SCUM server settings: ServerSettings.ini

A SCUM server is configured almost entirely in one file, SCUM/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/ServerSettings.ini, whose keys all start with scum. and are grouped under sections such as [General], [World], [Respawn], [Vehicles], [Damage] and [Features]. It is read once at start, so every change needs a stop, an edit and a start. The settings that shape a server most are the name and password, the time-of-day speed and night darkness, the puppet (zombie) cap and health, the loot spawner multipliers, and the fame and respawn rules. Beside it sit a handful of smaller files for admins, bans, whitelists, raid times and trader prices. This guide goes through all of them, with the values worth changing and the ones worth leaving alone.

A word on versions before anything else. SCUM's config format has changed during the game's life: older guides show keys without the scum. prefix under a single [SCUM] header, with names that no longer exist. The server ignores keys it does not recognise, silently. Treat the file the server writes on its first start as the authority for your build, and use this guide to understand what the keys mean rather than to paste values blind.

How a SCUM dedicated server is installed#

The dedicated server is its own Steam application, app id 3792580, separate from the game. It downloads with an anonymous SteamCMD login:

$ steamcmd +force_install_dir C:\scum-server +login anonymous \    +app_update 3792580 validate +quit

The binary is SCUM\Binaries\Win64\SCUMServer.exe, and it is a Windows program. There is no native Linux build; hosts that run SCUM on Linux machines do it through a compatibility layer, which is why every path in this guide says WindowsServer whatever the host's operating system. If you are new to SteamCMD, app ids and validate, SteamCMD explained covers the basics.

A minimal launch line:

$ SCUMServer.exe -log -port=7777 -MaxPlayers=64

-log opens the log output, -port= sets the game port, and -MaxPlayers= caps the slots. Start it once, let it reach the point where it accepts players, and stop it: the first run writes the configuration folder, and from then on the files are yours to edit.

Ports and connecting#

SCUM uses a block of consecutive ports derived from the one you set with -port=:

All three have to be reachable, and all of them are UDP. A server that runs but never appears in the list usually has the query port (the +2) blocked or claimed by something else. Two servers on one machine need non-overlapping blocks, for example 7777 and 7780. Steam reserves ports in the 27020-27050 range for itself, so keep the block out of it. Game server ports explained covers why games split query traffic from game traffic.

Players join from the in-game browser, filtered by name, or by direct IP. Hosts and server lists do not all show the same port of the block - some show the game port, some the query port - so if a direct connect fails with one, try the other before suspecting the firewall, and tell your players which one to use.

The configuration folder#

After the first start, SCUM/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/ contains:

The admin and ban files are the subject of SCUM admin commands and squads, and the loot folder is covered in SCUM performance and loot. This post is about ServerSettings.ini.

The world itself - every character, base, vehicle and squad - lives in SCUM/Saved/SaveFiles/SCUM.db, an SQLite database with its -wal and -shm companions. Those three files belong together. Back them up together, with the server stopped.

Conventions in ServerSettings.ini#

The file follows a few rules that, once known, make every key readable:

• Every key starts with `scum.`: scum.ServerName, scum.MaxPing, scum.TimeOfDaySpeed.
• Toggles are `True` or `False`.
• Multipliers are relative to stock. 1.000000 is the developers' value, 2 doubles it, 0.5 halves it.
• `-1` means "use the game default", not zero. A cap of -1 is not "no limit" in every case; it is "whatever the game decides".
• Durations are written `HH:MM:SS`, for example 24:00:00, not as a count of hours.
• Currency can carry a suffix. 2g means two gold; a bare number is ordinary money.

General: name, password, ping and messages#

[General]scum.ServerName=EU | PvE weekdays, raids at weekends | Discord: example.gg/scumscum.ServerDescription=Moderated, active admins, loot boosted x1.5scum.ServerPassword=scum.MaxPlayers=64scum.WelcomeMessage=Read the rules on the Discord before building.scum.MessageOfTheDay=Restarts at 06:00 and 18:00 CET.scum.MaxPing=200

scum.ServerName and scum.ServerDescription are your advertisement. Put the region, the style (PvP, PvE, mixed) and how to reach you into the name, because that is what players filter by. A blank scum.ServerPassword makes the server public.

scum.MaxPlayers is the slot count. The launch argument -MaxPlayers= sets the same thing, and where both exist a host will normally drive one from the other; keep them consistent. The honest number depends on CPU, not on the field - SCUM is an Unreal server with a lot of simulation per player, and a full 64-slot server needs substantial hardware. How many players fit on a server covers the general reasoning.

