---
title: "Enshrouded Server Connection Troubleshooting"
description: "Enshrouded server not showing up or players cannot join? The hidden server-browser filter, Steam favourites by IP, ports, role passwords and version mismatch."
url: "https://www.gameserverkings.com/knowledge-base/enshrouded/connection-troubleshooting/"
category: "Enshrouded"
category_url: "https://www.gameserverkings.com/knowledge-base/enshrouded/"
published: "2026-08-19T10:59:38.022Z"
updated: "2026-08-19T11:30:38.421Z"
source_format: "markdown"
site: "GameServerKings"
---

# Enshrouded Server Connection Troubleshooting

Almost every "my Enshrouded server is broken" report is one of four things, and only one of them is actually the server. This guide separates them, starting with the one that catches the most people: **dedicated servers are hidden in the in-game server browser by default.**

Work through it in order. Each section ends with what a fix looks like, so you know when to move on.

## First: Is the Server Actually Up?

Before troubleshooting a connection, confirm there is something to connect to. On the Console tab, a fully started Enshrouded server ends its boot on these lines — Keen Games list them as the answer to "what is a typical indicator that the server is fully started?":

```text
[Session] 'HostOnline' (up)!
[Session] finished transition from 'Lobby' to 'Host_Online' (current='Host_Online')!
[server] Load deserialization took 2.77 s
```

If the console never reaches `HostOnline`, this is not a connection problem — the server is not running. The usual causes:

- **`Internal Error: Failed to parse Config`** — `enshrouded_server.json` is not valid JSON, or contains a text value the server does not accept. Keen's own documentation notes that an invalid text value means "the server does not boot and states the incorrectly entered value in the command window", so read the line above the error. [Enshrouded server settings and config file](/knowledge-base/enshrouded/configuration-overview/) covers the file and the safe edit order.
- **A first boot still downloading.** The server files are around 13 GB uncompressed by Keen's figure, and the first start pulls all of them. Give it time.
- **An interrupted update.** Try one boot with **Validate** switched on in the Startup tab — see [How to update your Enshrouded server after a patch](/knowledge-base/enshrouded/updating-your-server-after-a-patch/).

> [!IMPORTANT] Grab the log before you restart a failed server
> The startup routine deletes `enshrouded_server.log` before launching the game, so restarting a crashed server destroys the record of why it crashed. Download the log first, then restart.

## The Server Is Up But Nobody Can Find It

### The server browser hides dedicated servers by default

This is the single most common cause, and it is a client-side filter, not a server fault. Keen's Dedicated Server FAQ:

> "Make sure to enable the 'Show dedicated server' options in the server filter to show dedicated servers in the server list."

Every player looking for your server has to have that option on. If one person can see it and another cannot, check this before anything else.

The browser is reached from the main menu with **Join**. The Server Filter widget sits on the right and also filters by password protection, sessions with Steam friends, empty servers, and a minimum number of free slots — any of which can hide a server that is working perfectly. Keen also document the list's sort order: favoured servers first, then friends' sessions, then dedicated servers, then peer-to-peer sessions. A dedicated server in a long list is below every friend session.

### Add it as a Steam favourite — the reliable route

Keen document a fallback for exactly the case where a dedicated server does not appear in the in-game list: favourite it in the Steam client, and Enshrouded lists favourited servers at the top of the browser.

1. Note the server's **IP address and query port**, both shown in your panel.
2. In the Steam client, open **View → Game Servers**.
3. Go to the **Favorites** tab and click the **+** button at the bottom.
4. Enter the address as `IP:QueryPort` — the two separated by a colon.
5. Back in Enshrouded, the server now appears at the top of the browser list.

> [!TIP] This is the instruction to give a player who "can't find the server"
> It bypasses the filter, the sort order and the browser's refresh entirely. If you run a server for a group, put the `IP:Port` in your Discord once and let people favourite it themselves — it is a permanent fix rather than a per-session one.

