Don’t Starve Together Server Hosting

What is a Don’t Starve Together server?

A Don’t Starve Together server is Klei Entertainment’s official dedicated server software that runs the survival game’s world independently of any player’s PC. When you host from inside the game, the world runs on your computer and closes when you leave; with a dedicated server the world stays online 24/7, and your friends can drop in whenever they like to contribute to the base, prepare for the seasons or take on boss fights.

DST servers are especially popular with groups building long-running (Endless) worlds, busy community servers and servers offering modded experiences. Because the cave world runs as a separate shard, running the game plus surface and cave servers at once on a home PC strains its resources; moving that load to a separate server makes both the game and the world run more smoothly.

The first concept to understand when choosing Don’t Starve Together server hosting is the cluster and shard structure: each cluster has one master shard (usually Forest) and optional secondary shards (usually Caves). Resource planning, port settings and backups are all shaped by this structure.

How does the DST cluster and shard structure work?

In DST, a cluster is the set of worlds that run together; each cluster contains exactly one master shard and any number of secondary shards. By convention the master shard runs the surface world (Forest) and a single secondary shard runs the caves (Caves), with players moving between them through cave entrances.

Each shard is started as a separate process, so a cluster running Forest and Caves together is effectively two server programs. Shards on the same machine talk to each other through the communication settings defined in the [SHARD] section of cluster.ini. Disabling the caves noticeably reduces resource use, but it also switches off a significant part of the game.

Should a DST server run on Windows or Linux?

Klei provides the Don’t Starve Together dedicated server for Windows and Linux in both x86 and x86_64 builds; according to the community wiki, non-x86 hardware is not officially supported. Server files are downloaded via SteamCMD with an anonymous login using app ID 343050; the tool is also available in the Steam library as “Don’t Starve Together Dedicated Server”.

steamcmd +force_install_dir /home/dst/server +login anonymous +app_update 343050 validate +quit

On Linux servers the common setup is to run each shard in its own screen or tmux session or as a separate systemd service. On Linux, cluster files are kept by default under ~/.klei/DoNotStarveTogether in the user’s home directory; on Windows the Klei folder under Documents is used. The cluster name and shard name are given as launch parameters:

./dontstarve_dedicated_server_nullrenderer -cluster Cluster_1 -shard Master
./dontstarve_dedicated_server_nullrenderer -cluster Cluster_1 -shard Caves

A Linux distribution such as Ubuntu 24.04 LTS uses less memory and makes automation easier; LinuxGSM also supports this game.

How do you get a cluster token?

A cluster token lets an online DST server identify itself to Klei’s services; it is written into cluster_token.txt and placed in the cluster folder. According to the community wiki, online clusters will not start without a token; only offline (LAN) clusters can run without one.

There are two ways to get a token:

1. Klei account page: log in to your Klei account, enter a cluster name in the DST game servers section, add a new server and copy the generated token.
2. In-game console: open the console in the game with ~ and run TheNet:GenerateClusterToken(); the token file is saved to your Klei DoNotStarveTogether folder.

If the admin list is left empty, the account that created the token is treated as the cluster’s only admin. Creating the token with the account of the community’s long-term owner therefore prevents ownership confusion later. The token is a credential; do not share it in screenshots or public channels. If you think it has leaked, create a new token on the Klei account page and update the file.

How many resources does a DST server need?

A Don’t Starve Together server is relatively light; for a small group running Forest and Caves together, 2–3 GB of RAM and two cores are estimated to be enough. But because each shard is a separate process and game logic runs largely on a single core, core speed and shard count are at the heart of resource planning.

Factors that increase resource use:

• Shard count: enabling the caves means a second process; running several clusters multiplies needs.
• World age: in long-running Endless worlds, player structures, planted farms and items piling up on the ground increase the number of entities the server processes every update.
• Mods: server-side mods consume extra memory and CPU; some large content mods add noticeable load.
• Player count: max_players can be set up to 64; on busy servers, players spreading across the world enlarge the area simulated at once.

The community wiki gives no official RAM figure; the table above is an estimated starting point. After setting up the server, monitor the memory and CPU use of each shard process separately; the master shard usually consumes more. On a VDS with dedicated cores your measurements are unaffected by neighbour load, which gives you a reliable basis for planning.

“Server lag” complaints in DST usually appear at busy moments: a big boss fight, many structures burning at once in a crowded base, or farms packed with creatures. If the master shard’s single core is maxing out at such moments, first reduce unnecessary objects in the world and heavy mods, then move to a plan with faster cores. Memory is rarely the bottleneck; checking its slow growth in long-running worlds once a month is enough.

Game server package or VDS for DST?

For Don’t Starve Together the page shows VDS packages; you can install the server on a VDS yourself or request a ready-made installation through a support ticket. A virtual server with full access is a practical way to manage several shard processes, Workshop mod downloads, cluster folders and automatic backups in one place.

What you can do with a VDS:

• Define the Forest and Caves shards as separate services with automatic restarts.
• Run several clusters in different game modes (e.g. Endless and Survival) on the same machine.
• Take regular backups of the cluster folder with cron and copy them off the server.
• Apply mod updates and game patches on your own schedule.

Because DST is a light server, a smaller VPS may be enough for a single small cluster; if you plan several clusters, heavy mods or other games on the same machine, a VDS gives you more room. For a comparison of the two models see game server package or VDS?. For package capacities, rely on the current values in the package table on this page.

If you are new to server administration, you can request the initial installation via a support ticket and then handle day-to-day tasks such as adding mods, the admin list and backups yourself. When your community grows, adding a second cluster to the same server or moving to a larger plan are simple steps that do not require moving your existing world. If your group also plays other sandbox survival games, see Terraria server hosting.

