Host a Terraria dedicated server on your PC

This is for someone who has never run a game server. You will put official Terraria files on a Windows PC so friends can play even when you are not in the game. Not Steam Host and Play, and not tMod. The PC has to stay on while people play.

1. Download the files

Do this on the Terraria website. Do not search for a random zip.

1. Open terraria.org in your browser.
2. Scroll all the way to the bottom of that page.
3. Click PC Dedicated Server. Do not click Mobile Dedicated Server. Your browser will download a zip.
4. Find the zip in your Downloads folder. Right-click it and choose Extract All (or Unzip).
5. Open the unzipped folder. You will see a folder named with a number (that is the version). Open that, then open the Windows folder. You want the file called TerrariaServer.exe.

Friends must be on the same Terraria version as the zip you just downloaded. If Steam updated the game and this zip is older, they cannot join. Worlds from tMod will not load on this server.

2. Put them in a folder you will keep

1. Create a folder you will not delete, for example C:\TerrariaServer.
2. Copy everything from that Windows folder into it.
3. Inside C:\TerrariaServer, make a new folder named Worlds.

3. Make the config file

1. In the same folder as TerrariaServer.exe, right-click empty space, New, Text Document.
2. Name it serverconfig.txt. Windows may hide the .txt. If you see serverconfig.txt.txt, turn on file extensions and rename it.
3. Open it in Notepad and paste this. Save, then close Notepad.

world=C:\TerrariaServer\Worlds\Friends.wld
worldpath=C:\TerrariaServer\Worlds
worldname=Friends
autocreate=2
difficulty=0
maxplayers=8
port=7777
password=
secure=1

What those lines mean:

• worldname is the world name, 20 characters max.
• autocreate is the world size, locked in the first time the world is made: 1 small, 2 medium, 3 large.
• difficulty 0 is Classic, also locked in the first time.
• 8 players is a sensible cap on a normal PC. RAM runs out before the port does.

4. Start the server

1. Open File Explorer to C:\TerrariaServer.
2. Click the address bar, type cmd, press Enter. A black window opens in that folder.
3. Type this and press Enter:

TerrariaServer.exe -config serverconfig.txt

The first run creates the world. Wait until the window says the server has started. Leave that window open while people play.

If you are on Linux instead, use the Linux folder from the same zip and run:

./TerrariaServer.bin.x86_64 -config serverconfig.txt

5. Open the port so friends can reach you

Friends outside your house need one hole in your router: send TCP port 7777 to this PC. The full click-by-click is in Port forwarding so friends can join, because every router looks different. If the public IP on that page is not the WAN address on the router, your provider is sharing the address and forwarding will not work.

6. Keep the world safe and the PC awake

1. In the server window, type save and press Enter, or shut down with exit. Closing the window like a normal program can lose that session.
2. Leave the PC on. Sleep, hibernate, or shutting a laptop lid stops the server.
3. Copy the .wld file out of Worlds before a long session. That file is the world.

7. Friends join

1. They open Terraria.
2. Choose Multiplayer, then Join via IP.
3. They type the public IP you wrote down, port 7777.
4. They must be on the same vanilla Terraria as your zip. Put a password in serverconfig.txt if that IP is going to sit on the internet.

If you do not want the PC on

OmniPass runs the same vanilla Terraria dedicated server. We keep the world file and freeze it when you are not playing, so you are not paying to leave a box awake. Start from a Pass if you would rather skip the router.