Manage and Troubleshoot an Unturned Server

Unturned servers are low-maintenance compared to most survival games — the save data is small, updates are frequent but usually painless, and the failure modes are few and well understood. This guide covers backups, updates, restarts, and the connection problems that generate most support tickets.

Backups

Unturned's save data is genuinely small. Player files and level data for a busy server are typically a few megabytes, which means you can afford to snapshot far more often than you would for a game with a multi-gigabyte world.

Take one from the Backups tab before any of these:

• Installing or removing a plugin
• Adding or removing workshop content
• Editing Config.txt in bulk
• A game update you did not choose the timing of

Put backups on a schedule and stop thinking about it

A daily automated snapshot costs almost nothing here. Set it up in the Schedules tab; see How to Setup Schedules and How to Create a Backup.

Saving

Unturned has no autosave. The server writes data when you run Save, and when it shuts down cleanly via Shutdown. A hard stop, a crash, or a host reboot loses everything since the last write.

This is the single most important operational fact about running an Unturned server, and it catches people out constantly.

Schedule a Save every 10–15 minutes alongside your restart schedule. See Unturned Server Commands and Cheat Codes for the command reference.

Stopping the server is not the same as shutting it down

The panel's Stop button asks the process to exit, which normally triggers a clean shutdown and save. A Kill does not. If you have unsaved progress and the server is unresponsive, run Save from the console first if it will still accept it.

Updates

Unturned updates regularly, and servers must match the client version — a server on an older build simply will not accept connections from updated clients.

On a GSK server, updates are applied on restart, so a scheduled nightly restart keeps you current without intervention. After a significant update, check:

1. The server actually started. Watch the Console tab through a full boot.
2. Your framework loaded. Run Modules to confirm RocketMod or OpenMod came back.
3. Plugins still work. Compiled plugins are the most fragile thing on the server.
4. Workshop content resolved. Mods update on start; an abandoned mod can break.

Plugins break on updates more often than anything else

A game update that changes internals can invalidate a compiled plugin, and the symptom is a stack trace on every boot or a plugin that loads but does nothing. Restore your pre-update backup, then reintroduce plugins one at a time. See Install RocketMod and OpenMod on Unturned.

Players cannot connect

Work through these in order — they are ordered by how often they turn out to be the cause.

The server is not on the internet list

Unturned servers default to LAN, which means they are only reachable through a Steam friends invite or the Server Code. Appearing in the public server browser requires a Game Server Login Token (GSLT), set as GSLT in Commands.dat or Login_Token in Config.txt.

This is by far the most common "nobody can find my server" cause, and it is not a fault — it is the default.

Version mismatch

The player is on a different build to the server. Restart the server to pull the current version and have the player verify their game files through Steam.

They are on a console

Console editions of Unturned cannot connect to PC dedicated servers at all — different publisher, different server pool, no crossplay. If the player asking is on Xbox, PlayStation or Switch, nothing on the server will help. See Is Unturned Cross-Platform?.

The player's BattlEye install is broken

A player who can see the server in the browser but bounces on connect very often has a corrupt client-side BattlEye installation. The server is fine and other players are unaffected. Have them verify game files, or reinstall BattlEye from the game's install directory.

Do not disable BattlEye_Secure on the server to work around one player's client problem — see Unturned Server Config and Difficulty Settings.

The map failed to load

If the server fell back to PEI because a workshop map did not resolve, players expecting your custom map will be confused rather than blocked. Check the console output at boot. See Unturned Workshop Mods and How to Change Maps.

Timeouts

Timeout in Commands.dat defaults to 750 ms. Players consistently above that get dropped. Raising it helps distant players at the cost of tolerating worse connections:

If everyone is timing out, the problem is the server, not the threshold — check memory and CPU on the Console tab's resource graphs.

Why every player shows as "Nelson"

Players sometimes report that everyone on the server appears with a generic Nelson name, or that the player list is empty. This is Streamer Mode — a client-side option that exists to make stream-sniping harder.

Two things follow from that:

• It is not a server setting. Nothing in Commands.dat or Config.txt causes it and nothing there will fix it. The player toggles it in the game's own Options.
• It affects only the player who enabled it. Other players see normal names.

The exact display behaviour has changed between versions

Streamer Mode has variously hidden the player list outright and replaced names with generic "Nelson" ones, and reports differ by build. Treat the specific symptom as version-dependent — the fix is the same either way, which is for the affected player to check their own Options.

Workshop content problems

Your players do not need to subscribe to anything

Steam delivers the server's configured workshop content to clients automatically as they connect. If a player is missing content, the fault is on the server side — the item is not in File_IDs, or it failed to download — not because they forgot to subscribe. Older guidance telling you to make players subscribe manually is wrong.

If content is genuinely missing for everyone, the JSON is usually invalid. A single trailing comma stops the whole file loading, silently.

Plugin problems

Nothing loads. The framework itself did not start. Run Modules.

One plugin does nothing. On Linux — which GSK servers run — plugin folder names are case-sensitive and must match the .dll inside. A mismatch fails silently with no console error.

Commands are rejected. Permissions. Rocket's permission system is entirely separate from server admin status; being in Adminlist.dat grants you nothing in Rocket.

Wiping and resetting

To reset a map's world completely, stop the server and delete that map's folder under Servers/<YourServer>/Level/. It rebuilds clean on the next start.

Each map keeps separate save data, so switching maps does not wipe anything — the old world is waiting when you switch back.

Reinstalling from the Settings tab wipes everything

Reinstall replaces the entire server, including configs, plugins and saves. It is very rarely the right fix for a problem, and almost never the fix for a plugin or config issue. Back up first, and try a restart before anything drastic.

Routine checklist

FAQ

Does Unturned autosave?

No. The server saves when you run Save or shut down cleanly with Shutdown. Anything else loses progress since the last save, so put Save on a schedule.

Why can nobody see my server in the browser?

Servers are LAN-only by default. You need a Game Server Login Token before the server appears in the public list.

Why can one specific player not connect?

Usually a corrupted client-side BattlEye install or a version mismatch on their end. Have them verify their game files through Steam before changing anything on the server.

Do my players need to subscribe to my workshop mods?

No. The server's configured workshop content downloads to clients automatically when they connect.

How often should I restart?

A nightly restart is a good default. It applies game updates, clears any accumulated memory pressure, and is short enough that players barely notice.

Will changing the map delete my world?

No. Save data is per map, so both worlds survive and switching back returns you to where you left off.

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