---
title: "Icarus Prospects on a Dedicated Server"
description: "An Icarus server runs exactly one prospect at a time. What that means for your base, your saves, and the server that shut itself down."
url: "https://www.gameserverkings.com/knowledge-base/icarus/icarus-prospects-explained/"
category: "Icarus"
category_url: "https://www.gameserverkings.com/knowledge-base/icarus/"
published: "2026-09-12T06:30:31.059Z"
updated: "2026-09-12T06:32:35.847Z"
source_format: "markdown"
site: "GameServerKings"
---

# Icarus Prospects on a Dedicated Server

Short answer: **an Icarus dedicated server runs exactly one prospect at a time.** A prospect is a single world — a mission, an Open World or an Outpost — and the server either has one loaded or it is sitting in a lobby with nothing running. Almost every "my Icarus server shut itself down" or "where did my base go" question comes from not knowing that.

This page explains the session model, because Icarus does not work like the survival games it sits next to on a store page.

> [!NOTE] Checked against Icarus **3.0.27.157242-rel-DangerousHorizons**
> Week 249, released 10 September 2026. The prospect model described here has been in place since Open World launched in Week 47.

## One server, one prospect

In Rust, ARK or Valheim, the server *is* the world. In Icarus the server is a machine that can be pointed at a world, and the world is a save file.

The practical consequences:

| Behaviour | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| A server runs one prospect at a time | You cannot host an Open World and a mission simultaneously on one server |
| Switching worlds means returning to the lobby | `/ReturnToLobby` kicks everyone, then a new prospect is loaded |
| The prospect is a single `.json` file | Backups are a file copy; moving worlds between servers is a file move |
| An empty server goes back to the lobby | By default after five minutes — this is a setting, not a crash |

That last row is the one that generates support tickets. On a [hosted Icarus server](/games/icarus/) it is the first setting worth changing. RocketWerkz's `ShutdownIfEmptyFor` defaults to **300 seconds**, and their own documentation states that during that window *"the game will be paused"*, after which the server returns to lobby. Your world is not gone. The server has simply unloaded it.

## The three kinds of prospect

Icarus ships three modes, and the Steam store page names them plainly: *"Three Game Modes: Open World, limited-time Missions, or creative Outposts"*.

**Open World** is the persistent one. RocketWerkz describe it as untimed and permanent — you can return to your dropship and leave at any time, then drop back into the same world with your buildings, structures and storage intact. This is what most people renting a server actually want.

**Missions** are the original, episodic format: drop in with nothing, hit objectives against a day limit, extract. On a dedicated server they work, but the server is tied up running one mission until it is finished or abandoned.

**Outposts** are creative-leaning sandboxes, one square kilometre each, with regenerating resources and no Exotic deposits at all. Experience gain on Outpost maps is 25% of normal, so they are a building space rather than a levelling space.

> [!IMPORTANT] Missions and Open World are no longer separate content
> RocketWerkz have migrated most mission content into Open World as **Operations**. The Steam page puts it directly: *"You can experience narrative quests directly in Open World as 'Operations', or in a episodic way as 'Missions'. The content is the same either way, but it is your choice with the experience you want to have."* If you are choosing a server mode, you are choosing a delivery format, not choosing which content you get to see.

Operations are reached in-game from the **CONT4CT Device**, a Tier 2 deployable unlocked at level 10 that must be placed outdoors. It grants access to SMPL3 missions and Operations, and the list of Operations available is limited to the map the Open World is on — Prometheus Operations only appear in a Prometheus Open World.

## How the server picks a world

There are three commands, and RocketWerkz's server documentation gives them in the order the server processes them at start-up.

| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
| `LoadProspect [SaveName]` | Loads an existing prospect by name from the server's prospects folder |
| `ResumeProspect` | Resumes whatever is named in `LastProspectName` — **on by default** |
| `CreateProspect [Type] [Difficulty] [Hardcore] [SaveName]` | Creates and launches a brand new world |

Each one works from three places: the launch command line, `ServerSettings.ini`, or typed in chat by a logged-in admin. RocketWerkz's own example:

```text
-CreateProspect="Tier1_Forest_Recon_0 3 false TestProspect01"
```

That reads as: the tutorial prospect, difficulty 3, hardcore off, saved as `TestProspect01`. Difficulty is a number from **1 to 4** — RocketWerkz document it as *"1 = easy, 4 = extreme"*. The hardcore flag is *"True or False value for if respawns are disabled"*.

