--- title: "Unturned Workshop Mods and How to Change Maps" description: "Add Steam Workshop mods to your Unturned server through WorkshopDownloadConfig.json, switch maps safely, and get the File IDs for every curated map." url: "https://www.gameserverkings.com/knowledge-base/unturned/how-to-install-unturned-workshop-mods/" category: "Unturned" category_url: "https://www.gameserverkings.com/knowledge-base/unturned/" published: "2026-08-01T15:03:30.058Z" updated: "2026-09-12T05:38:37.797Z" source_format: "markdown" site: "GameServerKings" --- # Unturned Workshop Mods and How to Change Maps Unturned's Steam Workshop holds thousands of maps, item packs and total conversions, and a dedicated server can pull any of them down automatically. The mechanism is one small JSON file. This guide covers adding workshop content, switching your server to a custom map, the official File IDs for every curated map, and what to do when content refuses to load. ## How workshop content actually works The server downloads workshop content itself, at startup, from a list of File IDs you supply. Then — and this is the part most guides get wrong — **players joining your server download that same content automatically**. They do not need to subscribe to anything first. > [!NOTE] Your players do not need to subscribe on Steam > Steam pushes the server's configured workshop items to each client as they connect. Subscribing manually is optional and only changes where the files are kept: auto-downloaded content lives in a Steam-managed cache that gets cleaned out periodically, while subscribed content stays put. Neither affects whether the player can join. Dependencies come along too. If a map requires a separate asset pack, the server installs both, and clients receive both. ## Adding workshop content Workshop items are configured in `WorkshopDownloadConfig.json`, which sits in your server folder — not inside `Server/` where `Commands.dat` lives. **1. Find the File ID.** It is the number at the end of any Steam Workshop URL: ```text URL: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1753134636 File ID: 1753134636 ``` **2. Add it to `File_IDs`.** Open the file in the **File Manager** on your [managed Unturned server](/games/unturned-server-hosting/) and add the ID to the list: ```json title="WorkshopDownloadConfig.json" { "File_IDs": [ 1753134636 ] } ``` **3. Add more by separating with commas.** Trailing commas are invalid JSON and will stop the file loading: ```json title="WorkshopDownloadConfig.json" { "File_IDs": [ 1753134636, 1702240229 ] } ``` **4. Restart.** The server installs and updates everything in the list on each startup. > [!TIP] Validate the JSON before restarting > A single misplaced comma silently breaks the whole file, and the symptom is "my mods just did not install" rather than an obvious error. Paste the contents into any JSON validator first — it takes ten seconds and saves a confusing restart cycle. ## Changing your server's map Two independent things have to line up: the map's files must be on the server, and `Commands.dat` must name it. ### Built-in maps The maps shipped with the game need no workshop entry at all. Set the `Map` line and restart: ```text title="Servers/Default/Server/Commands.dat" Map Washington ``` Built-in options are **PEI**, **Washington**, **Yukon**, **Russia** and **Germany**. ### Workshop and curated maps 1. Add the map's File ID to `WorkshopDownloadConfig.json` as above. 2. Set `Map` to the map's **name**, not its File ID. 3. Restart. ```text title="Servers/Default/Server/Commands.dat" Map Elver ``` > [!IMPORTANT] `Map` takes the name, `File_IDs` takes the number > This is the single most common reason a custom map fails to load. `Map 2136497468` does not work. The `Map` line wants the map's name as the mod defines it, which is usually — but not always — what the Workshop page calls it. If the server boots onto PEI instead of your map, the name is wrong; the console prints the maps it found while loading. ### Curated map File IDs Curated maps and the official arena maps are only distributed through the Workshop, so they need a `File_IDs` entry even though they feel official. These IDs come from Smartly Dressed Games' own documentation. | Map | File ID | |---|---| | A6 Polaris | `2898548949` | | Arid | `2683620106` | | Athens Arena | `1454125991` | | Belgium | `1727125581` | | Buak | `3000549606` | | Bunker Arena | `1257784170` | | California | `1905768396` | | California2 | `3707778928` | | Canyon Arena | `1850209768` | | Carpat | `1497352180` | | Cyprus Arena | `1647991167` | | Cyprus Survival | `1647986053` | | Dango | `1850228333` | | Easter Island | `1983200271` | | Elver | `2136497468` | | Escalation | `3251926587` | | France | `1975500516` | | Greece | `1702240229` | | Hawaii | `1753134636` | | Hawaii Assets | `1753131903` | | Ireland | `1411633953` | | Kuwait | `2483365750` | | PEI Arena | `2396897717` | | Rio de Janeiro | `3416057692` | | Rio de Janeiro (Original) | `1821848824` | | Washington Arena | `2404652624` | Note that **Hawaii** needs **Hawaii Assets** alongside it — a case where the map and its asset pack are published separately and you need both IDs. ## Wiping a map or starting fresh Changing the map does not delete the old one. Each map keeps its own save data, so switching from PEI to Elver and back returns you to PEI exactly as you left it. To genuinely reset a map, stop the server and remove that map's folder under `Servers//Level/`. The server rebuilds it clean on the next start. > [!WARNING] Stop the server before touching the Level folder > Deleting save data underneath a running server corrupts what is left in memory and the server will write it back out on shutdown. Stop first, take a backup, then delete. See [How to Create a Backup](/knowledge-base/general/how-to-create-a-backup/). ## Removing workshop content Delete the File ID from `File_IDs` and restart. The server stops downloading and loading it. If you remove a map mod that your server is currently running, set `Map` back to a map you still have in the same edit — otherwise the server boots with nowhere to go and falls back to PEI, which is confusing if you did not expect it. Removing an item pack that players have items from is messier: those items no longer resolve and will vanish from inventories. Announce it first. ## Troubleshooting **Content did not download at all.