### Check the port you are giving out

Enshrouded uses a single query port. Keen's default is `15637`, but on a hosted server the port is the one allocated to your server, shown on the **Network** tab — and the panel writes that allocated port into `enshrouded_server.json` at every start.

That means two things:

- **Do not paste `15637` into the config.** It is overwritten on the next boot anyway, and in the meantime you are advertising a port nothing is routed to. The symptom is a perfectly healthy console log and a server nobody can reach.
- **Give out the panel's port**, not the game's default.

Older guides list a second `gamePort` alongside `queryPort`. That key is not part of the configuration the server generates today; there is one port.

Keen also note that Steam's own ports are used in addition to the query port, and that "the server is using IPv4" — Enshrouded multiplayer does not use IPv6 at all. A player on an IPv6-only connection is not going to reach it.

## A Specific Player Cannot Join

If the server is visible and most people are in, the problem has moved to one client or one credential.

### Role passwords

Enshrouded has no admin list and no allowlist. Access is entirely the password a player types when joining, and each role group has its own. A player with no password, or the wrong one, does not get in. [Enshrouded admin commands, roles and server settings](/knowledge-base/enshrouded/how-to-add-admins-and-commands/) covers the group system in full.

Two failure modes specific to how the passwords are set:

- **The passwords come from your control panel, not the config file.** The four group passwords are Startup-tab fields, and they are written into `enshrouded_server.json` on every start. Editing a password in the file and restarting gets you the panel's value back. Change it on the Startup tab.
- **The passwords must be distinct, non-empty and not purely numeric.** The panel enforces this — a password of `12345` is rejected outright, and the groups cannot all share one password. If a role is refusing everyone, check what the Startup tab actually holds rather than what you think you set.

> [!WARNING] A group with an empty password is open to anyone who has the address
> There is no rights management beyond the password. Keen are direct about it: "Every player can see the server and can access it, if no password is set." Leave a blank password only on your lowest-privilege role, and only deliberately.

### Version mismatch

The client and the dedicated server must be on the same build. After a patch, clients update on Steam's schedule and the server updates when it restarts, so there is a window where they disagree. Restart the server, and have the player confirm Steam has finished updating their game. This is covered in detail in [How to update your Enshrouded server after a patch](/knowledge-base/enshrouded/updating-your-server-after-a-patch/).

### The player is in but keeps dropping

Keen's network troubleshooting steps, for the client side:

- **Clear the Steam download cache** — Steam → Settings → Downloads → Clear Download Cache.
- **Flush DNS** — Windows key + R, `cmd`, then `ipconfig /flushdns`.
- **Try Google's DNS**, `8.8.8.8` and `8.8.4.4`. Keen note explicitly that Enshrouded currently uses IPv4 only for multiplayer, so an IPv6 DNS configuration is not the thing to reach for.
- **Use a wired connection** if packet loss on wifi is suspected.

If everyone drops at the same moment, it is not the clients — check the console for the server restarting or running out of headroom, and see [Enshrouded server requirements](/knowledge-base/enshrouded/server-requirements/).

### "You do not have permission" in game

This is not a connection failure — it is the role system working. The player joined with a password belonging to a group that lacks the permission they are trying to use. The flags are `canAccessInventories`, `canEditWorld`, `canEditBase`, `canExtendBase` and `canKickBan`, and every group has its own combination.

Note that the roles a hosted server starts with are stricter than the ones Keen's own documentation shows for a Guest: the bundled configuration ships Guest with `canEditWorld` set to `false`, so a Guest cannot terraform outside a base at all. If a player is being blocked from something you expected them to be able to do, read the actual `userGroups` block on your server rather than a generic table, and move them to a different group's password or adjust the flags. Group *names* for Friend, Guest and Visitor are re-applied from the panel at every boot; the permission flags are yours to edit in the file.

