How to set up a Terraria server

A Terraria server gives you and your friends one shared world that is always online. This guide covers the whole setup, from ordering to your first login.

What you need

• A Headpat Space account with a verified email address and your billing details filled in.
• Terraria on your computer. Everyone who joins needs the same game version as the server.
• An idea of how many people will play. You can change the plan later.

1. Order the server

1. Sign in to the panel, open Game Servers in the sidebar and click New server.
2. Under 1. Pick a game, choose Terraria.
3. Under 2. Pick a variant, choose the variant. If there is only one, the panel selects it for you.
4. Under 3. Pick a location, choose the location closest to your players.
5. Under 4. Configure resources, set CPU, RAM and disk. The recommended values are already selected.
6. Under 5. Name and finalize, give the server a name.
7. Check Game settings, for example Terraria version, World Name, World Size, Difficulty and Max Players. World size and difficulty only count when a world is created, so pick them carefully. You can change the rest later.
8. Click Continue to checkout and pay. You land on the page of your new server, where the installation starts on its own.

World size and difficulty

Setting	Values
World Size	1 small, 2 medium, 3 large
Difficulty	0 Classic, 1 Expert, 2 Master, 3 Journey

Difficulty is preset to 3, Journey. For a normal world, enter 0. Only Journey characters can join a Journey world, and Journey characters cannot join other worlds.

2. Start the server

The server does not start by itself after the installation. Watch the Console until the installer is done, then click Start under Server actions.

On the first start the server generates the world. The server is ready when the status shows Running.

3. Connect

The Address card on the server page shows the Host and the Port of your server.

1. Start Terraria and click Multiplayer.
2. Click Join via IP and pick your character.
3. Enter the host and confirm.
4. Enter the port and confirm.

Always use the port from the Address card. It is usually not the Terraria default port.

4. Manage the server from the console

Type commands into the field below the console and press Enter. Do not add a slash in front.

Command	What it does
playing	Lists the players that are online
kick Name	Removes a player from the server
save	Saves the world right now
exit	Saves the world and shuts the server down

5. Change the server settings

Open Startup. Under Variables you find the same fields you saw when ordering. Change a value, click Save next to it and restart the server.

Field	What it does
Password	Players need this password to join. Leave it empty for none
MOTD	The message players see when they join
Max Players	How many players can be online at once

The panel writes these fields into serverconfig.txt on every start, together with the port and the world. Changing those lines in the file has no effect. Other settings, such as secure or language, you change in the file itself: open Files, click serverconfig.txt, click Save when you are done and restart.

6. Start a new world or use your own

Because world size and difficulty are fixed at creation, a different size means a new world.

1. Make a backup first: see Back up and restore your game server.
2. Open Startup and change World Name, World Size and Difficulty. Click Save next to each one.
3. Restart the server. If no world with that name exists yet, the server creates it.

To use a world from your own computer:

1. Click Stop on the server page.
2. Open Files and go to saves/Worlds, where the server keeps its .wld files. Upload your own .wld file there. For several files at once, use SFTP: see Upload files to your game server with SFTP.
3. Open Startup and set World Name to the name of your file, without .wld. The name can be 20 characters at most. Click Save next to it.
4. Click Start.

7. Change the Terraria version later

1. Make a backup first.
2. Open Startup and, under Variables, change Terraria version. Click Save next to it.
3. Back on the server page, click Reinstall under Server actions.
4. Leave Also delete all files switched off. The installer then runs over your existing files and your world stays where it is.

If something does not work

• Players cannot connect: check that the status is Running, that host and port match the Address card, and that everyone uses the same Terraria version as the server.
• The world is new after a restart: World Name under Startup does not match the file name of your world. Correct the name and restart.

Ready to start? Order your Terraria server.