Eco server setup: configs and world settings

An Eco server is a free dedicated program (Steam app 739590, anonymous download, Windows and Linux) that runs one world, its ecosystem and its economy around the clock. It is configured through a set of JSON files with the .eco extension in the Configs folder - Network.eco for the name, password and ports, WorldGenerator.eco for the map, Difficulty.eco for the pace of the game, Disasters.eco for the meteor, Users.eco for admins - and it opens two ports: UDP 3000 for the game and TCP 3001 for the built-in web interface that shows the map, the economy and the laws. Eco is heavier than it looks, because the server simulates every plant and animal on the map whether or not anyone is watching. Budget memory for the world size you choose, edit configs only with the server stopped, and decide the meteor timer before anyone joins.

What an Eco server is and how a world runs#

Eco is not a survival game you can leave half-configured. A world has a life cycle that the server settings shape from day one:

• The meteor: by default, a meteor is due to hit the planet some weeks after the world starts. Players have to research, cooperate and build a laser array to stop it. The timer and whether the meteor exists at all are server settings.
• The ecosystem: plant and animal populations spread, compete and die out. Pollution, tailings and over-harvesting damage them. The server runs this simulation continuously.
• The economy and government: players set up currencies, stores, contracts, laws and elected titles. All of it lives in the world save.
• Skills and specialisation: players gain experience over time (and from eating well and having good housing), then spend it on specialties. The rate is a server setting, and it decides how many weeks the world takes to reach high tech.

That last point matters most for planning. A world tuned for a 30-day meteor with a small group either needs faster skill gain or the group will not reach lasers in time. Private servers commonly disable the meteor entirely and run a world for months; public servers often run a "season" of a few weeks and then reset.

Like any always-on game, Eco works best on a machine that is not somebody's PC - see what a dedicated game server is if that distinction is new.

Requirements and resource usage#

Memory grows with world size, with how many players and how much they have built, and with time - an old world has more objects, more stores and more history than a new one.

• CPU: the ecosystem simulation and the world tick share the load with networking and the web server. More cores help Eco more than they help most single-threaded survival games, but clock speed still matters.
• Disk: the server installs to a few gigabytes. The save grows over the life of the world, and backups multiply it; 20-30 GB is a comfortable margin.
• World size is the big lever: area grows with the square of the side. Doubling the width and length quadruples the land the simulation covers, and memory follows.

These ranges are starting points from typical servers, not official minimums. The panel graphs after a week of real play are the only numbers that count; CPU vs RAM for game servers explains how to read which resource is actually the limit.

Installing and first start#

With SteamCMD on Linux:

$ steamcmd +force_install_dir /home/eco/server +login anonymous +app_update 739590 validate +quit$ cd /home/eco/server$ chmod +x EcoServer$ ./EcoServer

On Windows the executable is EcoServer.exe and opens a management window with tabs for the config files, players and the world. On Linux the server is a console process; all configuration is by file. SteamCMD explained covers validate and update scripts.

The first start generates the world, which takes a while on a large map, then writes the full set of config files into Configs. The pattern for a new server is therefore:

1. Start the server once so it writes every config file with defaults.
2. Stop it cleanly.
3. Edit the configs - world size, meteor, difficulty, network.
4. Delete the generated world from Storage if you changed world generation, so it is generated again with your settings.
5. Start it again and watch the log until it reports the server is ready.

The config files#

Each file is JSON with an .eco extension. Open them in the panel's file editor or over SFTP; keep the quotes and commas valid, because a broken file is usually reset to defaults.

Network.eco

The defaults look like this (trimmed):

{  "PublicServer": true,  "Password": "",  "Description": "SERVERNAME",  "DetailedDescription": "",  "Playtime": "",  "DiscordAddress": "",  "IPAddress": "Any",  "GameServerPort": 3000,  "WebServerPort": 3001,  "MaxConnections": -1,  "UPnPEnabled": true}

Most of these explain themselves; the ones people get wrong:

• Description is the name shown in the server browser, despite the key name.
• PublicServer lists the server in the browser; set it to false for a private group joining by address.
• Password gates joining. Leave it empty only on a public server.
• Playtime and DiscordAddress are shown in the browser so players know when the group is online and where to find you.
• GameServerPort and WebServerPort must match the ports your host has open.
• MaxConnections of -1 means no limit beyond what the server can handle.
• UPnPEnabled only matters on a home network; on a hosted server turn it off.

World generation

WorldGenerator.eco holds the world dimensions and the generation parameters. The default world is deliberately small - Eco is designed around players being close enough to depend on each other. Grow it for bigger groups, but remember the quadratic cost above. If you want a known map, set the seed; a seed of 0 asks for a random one.

Difficulty and the meteor

Difficulty.eco holds the multipliers that set the pace: how fast skill points accrue, how much specialties cost, and the collaboration settings that push players to depend on each other. Recent versions offer presets plus a custom mode; exact key names have changed between major releases, so read the file your version wrote rather than copying values from an old guide.

