---
title: "Astroneer Dedicated Server: Setup, Encryption Fix and Owner Settings"
description: "Run an Astroneer dedicated server: the encryption setting every player needs, Public IP and owner fields, AstroServerSettings.ini, DLC saves, self-hosting."
url: "https://www.gameserverkings.com/knowledge-base/astroneer/astroneer-dedicated-server/"
category: "Astroneer"
category_url: "https://www.gameserverkings.com/knowledge-base/astroneer/"
published: "2026-09-28T04:25:11.247Z"
updated: "2026-09-28T04:25:11.247Z"
source_format: "markdown"
site: "GameServerKings"
---

# Astroneer Dedicated Server: Setup, Encryption Fix and Owner Settings

An Astroneer dedicated server keeps your world running while you're offline and holds up to 8 players, twice the 4-player limit of a normal co-op game. System Era added dedicated servers in Update 1.12 (May 2020). The server app (`728470` on Steam) is Windows-only: System Era said at launch that it had no Linux version, and Steam still lists the server app as Windows-only. Linux hosts, GameServerKings included, run the Windows server under Proton.

Running it that way has one side effect every player needs to know about before they try to join, so this guide starts there. After that it covers the five fields you fill in on the panel, which settings you can still change by hand, and how players connect.

> [!NOTE] Checked against
> Astroneer **Patch 1.44.4** (16 September 2026), System Era's host-your-own-server guide, and the GameServerKings Astroneer server configuration.

## Step 0: every player turns off encryption on their PC

Linux hosts have long run the Astroneer server with network encryption switched **off**, because it didn't work under Wine/Proton with encryption on. Our servers currently do the same: every start sets encryption to off. Newer Proton versions may handle encryption, and if we change our setup we'll update this page. Until then, the change below is needed. The catch, in the words of the AstroTuxLauncher documentation: *"If the Dedicated Server has encryption disabled, every client that wants to connect also has to disable encryption."*

Each player does this once, on their own PC:

1. Close Astroneer.
2. Press **Win + R**, paste `%LocalAppData%\Astro\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor\` and press Enter.
3. Open `Engine.ini` in Notepad (create it if it doesn't exist) and add these two lines at the end:

```ini
[SystemSettings]
net.AllowEncryption=False
```

4. Save the file and start the game.

The setting works in both directions. With it in place, you can't join servers that do use encryption. If you also play on another host's server that runs on Windows, delete the two lines before you join that one.

> [!WARNING] Which versions can join
> This file edit is only possible on the PC version of the game, so plan on a PC-only server. System Era also said, when dedicated servers launched, that only servers rented from its partner Nitrado unlock cosmetics and achievements and allow crossplay. The Astroneer wiki adds that the Microsoft Store and Xbox versions can only join Microsoft-approved providers. The client change above is the fix documented by the Linux server projects. We haven't tested it with every version of the game, so if a Steam player still can't join after making it, contact support.

## The Startup fields on your GameServerKings server

The panel writes these values into the server's config files every time it starts, so this is where you change them:

| Startup field | What to enter |
|---|---|
| **Server Name** | The name players see. Up to 60 characters |
| **Server Password** | Optional. Letters, numbers, dashes and underscores. Leave it empty for an open server |
| **Public IP** | The IP address from the top of your panel, **without** the port. The server registers itself with this address, and it has to match the address players join with |
| **Server Owner Name** | Your Steam name, spelled exactly the way other players see it |
| **Server Owner Guid** | Your 17-digit SteamID64, as the field's description asks |
| **Automatic Updates** | On by default. The server checks for an Astroneer update each time it starts |

Public IP, Owner Name and Owner Guid are required. The egg's documentation warns that the server can crash on startup if they're empty.

The owner becomes the server's admin. If you don't get owner rights after joining, try the method from System Era's own guide: set **Server Owner Guid** to `0` and make sure **Server Owner Name** matches your Steam name exactly. The guide says the first player to join with that name then becomes the owner.