scum.MaxPing kicks players whose ping stays above the value in milliseconds. For a server in Central Europe, around 200 admits most of Europe and nearby regions while keeping out connections that desync everyone around them.

scum.WelcomeMessage is shown on join, and scum.MessageOfTheDay is repeated on the interval set by scum.MessageOfTheDayCooldown. For anything more elaborate - restart warnings at fixed times - Notifications.json is the better tool.

scum.ServerPlaystyle labels the server as PvP or PvE for the browser. Treat it as a label: it has not historically enforced anything, and the actual rules come from damage settings, raid times and your moderation.

Logout behaviour - how long a character stays in the world after a player disconnects, and how that changes during combat - is controlled by the logout timer keys in this section. Combat logging is one of the most argued-about subjects on any SCUM server, so read those keys in your generated file and set them deliberately.

World: time, darkness and population#

[World]scum.StartTimeOfDay=08:00:00scum.TimeOfDaySpeed=3.84scum.NighttimeDarkness=0.0scum.SunriseTime=06:00:00scum.SunsetTime=21:00:00scum.MaxAllowedPuppets=-1scum.AreAnimalsAllowedInWorld=Truescum.AnimalGlobalDensityMultiplier=1scum.RadiationEnabled=True

Time. scum.TimeOfDaySpeed is how fast the game clock runs relative to real time. Around 3.84 a full in-game day lasts a little over six real hours; doubling it halves that. scum.StartTimeOfDay is the clock at server start, and scum.SunriseTime and scum.SunsetTime set how much of the cycle is daylight. Recent builds write some of these as HH:MM:SS durations; older builds used decimal hours. Match the format your file already uses.

scum.NighttimeDarkness is how dark night gets. SCUM nights at the dark end are very dark, and a large share of players log off for them. Most community servers either keep nights short (an earlier sunset key, a later sunrise key, or a higher speed) or lighten them a little. Changing both at once makes it hard to tell which one players are reacting to.

Puppets. Puppets are SCUM's infected. scum.MaxAllowedPuppets caps how many exist at once across the world, -1 leaving it to the game. This cap is one of the two biggest performance levers on a SCUM server, alongside the player count, because every puppet is an AI character the server simulates. Puppet damage and health are separate multipliers in the damage section. If the server struggles in the evening, lowering the cap is a better first step than lowering the player slots.

Animals. scum.AreAnimalsAllowedInWorld switches wildlife on or off, scum.AnimalGlobalDensityMultiplier scales it, and per-species prevalence multipliers (bear, boar, deer, wolf and others) tune the mix. A hunting-focused server raises deer and boar; a hardcore one raises wolves and bears.

Radiation. scum.RadiationEnabled keeps the radiation zones, which guard some of the best loot. Turning it off makes those areas ordinary loot runs.

The world section also holds the keycard limits for the high-value facilities, encounter and cargo drop timings, and other world events. Change those once the basics are settled, one at a time.

Loot and item spawning#

Loot amount is controlled at two levels: the global multipliers in ServerSettings.ini, and the detailed per-spawner and per-item overrides in the Loot/ folder.

scum.SpawnerProbabilityMultiplier=1scum.ExamineSpawnerProbabilityMultiplier=1scum.ExamineSpawnerExpirationTimeMultiplier=1scum.EnableItemCooldownGroups=1scum.ItemCooldownGroupsDurationMultiplier=1.000000

What each of those does:

• scum.SpawnerProbabilityMultiplier scales the chance that a loot spawner in the open world produces something. It is the "loot x1.5" setting server names advertise.
• scum.ExamineSpawnerProbabilityMultiplier does the same for examinable containers - cupboards, drawers, lockers that the player searches.
• scum.ExamineSpawnerExpirationTimeMultiplier affects how long a searched container stays searched before it can be looted again.
• scum.EnableItemCooldownGroups and scum.ItemCooldownGroupsDurationMultiplier control cooldown groups, which stop the same class of high-value item from spawning again too soon after one was found.

Raise the multipliers gently. Doubling loot sounds generous and usually results in everyone being fully geared in a day, after which the only thing left to do is fight or log off. A modest boost - 1.25 to 1.5 - plus faster respawn for basics like food and water is closer to what most groups actually want. The per-item tuning that makes that possible is in SCUM performance and loot.