Disasters.eco holds the meteor: whether it is created and how many days until impact. Turning it off makes a relaxed, long-running world. Leaving it on with too short a timer for your group size makes a frustrating one. As a rule of thumb, a casual group of five playing evenings will not reach the laser in 30 days on default skill gain.

Ports and the web UI#

The web UI is part of the game, not an extra. Players open it from the game or in a browser at http://<address>:3001 to look at the world map, store listings, contracts, laws, elections and statistics such as pollution and species populations. It also serves data the client needs for some screens, so a server with the web port closed works but feels broken - maps and economy views fail to load.

Both ports must be reachable. If your host gives you different port numbers, change GameServerPort and WebServerPort to match and restart. Game server ports explained covers why a game and a web port behave differently through firewalls.

Players connect through the in-game server browser, or directly by address and game port when the server is not public. A domain name helps for the web UI link - connecting a domain to a game server covers the A record.

Admins and moderation#

Admins are listed in Users.eco, together with the whitelist and blacklist. Players are identified by their Strange Loop or Steam account ID; the simplest way to get the right value is to let the player join once and copy the ID from the server's user list or log. Edit with the server stopped, as with every other config.

In game, commands are typed in chat and start with /. Arguments are separated by commas rather than spaces, because item and player names contain spaces. /help lists the commands available at your rank; admins get moderation commands (kicking, banning, muting) and world tools such as teleporting and giving items. Exact command names have shifted between releases, so trust /help on your version over any printed list.

Government in Eco is a player system, and admins should resist using their tools to settle political arguments. The healthiest servers write their admin policy down - what admins will step in for (griefing, exploits, harassment) and what is left to laws and elections. Server rules, moderation and staff has a framework for that.

Mods and UserCode#

Eco's game logic ships as C# source in the Mods folder, and the server compiles it at start. That is what makes Eco unusually moddable:

• Mods/__core__ holds the game's own code. Do not edit it - an update replaces it.
• Mods/UserCode is where mods and your own overrides go. Files here are compiled together with the core, and overrides in UserCode take precedence over the core files they replace.

Installing a mod usually means copying its files into UserCode, keeping the folder structure the author describes, then restarting. Most content mods also need to be present on the client, because new blocks and items need their assets; purely server-side tweaks (recipe values, skill rates) do not.

Two consequences follow. A start after adding a mod takes longer, because the server compiles everything. And a game update can break compiled mods: if the server fails at start with compiler errors pointing into UserCode, the mod needs an update. Move it out, start vanilla, and wait for the author. What to do when a mod update breaks has the general routine.

Saves, backups and resets#

The world save lives in the Storage folder, as Game.eco in current versions, and the server writes it periodically and on a clean stop. The server also keeps rolling backup copies of the save; how many and how often depends on the version and its storage settings.

The rules are the same as for any game world:

• Stop cleanly. A stop through the console or panel saves first. A killed process loses everything since the last save.
• Back up off the machine. Rolling copies beside the save do not survive a deleted server or a mistaken file operation. Backups that actually restore explains why restoring one is the real test.
• Back up before updates and before adding mods. Major Eco updates often do not carry worlds over at all.

That last point is Eco-specific. Major versions frequently require a fresh world; check the patch notes before updating a long-running server, and if the old world matters, keep the old server version until the season ends.

A reset is simple: stop the server, move Storage out of the way (keep it, in case), adjust the configs, and start again for a new world.

On RE:NODE, backups are slots on every game plan, scheduled or on demand, stored off the machine and restored with a button; the Schedules tab can take a backup and restart in sequence before a weekly update window. Eco itself is not in the catalogue.

Troubleshooting#

Config changes do not stick. You edited while the server was running, and it wrote its own version on shutdown. Stop, edit, start.

Players connect but the map and economy screens are blank. The web port (3001 TCP by default) is closed or does not match WebServerPort.

The server does not appear in the browser. PublicServer is false, or the game port is wrong. Try a direct connection by address to separate a listing problem from a network problem.

The server fails at start with compiler errors. A mod in UserCode does not match the game version. Remove mods until it starts, then update them one at a time.

Memory keeps climbing over weeks. Normal as the world fills with objects. A weekly restart at a quiet hour keeps it in check - see restart schedules that help.

FAQ#

Do players need to own Eco to join my server?

Yes. Players need the game; the server itself downloads anonymously and needs no game licence.

Can I turn off the meteor?

Yes, in Disasters.eco. Many private servers do, so the world can run for months without a deadline. Decide before the world starts, so nobody plans their research around a timer that disappears.

Why does Eco use so much memory for a small group?

Because the server simulates the ecosystem across the whole map, not just around players. World size matters more than player count; a small group on a large world can need more memory than a big group on the default one.

Can I change the world size on an existing world?

No. Size is a world generation setting. Changing it means generating a new world, so choose it before anyone starts building.

What is the web UI for, and should I expose it?

It shows the map, economy, laws and statistics, and the game uses it for some screens. Leave it reachable on its port; it is part of normal play, not an admin panel.