagestory\VintagestoryServer.exe" --dataPath="C:\Users\YourUsername\AppData\Roaming\VintagestoryServer\VSserverData"

• Optional: you can move/copy the shortcut, to your desktop and/or your new VintagestoryServer folder

Batch script method (functionally equivalent to the shortcut method above):

1. To create a batch script, simply create a blank text document and rename it with the .bat file extension.
2. You can edit it by right clicking and selecting edit. Then just type %appdata%/Vintagestory/VintagestoryServer.exe --dataPath "[PATH]" replacing [PATH] with the desired path for the server's data, then save and close.

Running the script will run the server with the alternate datapath, and will generate its own collection of config files there. This is functionally equivalent to the modified link.

Next:

• Run the shortcut you made of VintagestoryServer.exe or the batch script.
• If Windows Firewall asks for permission, grant any necessary access.
• You might need to forward port 42420 on your internet router if you want the server to be accessible from outside of your local network (for example, anyone who isn't on the same WiFi as you). The process for this varies significantly; google instructions for your specific router model.

Using Windows on a virtual machine

There are some reports that LAN connection to a Vintage Story server running inside a Windows virtual machine (VM) can be slow, even when internet (WAN) connections have normal performance. This may depend on VM solution and network drivers. If this affects you, a suggested workaround is to use the Paravirtualized network adapter (virtio-net) for network adapters. The drivers are located here.

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Dedicated Servers on Linux

This describes how to set up the server as a service on Linux systems.
Note: This section only works for x64 processors; if using ARM, please refer to the following section.

Requirements

• .NET Runtime 7.0 This should be all needed to run a Vintagestory server. Everything else is just for convenience to start and manage it.
• install pgrep, screen and wget using your systems package manager.

Setup the server

1. Download the game

Advice: Create a separate directory for Vintage Story as the tar.gz does not contain a subfolder.

 mkdir server && cd server

Goto http://account.vintagestory.at/downloads
Copy the link of the newest "vs_server_linux-x64_*.*.*.tar.gz" package (Linux Server (.tar.gz) under Show other available downloads of Vintage Story)
Download with "wget" via console (Vintage Story version 1.18.8 in this example).

 wget https://cdn.vintagestory.at/gamefiles/stable/vs_server_linux-x64_1.18.8.tar.gz

2. Extract tar.gz package

 tar xzf vs_server_linux-x64_*.*.*.tar.gz

3. Make server.sh script executable

 chmod +x server.sh

4. Edit server.sh file

For security reasons you should not run the server as root user, so by default USERNAME is set to vintagestory. On most linux operating systems you can create a user with the command adduser.

 adduser vintagestory

Then change these options for your needs:

 USERNAME='<your-vs-server-username>'
 VSPATH='<your-vs-directory>'

5. Open the port at the firewall (if needed)

firewalld

 firewall-cmd --permanent --zone=public --add-port=42420/tcp
 firewall-cmd --reload

iptables

 iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -m tcp --dport 42420 -j ACCEPT

6. Server start and first steps

   ./server.sh start
 
 Wait for the startup to finish, then you can give yourself OP with
 ./server.sh command "/op <youusername>"

7. Connect to your IP/Domain and have fun

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Dedicated Servers on ARM64

Note: Please note the ARM64 version is EXPERIMENTAL please report any issues to the discord .

Currently (in game version 1.19.3 - 1.19.4, February 2024) no ARM64 .NET7 version of the Harmony patching library is available. Therefore coded mods which use Harmony will not work on an ARM64 server. If a beta of the Harmony library becomes available in future, server owners can try installing it for themselves.

The ARM64 version is available on GitHub

I recommend using the install script located on the GitHub. The following is a step by step guide on how to use the script on a Debian based system (Ubuntu, Debian, Rasbian, etc).

1. Install the required dependencies to use this script by doing apt -y install curl jq

2. Create a new file named arminstall.sh by running vim arminstall.sh or nano arminstall.sh

3. Copy the contents of the arminstall.sh file from GitHub to your newly created file and save it by using :wq with Vim or Ctrl + X, then Y, then Enter with Nano.

