How to Set Up a Conan Exiles Dedicated Server

Before you start: the five choices that matter before launch

Make these decisions before you invite anyone. They affect compatibility, performance, and player expectations, and some are awkward to change once people have built bases and settled in.

What the server needs

Funcom’s technical manual includes a sizing table for the original dedicated server. Treat it as a floor, not a promise, because Enhanced runs on a heavier engine. Real load depends on how busy your world is, how much is built, how many NPCs are active, how many mods you stack on top, and whether you keep both regions enabled.

The CPU side matters because one busy world has work that does not spread cleanly across endless cores. Simulation, AI, replication, and save-related world work often come back to the main thread, so clock speed and strong per-core performance matter more than a big core count on paper. When that thread falls behind, players feel rubber-banding, delayed interactions, or server hitches during busy periods.

RAM is mainly about how much world the server keeps live and how much extra content you load. Disabling a region can help lower RAM usage because the dedicated server stops loading that region’s sublevels. Mods also push RAM use up. The player-facing trade-off is simple: less world available, or fewer extras.

Storage still matters even though Conan Exiles is not a database-heavy business app. A decent SSD helps qualitatively with startup, shutdown, updates, and save handling because the server is constantly reading data packs and writing world state. It will not fix poor CPU performance, but it can reduce the time spent waiting on disk. If you are comparing machines, our guide to game server hardware requirements gives the general logic behind CPU, RAM, storage, and network choices.

Install the server: three routes

You have three sensible ways to install a Conan Exiles dedicated server. All reach the same server build; the difference is how much you want automated for you.

• Steam client, Tools: simplest for a home Windows machine. In your Steam Library, show Tools, then install Conan Exiles Dedicated Server.
• SteamCMD: best for repeatable installs, rented Windows boxes, and Linux workflows where you want a plain command-driven setup.
• Dedicated Server Launcher for Windows: a GUI from a Funcom tools programmer that runs SteamCMD for you, updates the server, edits core settings, and manages mods. Use a current version: from 1.9.0 onward it understands the branch change, and the current official version is 1.10.0.

If you want the process in one glance, this is the route to follow from first choice to first login:

SteamCMD command

steamcmd +force_install_dir C:\ConanServer +login anonymous +app_update 443030 validate +quit

To install the old UE4 build instead, add the legacy branch flag before validate:

steamcmd +force_install_dir C:\ConanServer +login anonymous +app_update 443030 -beta conan-exiles-legacy validate +quit

On Linux the command is the same apart from the folder, for example +force_install_dir /home/conan/server. Run the same line again whenever the game updates, because players on a newer version can’t join an older server.

On Linux, Enhanced includes a native server binary and should run the same as the Windows build. The important housekeeping detail is file case: keep the save filename lower case so the server is looking for exactly the file that exists.

First start, then stop: let the server create its files

Once installed, start the server once so it writes its configuration files, then stop it before you edit anything. On Windows, the basic start command is ConanSandboxServer.exe -log. The first launch creates the server-side INI files under the saved config folder.

Edit with the server stopped. The server reads these files when it starts, so a change made while it runs does nothing until the next restart, and the running server can write its own values back over your edit. That is why “my settings reverted” so often means “I edited the right file at the wrong time”.

Older guides may also tell you to keep settings under deprecated sections. For the query port, use [OnlineSubsystemNull]. If you have stale old [OnlineSubsystemSteam] query settings hanging around from older setups, remove them rather than leaving two competing ideas in the config.

Name, passwords, slots, and the first rules to set

Set the minimum your players need before the second launch: a server name, a join password if you want privacy, an admin password for yourself, your slot count, and a couple of baseline gameplay multipliers.

Each block goes in a different file in the config folder above.

; Engine.ini
[OnlineSubsystem]
ServerName=My Conan Server
ServerPassword=JoinSecret

; ServerSettings.ini
[ServerSettings]
AdminPassword=AdminSecret
PVPEnabled=False
PlayerXPRateMultiplier=1
HarvestAmountMultiplier=1

; Game.ini
[/Script/Engine.GameSession]
MaxPlayers=16

Server password and admin password do different jobs. ServerPassword controls who can join at all. AdminPassword gives administration rights once you are inside; admins use MakeMeAdmin <AdminPassword> in the console, or the admin panel, to gain those rights. Do not hand out the admin password just because the server itself is private.

MaxPlayers is not just a social setting. More slots mean more potential network traffic, more entities being simulated around more people, and more save pressure as the world fills up. If you are starting from scratch, set it for the group you actually have now, not the community size you hope to have later.

For the ruleset, use PVPEnabled=FALSE for PvE. If you want PvE-Conflict, the server also needs CombatModeModifier=1 in [ServerSettings] and it still relies on PVPEnabled. A full PvP switch changes what the server allows players to do to each other, so it needs a restart. The trade-off is obvious: more conflict can make the world feel active, but it also increases complaints, admin workload, and the cost of wipes or balance changes.

Ports, port forwarding, and why “offline” often means the pinger

Conan Exiles uses several ports for different jobs. A lot of first-time owners open only the game port, then wonder why the server appears unreachable in the browser.

Changing the game port moves the pinger with it because the pinger is always game port + 1 and cannot be set separately. So if you launch with a different -Port=, forward both that port and the next UDP port. Query can be set separately with -QueryPort= or the [OnlineSubsystemNull] query setting.

