Setting up dedicated server on its own machine - tell me like I’m three

I hope it works for you. My next suggestion for you would be to contact your isp. There are isp’s that refuse to allow people to forward ports on their own, requiring a call to the isp in order to get the the ports forwarded……I’m talking about you Spectrum Business!! So if you’re still having issues, contact your isp.

 
So, now that it seems to be working, a question.  The computer I’m setting this up on belongs to the other player, and he’s a bit paranoid about port forwarding.  I’ve been reading up on it and reassuring him, but he wants to know what the harm would be in simply running the game using a third Steam account, locking that character safely in a bunker, and only running it for the few hours a day we’ll be on.  It occurs to me that I don’t really know why that wouldn’t be effective.  Anyone?

 
So, now that it seems to be working, a question.  The computer I’m setting this up on belongs to the other player, and he’s a bit paranoid about port forwarding.  I’ve been reading up on it and reassuring him, but he wants to know what the harm would be in simply running the game using a third Steam account, locking that character safely in a bunker, and only running it for the few hours a day we’ll be on.  It occurs to me that I don’t really know why that wouldn’t be effective.  Anyone?


Don't be too concerned about open ports.

I have had ports forwarded for many games for many years without any issues.

Takes a great deal of skill to use a open gaming port to get any kind of access.

If your friend is worried can they turn the server off when not in use?

All the port forwarding does is tell the router to send the traffic on that port to the server, so if the server is off then the port forwarding will do nothing.

To run the server in a 3rd account would require a more powerful PC (as graphics becomes an issue), an extra 7D2D licence and run the same risk (as the 7D2D client opens the same ports).

 
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and only running it for the few hours a day we’ll be on.
If you're only going to run it when you are both on, then just use a P2P game. No server required.

Or, alternatively, don't forward the ports and let SteamNetworking handle it. You'll have higher ping and lag, but maybe it's not enough to bother you.

 
Interesting.  Having done all this work, and if going through a P2P game would cause any performance issues at all, I'd much rather make use of the dedicated server I just set up.  Knowing that playing 72D2 under any circumstances opens the same ports (I wondered about that) should be enough to ease his mind.

 
Interesting.  Having done all this work, and if going through a P2P game would cause any performance issues at all, I'd much rather make use of the dedicated server I just set up.  Knowing that playing 72D2 under any circumstances opens the same ports (I wondered about that) should be enough to ease his mind.


A dedicated server 'should' reduce the load on the client PCs, as the server does a lot of the calcs (ie load is spread over 3 PCs instead of 2) .

If one of you hosts then their PC has to do all the calcs for both of you, in addition to the normal load of running 7D2D.

This may not be 'much' of an issue if one of you has a very powerful PC and there is only 2 of you.

Also once you know how to setup a 7D2D dedicated server it is easier to create dedicated servers for other games (which may not have P2P).

Remember to backup the save files each time you stop playing!

 
I have my (private) server only running when we are playing. Since we always play at the same time I even automated startup and shutdown so I don't have to do anything myself.

Having the server not run for days on end is advisable anyway, AFAIK the server gets unstable after running for a long time, how long may depend on the specific alpha.

 
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Okay, guys, I've finally gotten the world and save data from my fellow player, and I'm trying to migrate it to the server.  I was really hoping I'd be able to post here saying, "Yay, I did it," but, unsurprisingly, I haven't.  Here's where I am:

I understand that I need to copy the entire Generated Worlds folder to the server.  Where do I put it?  In the steamcmd folder, or in steamcmd/7dasystodieserver, or in steamcmd/7daystodieserver/7DaysToDieServer_Data?

I gather I'm supposed to copy the Region and Player folders from 7DaysToDie/Saves/<world name>/<game name> folder.  Same question: copy them to what location?

Do I do anything with the contents of 7DaysToDie/SavesLocal?

I'm supposed to edit the server's serverconfig.xml to match the data from the one belonging to the world being migrated, but there isn't a serverconfig.xml file with the migrated world to get data from.

Is there anything else I need to do?

Thanks once again, guys.

 
Okay, so, some progress.  I created a Generated Worlds folder, Saves folder, and SavesLocal folder in my server folder, and changed the world name in serverconfig to match the imported world name.  And it’s working… but it’s loading to an old, old save.  I’ve been trying isolate the specific file it should be loading and the one it *is* loading, but I’m not having a lot of luck, partly because I don’t know what file type I’m looking for or which of the two Saves folders it would be in.