4. Make the script executable by running chmod +x arminstall.sh

5. Run the script by doing ./arminstall.sh

6. Start the server by using ./VintagestoryServer or dotnet VintagestoryServer.dll

This will download the latest version of Vintagestory to the current working directory, then replace the needed files to work with ARM.

If at any time you want to update to the latest version of Vintage Story, simply run the script again.

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Simple Server start command

If you want to use a custom script or just manually start your server you can run

dotnet VintagestoryServer.dll --dataPath /path/to/data

Or

./VintagestoryServer --dataPath /path/to/data

if you have the DOTNET_ROOT environment variable set.

Updating Servers

If you want to install a newer version, remove all installation files first, or you'll get unforseeable behavior. If you chose a data folder inside the installation folder, make sure to not delete that one, or you'll loose your save games, settings and player data. Download the "Tar.gz Archive/Linux (server only)" file and extract it. If you have a remote installation and only a FTP connection to your server, you will have to unpack it locally and upload each file.

Basic Configuration

Once your server is up and running you might want to look over some of the following configuration options. You can configure the server while its running through commands or by editing the serverconfig.json , for which the server needs to be stopped first. On windows, by default this file is located at %appdata%/VintageStoryData/serverconfig.json. On Linux it's located at ./data/serverconfig.json of your server directory (e.g. /home/vintagestory/server/data/serverconfig.json if setup like described here)

Protip: The easiest way to get a world configured to your wishes is to first create it in Single Player, using the advanced world creating options - and then upload it to use as your server world.

Explanation of values in serverconfig.json you can find here: Server Config

Here are some of the configurations set by commands, that you'd typically want to set.

• /serverconfig upnp [0|1]
  If set to one, the game server will attempt to set up port forwarding for you
• /serverconfig name Peaceful PvE Server
  Set up the server name, visible in the public server listing
• /serverconfig description This is a medieval survival server, PvE only, everyone welcome! <3
  Set up the servers description, visible in the public server listing
• /serverconfig motd Hi {playername}! Please remember to follow the rules!
  The message shown to players when they join
• /serverconfig password asdaf
  Require a password for players to log in, if desired. Use /serverconfig nopassword to remove again.
• /serverconfig advertise (1|0)
  Whether or not add this server to the public server listing

Lastly, you can configure a server that was created with the 'Open to Lan' method in the same way as you do for dedicated ones, be aware though, in that case a few of the configurations are overridden by the client, such as the save file location.

Acquiring server admin rights

If you have access to the server console, type /op playername. If not, open up the serverconfig.json and replace "StartupCommands": null, with "StartupCommands": "/op playername",

In both instances you should replace playername with your actual player name.

Advanced Dedicated Server

Debian with systemd service and rsyslog

If you prefer using systemd instead of screen to run your VS Server, you can follow these Instructions.
We also will setup rsyslog to split all logs into separate files.

Installation

1. create a user

 adduser --shell /bin/bash --disabled-password gameserver

2. create directories

 mkdir -p /srv/gameserver/vintagestory
 mkdir -p /srv/gameserver/data/vs
 mkdir -p /usr/lib/systemd/system

3. Download the game

 cd /srv/gameserver/vintagestory

Goto http://account.vintagestory.at/downloads
Copy the link of the newest "vs_server_linux-x64_*.*.*.tar.gz" package (Linux Server (.tar.gz) under Show other available downloads of Vintage Story)
Download with "wget" via console (Vintage Story version 1.18.8 in this example).

 wget https://cdn.vintagestory.at/gamefiles/stable/vs_server_linux-x64_1.18.8.tar.gz

