What changes with 1.0, and what is known so far
Keen Games announced on 25 June 2026 that Enshrouded releases out of early access on Steam on 15 October 2026. The PlayStation 5 version arrives the same day, and an Xbox Series X|S version is planned to follow later.
Keen has shown several parts of the update ahead of release: Sparkworks, a logic system for wiring up builds, a second version of Adventure Sharing, combat changes aimed at mages, and performance work across the game. The full list arrives with the release changelog.
For server owners the important part is what has not been announced. Keen has not published any change to how dedicated servers are installed or configured, and its server documentation, updated in the first days of October 2026, still describes the same executable and the same enshrouded_server.json file. Treat everything below as accurate for the days before launch, and read the 1.0 changelog on release day before you change a working setup.
What an Enshrouded server needs
The numbers here are Keen's own. Its dedicated server FAQ says the server process uses about 4.4 GB of physical memory at idle, that each player adds up to 100 MB, and that in total it should not use more than 6 GB. That is the process, not the whole machine: Keen's recommended specification for a home machine running the server is 16 GB, because the operating system and anything else on the box need room too.
CPU matters more than the memory figure suggests. Keen recommends a 6 core, 12 thread processor at 3.2 GHz or equivalent for 4 to 6 players, and an 8 core, 16 thread processor at 3.7 GHz for a full 16. The config documentation says plainly that every slot adds load and that lowering the slot count is the first thing to try if CPU or memory is the bottleneck.
Our Enshrouded plan is 6 GB for €16.99 a month with VAT included, which is the ceiling Keen documents for the server process.
- Memory: about 4.4 GB at idle, up to 100 MB per player, roughly 6 GB at most for the server process
- CPU: 6 cores at 3.2 GHz for 4 to 6 players, 8 cores at 3.7 GHz for 16
- Disk: the server files are about 13 GB, and Keen recommends 30 GB free on an SSD
- Saves: a world is between 1 MB and 100 MB, growing with how much has been built
- Network: one UDP port, 15637 by default, over IPv4, and about 2 Mbit/s of upload per player
Setting the server up step by step
The dedicated server is a separate Steam app, number 2278520, listed as Enshrouded Dedicated Server. On a Windows PC it appears under Tools in the Steam library of anyone who owns the game. On a rented or headless machine you download it with SteamCMD instead.
The server is a Windows program. Keen's installation page says only Windows is supported for now and that Linux support is planned for later. Linux machines, which is what most hosting runs on, start the same Windows executable through Wine or Proton. If you use SteamCMD on Linux you have to tell it to fetch the Windows files, because there is no Linux build to download.
Keen also recommends starting the executable directly instead of using the Launch button in Steam.
- Download app 2278520 with SteamCMD: +login anonymous +app_update 2278520 validate. On Linux add +@sSteamCmdForcePlatformType windows before the login
- Start enshrouded_server.exe once. It creates enshrouded_server.json next to the executable, plus the savegame and logs folders
- Wait for the log line that contains HostOnline, which Keen gives as the sign the server has fully started
- Stop the server, edit enshrouded_server.json, then start it again so the changes are read
- Allow UDP 15637, or whichever port you set, through the firewall and forward it on your router if you host at home
- In the game choose Join, tick the filter that shows dedicated servers, find yours by name and star it as a favourite
The config file: enshrouded_server.json
Everything about the server lives in one JSON file. It is short, and it has to stay valid JSON, so check the commas and quotes after every edit.
Access is controlled by user groups, not by a single server password. The default file has three groups, Admin, Friend and Guest, each with its own password and its own permission flags. A player gets the permissions of whichever group's password they type when joining. Keen generates random passwords for the groups in a fresh file, so set your own before you invite anyone. The old top-level password line is no longer what protects the server: if it still holds a value, the game turns it into a group called default with Friend-level permissions.
The file has no separate game port. Older guides list a second port, 15636, but Keen's current documentation and its FAQ name queryPort as the port the server needs, alongside the standard ports Steam itself uses.
- name: the server name shown in the in-game server list
- saveDirectory: where the world is stored, ./savegame by default
- logDirectory: where logs go, ./logs by default, with older logs archived in a backup subfolder
- ip: the address to bind to, 0.0.0.0 by default
- queryPort: 15637 by default, and the port to open on your firewall
- slotCount: the number of players allowed at once, from 1 to 16
- userGroups: each has name, password, canKickBan, canAccessInventories, canEditBase, canExtendBase and reservedSlots
- enableVoiceChat, voiceChatMode and enableTextChat: chat switches, with voice set to Proximity or Global
- gameSettingsPreset: Default, Relaxed, Hard, Survival or Custom. The individual gameplay settings only apply when this is set to Custom
Moving an existing world to the server
It helps to know what a server stores. Keen's FAQ is clear that world progression is saved on the dedicated server and character progression is saved on each player's own PC. Your character, its gear and its skills come with you to any server. Only the world needs moving.
On the PC that hosted the world, saves are in the Saved Games folder of your Windows user profile, inside a folder named enshrouded. If Steam Cloud is on, the same files are also listed in your Steam Cloud storage for app 1203620. World files have fixed hexadecimal names in order of creation: the first world is 3ad85aea, the second is 3bd85c7d, and so on. Each world also has an index file, info files and up to ten numbered rolling copies. Take every file that starts with the world's name, not only the first one.
Stop the server, upload those files into its savegame folder, and start it again. A new dedicated server names its own world 3ad85aea, because that is the first name on the list. If the world you are moving was a later slot on your PC, the common approach is to rename its files to the 3ad85aea prefix so the server picks it up. Keen does not document that step, so keep an untouched copy of the originals before renaming anything.
Keeping it updated on launch day
Steam updates every player's game automatically. A dedicated server only updates when you run the update, so on 15 October a server still on the early access build and players on 1.0 will not match. Keen's hotfix notes say when dedicated servers do not need an update. A release the size of 1.0 is not one of those cases, so plan to update the server the same day your group updates.
Keen has not announced a wipe for 1.0. It has also not published a statement on exactly how existing worlds and characters are treated, so do not rely on either assumption. The last major update is a useful guide to what can happen: Update 8 in April 2026 loaded existing saves, reset every character's skill tree and converted some older armour. The sensible preparation is a backup you control.
- Before 15 October, stop the server and download the whole savegame folder and enshrouded_server.json
- Ask each player to copy their own Saved Games folder for Enshrouded, since characters live on their PCs
- On release day, stop the server, run the same SteamCMD line or your panel's update action, then start it
- Compare your enshrouded_server.json with a freshly generated one in case 1.0 adds new settings
- Read Keen's release changelog before loading a long-running world, and keep the pre-update backup until everyone has played a session
PS5 and crossplay: what is and is not announced
The dedicated server is a Windows program distributed through Steam, and every page of Keen's server documentation describes joining it from the PC game. That is the only way of connecting to a dedicated server Keen has documented.
As of 10 October 2026, Keen's Steam announcements and its help center do not announce crossplay between PC and PlayStation 5, and do not describe PS5 players joining a PC dedicated server. Press coverage ahead of launch reports that crossplay is not part of 1.0. Until Keen says otherwise in its own release notes, plan a dedicated server as a server for the PC players in your group, and check the 1.0 changelog on the day if you have friends on PS5.