A V Rising dedicated server your clan can count on

Does it have to be Windows? Yes, officially

Yes. Stunlock's instructions for the current 1.1.x PC version say plainly that, for now, the server comes for Windows and nothing else. You will find Linux and Docker guides online, but they all run the Windows program through Wine, a compatibility layer. People make them in their spare time and Stunlock does not support them, so when something breaks after a game patch, nobody official is coming to help.

That shapes what you rent. The server program is free on Steam. Windows Server is not: our machines charge for its licence by the core (one flat charge up to eight cores, then per core above that), every month. Choosing a machine with a sensible number of cores keeps that part of the bill in proportion.

What to have ready before you begin

• A machine running Windows Server, reached over Remote Desktop.
• SteamCMD, the text-only Steam tool from Valve that fetches the server for you.
• A short name for your world's save folder, such as castle1.
• A join password for your clan, and a second, different password if you want remote admin (RCON).
• Your SteamID, so you can make yourself an admin.

Up and running in an evening

1. Download steamcmd.zip from Valve, unzip it into, say, C:\steamcmd, and run it once; on that first start it sets up the rest of its files.
2. Run the install command below. It logs in anonymously, which is all this server needs, and validate checks the files as they land. App 1829350 is the server tool, not the game.
3. In the new install folder, copy start_server_example.bat and edit your copy, never the original, because updates can overwrite it.
4. In your copy, add -persistentDataPath with a folder outside the install folder, for example D:\castle. Your settings go in its Settings folder and your worlds in Saves.
5. Open the two UDP ports in the Windows firewall by running the second command in PowerShell as Administrator.
6. Start the server, join it from the game, then write your SteamID into adminlist.txt (inside Settings), one ID per line. Turn on the console in the game's options, press ~ and type adminauth to become admin.

cd C:\steamcmd
.\steamcmd.exe +force_install_dir D:\VRising +login anonymous +app_update 1829350 validate +quit

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "V Rising game and query" -Direction Inbound -Protocol UDP -LocalPort 27015,27016 -Action Allow

Those port numbers are the examples in Stunlock's settings documentation. If you change Port or QueryPort, open your own numbers instead. The query port is only needed if you want the server to appear in the in-game list; friends connecting directly need just the game port.

Which settings file does what

The server reads two files. ServerHostSettings.json is about hosting: what the server is called, who can get in, how often it saves. ServerGameSettings.json is about how the game plays. Put your own copies inside the data folder's Settings subfolder; a copy only needs the lines you are changing, and the server fills in the rest from its defaults.

Any hosting option can also be passed as a launch flag, handy when testing. Don't edit the default files inside the install folder: the next update can wipe your changes.

Keep both passwords private

The join password decides who plays; the RCON password lets someone announce messages, rename the server or shut it down. Stunlock will not let RCON run without a password. Treat both like the keys to your castle: never post them in a Discord channel, a screenshot or a shared batch file.

{
  "Password": "your-clan-password",
  "Rcon": {
    "Enabled": true,
    "Password": "a-different-long-password",
    "Port": 25575,
    "BindAddress": "127.0.0.1"
  }
}

Save this as ServerHostSettings.json in your data folder's Settings subfolder. Here is our own advice, which goes beyond Stunlock's instructions: if you type the passwords as -password or -rconPassword flags instead, they land in the running program's command line, readable by administrators and by tools that log processes, and in every batch file you pass around. Stunlock's example script number two does put -rconPassword on the command line, so don't copy that habit. Binding RCON to 127.0.0.1 is also our suggestion: it then answers only on the server itself, and the RCON port, TCP 25575 in the example, never needs opening. Stunlock's example binds RCON to an internal address instead.

Daily restarts and keeping your world safe

Pick the hour when the fewest people are on, and schedule a restart once a day, as Stunlock recommends. A scheduled task in Windows can handle it. RCON's announcerestart with a number of minutes sends players a notice, in their own language, that the server restarts in that many minutes.

• Updates: stop the server, run the same SteamCMD command again, start it back up.
• Backups: Stunlock highly recommends backing up saves often, and before you patch or before you first start the patched server. Copy the Saves folder somewhere other than the server.
• Autosaves: AutoSaveCount limits how many are kept, and AutoSaveSmartKeep keeps some older ones too, so you can roll back further than the last few minutes.
• Scheduled wipes: ResetDaysInterval with DayOfReset starts a fresh world on a set day, after backing up the old one.

Already started a world in the game with friends? You can bring it over. In the game's Load Game menu, use Go to Directory to find it, and make a backup of that folder first. Copy it into Saves\v4 under your data folder and launch with -saveName naming that folder. So your original rules come with it, keep GameSettingsPreset blank and make sure Settings holds no ServerGameSettings.json you made yourself. When the world loads on the server, you can delete the local copy from the game's Load Game menu so it isn't listed twice.

The server that fits

With our bare metal servers for gaming, the whole machine is yours, so nobody else's workload competes with your world for the processor. Each server sits on its own port at the access switch, not shared with any other customer, and the bandwidth is unmetered, so a busy raid night never turns into a surprise on the invoice.

• Fast start: a server we already have racked is ready in about 30 minutes once your order is approved; payment checks can add time. Browse servers you can have today.
• Your own spec: if nothing on the shelf fits, build one to order.
• Close to your players: five cities to choose from, Amsterdam, Bucharest, Miami, New York and San Francisco. Compare our data center locations before you pick.
• When you're stuck: support is there 24/7 by live chat, email and phone, and rack servers and blades have a remote console (it appears in your dashboard after you set up a login for it) that works even when Windows won't let you in.

Hosting more than one game for the same group? Our page on running a Valheim world walks through that server too.

Questions people ask

Can I skip Windows and use Linux to save money?

You can try, but you are on your own. Stunlock only releases the server for Windows, and Linux setups wrap it in Wine, built by the community. If a patch breaks Wine compatibility, your world is offline until someone fixes it. Windows costs a licence but is the setup Stunlock writes its instructions for.

Do I pay anything for the V Rising server itself?

No. Stunlock makes it free for anyone on Steam. What you pay for is the machine it runs on and, on our servers, the Windows Server licence.

How many of my friends can play at once?

You choose with MaxConnectedUsers. Stunlock lists 128 as the most the server technically supports. Admins can also get reserved slots with MaxConnectedAdmins, so you can still join when it is full.

What happens to our world when the game updates?

Your saves stay in your data folder, apart from the install, so an update does not touch them. Back them up before you update anyway, as Stunlock advises, then run the SteamCMD command again with the server stopped.

Can I run a PvE world and a PvP world on one machine?

Yes. Run two copies of the server, each with its own data folder and its own ports, and give each a different preset. Remember that each one adds to the load on the machine.