ETS2 server settings, presets and map mods

On a Euro Truck Simulator 2 Convoy server, settings and mods live in two different places. Settings are keys in server_config.sii - collisions, damage, AI traffic, the speed limiter, moderators - and you change them with the server stopped. Mods are not configured on the server at all: they are baked into the server_packages.sii and server_packages.dat files you export from your own game with export_server_packages, and every mod active at the moment of export becomes something players must match. The practical rule that follows: export with only the mods everyone genuinely needs, keep cosmetic and client-side mods switched off during the export, and re-export after every game update or mod change.

The install, ports, logon token and the full key reference are in the ETS2 convoy server guide. This post is about using them well: setting presets for different kinds of convoy, AI traffic and performance, how mods and map combos work on a server, keeping several configurations, and the update-day routine.

How settings and mods reach a Convoy session#

The dedicated server knows two things: what the world is made of, and how the session behaves. They come from different files.

server_packages is a snapshot of your client's map, DLC and mod set at the moment you exported it. The server cannot download mods, cannot read your Steam Workshop subscriptions, and has no list of its own. Whatever the snapshot contains is what the session is built from, and joining players are checked against it.

server_config.sii controls behaviour - who may join, whether trucks collide, how much AI traffic exists. It is edited with the server stopped, because the server writes its config back on shutdown and will overwrite live edits.

Setting presets for different convoys#

The same server can host a disciplined realistic convoy or a chaotic Friday night, and the difference is half a dozen keys. Here are three working presets; only the relevant keys are shown, inside the usual server_config : _nameless.xxxx { ... } block that the server generated.

Realistic convoy

 player_damage: true hide_colliding: false force_speed_limiter: true traffic: true max_ai_vehicles_player: 50 service_no_collision: true in_menu_ghosting: true name_tags: true password: "convoy-night"

Collisions and damage are real, the speed limiter is forced so nobody overtakes the lead at 140, and traffic is on for realism. service_no_collision and in_menu_ghosting remove the two unfair cases - a truck parked at a fuel station being hit, and a player in a menu being rammed while they cannot react. This preset only works with a group that has agreed to drive properly, which is why it has a password.

Casual friends

 player_damage: false hide_colliding: true force_speed_limiter: false traffic: true max_ai_vehicles_player: 30 password: "fridays"

Nobody can wreck anybody else's evening: trucks ghost through each other where they would collide, damage between players is off, and a simple password keeps the session to the group. Slightly lighter traffic keeps the server easy on resources and the roads less clogged for eight trucks in a row.

Public server with strangers

 player_damage: false hide_colliding: true hide_in_company: true in_menu_ghosting: true service_no_collision: true force_speed_limiter: true show_server: true moderator_list: 2 moderator_list[0]: 76561198012345678 moderator_list[1]: 76561198087654321

A public Convoy server has no RCON and no automated moderation, so everything that can be turned into a griefing tool should be off. hide_in_company stops players blocking depot entrances with their trucks. The moderator list gives named Steam accounts kick and ban powers in game, and on a public server at least one of them has to actually be online - nothing else will deal with a troll.

Whichever preset you use, change one thing at a time and drive with it before changing the next. Convoy's rules interact - forced speed limiter plus collisions is a very different game from either alone.

AI traffic and performance#

AI traffic is the one setting group that changes the server's workload in a way you can measure. The server simulates traffic around every player, so its cost scales with players times vehicles per player.

For a convoy that drives as one tight group, the players share the same stretch of road and the traffic around them overlaps, so the totals matter more than the per-player number. For a server where eight people drive eight different jobs across the map, each player has their own traffic bubble and the server works harder.

The Convoy server is light either way: with eight players and default traffic it runs comfortably in 1 GB and a fraction of a core. If traffic around players looks sparse or pops in late, max_vehicles_total is often the limit being hit, not the server's CPU. If the server's CPU graph is genuinely pinned at peak, lowering max_ai_vehicles_player to 30 is a large saving that players barely notice. Turning traffic off entirely is the biggest saving of all and makes the roads feel empty; it suits events where the convoy itself is the spectacle.

Mods on a Convoy server#

Convoy supports mods, and the mechanism is the export. The steps are always the same:

1. In the game's mod manager, activate exactly the mods the server should run, in the order they should load.
2. Load into a profile, open the console and run export_server_packages.
3. Upload the new server_packages.sii and server_packages.dat to the server's home folder and restart.
4. Publish the mod list - names, versions and load order - to your players.

The developer console has to be enabled in config.cfg first (uset g_console "1" and uset g_developer "1"), as covered in the convoy server guide.

What to include, and what to leave out

Every mod active during the export becomes part of the session's definition, and players are checked against it. So:

• Include mods that change the shared world: map mods, AI traffic packs, and truck or trailer mods if players will drive them in the convoy.
• Leave out mods that only change what one player sees or hears: sound packs, graphics and weather mods, interface tweaks, personal truck skins. They work fine in each player's own game, but if they are active at export, everyone else must install them too.