4. Extract tar.gz package

 tar xzf vs_server_linux-x64_1.18.8.tar.gz

5. Change owner

You have to set the owner of your gameserver directory to avoid write permission errors

 chown -R gameserver:gameserver /srv/gameserver

6. Create systemd service unit file

Use your favourite tool to create a service unit file (this example uses nano)

 nano /usr/lib/systemd/system/vintagestoryserver.service

Insert the following content

 [Unit]
 Description=Vintage Story Server Unit
 After=network.target
 
 [Service]
 WorkingDirectory=/srv/gameserver/vintagestory
 ExecStart=dotnet VintagestoryServer.dll --dataPath /srv/gameserver/data/vs
 Restart=always
 RestartSec=30
 StandardOutput=syslog
 StandardError=syslog
 SyslogIdentifier=VSSRV
 User=gameserver
 Group=gameserver
 
 [Install]
 WantedBy=multi-user.target

Make sure the new user has access to the dotnet command or replace the command with the full path to where you installed the dotnet runtime (if you picked a custom install). Or you can also use ExecStart=VintagestoryServer --dataPath /srv/gameserver/data/vs if you have the DOTNET_ROOT environment variable set.

7. Create config file for rsyslog

Use your favourite tool to create a rsyslog config file (this example uses nano)

 nano /etc/rsyslog.d/vintagestoryserver.conf

Insert the following content

 if $programname == 'VSSRV' then {
     if($msg contains "Chat") then {
         action(type="omfile" dirCreateMode="0755" FileCreateMode="0644" File="/var/log/vintagestory-server/chat.log")
     } else if($msg contains "verließ") then {
         action(type="omfile" dirCreateMode="0755" FileCreateMode="0644" File="/var/log/vintagestory-server/login.log")
     } else if($msg contains "join") then {
         action(type="omfile" dirCreateMode="0755" FileCreateMode="0644" File="/var/log/vintagestory-server/login.log")
     } else if($msg contains "Server Warning") then {
         action(type="omfile" dirCreateMode="0755" FileCreateMode="0644" File="/var/log/vintagestory-server/warn.log")
     } else if($msg contains "Server Notification") then {
         action(type="omfile" dirCreateMode="0755" FileCreateMode="0644" File="/var/log/vintagestory-server/info.log")
     } else if($msg contains "Server Debug") then {
         action(type="omfile" dirCreateMode="0755" FileCreateMode="0644" File="/var/log/vintagestory-server/debug.log")
     } else if($msg contains "Server Event") then {
         action(type="omfile" dirCreateMode="0755" FileCreateMode="0644" File="/var/log/vintagestory-server/event.log")
     } else {
         action(type="omfile" dirCreateMode="0755" FileCreateMode="0644" File="/var/log/vintagestory-server/other.log")
     }
 }
 # Discard 
 if $programname == 'VSSRV' then ~

8. restart rsyslog / enable service To activate rsyslog and your vintagestory server type these commands

 systemctl restart rsyslog.service;
 systemctl enable vintagestoryserver.service
 systemctl start vintagestoryserver.service

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Stop, Start, Disable Server

To manually stop your VS Server use this command

 systemctl stop vintagestoryserver.service

To manually start your VS Server again type

 systemctl start vintagestoryserver.service

To disable the service use

 systemctl disable vintagestoryserver.service

Config

to change your servers configuration, stop the server and edit

 nano /srv/gameserver/data/vs/serverconfig.json

After you saved your changes, start server again.

Restart schedule

If you want your server to restart every day, you can setup a cronjob for this

 crontab -e

insert this line to stop the server at 04:30

 30 4 * * *      systemctl stop vintagestoryserver.service

you could now ececute backup tasks and then start it again with the next line at 04:32 (if you run a backup task plan some more time here)

 32 4 * * *      systemctl start vintagestoryserver

If you just want to restart the server this line instead of the other two should be fine