** Check the JSON is valid, then check the server console during startup — the download step prints what it fetched. A server with no internet egress obviously cannot reach Steam, but on a hosted server that is rarely the issue. **"Missing dependencies" on a curated map.** The map needs a companion asset pack you have not added. Hawaii is the documented example. Check the Workshop page's required items and add every File ID. **A mod downloads on the server but not for players.** Mod authors can set an **Allowed IPs** restriction when publishing, which limits which servers may auto-distribute the item. If a mod has that set and your server's IP is not on the list, the server may hold the files while clients cannot obtain them. This is rare, and the fix is to contact the mod author. **The map loads but items are missing.** Item IDs are per-mod. A workshop map's custom items have their own IDs that do not overlap with the base game's, so generic ID lists will not help — use the map's own documentation. See [Unturned Server Commands and Cheat Codes](/knowledge-base/unturned/unturned-server-command-list/) for how `Give` resolves names and IDs. **Everything worked yesterday and broke after a game update.** Workshop content is not automatically compatible with every build. The server updates mods on each start, so a mod whose author has gone inactive can break when the game moves on. Check the mod's Workshop page for recent comments. > [!TIP] Content updates need a restart, not a reinstall > The server re-checks every File ID at startup, so the fix for stale workshop content is almost always a restart. Reinstalling the server from the Settings tab wipes your configuration and is very rarely the right answer. ## Where the files live | File | Location | Purpose | |---|---|---| | `WorkshopDownloadConfig.json` | `Servers//` | Workshop File IDs | | `Commands.dat` | `Servers//Server/` | Which map to load | | `Level/` | `Servers//` | Per-map save data | For editing these over SFTP rather than in the browser, see [How to Upload Files via SFTP](/knowledge-base/general/how-to-upload-files-via-sftp/). For what the rest of the panel does, see [How to use your server panel](/knowledge-base/general/how-to-use-your-server-panel/). ## FAQ ### Do players need to subscribe to my server's mods? No. Steam sends the server's configured workshop content to players as they connect. Subscribing only changes whether the files are kept permanently on their machine or in a cache Steam may clear later. ### How do I change the map on my Unturned server? Set the `Map` line in `Servers//Server/Commands.dat` to the map's name and restart. For anything that is not PEI, Washington, Yukon, Russia or Germany, also add the map's File ID to `File_IDs` in `WorkshopDownloadConfig.json`. ### Why does my server keep loading PEI instead of my workshop map? `Map` is set to a name the server cannot find, so it falls back to the default. Either the workshop item did not download, or the name does not match what the mod actually calls the map. ### Does changing the map delete my old world? No. Save data is stored per map under `Level/`, so switching away and back preserves both. ### Can I run more than one map at once? Not on a single server — one server runs one map. Running Washington and Elver at the same time means two servers. ### Where do I find a map's File ID? At the end of its Steam Workshop URL, after `?id=`. Curated and arena maps are listed with their IDs in the table above. ### Do I need to enable the Workshop on my Unturned server? No, and there is no setting to go looking for. There is no workshop toggle in `Commands.dat`, none in `Config.txt`, and none in the panel. The server downloads and updates whatever File IDs are listed in `WorkshopDownloadConfig.json` every time it starts, and does nothing at all if that list is empty. If content is not arriving, the problem is the list or the JSON, not a switch you missed. The only related options go the other way and exist for troubleshooting rather than setup — `-SkipAssets`, for example, disables loading asset bundles and Workshop content. Nothing turns the Workshop on, because nothing turns it off. ### How do I mod Unturned for single-player? Subscribe on the Steam Workshop. Smartly Dressed Games' documentation puts it plainly: content under the Workshop's Mods tab "can be downloaded by clicking the 'Subscribe' button. This content will then be available the next time you launch the game." Nothing is copied into the game folder by hand. Your subscriptions and your server are unrelated. Subscribing adds nothing to a server you host, and a server's `File_IDs` list works whether or not you are subscribed to those items — which is also why your players do not need to subscribe to join. To run the same map on your server, add its File ID to `WorkshopDownloadConfig.json` and set `Map` to the map's name, as above. --- Made with 💜 by GameServerKings