This is the most useful habit in ETS2 server administration. A server exported with fifteen mods because that is what the admin happened to have active is a server only the admin can join. mods_optioning: true in server_config.sii lets players choose whether to load mods the server marks as optional, which helps for genuinely optional content, but the reliable approach is not to export what is not needed.

Map mods and map combos

Map mods are where Convoy servers become interesting and where most of the problems are.

• DLC requirements. Large map mods often require specific official map DLCs to be owned and active. The server's export and every player need the same ones. Read the mod's own requirements page before announcing a map mod to a group.
• Convoy support. Not every map mod supports Convoy, and some ship Convoy-specific notes or versions. Check the mod's own documentation; a map mod that works in single-player is not guaranteed to work on a dedicated server.
• Map combos. Running several map mods together needs a compatible combination, a specific load order and often a road connection patch. Combo communities publish tested orders; follow one exactly rather than inventing your own.
• Load order is part of the definition. The order in the mod manager at export time is what the server uses. Players with the same mods in a different order may see different roads, which is worse than not being able to join.

Map mods are the one thing that pushes an ETS2 server beyond the smallest plan. A large combo raises the server's memory use and makes server_packages.dat considerably bigger. Start at 1 GB, watch the memory graph on the first full session, and step up only if it is genuinely near the limit. How much does a game server cost explains why paying for headroom you never use is the common mistake.

Workshop mods versus manual mods

ETS2 mods come either from the Steam Workshop or as .scs files downloaded from a mod's website and placed in the mod folder of the game's home directory. Both work for Convoy. The difference is version control: Workshop mods update themselves on every player's machine whenever the author publishes, while manual files stay at the version each player downloaded.

For a server, that cuts both ways. Workshop mods keep players in step with each other automatically but can drift away from the version your export was made with. Manual files never drift, but players have to download the right version by hand. For map mods that update rarely and are large, manual files with a published version number are usually more predictable. Whatever you choose, write the version down.

Several configurations and several servers#

Communities that run different kinds of evening do not need to edit one config back and forth. The server takes a config path at launch:

-server_cfg "server_config_realistic.sii"-server_cfg "server_config_public.sii"-server "server_packages_promap.sii"

Keep one config file per preset and one package export per mod set, named for what they are, and switch by changing the startup parameters and restarting. On a panel those parameters are fields on the Startup tab. If you genuinely need two sessions at once - a public server and a members' convoy - run two instances with -nosingle, and give each its own connection and query ports and its own virtual ports. Each one is still capped at eight players.

Back up every config and package file you keep, together with the mod list each package was exported from. Backups that actually restore applies even to a server this small, because rebuilding a working export for a large map combo is an evening's work.

Update day#

SCS patches the game regularly, and each patch affects a Convoy server three ways: the server must be updated, map mods may need updating for the new version, and the export must be redone from an updated client. The order that works:

1. Stop the server. Back up the config, both package files and your mod list.
2. Update the dedicated server with SteamCMD.
3. Update your game client. Check each map mod's page for a version that supports the patch; if a critical map mod has not been updated, wait.
4. Activate the agreed mod set in the agreed order, and run export_server_packages.
5. Upload the new packages, start the server and join it yourself before telling anyone it is back.

Skipping step 4 is the most common cause of "the server worked yesterday". What to do when a mod update breaks has the general version of this routine.

Troubleshooting#

Players cannot join after a mod change. The export does not match their mod set. Re-export with only the published mods active and in the published order.

Only you can join. You exported with personal mods active. Deactivate everything not on the public list and re-export.

Roads look different for different players. Mod load order differs between players. Publish the order and have them match it.

Traffic disappears or pops in. max_vehicles_total reached, or max_ai_vehicles_player too low for how spread out the group is.

Config changes do nothing. You edited while the server was running, or the server is launched with a different -server_cfg file than the one you edited.

A map mod crashes the server at start. The mod does not support Convoy, needs a DLC missing from the export, or does not match the current game version. Read the server log; it names the package it failed on.

FAQ#

How do I add mods to an ETS2 dedicated server?

Activate the mods in your own game, run export_server_packages in the console, and upload the resulting server_packages.sii and server_packages.dat to the server. The server never downloads mods itself; the export defines what it runs.

Do players need the same mods as the server?

Yes - every mod that was active when the packages were exported, at the same version and in the same load order. That is why cosmetic and personal mods should be off during the export.

Can I use ProMods or other map mods on a Convoy server?

Map mods can work on Convoy, but each has its own DLC requirements and Convoy support notes. Check the mod's documentation, export with its required DLC and load order, and make sure every player matches.

What does hide_colliding do?

It makes trucks that would collide pass through each other instead. It is the main anti-griefing setting, and it is on by default; turn it off only for a group that has agreed to drive seriously.

How do I stop people speeding in a convoy?

Set force_speed_limiter: true in server_config.sii. Everyone's in-game speed limiter is forced on, which keeps a convoy together far better than rules alone.

Can I run more than eight players with mods?

No. Eight is the Convoy cap in the game itself. Mods do not change it, and a second server instance is the only way to host more people at once.