Enshrouded server settings are stored in enshrouded_server.json beside the dedicated server executable. Start the server once to generate the file, stop it before editing, and select Custom when you want individual gameplay values to apply. Named difficulty presets take priority over individual changes. Back up the existing configuration, validate the edited JSON, then restart and check the result in the intended world.
Use the file generated by your current installation as the starting point. Version 1.0 changed parts of enemy configuration, so older tables are useful for understanding a setting's purpose but cannot establish every current enemy value. This guide explains the supported controls without giving you an old complete configuration to paste over a new one.
Separate identity from gameplay rules
Server identity fields describe the service your friends join. Gameplay fields describe the world they play in. Change them separately so that a connection issue does not become entangled with a difficulty adjustment. A name change is not a world reset, and a difficulty preset is not a player permission.
| Setting | What it controls | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| name | Name visible in the server list | Use a recognizable name for your group |
| slotCount | Maximum simultaneous PC players | Supported values run from one to sixteen |
| saveDirectory | Location of the world save | Keep a recoverable copy of this directory |
| logDirectory | Location of server logs | Find the latest log before diagnosing startup |
| queryPort | Server query port | Keep network rules consistent with the chosen port |
| voiceChatMode | Proximity or Global voice | Choose local conversation or server-wide conversation |
| enableVoiceChat | Voice chat availability | Treat this as separate from the voice mode |
| enableTextChat | Text chat availability | Confirm that it matches your group's preference |
The documented query port is 15637. The documented save and log paths are relative savegame and logs subfolders. Your generated file or hosting panel may use a different configured path, so record the actual values before replacing anything. A backup of an unused default folder will not protect a world stored somewhere else.
Select the right difficulty preset
Choose one of five presets before editing individual gameplay settings. Default is the starting point for a first playthrough. Relaxed favors building and lighter exploration with fewer enemies and more resources and loot. Hard increases enemy pressure and aggression. Survival adds survival demands to a tougher experience. Custom exposes the individual controls used for a tailored world.
The crucial distinction is whether the preset is named or Custom. If you repeatedly edit a health multiplier while leaving a named preset active, the named preset can override that individual setting. Switching to Custom is the first check when a syntactically valid file keeps producing the wrong gameplay result.
For a new cooperative world, identify the reason for deviating from Default. If the problem is gathering time, change resource settings. If the problem is dying too quickly, look at incoming damage or player health. If the problem is the number of enemies attacking together, look at attack coordination. These are different problems, and changing all of them at once makes the resulting difficulty harder to judge.
Tune player resources independently
Player health, mana, and stamina each have their own multiplier. Health changes the size of the health pool, mana changes spellcasting capacity, and stamina changes the resource available for physical activity. Do not use one of these as a substitute for understanding the others. A caster running out of mana has a different limitation from a player who cannot survive an enemy hit.
| Control | Purpose | Practical distinction |
|---|---|---|
| Player health factor | Scales maximum health | Changes survival capacity without changing enemy health |
| Player mana factor | Scales maximum mana | Changes available mana rather than weapon damage |
| Player stamina factor | Scales maximum stamina | Changes the resource pool rather than every movement cost |
| Body heat factor | Scales available body heat | Higher capacity delays cold-related pressure |
| Diving time factor | Scales initial oxygen | Adjusts underwater breathing time |
The resource controls are global world rules. They are not a character build, equipment bonus, or permanent skill purchase. When balancing a group with different play styles, consider which rule affects everyone and which problem belongs to one character's equipment. Avoid rewriting the whole world's rules to compensate for a single unexamined weapon choice.
Understand the enemy controls before raising them
Enemy health and enemy damage are separate settings. More health generally means enemies take longer to defeat; more damage means their successful attacks cost you more health. Boss health and boss damage also have separate controls. A world can therefore have manageable regular encounters while keeping boss fights demanding, or the reverse.
Enemy stamina affects how difficult it is to stun an enemy. Perception range changes how far enemies can detect players. Attack frequency concerns how often attacks occur, while simultaneous attacks concern how many enemies can attack together. Enemy amount concerns encounter population. These settings all influence pressure, but none is interchangeable with a simple health increase.
Pacification controls whether ordinary enemies attack before being provoked. Do not assume that a world rule about ordinary enemies applies identically to bosses. Before building a peaceful exploration world around a single switch, check the current setting description and confirm the actual encounter you intend to change.
