Journey Mode is Terraria's sandbox difficulty: a world created with difficulty=3 gives players a set of powers — freeze time, set the weather, turn on god mode, change the enemy spawn rate, slide the difficulty up and down — that make it either the friendliest way to play with a mixed group or the fastest way for one bored player to ruin an evening. On a dedicated server, who may use each power is decided by fifteen lines in serverconfig.txt. This article lists them, explains the three values each can take, and suggests a sensible set of locks for a shared server.
Journey is a world setting, not a server mode
The first thing to get right: Journey is a difficulty, fixed when the world is created. In serverconfig.txt, difficulty=3 applies only alongside autocreate on a world that does not exist yet; an existing Classic, Expert or Master world cannot be switched to Journey, and a Journey world cannot be switched out of it. If your group wants Journey, it is a new world — on a Connect server, a new World Name with Difficulty set to Journey, as described in server settings.
Journey worlds also only admit Journey characters: the game pairs Journey characters with Journey worlds and keeps the other difficulties separate. Players joining a Journey server need a Journey character, which they create in the game's character menu.
The fifteen permission keys
Each key is a Journey power, and each takes one of three values. From the config file that ships in the official server zip:
| Key | The power |
|---|
journeypermission_time_setfrozen | Freeze and unfreeze time |
journeypermission_time_setdawn | Set the time to dawn |
journeypermission_time_setnoon | Set the time to noon |
journeypermission_time_setdusk | Set the time to dusk |
journeypermission_time_setmidnight | Set the time to midnight |
journeypermission_time_setspeed | Change how fast time passes |
journeypermission_godmode | God mode |
journeypermission_wind_setstrength | Set the wind |
journeypermission_wind_setfrozen | Freeze the wind |
journeypermission_rain_setstrength | Set the rain |
journeypermission_rain_setfrozen | Freeze the rain |
journeypermission_increaseplacementrange | Extend block placement range |
journeypermission_setdifficulty | Slide the world's difficulty |
journeypermission_biomespread_setfrozen | Stop biomes (corruption, crimson, hallow) spreading |
journeypermission_setspawnrate | Change the enemy spawn rate |
The values:
0 — locked. Nobody on the server can use the power.1 — host only. The wiki describes this as the host's power. On a dedicated server there is no host player — the server itself is the host — so in practice 1 behaves as a lock for everyone connected. Treat the useful choices as 0 and 2.2 — everyone. The default for all fifteen if you write nothing.
So a server with no journeypermission_* lines is a server where every player can do everything. That is fine for a group of three friends who talk; it is not fine for a public server or a group with a prankster.
A sensible set of locks for a shared server
There is no official recommendation, so this is ours, built around one question: which powers change the world for everyone versus just the player using them?
Lock these (0) on any server with strangers or a mixed-maturity group:
journeypermission_setdifficulty — one player can slide the whole server to Master mid-boss, or to the easiest setting while others are trying to earn a drop.journeypermission_godmode — invulnerability makes every fight meaningless for the player using it, and on a shared server it tends to spread.journeypermission_setspawnrate — cranked up, it floods the map; cranked down, it empties it. Both wreck farming for everyone else.journeypermission_biomespread_setfrozen — freezing biome spread is a big, permanent-feeling change to the world's progression. Decide it once, as a group, and lock it.
Consider locking:
- The five
time_* keys — stopping time for a build session is lovely; a player setting midnight during someone else's fishing run is not. Many groups lock time_setfrozen and time_setspeed and leave the four fixed-time keys open.
rain_* and wind_* — low stakes, but rain affects fishing and some events; freeze them if your group cares.
Leave open (2):
journeypermission_increaseplacementrange — it only affects the player using it, and it is the reason half of Journey builders are in Journey.
Write the locked lines into serverconfig.txt under the other keys, and restart; the file is read at start. Everything else about the file is in serverconfig.txt explained.
Journey and the rest of the config
Two keys interact with Journey worth noting. secure=1, which the wiki describes as additional cheat protection, is unrelated to Journey permissions — set it regardless. And maxplayers applies as usual; Journey has no player limit of its own.
Journey powers are also entirely separate from the console commands. time, dawn, noon, dusk, midnight and settle are typed into the server console by whoever runs the server, on any difficulty, and no permission key touches them.
On a Connect server
A Connect Terraria server creates a Journey world when Difficulty is set to Journey on the Server Settings tab before the first start — or for a new World Name afterwards. The tab manages the main serverconfig.txt keys; the fifteen permission lines are not on it, and are added on the Files tab, where they are left in place across restarts. Take a backup from the Backups tab before changing them: a locked-out power is reversible, a world sliced to Master by a visitor is not.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I make a Terraria server Journey Mode?
Create the world with difficulty=3 alongside autocreate in serverconfig.txt (Difficulty: Journey on a Connect server). Difficulty is fixed at creation, so an existing world cannot be switched.
Can regular characters join a Journey server?
No. Journey worlds admit Journey characters only; players need to create one.
What do the journeypermission values mean?
0 locks the power for everyone, 1 is described by the wiki as host-only (which on a dedicated server, with no host player, behaves as a lock), and 2 lets everyone use it. 2 is the default for all fifteen.
Which Journey permissions should I lock?
Our suggestion for a shared server: lock setdifficulty, godmode, setspawnrate and biomespread_setfrozen; consider the time keys; leave increaseplacementrange open.
Do Journey permissions change without a restart?
No. serverconfig.txt is read at start. Edit the lines, then restart.
Does Journey Mode affect how many players can join?
No. maxplayers applies as on any other difficulty.