A Terraria dedicated server is configured by a short list of key=value lines in serverconfig.txt. On your Connect server the ones you need live on the Server Settings tab, the dashboard writes the file for you on every start, and every change takes effect on the next restart.
The settings
| Setting | What it does | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| World Name | Which world file the server loads: saves/Worlds/<World Name>.wld | If no file exists under the name, the server creates a new world. Changing the name switches worlds — see below |
| World Size | Small, medium or large | Read only when a world is created. Small is 4200×1200 tiles, medium 6400×1800, large 8400×2400 |
| Difficulty | Classic, Expert, Master or Journey | Fixed at world creation. Journey enables the in-game powers whose permissions live in serverconfig.txt |
| Seed | The seed used when a world is created | Optional. No effect on an existing world |
| Max Players | How many can be connected at once | 1 to 16, default 8. The game itself allows up to 255; 16 is our cap on every plan |
| Password | Players must enter it to join | Letters and digits only. We generate one at build time; clear it for an open server |
| MOTD | The message shown to players when they join | Up to 128 characters |
| Language | The language the server uses for its messages | One of the game's twelve locales, default English (US) |
| Update on restart | Make sure the chosen build is installed on every start | On by default. Turn it off only to freeze the server files entirely |
| Build (Version card) | Latest = follow terraria.org; Pin a build = hold any 1.4.5.x build | Latest by default. Pin before a patch to keep mobile friends in, or match a friend's client — never below the build that last saved the world |
Applying a change
- Edit the value on the Server Settings tab and save.
- Restart the server from the Overview tab.
- Wait for the console to settle before telling players to reconnect.
The server reads serverconfig.txt once, at start. The dashboard handles the file for you — save, then restart — but a change is not live until that restart.
Changing the World Name starts a different world
This is the setting that surprises people. World Name is not a label; it is the file the server loads. Set it to a name with no matching .wld in saves/Worlds, restart, and the server generates a brand-new world under that name using the current size, difficulty and seed. Your previous world is not deleted — it is still in saves/Worlds — but nobody is playing on it until you set the name back and restart.
So:
- To rename nothing and keep playing: leave World Name alone.
- To switch to a world you uploaded: set World Name to that file's name without
.wld, restart. - To start fresh with a different size or difficulty: pick a new World Name, set size and difficulty, restart. The old world stays on disk as a fallback.
The tab warns you when a change to World Name would create a new world. More in Backups & saves.
Size, difficulty and seed only matter once
The game's autocreate, difficulty and seed keys apply when the server creates a world and at no other time. Changing them for a world that already exists does nothing. If your group wants Expert or Journey after starting in Classic, that means a new world — a new World Name — not a settings change.
Update on restart and the build
This is the setting that keeps your server joinable. Players update through Steam or their store; a server on a different build cannot be joined. With Update on restart on and the build set to Latest, every start checks terraria.org for the current server build and installs it before the world loads. Choose Pin a build instead to hold the server on any 1.4.5.x build — the list offers every build terraria.org still publishes — and the server installs that build on the next restart and stays on it until you choose Latest again; that is how you keep mobile friends in while their store catches up, or match a friend's client. Pin before the patch reaches the server: Terraria cannot open a world with a build older than the one that saved it, so the card greys out builds below your world's and the server refuses them at start. If terraria.org cannot be reached, the server starts on the build it already has and says so in the console. Your world and settings are untouched either way. Detail, including who a pin holds out, in Updates & versions.
Turn it off only if you want the server files frozen entirely. To stay on a build, use Pin a build instead — it keeps the picker working and still refuses a build your world cannot open.
What is not on the tab
- Port. Assigned at checkout, shown on the Overview join card. It does not change.
- The rest of
serverconfig.txt. The dashboard writes the keys above plus a few fixed ones —worldpath,worldrollbackstokeep=2,secure=1,upnp=0andpriority=1— on every start. Extra lines the game supports, such as the fifteenjourneypermission_*keys, can be added on the Files tab and are left in place; the dashboard rewrites only the lines it manages. See Journey Mode server permissions. - Console commands.
say,kick,ban,save,time,settleand the rest are typed into the console on the Overview tab while the server is running.
Restarts and saving
Stop and Restart from the dashboard send the game's exit command, which saves the world before the process ends. The game also autosaves on its own while running. The Backups tab is separate from both — see Backups & saves — and a manual backup before a settings experiment costs nothing.
Related
- Nobody can connect after a change: Players can't join
- First-run walkthrough: Getting started