## What the panel rewrites, and what you can still edit

Two files control the server. Both are in `Astro/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/`:

| File | Rewritten at every start | Yours to edit |
|---|---|---|
| `Engine.ini` | `Port` (your panel port) and `net.AllowEncryption=false` | Nothing you need |
| `AstroServerSettings.ini` | `ServerName`, `ServerPassword`, `PublicIP`, `OwnerName`, `OwnerGuid`, and an owner entry in `PlayerProperties` | The rest, for example `AutoSaveGameInterval`, `BackupSaveGamesInterval`, `DenyUnlistedPlayers`, `MaximumPlayerCount`, `ActiveSaveFileDescriptiveName` |

System Era's rule for these files is in capitals in its own guide: *"DO NOT MODIFY .INI FILES WHILE THE SERVER IS RUNNING."* Stop the server in the panel, edit, save, then start it. Edits made while the server is running are lost.

`DenyUnlistedPlayers=True` turns on whitelist mode: as the name says, players who aren't already listed in `PlayerProperties` are turned away. Keep in mind that the panel writes an owner entry into `PlayerProperties` every time the server starts. We haven't tested whether roles or whitelist entries you give other players survive that, so after a restart, check that your players can still get in with the roles you gave them, and contact support if they've been reset.

## How players connect

Once everyone has made the encryption change:

1. Start Astroneer and open the **Dedicated Server** tab from the main menu.
2. Add your server with the IP address and port from your panel.
3. Enter the password if you set one. If you save the server as a favourite, the game remembers the password (since 2020).

**DLC worlds:** if your save uses Megatech content (a Biodome, Orbital Platform or Museum construction anchor has been placed) *every* player needs the Megatech DLC. If the save is on the Glitchwalkers system (Aeoluz), everyone needs Glitchwalkers. Back up the save before placing a Megatech anchor if some of your group don't own it.

## Saves, backups and moving a world

- The server's saves are `.savegame` files in `Astro/Saved/SaveGames/`. Take a panel [backup](/knowledge-base/general/how-to-create-a-backup/) before patches and big changes.
- To bring a single-player world over, stop the server, upload the `.savegame` file to that folder [over SFTP](/knowledge-base/general/how-to-upload-files-via-sftp/), and set `ActiveSaveFileDescriptiveName` in `AstroServerSettings.ini` to its name.
- `AutoSaveGameInterval` and `BackupSaveGamesInterval` (both in seconds) control how often the server saves and how often it keeps an extra backup copy.

## Mods

Astroneer mods are `.pak` files built on a PC and uploaded to `Astro/Saved/Paks` on the server. Some are needed on the server and every client, and some only on one side. Our [Astroneer mods guide](/knowledge-base/astroneer/astroneer-mods/) walks through the whole process, including rebuilding the integrator pak after every patch.

## Self-hosting on your own PC

System Era's guide for running the server yourself is short:

1. Install **ASTRONEER Dedicated Server** from your Steam Library (**Tools**), or with SteamCMD using app ID `728470`.
2. Run it once so it creates `Astro/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/Engine.ini` and `AstroServerSettings.ini`, then close it.
3. In `Engine.ini`, add a port. The guide's example is `[URL]` / `Port=8777`. Then open that port on your firewall and forward it on your router.
4. In `AstroServerSettings.ini`, set `PublicIP=` to your public IP address, and set `OwnerName=` and `OwnerGuid=0` as described above.

On Windows you don't need the encryption change, because encryption works there. System Era offers support for gameplay issues on self-hosted servers, but not for *"local networks, firewalls, ports, hardware"*.

## Troubleshooting

- **Players can't join even though the server is running.** Check the encryption setting first. Check that each player's `Engine.ini` has the `[SystemSettings]` lines, spelled exactly, and that the game was closed while they edited it.
- **The server doesn't start after first install.** Public IP, Owner Name or Owner Guid is empty. Fill them in on the Startup tab and restart.
- **Your `.ini` change was undone.** You edited while the server was running, or you changed a field the panel rewrites. Use the Startup tab for name, password, IP and owner.
- **Some players can't load the world.** It's a Megatech or Glitchwalkers save and they don't own that DLC.
- **Still stuck?** Work through [players can't connect](/knowledge-base/general/players-cant-connect/), then contact support.

## What to Read Next

- [Astroneer mods](/knowledge-base/astroneer/astroneer-mods/): installing mods and running them on a dedicated server
- [How to use your server panel](/knowledge-base/general/how-to-use-your-server-panel/): the Startup tab and File Manager
- [How to create a backup](/knowledge-base/general/how-to-create-a-backup/): before patches and DLC content
- [Players can't connect to my server](/knowledge-base/general/players-cant-connect/): network troubleshooting

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