Terraria server: tutorials & guidesAll guides around your own Terraria server

Terraria is one of the most frugal games of all - the server is running before the first world has finished generating. The decisive question is therefore not one of performance but of the server variant. There are exactly three, and you choose one of them when setting up:

• Vanilla - the unmodified Terraria by Re-Logic. Right for classic co-op among friends who simply want to play together.
• TShock - replaces the Vanilla server and adds user accounts, permissions, bans, warps and region protection against griefing. The way to a permanently moderated community server.
• tModLoader - modded Terraria with content mods such as Calamity, Thorium or quality-of-life packs. Needs considerably more memory than the other two variants.

These three ways cannot be combined. TShock extends the Vanilla server with management, tModLoader loads mods instead - a server runs either one or the other. Clarifying this beforehand saves you from setting up a second world, because the decision directly affects the package: Vanilla and TShock get by with little, a large mod pack sits one or two levels above.

The second point to settle before starting is the world. World name, size, seed and difficulty are fixed by the server at generation - they cannot be changed afterwards without generating a new world. This is particularly clear-cut with Journey mode: difficulty=3 has to be in the serverconfig.txt before generation, and only Journey characters can enter a Journey world. If you would rather continue with an existing save, upload the .wld file via WebFTP or SFTP and enter it with world=. This is the fastest order:

1. Decide on the variant - Vanilla, TShock or tModLoader. You can switch the server type later with a click; it then starts on an empty directory, though, so the world needs to be backed up first.
2. Prepare the serverconfig.txt with world name, size, seed and difficulty before the world is generated.
3. If you have one: upload your own .wld file and enter it instead of generating a new one.
4. Set a password and ban list if the round is to stay closed.
5. After the first evening together, take a backup of the world file.

When connecting, Terraria is mercilessly exact: client and server have to run exactly the same version, and with tModLoader also the same mod list. You connect via IP and port together - the default port 7777 is only the game's default; what counts is the port from the web interface. And backups are particularly quick with Terraria, because essentially only the world file and configuration count: you fetch both yourself as self-service via WebFTP or SFTP - it does not happen automatically.

Getting started

The first step after ordering. Terraria offers joining via the server list and via entering an address directly - the second way is the more reliable one, because it depends neither on a list nor on a preview.

Configuration & world

World size, difficulty and moving an existing save. These three guides belong together and should be read before the world is generated for the first time: what is fixed here stays for the lifetime of the world. If you are unsure, rather upload an existing .wld file than generate a new world and miss your progress later.

Management & operation

What controls and secures the running server. One peculiarity surprises many people: the Vanilla server has no whitelist. Securing it here means password plus ban list - everything beyond that is exactly what TShock is for. The console commands also only run on the server side; they do not exist in the game itself.

Extensions

Two separate ways - TShock for Vanilla management, tModLoader for real mods. Choose based on what you are missing: if it is about order on an open server, TShock is the answer. If it is about new game content, it is tModLoader. With tModLoader, every player has to have the same loader version and the same mods installed, otherwise even joining fails.

Troubleshooting

Terraria is mercilessly exact about version and server type when connecting.

Before you order

Cross-game buying advice - Terraria is the most frugal of our games.

Frequently asked questions