Setting up a 7 Days to Die server

Plan on 8 GB of RAM to start, and more with large random maps or many players. The first time it generates a random map it takes quite a while: that is normal.

1. Download it

# Windows
C:\steamcmd\steamcmd.exe +force_install_dir C:\7dtd +login anonymous +app_update 294420 validate +quit

# Linux (as the steam user)
~/steamcmd/steamcmd.sh +force_install_dir ~/7dtd +login anonymous +app_update 294420 validate +quit

2. Your own config file

Updates overwrite serverconfig.xml, so copy it as myconfig.xml and edit the copy. The main settings:

Property	What for
`ServerName` / `ServerPassword`	Name and join password
`ServerMaxPlayerCount`	Players at once
`ServerVisibility`	`2` public, `1` friends only, `0` hidden
`GameWorld`	`Navezgane` (the fixed map) or `RWG` (random)
`WorldGenSeed` / `WorldGenSize`	Seed and size, if random. Bigger means more RAM and a longer wait
`GameName`	Name of the saved game
`GameDifficulty`	0 to 5

3. Start it

# Windows (from C:\7dtd)
7DaysToDieServer.exe -quit -batchmode -nographics -configfile=myconfig.xml -dedicated

# Linux (from ~/7dtd)
./startserver.sh -configfile=myconfig.xml

On Windows you can also copy startdedicated.bat and replace serverconfig.xml with myconfig.xml in the copy.

4. Ports

7 Days to Die uses 26900 on TCP and UDP and 26901 to 26903 on UDP:

# Windows (PowerShell as administrator)
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "7DTD TCP 26900" -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 26900 -Action Allow -Profile Any
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "7DTD UDP 26900-26903" -Direction Inbound -Protocol UDP -LocalPort 26900-26903 -Action Allow -Profile Any

# Linux
ufw allow 26900/tcp
ufw allow 26900:26903/udp

The server also has a telnet console (port 8081) and a web panel: do not open those ports to the internet; use them from the VPS itself.

5. Make yourself admin

From the server console (or over telnet on the VPS itself):

admin add YOUR_STEAMID64 0

0 is the highest level. The list is saved in serveradmin.xml, in the saves folder:

Windows: %APPDATA%\7DaysToDie\Saves
Linux: ~/.local/share/7DaysToDie/Saves

That folder is also what your backups must include.