How to host an Unturned server: Commands.dat, workshop maps, plugins and saving

Unturned is free, light enough to run a group server on a modest plan, and has one of the most active Workshop communities of any survival shooter: custom maps, vehicles, weapons and entire roleplay setups. Running your own server lets you pick the map, the perspective, PvP or PvE, and the mods, and keep the world going between sessions. The server is configured through a short Commands.dat file, a config file and a workshop list. This guide covers each, the habits that protect your save, plugins, and how we set a server up for you on GGHOST Cloud.

How an Unturned dedicated server works

An Unturned server runs the world for everyone: players, zombies, animals, vehicles, items, structures and the barricades your players build. Each server lives in its own folder under Servers/, which holds its config and save data. The server reads its settings on startup, so after editing files you restart for them to take effect.

To appear on the internet server list, an Unturned server needs a Steam Game Server Login Token (GSLT). Servers default to LAN; with a token, the server can be listed publicly, and the token also keeps its Server Code from changing at each launch. You create the token on Steam’s game server account management page for Unturned and add it to the server’s config.

What drives CPU and memory use

We do not publish a fixed sizing table for Unturned, because the load depends on your world and mods. The main factors are:

• Player count. More players means more zombies, items and network traffic around them.
• Structures. Large bases with lots of barricades and storage are the biggest long-term load on survival servers.
• Map size. Bigger workshop maps take more memory to hold.
• Mods and plugins. Large workshop packs add memory; plugin frameworks and plugins add CPU work.

Tell us your map, mods and player count, and we size it with you. You pay for memory, not player slots; MaxPlayers is a setting you choose.

Server config essentials

Commands.dat

The basic settings go in Commands.dat, one command per line. The main ones:

• Name: the server name in the list.
• Map: the map to load, such as PEI. Workshop maps also need to be in the workshop list (below).
• MaxPlayers: the player limit.
• Owner: your SteamID64, which gives you admin rights.
• Password: makes the server private.
• Perspective: First, Third, Both or Vehicle.
• PvE: turns off player-versus-player combat.
• Cheats: enables cheat commands for admins.

Config and difficulty

The server’s config file holds the detailed gameplay settings, such as item spawn chances, and the advanced options including your GSLT. Easy, Normal and Hard each have their own set of settings; servers use Normal by default, and the Difficulty command switches between them.

Workshop maps and mods

Workshop content is listed in WorkshopDownloadConfig.json in the server’s folder. Add each item’s Workshop File ID (the number after id= in its Workshop URL) to the File_IDs list, separated by commas. The server downloads and updates the items and their dependencies on startup, and players who join download them automatically.

WorkshopDownloadConfig.json must be valid JSON. A trailing comma after the last ID is enough to stop the file loading, and the server will start without your mods.

Saving: the habit that protects your world

Unturned’s own documentation notes that the server has no built-in autosave. The world is saved when you run the Save command, or when the server is shut down cleanly with Shutdown. Killing the process instead of shutting it down can lose progress since the last save. On GGHOST Cloud, set two scheduled tasks in the panel:

1. A Save command at a regular interval during the day.
2. A restart at a quiet hour, with a Save a minute before it.

Plugins: Rocket and OpenMod

Vanilla Unturned has admin commands but no plugin system of its own. For economies, kits, permissions, teleports and the rest of what public servers usually run, there are two community frameworks:

• Rocket (LDM), the long-standing framework with a large back catalogue of plugins.
• OpenMod, a newer framework that can also load many Rocket plugins.

Choose one framework and stick to plugins written for it. Each plugin’s documentation will say which it needs.

Performance and fair-play tips

• Pick the region closest to your players. Our live regions today are Singapore and Europe (France–Germany border), with the United States (East, Central and West), the United Kingdom, India, Japan and Australia on demand.
• Restart daily. Long-running survival servers build up state. A scheduled restart, after a save, keeps things smooth.
• Keep base sizes reasonable. Clear abandoned bases from time to time; a plugin can help with this on a busy public server.
• Limit admin rights. Use the Owner line only for yourself and promote others with Admin, rather than enabling cheats for everyone.
• Give helpers panel sub-users instead of sharing your login.

Adding mods and plugins safely

Add a few workshop items at a time, restart, and read the console for errors. Large workshop packs with many dependencies are easier to debug when you know what changed. For plugins, check they match your framework and the current game version. Take a backup from the panel before adding a big mod set or changing frameworks.

Backups

On GGHOST Cloud, backups run on a schedule you set and restore from the panel without opening a ticket. Schedule your backup just after a Save, so it captures the latest world. A daily backup plus a manual one before every big change is a good routine. Moving from another host means uploading your server folder over SFTP.

Getting an Unturned server on GGHOST Cloud

Unturned is set up on request rather than through instant checkout:

1. Tell us what you need. Ask us on Discord (or open a ticket) with the game mode, maps or mods and player count you need.
2. We size it and quote. We work out the memory and CPU headroom for that setup and quote a monthly price. No setup fee, no contract; billing runs through app.gghost.cloud.
3. We set it up on our Pterodactyl panel, usually within a few days.
4. Add your token and share the address. Add your GSLT, start the server, and give players the address and port shown in the panel.

You then have the full panel at panel.gghost.cloud: live console, file manager, SFTP, scheduled tasks, sub-users, and a database if a plugin needs one. You can change startup flags from the panel and restart. Every node is behind DDoS protection from our network providers, and support comes from the people who run the servers, on Discord or at hello@gghost.cloud.

The short version

Set the basics in Commands.dat, add a GSLT to get on the internet list, list workshop content in WorkshopDownloadConfig.json (valid JSON, no trailing comma), and schedule Save before every restart and backup. Pick Rocket or OpenMod for plugins, add content gradually, and ask us on Discord when you want a server set up.