The path a player follows is worth understanding because it explains most visibility problems at a glance:

If you are using Windows, allow the server through the firewall. Without that exception, the server may never show up in the browser even if the router forwarding looks correct. If you bind to a specific address with -MULTIHOME=<ip>, also add -MULTIHOMEHTTP=<ip>; otherwise the server can disappear from the browser despite being otherwise healthy.

If you host on the same PC you play on, start the game client first and then start the server. That order avoids a known local conflict when one machine is doing both jobs.

Regions instead of maps, and a short note on mods

Enhanced no longer gives you a simple “pick a map” server choice. The dedicated server now combines the Exiled Lands and Isle of Siptah into one world split into regions. If you do nothing, both are available.

Disable a region when you do not need it

[Regions]
ExcludedRegions=IsleOfSiptah

This stops that region’s sublevels loading on the dedicated server, which can help lower RAM usage. That is useful for a smaller group that knows it will stay in the Exiled Lands, or for a self-hosted box that is tight on memory. The trade-off is that players lose a chunk of available world, and the disabled region may still be visible but not functional, so tell people clearly what is intentional.

Mods on Enhanced

Server mods live in ConanSandbox/Mods/ and load from ConanSandbox/Mods/modlist.txt, one entry per line. Every player must have the same mods in the same load order or the join will fail. That order matters because later mods can override earlier content, so changing the list is not just adding flavour; it changes what the server loads into memory and how clients validate content.

UE4 mods must be rebuilt for Enhanced. Do not rename .pak files to tidy the folder or force a load order; the server will fail to load renamed pak files. If a mod has a web feature such as Discord integration, the mod still loads without approval, but its HTTP requests stay blocked until you allow its origin in ModHttp.ini and restart.

[SomeModFolder]
AllowedOrigin="https://example.com"

The quotes matter. Unquoted values are ignored, and the server log prints the exact lines it expects you to add.

Saves, backups, wipes, and moving an old world forward

Enhanced uses game_0.db in ConanSandbox/Saved/. Older guides and backup scripts often still point to game.db, which is the wrong file for an active Enhanced server.

There is one compatibility behaviour to know: on first start, if game_0.db does not exist but game.db does, the server copies game.db to game_0.db. That is how older UE4 worlds carry over. It is convenient once, but it also means a misread folder can make you think the wrong save is “the live one”.

• Back up with the server stopped. That avoids copying a database while the server is still writing to it.
• Keep copies off the machine. A local disk fault, mistaken wipe, or broken update is not helped by having every backup on the same box.
• For a clean wipe: stop the server and move game_0.db out of the folder. Move any old game.db out too, or the server will copy it back in as your “new” world on the next start.
• To move an old UE4 world: place game.db in the Saved folder with no game_0.db present, then start the server so it performs the first-start copy.

Keep a copy of the config folder alongside the save. Server name, passwords, rules and region settings live there, and they are just as annoying to rebuild as the world.

Invite your players and fix the first join problems

Players can join from the in-game server browser by searching for the server name, or by Direct Connect using IP:port with the game port, which is 7777 by default. If you set a join password, the game prompts for it when they connect.

Send friends this short checklist so you do not end up answering the same basics five times:

• Server name as it appears in the browser
• IP:port for Direct Connect
• Server password, if there is one
• Mod list and load order, if modded
• Which branch they must be on: Enhanced or Legacy

When something still fails, start with the symptom rather than changing random settings. This triage catches the usual Enhanced-era mistakes quickly:

Self-host or rent: when each route makes sense

Both routes work. The right choice depends less on “can this machine run it?” and more on how much admin friction your group is willing to live with.

As a rule, renting becomes the better route when the server needs to stay online regardless of your PC, when you do not want to touch port forwarding, or when the server is for a larger or more competitive community. Self-hosting is fine for a clan box, a friend group, or a test environment where occasional downtime is acceptable.

Conan Exiles server FAQ

Is the Conan Exiles dedicated server free?

Yes. The dedicated server is the free Conan Exiles Dedicated Server tool in the Steam Library under Tools, and it can also be installed with an anonymous SteamCMD login. Your cost is the machine or rental, not the dedicated server software itself.

Can I run a Conan Exiles server on Linux?

Yes. Conan Exiles Enhanced includes a native Linux server binary and it should run the same as the Windows build. The main Linux-specific issue to watch is filename case sensitivity, especially for save files, so keep the live save name lower case.

Where is the Conan Exiles server save file?

For Enhanced, the live save is game_0.db in ConanSandbox/Saved/. Older guides often mention game.db because that was the UE4-era name. If your backup script still targets game.db, update it before you trust any backup.

What ports does a Conan Exiles server need?

The defaults are 7777 UDP for game traffic, 7778 UDP for the pinger, and 27015 UDP for the server query. Optional RCON uses 25575 TCP. If you change the game port, remember the pinger moves with it because it is always the game port plus one.

Why can’t my friends see my Conan Exiles server?

The usual causes are the query port not reaching the server, the Windows firewall blocking it, or using -MULTIHOME without -MULTIHOMEHTTP. If it does appear but shows unreachable, check the pinger port first, then the game port. On Enhanced, version mismatches from the wrong branch or stale upgrade lines can also look like a connection problem.

More dedicated server setup guides

Our Conan Exiles host comparison, plus setup guides for other survival games.