How to Control the Automatic Updates of Your Enshrouded Server

Your Enshrouded server can update itself to the latest version on every start. Two fields in the dashboard decide whether that happens — and whether the server files are additionally checked for completeness and repaired.

Field	Values	Default	Meaning
Auto Update	1 / 0	1	1 = the server checks for a new version on every start and downloads it, 0 = the installed version stays unchanged
Serverdateien validieren (validate server files)	1 / 0	0	1 = the existing server files are checked as well, missing or altered files are downloaded again, 0 = no check

Note

Create a backup before every update and before every validation: Create Backup. That way you can restore your world and your configuration if something goes wrong.

Turn Auto Update on or off

1. Open dashboard
   Open the dashboard of your server.

2. Open settings
   Navigate to the Settings.

3. Enter the value
   Enter the desired value in the Auto Update field: 1 for automatic updates, 0 to turn them off. Save the setting.

4. Restart the server
   Restart your server so the setting takes effect.

When you should turn off Auto Update

• No version jump in the middle of a session
  Otherwise every restart pulls in a new version that has already been released. As long as Auto Update is set to 0, your server stays on the version that is currently installed.

• A patch causes you trouble
  If your server runs on a version where everything works, 0 keeps it exactly there until Keen Games follows up with a fix. However, 0 only prevents upcoming updates: an update that is already installed cannot be undone this way.

Tip

Whether a patch affects your server at all is stated in the changelog: for client-only hotfixes, Keen Games explicitly notes that dedicated servers do not need an update ("Dedicated servers do not require an update").

Warning

Only leave Auto Update on 0 temporarily. Your players receive the new version through Steam automatically. If your server is still on the old version by then, the server browser marks it with a "Version mismatch" — you can only play together again once the server and the game are on the same version. So set the value back to 1 in good time.

Validate the server files

If your server no longer starts after an update or after an interrupted download, server files may be missing or damaged. Validating restores them.

Warning

Validation only runs while Auto Update is set to 1. With Auto Update on 0, nothing is checked on start — no matter what the Serverdateien validieren field contains.

1. Open dashboard
   Open the dashboard of your server.

2. Open settings
   Navigate to the Settings.

3. Enable validation
   Enter the value 1 in the Serverdateien validieren field and set Auto Update to 1. Save the settings.

4. Restart the server
   Restart your server. This start takes noticeably longer because every single file is checked.

5. Turn validation off again
   Enter 0 in the Serverdateien validieren field again as soon as your server runs cleanly.

Warning

Do not leave validation on 1 permanently. Every start would check all files again and your server would take noticeably longer to become reachable.

What happens during validation

Steam compares every installed file with the reference from the server app and replaces everything that is missing or has been altered. Files that are not part of the installation are left untouched.

For you that means:

• Your save stays intact
  The world is stored in the savegame folder (set in enshrouded_server.json as saveDirectory with the default value ./savegame) and is therefore not part of the Steam installation.

• Your configuration stays intact
  enshrouded_server.json is not part of the Steam installation and is not reset during validation. Your user groups and passwords from Change Server Password therefore stay in place.

• Modified game files are overwritten
  Everything that belongs to the installation of the server app is reset to its original state.

Tip

If your server starts after validating but still stutters or lags, the guide Performance Issues on Enshrouded Servers will help you further.