If it makes a difference, the PC I’m using to log on to the server is the same one I’ve been using to join this world on my friend’s machine.  Could there be some local files that are causing confusion?

 
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Okay, so, some progress.  I created a Generated Worlds folder, Saves folder, and SavesLocal folder in my server folder, and changed the world name in serverconfig to match the imported world name.  And it’s working… but it’s loading to an old, old save.  I’ve been trying isolate the specific file it should be loading and the one it *is* loading, but I’m not having a lot of luck, partly because I don’t know what file type I’m looking for or which of the two Saves folders it would be in.

If it makes a difference, the PC I’m using to log on to the server is the same one I’ve been using to join this world on my friend’s machine.  Could there be some local files that are causing confusion?


Learn to read the logfiles, as a server operator your first look with any problems should always be the logfile. Everything the game does is in there, including the full paths it reads savegames and config files from. Logfiles are in 7DaysToDie_Data/

If you are still 3 years old, you could also post the last logifle into pastebin and a link to it here and then we will tell you 😉. But it will save you losts of time later if you acquire the skill to read logfiles yourself. Reading a few logfiles posted here in general support and reading what experienced users say about the contents can also help you notice what is important in there and what isn't.

 
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Learn to read the logfiles, as a server operator your first look with any problems should always be the logfile. Everything the game does is in there, including the full paths it reads savegames and config files from. Logfiles are in 7DaysToDie_Data/

If you are still 3 years old, you could also post the last logifle into pastebin and a link to it here and then we will tell you 😉. But it will save you losts of time later if you acquire the skill to read logfiles yourself. Reading a few logfiles posted here in general support and reading what experienced users say about the contents can also help you notice what is important in there and what isn't.
Ahh, yeah, I’ve been looking into that.  It’s how I managed to work out of some of the problems I was encountering.  Thanks very much for the offer to look it over, I appreciate it.  But for the moment…

It works!  It’s done!  It’s up!  It’s running!  Well, not right now, but in a general sense!  

It was indeed the local files causing the issue.  I hadn’t understood where to path the userdata and savedata entries in the config file, so it had been loading from the old game folder.  

Just to make sure I haven’t done anything wrong, the locations I chose were:

User data: 

Users \Bertie\Desktop\ steamcmd\7daystodieserver

Save data: Users \Bertie \Desktop\ steamcmd \7daystodieserver \Saves

So, should I have copied over the SavesLocal folder at all, or can I just trash it?

Thanks for all your help, guys.  It is much appreciated.  

 
Saveslocal ist just a location for caches used when connected to a server (AFAIK) and can be deleted, it will just be reloaded from the server.

 
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Saveslocal ist just a location for caches used when connected to a server (AFAIK) and can be deleted, it will just be reloaded from the server.
Gotcha.  Thanks!

So, here’s a follow-up question.  How can I, as a player on that server, enable console commands?  All my batteries and wiring didn’t survive the migration.

 
Gotcha.  Thanks!

So, here’s a follow-up question.  How can I, as a player on that server, enable console commands?  All my batteries and wiring didn’t survive the migration.


Not sure how that can help with your wiring issue, but there is a file called serveradmin.xml which you can find in the directory where all your savegames are stored. There you can give yourself or any other player more rights, no matter from where you connect

 
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That data is stored in the power.dat file. Maybe you missed copying it over? Just a guess.
Oh!  Hmm, I moved whole folders, so I don’t know how I missed it, but I’ll have a look!  I just assumed it was a normal side-effect of the process.

Not sure how that can help with your wiring issue, but there is a file called serveradmin.xml which you can find in the directory where all your savegames are stored. There you can give yourself or any other player more rights, no matter from where you connect
I was hoping to use creative mode to magic my batteries back into existence.

 
console commands are always available. Hit F1 to bring up the console, type dm then enter, type cm then enter. Now to access creative menu, you just need to hit U.

 
console commands are always available. Hit F1 to bring up the console, type dm then enter, type cm then enter. Now to access creative menu, you just need to hit U.
I don't think they have to even bother with DM if they just want creative to get some stuff back. I think F1 and then CM will work for them.

 
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