An Enshrouded server gives a cooperative group one world to join and maintain. On PC, the dedicated server supports up to sixteen simultaneous players. You can operate the separate server tool yourself or use a hosting service with a control panel. Choose the route according to availability, administration, and access to the world save, then verify that the intended players can join the intended world.
Check platforms before arranging the group. PC supports up to sixteen players, while the PS5 store lists up to eight online players. Crossplay was not available at the 1.0 launch. A PC server subscription does not remove that platform boundary, so establish compatibility before spending time moving a world or asking everyone to join.
Decide when the world needs to be available
The first hosting decision is whether everyone plays at the same time or expects independent access. A dedicated process separates running the world from one person's active gameplay, but the process still has to remain available on a machine. Self-hosting does not mean the server continues operating after its computer is off.
If you run the server yourself, someone owns the task of starting it, maintaining its installation, and recovering its files when something goes wrong. A rented service moves operation of the underlying machine to a provider and usually exposes controls through a web interface. You still need to understand the world configuration and keep control of the save.
| Arrangement | What your group must organize | Main decision |
|---|---|---|
| Self-operated dedicated server | Running machine, installation, network access, files | Who keeps the process available |
| Hosted dedicated server | Provider account, panel access, configuration, save recovery | Who administers the service and world |
| Short shared play sessions | A time when the relevant host and players are available | Whether independent access is actually needed |
Do not start two regular worlds merely to compare hosting. Choose a temporary test world for acceptance, then decide which world the group will treat as its main one. That avoids distributing progression and construction between installations whose purpose was never agreed.
Size the player limit for your actual group
The PC configuration accepts a slot count from one to sixteen. More simultaneous players increase CPU and memory demand. Sixteen is a supported upper limit, rather than a guarantee that every machine or every advertised package performs identically at full capacity.
Hosted package limits can also differ from the game's full configuration range. A provider may sell only certain slot counts, even though the dedicated configuration supports other values. Check the package and the actual service configuration separately. A sixteen-player game limit does not establish how many places your purchased package includes.
Count the players who need to be online together, including the administrator if that person will play. Leave capacity according to the group's real plans rather than copying the maximum simply because it is available. If performance deteriorates as the active group grows, review CPU and memory pressure and the chosen slot count before assuming the world itself is damaged.
Evaluate the controls you need before choosing a host
A useful server service lets you identify the active world, change its supported settings, inspect logs, and recover a save. Advertised hardware, a low starting price, or a launch-ready badge does not answer those administration questions on its own.
Before committing to a setup, check these practical capabilities:
- You can find and export the current world save.
- You can identify the active server configuration file or its panel equivalent.
- You can stop and restart the service deliberately.
- You can read the latest server log when startup or connection fails.
- You understand how updates reach that service.
- You know which person can recover access to the account or machine.
Mod support requires its own check. A hosting provider can support Enshrouded while not supporting a particular mod loader or modification route. Do not infer mod compatibility from ordinary file access or a general statement that the game is supported. Decide whether modifications are actually required before choosing a service around them.
Protect access with the intended user group
Enshrouded uses user groups with their own passwords and permissions. This lets a server distinguish administrators, friends, guests, and visitors rather than treating every successful connection as the same level of access. Configure the group your players are meant to use.
Permissions can cover kicking and banning, inventory access, editing the world, editing bases, and extending bases. These are separate capabilities. Someone invited to look around a construction does not automatically need the ability to change it or remove other players.
Use an administrator group for the person maintaining the world and a suitable play group for regular participants. Give each group a deliberate purpose. If a player can join but cannot perform a particular building action, inspect the relevant role before diagnosing that as a world corruption or a broken crafting system.
Do not publish administrative credentials as the ordinary group password. Keep access recovery and day-to-day play distinct so that inviting another person does not also hand over every administrative action. The goal is a shared world whose participants can do the work they were actually invited to do.
Make the world recognizable in the server list
The server name appears in the server browser. Choose a recognizable name and give your group the exact spelling used by the active service. A changed name or a second test server can otherwise make it look as though the regular world disappeared.
The configuration also includes an IP field for network configuration and a query port. The documented query port is 15637. If you change the configured port, keep the corresponding network rules consistent. A process running locally has not yet proven that another person can reach it.
For a self-operated server, investigate the network environment when outside players cannot connect. For a hosted service, identify its assigned connection details and the correct instance. Avoid changing the world save while the actual problem is server discovery or access; those are different stages of the connection.
Keep the configuration beside the correct process
The dedicated server generates enshrouded_server.json after its first run. That file identifies the server and its configured directories. Stop the service before editing it, preserve its JSON structure, and make a separate copy of a known working configuration.
When there is more than one installation, editing the right filename is not enough. The file must belong to the executable or hosted instance you are actually starting. Use the active installation's file browser or panel and confirm its configured world directory before assuming a saved edit should affect another instance.
Keep startup and gameplay decisions separate. Name and player limit identify the service. A difficulty preset changes the experience in the world. Detailed gameplay multipliers belong in a deliberate configuration pass after the basic service works, rather than being part of every connection repair attempt.
Agree on the world's difficulty before regular play
Default, Relaxed, Hard, Survival, and Custom are the main preset choices. Default provides the standard starting experience. Relaxed favors lighter adventuring and building through reduced enemy pressure and more resources and loot. Hard increases enemy pressure, while Survival adds further survival demands.
Custom exposes individual rules. Use it when the group has a specific change in mind, such as gathering, death consequences, or another supported setting. It is less useful to copy a large preset without understanding which of its changes the group actually wants.
Agree on the intended experience before people invest heavily in the world. Players choosing a long building project and players seeking demanding survival combat may want different rules. The server can express those choices, but the configuration cannot resolve an unstated disagreement about how the group wants to play.
Keep saves and logs for different purposes
The save directory holds the world you want to preserve. The log directory holds information used to investigate the server. By default, these are separate savegame and logs subfolders, and previous logs are archived under the log backup folder.
A log backup is not a world backup. Locate the actual configured save directory and preserve that world separately before an important change. Also know how to retrieve the latest log so that a failed startup does not force you to guess what happened from the server browser alone.
If you move to another host or machine, establish the transfer procedure for that environment before replacing files. Keep the original world recoverable until the destination has been checked. An empty world appearing at the destination is evidence to investigate the selected save and instance, rather than a reason to overwrite the only remaining copy.
Handle launch updates and old worlds carefully
The current launch baseline is Hotfix 1.0.0.2, build 1269579, released on October 16, 2026. Existing Early Access worlds are intended to continue through a save conversion, but the launch fixes did not establish that every damaged character save had been repaired.
Update the intended installation and preserve the old world before continuing regular play. A hosting panel's successful restart does not prove that every player's character migrated correctly. Ask returning players to confirm their character and the shared world before treating the migration as finished.
A server and its clients should also be assessed as a group when troubleshooting an update-period failure. Record the version in use and distinguish a connection failure, a missing character, and a world-setting problem. Reinstalling or replacing files indiscriminately can obscure which stage actually failed.
Accept the server with a short real session
Before moving everyone's regular play to a new service, run a short acceptance session. Have another intended player find the service, join the correct world, and check the agreed access and difficulty. Then stop and restart cleanly and confirm that the intended world is still selected.
The practical result is a server your group can reach, a world it recognizes, permissions it understands, and files its administrator can recover. Keep those checks concrete. A purchased package, a running executable, or an attractive server name alone does not establish that the shared setup is ready for regular play.