How to Adjust the Difficulty on Your Enshrouded Server

Enshrouded offers five predefined difficulty presets as well as a Custom mode that lets you configure every individual game setting.

Choose a preset

Select difficulty
Enter the desired value in the Game Settings Preset field:

Value	Description
`Default`	Balanced standard experience
`Relaxed`	Fewer enemies, more resources
`Hard`	More and tougher enemies
`Survival`	Additional survival mechanics (hunger, harsher penalties)
`Custom`	All values freely configurable (see below)

If you set Game Settings Preset to Custom, you can adjust every value individually via the enshrouded_server.json file.

Stop the server
Stop your server via the dashboard.
Connect via SFTP
Connect to your server via SFTP.
Open enshrouded_server.json
Open the file enshrouded_server.json in the root directory and adjust the values under the gameSettings section.
Start the server
Save the file and start your server.

Warning

Changes in enshrouded_server.json will be overwritten if the server is running when saving. Always stop the server before editing.

Parameter	Range	Description
`playerHealthFactor`	`0.25` – `4.0`	Player health multiplier
`playerManaFactor`	`0.25` – `4.0`	Mana multiplier
`playerStaminaFactor`	`0.25` – `4.0`	Stamina multiplier
`playerBodyHeatFactor`	`0.5` – `2.0`	Body heat multiplier
`enableDurability`	`true` / `false`	Equipment can break
`enableStarvingDebuff`	`true` / `false`	Starvation debuff when hungry
`foodBuffDurationFactor`	Float	Duration of food buffs
`fromHungerToStarving`	Nanoseconds	Time before hunger becomes starvation

Parameter	Range	Description
`shroudTimeFactor`	Float	Time players can stay in the Shroud
`weatherFrequency`	Float	Frequency of weather changes
`dayTimeDuration`	Nanoseconds	Length of day
`nightTimeDuration`	Nanoseconds	Length of night
`enemyHealthFactor`	Float	Enemy health
`enemyDamageFactor`	Float	Enemy damage
`enemyStaminaFactor`	Float	Enemy stamina
`enemyPerceptionRangeFactor`	Float	Enemy perception range
`bossHealthFactor`	Float	Boss health
`bossDamageFactor`	Float	Boss damage
`randomSpawnerAmount`	Float	Number of spawning enemies
`aggroPoolAmount`	Float	Enemy aggro pool
`threatBonus`	Float	Global threat level
`pacifyAllEnemies`	`true` / `false`	Enemies only attack when provoked

Parameter	Range	Description
`miningDamageFactor`	Float	Mining effectiveness
`plantGrowthSpeedFactor`	Float	Plant growth rate
`resourceDropStackAmountFactor`	Float	Amount of gathered resources
`factoryProductionSpeedFactor`	Float	Factory production speed
`experienceCombatFactor`	Float	XP multiplier for combat
`experienceMiningFactor`	Float	XP multiplier for mining
`experienceExplorationQuestsFactor`	Float	XP multiplier for quests
`perkCostFactor`	Float	Resource cost for perks
`perkUpgradeRecyclingFactor`	`0.0` – `1.0`	Return when recycling perks

Parameter	Values	Description
`tombstoneMode`	`AddBackpackMaterials` etc.	Death behavior
`enableGliderTurbulences`	`true` / `false`	Turbulences while gliding
`tamingStartleRepercussion`	String	Penalty for startling tamed creatures
`curseModifier`	Float	Intensity of curse effects

Tip

Validate your JSON file for syntax errors before starting the server – a single missing comma can cause the server to discard your settings.