Install it
The server binaries are published for 64-bit Windows and Linux, and you can get them three ways: through the Steam client, where the server is listed as a tool rather than a game, through SteamCMD, or as a free add-on in the Epic Games Store. Clients from either store can join a server whichever way its files were downloaded.
SteamCMD is the preferred route, and the app ID is 1690800:
- Linux:
steamcmd +force_install_dir ~/SatisfactoryDedicatedServer +login anonymous +app_update 1690800 validate +quit - Windows:
.\steamcmd.exe +force_install_dir "C:\Game Servers\Satisfactory Server" +login anonymous +app_update 1690800 validate +quit
Use an absolute path for force_install_dir, and quote it if it contains spaces. Skip it and SteamCMD scatters the files into one of several Steam directories that differ by platform, which makes the install hard to find later. Add -beta experimental to the same line to take the Experimental branch instead.
Start it
Run .\FactoryServer.exe -log -unattended on Windows, or ./FactoryServer.sh on Linux, from the install folder. On Linux the log and unattended options are on already.
The wiki is firm about what comes next, and it is worth heeding: starting the server by hand means it will not come back after a crash, and it stops when you close the terminal. Running it as a service instead gives you a restart after a crash, a background process, and an update check when the service restarts.
To check the server is actually listening, open https://ip:port/ in a browser or run curl -k https://ip:port. The https:// is required. Expect a certificate warning, because the server signs its own, and then an error reading errors.com.epicgames.httpserver.route_handler_not_found. That error is the healthy answer.
Ports: two, since Patch 1.1.0.0
| Port | Protocol | Argument | Used for |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7777 | TCP | -Port= | Server traffic and the HTTPS API |
| 7777 | UDP | -Port= | Game traffic and the lightweight query API |
| 8888 | TCP | -ReliablePort= | Reliable messaging |
Ports 15000 and 15777 stopped being used at Patch 1.0, so any guide still listing them is out of date. Two behaviours are worth knowing before you pick numbers. If the standard port is already in use, the server counts upward until it finds a free one, so it may quietly end up somewhere you did not expect. If the reliable port is in use, the server does not count upward, it fails to start.
Port redirection is not supported for the standard port, so the outside and inside numbers on your forwarding rule have to match. Do not forward external 7778 to internal 7777. The reliable port is the exception and can be remapped with -ExternalReliablePort=. Give the server a fixed address on your network as well, or a new lease will break the forwarding rule you just wrote.
Claim the server before anything else
A running server does nothing until it is claimed. From the game's main menu, open the Server Manager, add the server by address, set a name and set an administrator password. Only then can you create a new game or upload an existing save from the Manage Saves tab.
Player password protection is a separate setting and is off by default, so an unclaimed-then-claimed server with no player password is open to anyone who knows the address.
The settings available once you are signed in as admin are short and practical: server name, admin password, player password, the session to load on startup, whether to pause when nobody is connected, and whether to save when a player disconnects. Under gameplay there is the hour of the day the server restarts, the autosave interval in minutes, whether to send gameplay data to Coffee Stain, and a network quality setting whose own description warns that raising it can trade server frame rate for client load times.
Where the files live
| Platform | Saves |
|---|---|
| Linux | ~/.config/Epic/FactoryGame/Saved/SaveGames/server |
| Windows, user | %LocalAppData%\FactoryGame\Saved\SaveGames\server |
| Windows, service | %WINDIR%\ServiceProfiles\NetworkService\AppData\Local\FactoryGame\Saved\SaveGames\server |
Server settings sit beside the saves as ServerSettings.PORT.sav, where PORT is the port the server runs on. Blueprints are in a blueprints folder in the same place, which does not exist until somebody makes one. Note that running the server as a Windows service moves all of this, which is the usual reason a save "disappears" after somebody converts a manual server into a service.
Logs are in the install directory under FactoryGame/Saved/Logs. The current one is FactoryGame.log and older ones carry a date in the filename. Crash reports land in FactoryGame/Saved/Crashes.
Shutting down and two common errors
Shut down through the HTTPS API, or connect in the Server Manager and run quit in the Console tab. On Linux, send the process an interrupt signal or stop the service. On Windows, hold Ctrl and press C in the server window. Do not close the window with the X: the wiki warns this kills the process before it finishes writing files to disk.
If players hit a network error saying the encryption token is missing, the fix is not on your side. Have them add the server in the Server Manager and join through there rather than using Join Game.
Self-hosting or renting
Satisfactory's own requirements say the server uses more than one thread but heavily favours raw per-thread speed, so an old spare machine is often a worse host than people expect. If you have a capable machine that stays on, self-hosting is free and you keep every save file.
The costs are the usual ones, stated plainly. The machine has to be awake whenever anyone wants to play. Many home connections cannot accept incoming connections at all, whatever you do to your router. Crashes, updates and restarts are yours to catch, which is exactly why the wiki pushes so hard on running it as a service. And a factory save is only as safe as your last copy of it.
Renting moves that work rather than removing it. The settings above, the save files and the world are still your decisions.
Where RadarHost fits
RadarHost rents Satisfactory servers hosted in Beauharnois, Quebec, Canada. There are three plans, Standard, Premium and Diamond, priced in Canadian dollars, with no setup fee and cancel any time. Renting changes who keeps the machine on, not how the game runs or how the claiming step above works. After payment, our team reviews the order and emails setup details or next steps within 24 hours. Current plans and prices are on the Satisfactory availability page.