## Nobody Can Join, Including You

If the server is up and reachable by nobody, work down this list:

1. **Slot count.** `slotCount` must be between 1 and 16 — 16 is the game's hard ceiling. A misconfigured value can leave you with a server nobody fits into.
2. **Reserved slots.** Each group can hold slots open with `reservedSlots`. Keen describe the effect: "the lobby will be marked as 'full' for players who try to log into the server under a different user group and would fill up all session slots." A server that reports full while visibly empty is usually reserved slots doing their job. The configuration a hosted server starts with reserves slots for Friend and Guest, so this is worth checking before assuming a bug.
3. **The config did not apply.** Enshrouded rewrites `enshrouded_server.json` from its in-memory state on shutdown, so a file edited while the server was running has been overwritten. The order that works is **stop → edit → save → start**.
4. **Nothing is hot-reloadable.** No setting in that file takes effect without a restart.

## Peer-to-Peer Sessions Are a Different Problem

If the "server" in question is someone hosting from inside their own game rather than a dedicated server, one extra cause applies. Keen note that a private Steam profile can stop a peer-to-peer session appearing in the browser at all: check Steam → Settings → Account → Privacy Settings and confirm the profile is public. Inviting through the Steam friends list — right-click the name, invite to game — works around it.

This does not apply to a dedicated server, which has no Steam profile behind it. [How to play Enshrouded with friends](/knowledge-base/enshrouded/how-to-play-with-friends/) covers the difference between the two hosting models.

## What to Read Next

- [How to update your Enshrouded server after a patch](/knowledge-base/enshrouded/updating-your-server-after-a-patch/) — build mismatches, Auto Update and Validate.
- [Enshrouded admin commands, roles and server settings](/knowledge-base/enshrouded/how-to-add-admins-and-commands/) — the role and password system in full.
- [Enshrouded server settings and config file](/knowledge-base/enshrouded/configuration-overview/) — `enshrouded_server.json`, and what a broken one does.
- [Enshrouded server requirements](/knowledge-base/enshrouded/server-requirements/) — when the problem is headroom rather than networking.
- [Getting started with your Enshrouded server](/knowledge-base/enshrouded/getting-started-with-your-server/) — first boot and connecting.

## FAQ

### Why can't I see my Enshrouded dedicated server in the server list?

The in-game browser hides dedicated servers unless the "Show dedicated server" option is enabled in the Server Filter. Enable it, or favourite the server by IP in the Steam client, which lists it at the top of the browser.

### How do I add an Enshrouded server by IP?

In the Steam client, open View → Game Servers → Favorites, click **+**, and enter `IP:QueryPort`. Enshrouded then shows favourited servers at the top of its own server list.

### Which port does an Enshrouded server use?

One: the query port. Keen's default is 15637, but on a hosted server it is the port allocated on your Network tab, and the panel writes that value into the config at every start. Steam's own ports are used in addition.

### Does Enshrouded support IPv6?

No. Keen state that the server uses IPv4, and that Enshrouded is currently only utilising IPv4 for multiplayer.

### My Enshrouded server says the roles are invalid

The group passwords must be non-empty, must not be identical across groups, and must not be purely numeric. Set them on the Startup tab rather than in `enshrouded_server.json`, because the panel writes its values into the file at every start.

### A player joined but cannot open chests or build

They joined with a password belonging to a group that does not have `canAccessInventories`, `canEditBase` or `canExtendBase`. Give them the password of a group that does, or edit that group's flags and restart.

### The server shows as full but it is empty

Reserved slots. Any group with `reservedSlots` set marks the lobby full for players joining under a different group once they would consume those slots. Check the `reservedSlots` values across all four groups.

### My config changes keep disappearing

Either you edited the file while the server was running — Enshrouded rewrites it from memory on shutdown — or the key is one the control panel owns. The server name, port, slot count and the four group passwords are written from the Startup tab at every start.

---

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