Version 1.0 introduced an Automatic enemy-amount option and revised enemy damage slider values. The older configuration material does not establish the current JSON representation for every changed option. Preserve the values generated by the current server or use its current supported interface; do not invent a new string or copy a pre-release enemy table wholesale.
Adjust gathering and production by bottleneck
Resource gathering, crop growth, and workstation production have different controls. Increasing one does not automatically accelerate the others. If your group spends too long mining, adjust the mining control rather than changing every loot stack. If ingredients are plentiful but processing takes too long, examine production speed instead.
| Control | Changes | Useful when |
|---|---|---|
| Mining damage factor | Mining effectiveness and yield per hit | Excavation or mining consumes too much session time |
| Resource drop stack amount | Amount of material in applicable loot stacks | Loot gathering is the main bottleneck |
| Plant growth speed | Crop growth rate | Farming is delaying production |
| Factory production speed | Workstation production speed | Materials are waiting in a processing queue |
| Weapon upgrade cost | Rune cost of weapon upgrades | The group wants a different upgrade economy |
| Weapon recycling yield | Runes returned from upgraded weapons | The group wants a different recovery value |
Changing both upgrade cost and recycling yield alters two sides of the same economy. Decide whether your intention is cheaper upgrades, more generous recycling, or both. Also distinguish resource drops from experience: more material is not the same setting as faster leveling. Keep those decisions separate if you want to preserve progression while reducing repetitive collection.
Set the consequences of death and hunger
The death setting determines what is lost and recoverable at a tombstone. The default material-loss behavior differs from keeping everything and from losing everything. Choose the desired consequence explicitly with your group before a difficult expedition. A surprising rule change after someone dies is a poor way to introduce a new server policy.
Hunger and starvation are also separate from food buff duration. Enabling starvation creates an ongoing food requirement. Increasing food buff duration changes how long buffs last. The hungry-state timer matters when starvation is enabled; editing that timer while the hunger system is inactive does not create the same survival experience.
Weapon durability can be enabled or disabled. The Shroud time multiplier adjusts how long players can remain in the Shroud. Treat that time adjustment as a world rule, rather than proof that every hazardous area is safe for the group. Progression requirements and the danger of a destination still need to be assessed independently.
Read time values in the right unit
Dedicated server day, night, and hunger timers use nanoseconds in the documented configuration. A plain number such as thirty is not a thirty-minute day. Convert deliberately and preserve the representation expected by the generated file.
| Intended duration | Nanoseconds |
|---|---|
| Two minutes | 120000000000 |
| Five minutes | 300000000000 |
| Ten minutes | 600000000000 |
| Fifteen minutes | 900000000000 |
| Twenty minutes | 1200000000000 |
| Thirty minutes | 1800000000000 |
| Forty-five minutes | 2700000000000 |
| Sixty minutes | 3600000000000 |
Day length and night length are independent. Extending daytime does not require extending nighttime by the same amount. Set them according to the experience the group actually wants, then verify a complete cycle before concluding that a timer is wrong. Avoid using a long live play session to discover that a copied value had the wrong unit.
Preserve progression and side activities deliberately
Combat experience, mining experience, and exploration or quest experience have separate multipliers. Changing one source of experience does not mean the others should match it. A group that wants less repetitive gathering may prefer adjusting resources while keeping experience unchanged. A group restarting together may choose differently. Make that intent explicit before applying a broad preset.
Other controls affect fishing difficulty, harsh weather frequency, glider turbulence, taming startle repercussions, and curse behavior. These are targeted adjustments. Fishing difficulty changes the fishing minigame; taming repercussions change how much progress is lost when wildlife is startled. Use them to solve a specific frustration instead of treating every available setting as something that must be customized.
Save changes in a repeatable order
- Tell active players that the server is about to stop.
- Stop the server before editing its files.
- Copy the existing configuration and preserve the world save separately.
- Edit the smallest set of settings needed for the intended change.
- Validate the complete file as JSON, including its commas, quotes, and braces.
- Restart the server and join the correct world.
- Check the changed behavior, then inspect the file again after a clean shutdown.
If settings reset, check JSON syntax first. If they survive in the file but do not affect gameplay, check Custom versus a named preset. If the edited file never appears to matter, confirm that it belongs to the active server installation. These checks address different causes and let you recover from the preserved configuration without touching the world itself.