Conan Exiles Server Settings and Config Files

Conan Exiles keeps its server settings in three .ini files, and there is one behaviour that catches almost every new admin: the game rewrites those files itself. Edit them at the wrong moment and your changes vanish with no error. This guide covers the files, the editing order that actually works, and what each group of settings does.

The three config files

They live in ConanSandbox/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/:

The WindowsServer folder name is correct on Linux

Conan Exiles ships no Linux server build, so your hosted Conan Exiles server runs the Windows build through a compatibility layer you never interact with. The path really does say WindowsServer — that is not a mistake, and renaming it breaks the server.

The trap: the game overwrites your edits

Conan Exiles' in-game admin panel is the authority on ServerSettings.ini, not the file. When the server shuts down it writes its current in-memory settings back out to disk, overwriting whatever is there.

So editing the file while the server is running does nothing useful. Your edit sits on disk until shutdown, then gets replaced by the server's own copy. There is no warning and no error in the console — the setting simply reverts.

Always stop the server before editing config files

The order that works is stop → edit → save → start. Any other order risks losing the change. This is the single most common "my settings keep resetting" cause on Conan servers, and it is not a fault with your host or your panel.

This also means the in-game admin panel is a perfectly good way to change settings — arguably the better way for anything it exposes, because it writes valid values back to the file for you. Use the file for the things the panel does not show.

Keep a copy of a config you are happy with

Once your server plays the way you want, download ServerSettings.ini from the File Manager and keep it locally. Game updates occasionally reset or reshuffle settings, and restoring a known-good file takes seconds. See How to Upload Files via SFTP for bulk transfers.

ServerSettings.ini

A representative section — your file will contain more, because the server generates every key it knows about:

[ServerSettings]
ServerName=My GSK Conan Server
ServerPassword=
AdminPassword=STRONG_ADMIN_PASSWORD
MaxPlayers=40
ServerRegion=2
ServerCommunity=2
PVPEnabled=True
PVPBlitzServer=False
NudityType=2
HarvestAmountMultiplier=1.0
ResourceRespawnSpeedMultiplier=1.0
PlayerXPRateMultiplier=1.0
PlayerXPKillMultiplier=1.0
PlayerXPHarvestMultiplier=1.0
PlayerXPCraftMultiplier=1.0
PlayerXPTimeMultiplier=1.0
ThrallConversionMultiplier=1.0
ThrallCraftingTimeMultiplier=1.0
NPCRespawnMultiplier=1.0
StaminaCostMultiplier=1.0
ItemSpoilRateScale=1.0
ItemConvertionMultiplier=1.0
FuelBurnTimeMultiplier=1.0
CraftingTimeMultiplier=1.0
DayCycleSpeedScale=1.0
DayTimeSpeedScale=1.0
NightTimeSpeedScale=1.0
DawnDuskSpeedScale=1.0
StaminaOnHorseMultiplier=1.0
LandClaimRadiusMultiplier=1.0
PurgeLevel=0
ClanMaxSize=10
EnableSandStorm=True
NoOwnerShip=False
EnableTargetLock=True
DeactivateThrallsBuffsWhenLoggedOff=True
EnableServerWhitelist=False

The file itself is the definitive list for your build

Conan writes out every setting it supports, so the file on your server is always accurate for the version you are running — more so than any list on the web, including this one. If a setting is not in your file, your build does not have it.

Server identity and access

Rates and multipliers

These are the dials people actually come to change. All default to 1.0, and the naming is consistent: higher is more, except where the value is a cost or a time.

Two of these run backwards

CraftingTimeMultiplier and ThrallConversionMultiplier are durations, so raising them makes things slower. A "2x crafting speed" server sets these to 0.5, not 2.0. Getting this wrong is the most common misconfiguration on boosted servers.

A common "2x" quality-of-life preset looks like:

HarvestAmountMultiplier=2.0
PlayerXPRateMultiplier=2.0
ItemConvertionMultiplier=0.5
ThrallConversionMultiplier=0.5
CraftingTimeMultiplier=0.5

Clans, purge and world

Since the Age of War rework, purges are triggered at treasure thresholds rather than by filling a meter, and the related keys sit in the same section with self-describing names.

PvP, PvE and PvE-Conflict

Conan servers run in one of three shapes, and they are built from a small number of settings rather than a single mode switch:

PvE-Conflict is the popular middle ground: players can fight whenever, but bases can only be raided during announced hours. It is assembled from the PvP time-restriction and building-damage-time settings, which use a 24-hour clock and have separate weekday and weekend windows.

Set the PvP mode from the in-game admin panel

This is the clearest case for using the panel rather than the file. The time-window settings interact — combat restriction, building-damage restriction, and their weekday/weekend variants — and the panel presents them together with the right value formats. Set it there, then stop the server if you want to copy the resulting file somewhere safe.

PVPBlitzServer is a separate accelerated ruleset, not a PvP toggle — leave it False unless you specifically want a Blitz server.

Engine.ini and tick rate

Conan defaults to a 20 Hz server tick. Raising it makes combat noticeably smoother at the cost of CPU:

[Net.RPC]
MaxRPCPerNetUpdate=8

[/Script/OnlineSubsystemUtils.IpNetDriver]
NetServerMaxTickRate=30

30 is the usual choice for servers above roughly 30 players. Going higher rarely helps and will cost you performance elsewhere — see the performance notes in Getting started with your Conan Exiles server.

Applying changes

1. Stop the server from the Console tab.
2. Edit the file in the File Manager.
3. Save.
4. Start the server.

Settings are read at boot. There is no reload command that picks up file changes on a running server.

What to read next

• Getting started with your Conan Exiles server — first boot, map selection, wipes and backups
• How to add admins and common commands for Conan Exiles — using AdminPassword to get into admin mode
• How to install mods for Conan Exiles — mods add their own settings, often to Game.ini

FAQ

Why do my Conan Exiles server settings keep resetting?

Because you edited the file while the server was running. Conan writes its in-memory settings back over ServerSettings.ini when it shuts down, discarding your edit. Stop the server first, then edit.

Where is ServerSettings.ini?

ConanSandbox/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/ServerSettings.ini. The WindowsServer folder name is correct even though our nodes are Linux.

Should I edit the file or use the in-game admin panel?

Use the admin panel for anything it exposes — it writes valid values back to the file for you and avoids the overwrite problem entirely. Use the file for settings the panel does not show, and only with the server stopped.

How do I make a 2x harvest server?

HarvestAmountMultiplier=2.0. If you also want faster crafting and thralls, lower CraftingTimeMultiplier and ThrallConversionMultiplier to 0.5 — those are durations, so raising them would slow things down.

How do I set up raid hours?

Run PvP enabled with building damage restricted to a time window — the PvE-Conflict shape. Configure it from the in-game admin panel, where the weekday and weekend windows are presented together in the right format.

Do config changes need a restart?

Yes. Settings are read at boot and there is no live reload.

What is the AdminPassword for?

Becoming admin inside the game — you enter it under Settings, Server Settings. It is unrelated to your GSK panel login. See How to add admins and common commands for Conan Exiles.

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