Which ports does a DST server use?

On a DST server each shard uses its own game port (server_port), which must be open to the outside over UDP; the troubleshooting section of the community wiki suggests forwarding UDP port 10999 to the server machine as an example. The cave shard uses a separate port, so that port must be opened too.

What to know about port settings:

• server_port is defined in each shard’s server.ini or overridden with the -port launch parameter. Internet-facing servers use a value in the 1024–65535 range.
• master_server_port and authentication_port in the [STEAM] section are Steam’s internal ports; each shard running on the same machine must have different values.
• Inter-shard communication uses the [SHARD] settings in cluster.ini; for shards on the same machine this communication does not need to be exposed externally.

A practical setup is to pick one port for Forest and the next one for Caves, opening both as UDP in the firewall. Rather than copying values, compare them against the files generated by your installed server version.

What settings go in cluster.ini?

cluster.ini holds the settings shared by all shards: game mode, player limit, PvP, server name, description, password and shard communication settings. It sits at the root of the cluster folder, and all shards must be restarted after a change.

Commonly used settings:

• game_mode: Survival, Endless or Wilderness. In Endless the world does not reset when players die; the most relaxed option for groups of friends.
• max_players: player limit from 1 to 64.
• pvp: whether players can damage each other.
• pause_when_empty: pauses the world when nobody is on the server; keeping it on saves resources and stops the base being damaged by seasons or monster attacks while players are away.
• cluster_name, cluster_description, cluster_password: details shown in the list and the join password.
• cluster_intention: the server’s purpose (e.g. social, cooperative, competitive).
• [SHARD] section: shard_enabled, bind_ip, master_ip, master_port and cluster_key let shards find each other.

World generation settings (season lengths, resource abundance, monster frequency) are defined in each shard’s own worldgenoverride.lua or leveldataoverride.lua.

How do you install Workshop mods on a DST server?

Steam Workshop mods are added to a DST server in two steps: mods are listed for download in the server’s mods/dedicated_server_mods_setup.lua file, then enabled in each shard’s modoverrides.lua. The server downloads the listed mods automatically at start-up.

1. Add a ServerModSetup("WorkshopID") line for each mod to dedicated_server_mods_setup.lua; for an entire collection you can use ServerModCollectionSetup("CollectionID").
2. In modoverrides.lua in each shard folder, enable the mod under the name workshop-WorkshopID and enter its options if any.
3. Enable the same mods for Forest and Caves; otherwise you get inconsistencies when moving into the caves.
4. Restart the shards and confirm in the log that the mods were downloaded.

To add a mod manually from outside Workshop, copy the mod folder, containing modinfo.lua and modmain.lua, into the server’s mods directory. Server updates can overwrite dedicated_server_mods_setup.lua, so keep a separate copy of it. Adding and testing mods one at a time makes it easier to find an incompatible one.

How do you manage and back up a DST server?

DST server admins are defined in the adminlist.txt file, and since the whole world is stored in the cluster folder, backing up means copying that folder regularly. According to the community wiki, if adminlist.txt is left empty on online servers, only the cluster token owner is an admin; extra admins are added line by line with Klei user IDs starting with KU_.

Useful admin console commands:

• c_save(): saves the world immediately; handy before maintenance.
• c_rollback(n): rolls the world back by the given number of save points; a lifesaver after a fire or a faulty mod.
• c_regenerateworld(): regenerates the world from scratch; irreversible, so always back up first.
• c_announce("message"): makes an announcement to all players.

As a backup routine, archive the entire cluster folder (with shard subfolders and config files) into a date-stamped archive every day and keep at least one copy off the server. A VDS-level snapshot gives a quick rollback, but it does not replace a file-level backup.

How is a DST server protected against DDoS and unwanted players?

Protecting a DST server rests on a cluster password, a carefully kept admin list, trusted mods and network-level attack filtering. On public servers, players who deliberately burn bases or drain resources (griefing) are the most common complaint in DST communities, so server settings matter as much as technical measures.

• Use cluster_password on friends-only servers; on public servers, write the rules in the description.
• Add only players you trust to adminlist.txt.
• On public servers, consider anti-griefing admin mods from trusted sources.
• Regular backups and the c_rollback command let you undo damage done by a malicious player.
• Run the server as an unprivileged user and protect SSH access with key-based authentication.

On the network side, the RouteFence firewall on LIONFIN infrastructure filters DDoS traffic at the network level and the infrastructure is monitored 24/7 by NOC and SOC teams (see our data center). Because the servers are in a data center in Türkiye, they suit groups with players in Türkiye and the surrounding region.

What are the most common DST server errors?

The most frequent Don’t Starve Together server problems are a missing or invalid cluster token, the cave shard failing to connect to the master shard, mod incompatibilities and version differences after a game update. Each shard keeps its own log file (server_log.txt) in its shard folder, which shows on which side the problem lies.

• Server will not start: cluster_token.txt is missing, in the wrong folder or the token is invalid.
• Cannot enter the caves: the Caves shard is not running, or the [SHARD] settings in cluster.ini (e.g. cluster_key, master_port) do not match between the two shards.
• Server not in the list: the shard ports are not open over UDP, or shards on the same machine use the same Steam ports.
• Players get a version error: the game was updated but the server was not; run app_update 343050 validate in SteamCMD.
• Mods do not load: the mod was added to dedicated_server_mods_setup.lua but not enabled in modoverrides.lua.

If the problem persists, open a ticket from the Support section of the LIONFIN customer panel and attach the log files of both shards.