Terraria 1.4.5.8 dedicated server setup

The current version: server 1.4.5.8#

Updating the server when a patch lands

Patches are frequent in a Terraria series, and the server has to move with them, because a client and a server on different versions cannot host the same world. The routine is short:

1. Watch the wiki's Server page. When Re-Logic ships a server patch, the new "Terraria Server" version is listed there — that is where 1.4.5.8 is listed today.
2. Download the new archive from terraria.org. The file name carries the version with its dots removed: the 1.4.5.0 changelog linked terraria-server-1450.zip, and today's is terraria-server-1458.zip.
3. Unpack the new archive beside your old server folder (or over it) and make the binary executable again on Linux.
4. Copy serverconfig.txt, and banlist.txt if you keep one, from the old folder. Those files are yours, not the program's.
5. Point the new server at the same world and start it. World files live outside the program folder — on Linux in ~/.local/share/Terraria/Worlds/ — so replacing the program does not touch them.

Where the server already is#

On Windows, TerrariaServer.exe sits in the game folder. The Terraria Wiki lists the usual paths: %programfiles(x86)%\Steam\steamapps\common\terraria on a 64-bit install, %programfiles%\Steam\steamapps\common\terraria on 32-bit, GOG Games\terraria for a GOG copy. If none of those match, right click Terraria in Steam, then Properties, Local Files, Browse local files.

Four files matter in that folder:

• TerrariaServer.exe, the server itself, which runs stand-alone.
• serverconfig.txt, which holds every setting.
• start-server.bat, which launches the server using that config and, in the wiki's words, "contains a loopback to restart the server if it should crash".
• start-server-steam-friends.bat, which behaves like Host and Play through the console, so Steam friends can join.

Linux, in five steps#

On Linux the server files are a separate download from terraria.org. The wiki's own sequence, with wget, tmux and unzip installed first:

1. Download the archive, for example wget https://terraria.org/api/download/pc-dedicated-server/terraria-server-1458.zip.
2. unzip it and change into the numbered folder it creates, then into Linux.
3. chmod +x TerrariaServer.bin.x86*.
4. Run ./TerrariaServer.bin.x86_64 for the 64-bit build.
5. Put your world files in ~/.local/share/Terraria/Worlds/ so the server can find them.

Run it inside tmux so closing your terminal does not close the server. Start tmux, launch the server inside it, detach with Ctrl+b then d, and come back later with tmux attach. The wiki notes that some systems need export TERM=xterm first.

What 1.4.5 changed for servers#

1.4.5.0 landed on January 27, 2026, and two lines of its changelog are directly about servers: "Servers now save the world when the last player leaves." and "You can now join your own servers via Join via Steam." The first means an empty server no longer sits on a stale save until someone runs the save command or shuts it down. The second means the person running the server can join it from the same Steam join menu used for friends' worlds, instead of typing its address by hand.

Later patches in the series kept at it. 1.4.5.7, a hotfix released August 19, 2026, added: "Servers now log a message when a player disconnects before having joined the world." When a player tells you they cannot get in, the server log now names who connected and dropped before the world finished loading — read the log before you change a setting.

How the server saves, and why backups are still yours#

The Server page puts saving in one sentence: "The server will auto-save the world now and then, but will only save on shutdown when using the exit command." The wiki's setup guide puts a number on "now and then": the world is saved at every dawn in game, which arrives about every 24 minutes. And since 1.4.5.0 there is a third trigger: the world is saved when the last player leaves.

What that leaves you exposed to is the shutdown half of the sentence. Closing the window or killing the process skips the shutdown save, and the last stretch of play goes with it — the setup guide warns that closing straight after moving items between chests can make those items disappear. The exit command is the safe way out; exit-nosave skips the save on purpose.

None of that is a backup schedule. A Terraria world is one file, which makes it easy to copy and easy to lose: copy it somewhere else while the server is stopped, on a rhythm you choose, and keep copies the server cannot reach. Our game server backup checklist walks through the whole habit.

serverconfig.txt, the settings that matter#

Point the server at a config file with -config <file path>. The file can have any name, and relative paths resolve against the folder holding TerrariaServer.exe. If you name a config file and the server cannot find it at boot, it falls back to asking you the questions by hand, which is the usual reason a carefully written config appears to do nothing.

Lines beginning with # are skipped entirely, so keep your old values commented rather than deleting them. Every one of these settings also exists as a command-line switch, including -players, -pass, -world, -autocreate, -secure, -noupnp and -steam.

Journey mode permission keys

A Journey world, difficulty=3, comes with its own set of config keys. The Server page documents them as "Journey Mode power permissions for every individual power", one journeypermission_ key per power, each taking one of three values: 0, locked for everyone; 1, can only be changed by the host; 2, can be changed by everyone. The wiki's own examples include journeypermission_godmode=2 and journeypermission_time_setfrozen=2. The keys have existed since Desktop 1.4.0.1, and they are how you hand a friends' world full research powers without also handing out frozen clocks.