Respawn, fame and squads#

SCUM ties death and respawn to fame points and in-game currency. The respawn section prices each respawn option - random, sector, shelter, squad - and sets cooldowns between uses.

scum.SquadRespawnPrice=2gscum.CloningSicknessEnabled=Truescum.FameGainMultiplier=1.0scum.FamePointPenaltyOnDeath=0.1

How those fit together:

• Respawn prices decide how much choice a player has after dying. Cheap sector and shelter respawns keep fights flowing; expensive ones make death matter.
• `scum.CloningSicknessEnabled` applies a debuff after respawning. It discourages suicide-respawning to escape a bad position.
• `scum.FameGainMultiplier` scales how fast fame accumulates. Fame gates respawn options and is a visible status in the game.
• `scum.FamePointPenaltyOnDeath` is the fraction of fame lost on death.

Squad behaviour - how many tombstones a squad may keep, how many flags each player may own, how long a flag takes to be overtaken - sits in the features section:

[Features]scum.TombstoneMaxAmountPerSquad=3scum.AllowMultipleFlagsPerPlayer=Falsescum.NumberOfAllowedFlagsPerPlayer=10scum.FlagOvertakeDuration=24:00:00scum.AllowMapScreen=True

scum.NumberOfAllowedFlagsPerPlayer only applies when scum.AllowMultipleFlagsPerPlayer is True. Flags define bases, and bases are what fills a long-running SCUM server's database, so be conservative with both. scum.FlagOvertakeDuration is how long an enemy needs to hold a flag area to take it over. scum.AllowMapScreen=False removes the map, which some hardcore servers like and most players find punishing.

Damage, vehicles and base building#

The damage section holds multipliers for player-on-player damage, puppet damage and health, sentry damage and base decay. Two of them deserve care:

• Puppet health and damage. A higher puppet health multiplier makes every infected encounter slower and more dangerous, which also means more ammunition spent and more gunfire attracting more puppets. It is a much bigger difficulty change than it looks.
• Base element decay. The decay multiplier controls how fast unmaintained base parts lose health. Fast decay clears abandoned bases from the map - good for performance and new players - at the cost of punishing people who take a week off.

The vehicles section caps how many of each vehicle type can exist, sets fuel and battery drain, and controls how long an unused vehicle survives before it is removed. Vehicle counts are a performance setting as well as a gameplay one: each vehicle is a persistent physics object.

Raid protection is configured in RaidTimes.json rather than the .ini: it lists the days and hours when base damage is allowed. Servers with weekday PvE and weekend raids use it to make that rule enforceable by the game rather than by admins.

A change routine that works#

1. Back up first. ServerSettings.ini and the save database, together. On any panel host, a backup before the edit is the undo button; backups that actually restore explains why you should also restore one occasionally.
2. Stop the server.
3. Change one group of settings. Time, or loot, or puppets - not all three.
4. Start and read the log for rejected or unknown keys.
5. Play for an evening before judging. Loot and puppet changes take time to show.
6. Announce gameplay changes. Players notice a loot or fame change long before they read why.

Restart schedules that help covers when to restart to apply changes without annoying people; SCUM servers commonly restart twice a day, which gives you natural points to roll out edits.

FAQ#

Where is ServerSettings.ini on a SCUM server?

In SCUM/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/, created by the server's first start. The path says WindowsServer on every host, because SCUM's dedicated server is a Windows binary even when the host machine runs Linux.

Why does a setting from a guide do nothing?

The key probably comes from an older config format. Current files prefix keys with scum. and group them under named sections; unknown keys are ignored without an error. Compare with the file your server generated.

How do I make SCUM nights shorter?

Raise scum.TimeOfDaySpeed to shorten the whole cycle, or move scum.SunriseTime and scum.SunsetTime to give more of it to daylight. scum.NighttimeDarkness changes how dark night is rather than how long it lasts.

How do I increase loot on my SCUM server?

Raise scum.SpawnerProbabilityMultiplier for open-world spawners and scum.ExamineSpawnerProbabilityMultiplier for searchable containers. Small steps such as 1.25 or 1.5 are usually enough; per-item tuning goes in the Loot override folder.

Do I need to restart after changing settings?

Yes. The file is read at start. Admins listed in ServerSettingsAdminUsers.ini can change some settings from the in-game menu, but file edits always need a restart.

Can I run a SCUM server on Linux?

Not natively. The server is a Windows binary; Linux hosts run it through a compatibility layer, and the configuration paths stay the Windows ones.