If none of the three commands runs at start-up, the server does not fail. RocketWerkz: *"the server will enter a waiting state that can be connected to"* — that is the lobby, and it exists so an admin can join and pick a world from the UI instead of editing files.

## Prospect type names

`CreateProspect` needs the *internal* name, not the one on screen. RocketWerkz publish the mapping; a sample:

| Internal name | Shown in game |
|---|---|
| `OpenWorld_Styx` | Styx |
| `Outpost006_Olympus` | Olympus |
| `Outpost002_Forest` | ARCWOOD: Outpost |
| `Tier1_Forest_Recon_0` | BEACHHEAD: Recon |
| `Tier1_Forest_Exploration_0` | ARGOS: Exploration |
| `Tier2_Glacier_Expedition_0` | ICESTORM: Expedition |
| `Tier3_RiverLands_Extraction` | MERIDIAN: Extraction |
| `Tier4_Desert_Exploration_0` | PROMISED LAND: Exploration |
| `Tier5_Omni_Research` | UNEARTHED: Research |

> [!WARNING] That list is dated
> RocketWerkz last updated their prospect-name page in **June 2023**. It therefore predates Prometheus, and it predates Elysium entirely — the 8×8 km map added with the Dangerous Horizons expansion on 5 March 2026. For anything newer than mid-2023, create the prospect from the in-game lobby UI instead of guessing an internal name, and read the name the server writes back into `LastProspectName`.

## Who is allowed to start one

Two config options decide this, and their defaults are not symmetrical:

- **`AllowNonAdminsToLaunchProspects`** defaults to **True**. Anyone who joins the lobby can create or load a prospect.
- **`AllowNonAdminsToDeleteProspects`** defaults to **False**. Deleting requires an admin login.

On a public server, launching is the one to think about. A stranger in your lobby can start a brand new world while your regulars are asleep, and the server will happily run it. Set it to `False` and set an `AdminPassword`.

## What happens when you leave an Open World

Leaving by dropship is not the same as disconnecting, and the difference costs people gear. Per the Icarus wiki's Open World documentation: if you leave on the dropship, **all crafted and gathered items on your person are destroyed**, while Workshop items you brought down are returned to your loadout. Returning via the load menu prompts you for a fresh loadout and drops you in again. Simply going back to character select and resuming, on the other hand, puts you back exactly where you stood.

Your buildings and storage are unaffected either way. They belong to the prospect, which lives on the server.

## Common Questions

### Why does my Icarus server keep returning to the lobby?

Because `ShutdownIfEmptyFor` defaults to 300 seconds and the server emptied out. Set it to a negative value to run indefinitely, or accept the behaviour — it frees the machine when nobody is on.

### Can I run two worlds on one Icarus server?

No. One prospect at a time. Two worlds means two servers.

### Does the prospect reset when the server restarts?

No, as long as `ResumeProspect` is `True` and `LastProspectName` still points at your save. That is the default configuration.

### Where are prospect saves stored?

`Icarus/Saved/PlayerData/DedicatedServer/Prospects/`, one `.json` per world. Do not rename them — RocketWerkz warn that changing the filename or the JSON *"will corrupt your saved data"*.

### Can I change the difficulty of an existing Open World?

No. Difficulty and drop zone are fixed for the lifetime of that Open World when it is created. A different difficulty means a new world.

### Do I need Operations, or should I run missions?

Run an Open World and use Operations unless you specifically want the episodic format. The content is identical, and the world persists.

## What to Read Next

- [Icarus Console Commands: What Actually Works](/knowledge-base/icarus/icarus-console-commands/) — `/ReturnToLobby`, `/AdminLogin` and the rest
- [Icarus Server Settings Explained](/knowledge-base/icarus/icarus-server-settings/) — `ShutdownIfEmptyFor`, prospect options and Custom World Settings
- [Does Icarus Progress Save on a Dedicated Server?](/knowledge-base/icarus/icarus-character-progress-dedicated-server/) — what lives on the server and what does not
- [How to Set Up an Icarus Dedicated Server](/knowledge-base/icarus/icarus-dedicated-server-setup/) — installation and first boot

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