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Dedicated Server Hosting
April 17, 2026 at 09:07 PM
Append a dedicated-server hardware requirement table per player count, the rule against launching from the client's bundled WindroseServer folder, the StartServerForeground foreground-log launch flow, and a step-by-step procedure for migrating a local co-op save into a dedicated server.
Windrose supports dedicated servers at the April 14, 2026 Early Access launch. The official Discord FAQ says the dedicated server build ships as a free Steam tool, and the official server guide explains both the simple install flow and the manual SteamCMD route. For groups that want a persistent world online even when the usual host is away, dedicated hosting is the intended setup.
Topic | Current Verified Answer |
|---|---|
Dedicated servers at launch | Yes. Officially supported from day one |
Official multiplayer cap | Up to 8 players, per the live Steam store page and the FAQ repost from the Discord |
Performance recommendation | The official dedicated server guide recommends up to 4 players for smoother performance |
Self-hosting | Supported through the official server build and guide |
Rented hosts | Supported, but provider slot counts should not be treated as higher official gameplay limits |
That split between 8 supported players and 4 recommended players matters. Windrose is officially sold as an up-to-8-player co-op game, but the official server configuration guide is more conservative when it talks about smooth real-world performance.
Install the Windrose dedicated server tool from Steam Tools, or use SteamCMD if you want a manual server box workflow.
Copy the server files to a location outside the main game folder if you are using the bundled server files from the client install.
Edit the JSON configuration files only while the server is shut down.
Keep the dedicated server version matched to the current game client version after every patch or hotfix.
The official guide also documents a SteamCMD install path. The command sequence is: force_install_dir to your chosen folder, login anonymous, app_update 4129620 validate, then quit.
File | What It Controls |
|---|---|
ServerDescription.json | Invite code, password protection, server name, selected world, max players, and socket address settings |
WorldDescription.json | World name, world preset, and custom difficulty or co-op parameters for that world |
R5\Saved\SaveProfiles\Default\RocksDB\...\Worlds | The actual dedicated server world folders |
The most important linkage is WorldIslandId in ServerDescription.json. It must match the exact world folder ID you want the server to load.
Approach | Best For | Tradeoff |
|---|---|---|
Self-hosting | Small groups, home labs, and players comfortable with config files | Cheaper long term, but you handle file updates, networking, backups, and troubleshooting yourself |
Rented hosting | Friend groups that want the fastest path to a persistent world | Easier uptime and backups, but you still inherit Early Access quirks and should not trust host marketing over the official cap |
The official guide stays focused on self-hosting, and that is the safest source to trust. Provider control panels can be convenient, but the authoritative setup information still comes from Kraken Express.
The official guide says ports are dynamically assigned through NAT punch-through rather than fixed port forwarding rules.
Your router should support UPnP if you are self-hosting.
If clients fail to connect, the official troubleshooting notes recommend disabling proxy or VPN software temporarily.
Version mismatch between the client and server is one of the first things to check after patches.
Environment | Current Official Guidance |
|---|---|
Windows | Primary documented path. This is the baseline setup in the official guide |
Linux or headless | Supported only as an experimental Wine path in the official guide, not as the mainline setup |
Proxmox | Official guide recommends using CPU type host because generic virtual CPU profiles can cause launch failures or instability |
Kraken Express has published a real setup guide, but not a real admin-command handbook. Current launch-week coverage of admin commands consistently circles back to the same answer: the live build is a JSON-and-hosting workflow, not a mature console-command server-management workflow. If you are looking for rust-style admin powers, assume they are limited or undocumented until the developers publish otherwise.
Back up your world before moving it, renaming folders, or updating the server build.
Keep one note with your world folder ID, invite code, password, and preset details so you can rebuild quickly after a bad patch or host move.
Do not rename world folders. The official guide warns that the world database depends on those IDs.
If performance matters more than maximum population, follow the guide's smoother-play recommendation and keep the world closer to 4 active players.
The April 14, 2026 Early Access launch stressed Kraken Express's live services, and the pain points around dedicated server hosting are worth calling out separately from the broader multiplayer connectivity story. Self-hosted and rented servers remained technically functional, but two specific issues affected hosts during the launch window.
Dedicated server hosts reported that access token generation was gated by a cooldown timer that compounded with the launch-window backend load. When the cooldown expired mid-session or during a restart, servers could temporarily refuse new joins until the next regeneration window.
