Server

A  is used for playing with multiple people in the same world. s can be hosted by yourself, as well as by a server hosting company. Servers officially only support up to 8 people as of A19, but some servers run upwards of 20-30 players. These servers also incur more play-ability issues though, because of the high number of players.

Serverconfig.xml
This is a table of the up-to-date Alpha 19.2 build 4 serverconfig.xml file that comes with 7 Days to Die.

Only change the data in the "value=" part of the file, otherwise, it will not work.

To host a server just edit the startdedicated.bat file and the serverconfig.xml using notepad or notepad++. You shouldn't need to edit the startdedicated.bat. In the batch file you will see the following text:

startdedicated.bat  @echo off

rem rem Starts a dedicated server rem rem -quit, -batchmode, -nographics: Unity commands rem -configfile			 : Allows server settings to be set up in an xml config file. Use no path if in same dir or full path. rem -dedicated                   : Has to be the last option to start the dedicated server.

echo|set /p="251570" > steam_appid.txt

start 7daystodie -quit -batchmode -nographics -configfile=serverconfig.xml -dedicated

echo Wait until game started timeout 15

echo. echo Connect to the service interface. use 'shutdown' to stop the server echo. if exist "Tools/bin/putty.exe" (    "Tools/bin/putty.exe" -raw localhost 8081 ) else (     telnet localhost 8081 )

echo. echo Server is running in background, you can close this window echo.

pause

Port Forwarding
If you are behind a router, you will need to tell your router that an incoming connection is meant for your server. This is called forwarding a port. You will need to port forward ports 25000-25003(UDP) so that others may join.

If router support UPnP - you can use this http://upnp-portmapper.sourceforge.net/

Don't know how to port forward? follow these instructions:


 * 1) Go to this Site
 * 2) Select your router brand
 * 3) Select your router version (if your version is not there, pick the one closest to your version.)
 * 4) Select 7 Days to Die (Except that you port forward 26900 to 26903 instead of 25000-25003)
 * 5) Follow the instructions on the site

If you have completed these steps correctly, your friends should now be able to join.

Finding your own IP
To find the IP which your friends need to use go to Whats my IP .org. There you will find your External IP. Send it to your friends and they should be able to join if you have already finished Port Forwarding (steps above) your router.

Looking for servers
If you are looking for a server to play on, you can find one on the the server browser on your game client.


 * For computers on the same local network as the server you can connect to it by using its LAN IP address, simply enter this and the chosen port number into the two boxes at the bottom of the games server browser screen.


 * To find the LAN IP address "Go to start, click run or search, type cmd. In the window that opens type ipconfig. You'll see a list of information. You're looking for the IP address."

Example: Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix. : home IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.102  Subnet Mask. . . . . . . . . . . : 255.255.255.0  Default Gateway. . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.1

Where mine says 192.168.1.100 that's the IP your server has.


 * If your client and server are running on the same machine it is possible to use the loopback IP address, which is either accessed via "localhost" or 127.0.0.1

Renting a server
There are several companies/websites that allow you to rent a server from them. This rented server will reside in a data center and hosted by them.

These servers are mostly 24/7 servers. This is useful because you won't need to keep your computer running 24/7. You can rent servers to many different specifications, some may not be powerful enough to host a server. Generally, network connections at a datacenter far exceed what is available to residential ISPs, which will cut down on latency that you might experience hosting at home.

Dedicated Server Providers

Managing a server
Before setting up a server manager, it is strongly recommended to install Alloc's Server Fixes. Website

Then you have a large selection of tools to choose from for managing your server.


 * 1) *Botman - Website - Forum thread Notes: Works with current version of client/server a16.4 and a17e.


 * 1) *CSMM - Cloud hosted server manager - Website - Forum thread Notes: Works with current version of client/server a16.4 and a17.2.


 * 1) *7DTDRAT - Website - Forum thread Notes: Works with current version of client/server a16.4, a17.2, a18.4 and a19.


 * 1) *ServerTools - "Website - Forum thread Notes: Works with current version of client/server a19.2

Video Tutorials
How to set a server up through the Steam Application:

Video walkthrough of using a Hosted (game server hosting company) Server, how to select options and get it up and running!

Below video walks through setting up a dedicated 7 Days to Die server using steamcmd.

The video below walks through setting up the 7D2D RAT - Remote Admin tool, a Server Manager tool.