 30 4 * * *      systemctl restart vintagestoryserver.service

Logging

The rsyslog config splits the output logs into seperate files that you can watch with tail command
For Login/Logout see

 tail -f /var/log/vintagestory-server/login.log

For all chat messages see

 tail -f /var/log/vintagestory-server/chat.log

For all messages containing [Server Warning] see

 tail -f /var/log/vintagestory-server/warn.log

For all messages containing [Server Notification] see

 tail -f /var/log/vintagestory-server/info.log

For all messages containing [Server Debug] see

 tail -f /var/log/vintagestory-server/debug.log

For all messages containing [Server Event] see

 tail -f /var/log/vintagestory-server/event.log

For all other messages see

 tail -f /var/log/vintagestory-server/other.log

Multiple Server Instances

If you want to run multiple instances on the same machine you just have to redo some of the steps above. This is just an example for a second instance:

 mkdir -p /srv/gameserver/data/vs2
 nano /usr/lib/systemd/system/vintagestoryserver2.service

Copy from step 6 and change these lines:

 Description=Vintage Story Server 2 Unit
 ExecStart=dotnet VintagestoryServer.dll --dataPath /srv/gameserver/data/vs2
 SyslogIdentifier=VSSRV2

Create rsyslog file and copy code from step 7

 nano /etc/rsyslog.d/vintagestoryserver2.conf

Change VSSRV to VSSRV2 and /var/log/vintagestory-server to /var/log/vintagestory-server2
Before you proceed make a copy of your first server configuration and edit it for your needs (change port!!!)

 cp /srv/gameserver/data/vs/serverconfig.json /srv/gameserver/data/vs2/
 nano /srv/gameserver/data/vs2/serverconfig.json

Now start the service

 systemctl restart rsyslog.service;
 systemctl enable vintagestoryserver2.service
 systemctl start vintagestoryserver2.service

Install cronjob

 crontab -e

Insert

 30 4 * * *      systemctl restart vintagestoryserver2.service

Have Fun!

Advanced setup

Using an SRV Record to point a domain to your server

In some cases, you may not able to get a server with the default port (Multiple instances on the same server, paid hosts...), and you will have to add the port at the end of the server's address in order to connect to it.
But you might want to avoid the need to specify the port (Easier to remember, look cleaner). There is a way to point a domain to your server and avoid the need to add the port : SRV Records

SRV Records allow you to point a domain/subdomain to your instance, while letting the game know the port to use.
How to set up an SRV Records will depend on your domain provider, and you should check on their documentation before making any changes. However, the idea and values remain the same for every provider.

Let's take a server with the following details :

• Address : play.example.com
• Port : 50030
• Owned domain : mydomain.com
• Desired subdomain : vintagestory.mydomain.com

Your raw SRV Records should look something like this :

 _vintagestory._tcp.vintagestory.mydomain.com.   IN  SRV 10 10 50030 server.example.com.

The underscores and trailing dots are important! Here are some details :

• _vintagestory define the service, in our case, Vintage Story
  
• _tcp define the protocol, Vintage Story use TCP
  
• vintagestory.mydomain.com. is the subdomain we want to use. The trailing dot is important!
  
• IN SRV Define the record type, don't change this
  
• 10 10 are in order the priority and the weight of our record, in our case those are not important, as you are probably not going to load balance a Vintage Story server
  
• 50030 is the port our instance is listening on
  
• server.example.com. is the target, where the server is located. The trailing dot is mandatory as the target server is not on the same domain as us. If it was the case, you would only need to add the subdomain of the target without the trailing dot
  

If you wanted to have your record pointing to your domain directly, you would have mydomain.com. instead of vintagestory.mydomain.com.

Here is how to do it for OVH and Hetzner (Don't forget to edit the values to suit your setup !) :

OVH

You will need to go to your DNS zone and add an entry, select the SRV Record type :

• Sub-domain : _vintagestory._tcp.vintagestory You don't need to add your domain, as their form do it for you.
• TTL : No need to change this
• Priority : 10
• Weight : 10
• Port : 50030
• Target : server.example.com.

Hetzner

You will need to create a record from their DNS Console :

• Type : SRV
• Name : _vintagestory._tcp.vintagestory.mydomain.com.

Click on the Value field to enter the details :

• Priority : 10
• Weight : 10
• Port : 50030
• Target : server.example.com.

Wait a few minutes for your record to propagate and then try to use it to connect to the server, using vintagestory.mydomain.com as the address.

You are now all set up to share your server with your custom domain.