Three launch options worth knowing#

Switches belong on the command line, and the wiki's command-line parameters page is the reference for all of them. Three matter disproportionately on a server that lives on the internet:

• -steam — "Enables Steam support." With it the server integrates with Steam rather than being reachable only by address, and since 1.4.5.0 you can join your own server through Join via Steam.
• -lobby friends or -lobby private — "Allows only friends to join the server or sets it to private if Steam is enabled." The gate on who sees the server at all.
• -ip <ip address> — "Sets the IP address for the server to listen on." On a machine with several addresses, this is how you bind the server to the right one.

Ports#

The server runs on TCP port 7777 by default. Behind a home router, that port has to be forwarded before anyone outside your network can join. The wiki's alternative for people who cannot forward a port is a virtual network tool, with the honest caveat that every player then has to install it too. On a cloud provider the advice is different: the wiki says "If running on a cloud service provider such as AWS or GCP, ensure port 7777 on TCP and UDP is open to allow connections", and a data centre connection usually needs a firewall rule rather than a forwarding rule.

Running it day to day#

The console takes plain commands with no leading slash. The ones worth learning early are save, exit (which shuts down and saves), exit-nosave, playing, kick, ban, password and motd. Note that exit is the safe way out. Closing the window is not.

Bans are written to banlist.txt in the Terraria folder. To lift one, stop the server and delete the player's name and address from that file. There is no unban command.

TShock, when vanilla is not enough#

TShock is a separate server binary that replaces the vanilla one and adds accounts, permissions, server-side characters and a plugin system. Since version 6 it is built on .NET 9: the 6.0.0 release notes say TShock "Added support for .NET 9 and the Terraria 1.4.5 series", and the pre-release notes are blunter — "This version requires .NET 9." Older guides that tell you to install Mono are out of date, because TShock now runs on .NET and no longer needs it.

Match the TShock build to the game version. Every release on the TShock releases page is titled for the Terraria version it supports, and the current one is "TShock 6.2.1 for Terraria 1.4.5.8", published September 27, 2026. When Terraria ships a patch, wait for the TShock release that names it rather than pointing an old build at a new client.

The documented install is short. Install the .NET 9 runtime, download the stable release that matches your game version, and unzip it so that everything lands in one folder. Run TShock.Server.exe, or ./TShock.Server elsewhere, and it creates a tshock folder for its database and configuration. Then join your own server, read the setup code out of the console, and run four commands in chat:

1. /setup [code] to make yourself temporary admin.
2. /user add [account] [password] owner to create your real account.
3. /login [account] [password] to sign in to it.
4. /setup again to switch the setup system off.

Two files in the tshock folder are the ones to back up: config.json and tshock.sqlite. The documentation is blunt about the second one. Lose tshock.sqlite and you have to set TShock up again from scratch. Plugins go in the ServerPlugins folder, and upgrading is a matter of merging a new release over your existing install, leaving the tshock folder alone.

tModLoader: a separate install, still on 1.4.4#

Modded Terraria is not an add-on to this server; it is a second program. tModLoader's own guide for players says the install "will exist alongside the vanilla installation", with one warning worth repeating: "DO NOT install the tModLoader files directly into the Terraria folder." And the version line is the one to check before planning a modded world — "Currently the stable version is based on Terraria v1.4.4 content", with the beta on 1.4.4.9. A tModLoader server today is therefore a 1.4.4-series server, not a 1.4.5.8 one, and modded and current-vanilla players cannot share it. tModLoader ships its own server start script, start-tModLoaderServer.sh, and its wiki carries a separate page on starting a modded server.

Self-hosting or renting#

Terraria is one of the easier servers to self-host, and if you have a machine that stays on, it is genuinely free. You keep the world file, you can copy it anywhere, and the config is a single readable text file.

What it costs is availability and attention. The machine has to be awake whenever anyone wants to play, and it should not be the computer you are playing on. Some home connections will not accept incoming connections at all, which no port forwarding will fix. Every crash, update and restart is yours to notice. And a Terraria world is one file, which makes it easy to copy and easy to lose.

Renting moves those chores rather than removing them. The world, the difficulty, the plugin list and the backups you actually keep are still your decisions.

Where ForgeWorld Gaming fits#

Renting changes who keeps the machine on, not how the game runs or how the settings above work.

Prefer renting to keeping your own server machine online? ForgeWorld Gaming currently offers Terraria Standard: 4, 8, 12, 16, 24 player slots at CA$8.99–CA$20.49/month. Hosted in Iowa, United States. Prices are in Canadian dollars, with no setup fee and cancel any time. Your server is set up automatically after payment. Continue to secure billing, Terraria · Dedicated server, CA$8.99 / month (Standard, 4 slots), or compare Terraria plans.