Getting started with your Terraria server
Boot your server, connect via IP, and control world size, name, difficulty, and passwords via startup variables. Includes world upload tips.
Your Terraria server runs vanilla TerrariaServer, the classic experience. TShock (commands, permissions, and anti-grief) and tModLoader (modded content like Thorium and Fargo's Souls) need our multi-type Terraria image, which the standard plan does not ship, so read their guides before you plan around them. This guide covers the vanilla boot and basic setup.
Initial Boot (Vanilla)
Open your Terraria hosting plan in the panel and click Start.
First boot creates your world using the Startup tab variables (save file name, world size, and difficulty).
Once you see
Listening on portin the console, the server is ready. That console is also where you type Terraria's server commands.
How to Connect
In the Terraria client: Multiplayer, Join via IP, then enter the IP and port from the Address at the top left of your panel, and the password if you set one.
Your port is probably not 7777
On our plans the assigned port is often not the game default of 7777, so always use the panel value.
Configuration: Startup Variables
Your server is configured through the Startup tab variables rather than a config file. Change a value, save, and restart to apply it:
| Variable | What it does |
|---|---|
| Terraria Version | latest, or pin a specific build. See Maintaining your Terraria server |
| Save File Name | The world file to load from saves/Worlds/, without .wld. Created automatically on first boot if it does not exist |
| World Size | Used when creating the world: 1 = small, 2 = medium, 3 = large |
| Difficulty | Used when creating the world: 0 = Classic, 1 = Expert, 2 = Master, 3 = Journey |
| Max Players | Set by your plan. It is shown in the Startup tab but cannot be edited there |
| MOTD | The message players see when they join |
| Password | Blank for a public server |
| Anticheat | 1 turns on Terraria's built-in cheat protection (the secure setting), 0 turns it off |
No Server Type field on the standard plan
TShock and tModLoader run on our multi-type Terraria image, which has a Server Type field. The standard plan ships the plain vanilla image shown above, which does not. See TShock Setup or TModLoader and Mods before planning around either.
Some variables are locked in at world creation
World Size and Difficulty only apply when the world is first created; an existing world keeps its settings. There is no seed variable: worlds generate with a random seed, so for a specific or special seed (like the secret seeds), generate the world in your own game first and upload it as described below.
World Management
Worlds live in saves/Worlds/, each a single .wld file (plus a .bak file that Terraria writes automatically).
To upload a single-player world: find it at Documents\My Games\Terraria\Worlds\, upload the .wld to saves/Worlds/ via SFTP, set the **Save File Name** variable to the file name (without .wld), and restart.
To wipe, stop the server and delete the .wld file. The next start generates a fresh world from your World Size and Difficulty variables.
Special World Seeds
Terraria's secret seeds work on a server, but there is no Seed startup variable to enter one into — the server generates its world with a random seed. To run a secret seed, create the world in your own copy of Terraria using that seed, then upload the resulting .wld file to the server as described above.
| Seed | What it does |
|---|---|
| for the worthy | Brutally hard remix of the whole game |
| not the bees | The world is bees. All of it |
| celebrationmk10 | Anniversary world with festive generation and loot |
| the constant | Don't Starve crossover rules, including darkness damage |
| no traps | The opposite of its name: traps everywhere |
| dont dig up | The remix seed. You start in hell and climb |
| getfixedboi | The everything seed, combining all of the above |
A new seed only applies to newly generated worlds; existing worlds keep their rules.
What to Read Next
TShock Setup for the more capable server with commands and permissions
Terraria Multiplayer for how your friends join, and the version and Journey Mode traps
TModLoader and Mods for modded content, including where Calamity now stands
Maintaining your Terraria server for performance, backups, and troubleshooting
Is Terraria crossplay? — which platforms can join your server, and the one route that reaches mobile players
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