Hotfix 0.10.0.1.6 disabled the access token generation cooldown for dedicated servers entirely. Hosts who ran into token-related failures in the first three days should no longer see them after updating the dedicated server build to match the patch. If the issue persists, the most common remaining cause is a client/server version mismatch, which the same hotfix also surfaces through an explicit UI error.
Hosts coming from other survival games have flagged a setup limitation with the launch build: the current dedicated server path does not offer a standard way to connect clients through a specific forwarded port. The official server settings schema does expose a P2pProxyAddress socket field, but the official guide describes the networking layer as NAT punch-through with dynamically assigned ports rather than a fixed, user-chosen forwarded port.
That design works well for most home-hosted groups with UPnP-capable routers, but it removes a knob that hosts with restrictive firewalls or traffic-shaping policies rely on elsewhere. This was called out in launch-week coverage (GosuGamers) as a concrete area where Kraken Express has room to expand dedicated-server tooling. The studio has said more connectivity fixes are in testing, but no timeline has been published for opt-in fixed-port hosting.
Until that lands, self-hosted groups behind strict NAT should verify UPnP is enabled on the router, temporarily disable VPN or proxy software when testing connectivity (per the official troubleshooting notes), and keep the dedicated server build matched to the current game client version after every patch.
Server Settings - the JSON fields and custom world parameters
Save File Location - exact world paths for client and dedicated server saves
Multiplayer - co-op structure, world behavior, and official player-cap wording
Offline Mode - when a local solo world is the simpler option
The dedicated server build is significantly lighter than the game client, but it still needs dedicated RAM, CPU time, and a fast disk to stay stable. The table below lists the hardware tiers the developers recommend per player count. CPU is a 2-core, 3.2 GHz baseline (Intel Xeon Scalable class). SSD storage is 35 GB at all tiers.
Active Players | RAM | Notes |
|---|---|---|
2 players | 8 GB | Comfortable tier for a small duo world. |
4 players | 12 GB | Matches the soft performance recommendation already in the official guide. |
10 players | 16 GB | Above the supported-cap soft recommendation; expect lag spikes in dense naval combat. |
If you are running the game client and the dedicated server on the same physical machine, budget at least 24 GB of total RAM (16 GB for the client, 8 GB or more for the background server). Anything less leaves both processes fighting for headroom and usually causes stutter on the client side during island streaming.
A WindroseServer folder exists inside the main game install, but it is not a second, equivalent entry point. The game client actively shuts down any server process started from that folder to prevent memory conflicts and corrupted saves. Always run the dedicated server from the separate Steam Tools install (or a SteamCMD install in its own directory), never from the client's bundled copy.
The fastest way to get the server online without touching any config files is the foreground launcher. From the dedicated-server install directory, run StartServerForeground.bat (the double-click entry point). A command-line window opens and prints the live server log, which includes the short invite code the first players need to connect.
Leave the foreground window open; closing it stops the server.
If the invite code scrolls past too fast to copy, open the R5 folder in the server install and read InviteCode from ServerDescription.json instead. The field matches the code printed in the log.
Paste the invite code into the Connect to Server screen in the game client and share it with the group.
The most common hosting transition is moving an existing co-op world off of one player's machine onto a dedicated server so the group stops waiting for a specific host. Shut down both the game and the server before moving any files, and back the world up first. One wrong paste can invalidate the save entirely.
On the original host's PC, paste this path into the file browser address bar: %USERPROFILE%/AppData/Local/R5/Saved/SaveProfiles/. Inside that directory, open the folder named after the host's Steam ID, then RocksDB, then the current game version folder, then Worlds. The alphanumeric folder inside Worlds is the world itself. Copy the entire folder. See
Save File Location for the full path reference on both client and server.
On the dedicated-server machine, navigate to the dedicated-server install directory, then R5/Saved/SaveProfiles/Default/RocksDB/<game version>/Worlds/. Paste the copied world folder there. Keep the folder name exactly as it was on the source machine; do not rename it.
Open ServerDescription.json in the server root, set WorldIslandId to the exact folder name you just pasted (no surrounding slashes, no extra spaces), save the file, and launch the server. The copied world loads on the next server boot with all existing progress intact.
After a successful migration, plan to update the dedicated server build alongside every game patch. A version mismatch between client and server is the single most common reason a previously working world stops accepting connections after an update.
