Terraria Journey mode server: who can join

The rule, and the two messages that enforce it#

The Terraria Wiki's Journey Mode page states it plainly: "Journey worlds can only be accessed using Journey characters, and Journey characters can only play in Journey worlds." Journey is a choice made twice, once when a character is created and once when a world is, and the wiki adds that "the player must choose Journey on both the character and world creation menus to use it."

The 1.4.5.8 server's own English text has one message for each wrong direction:

Only Journey characters may enter a Journey server.
Only Non-Journey characters may enter a Non-Journey server.

Older servers could show something less helpful. Re-Logic's 1.4.5.0 changelog lists "Fixed the incorrect error message displaying when trying to join a server with an incompatible character." If a player on an older build sees an odd error when joining, compare the character's mode with the world's before anything else.

Neither side can be changed afterwards#

The wiki's Difficulty page settles what can be converted, which is nothing:

• Characters: the modes are Journey, Classic, Mediumcore and Hardcore, and "once a character has been created, its difficulty cannot be changed." Journey characters "start with extra equipment and can only be played on Journey worlds."
• Worlds: the modes are Journey, Classic, Expert and Master, chosen when the world is created, and the mode "cannot be changed once the world has begun generating."

So a refused player has two ways in: a character of the matching kind, or a world of the matching kind. The rest of this guide is about the second.

How a dedicated server decides what kind of world it makes#

A dedicated server does not ask each player. It loads the world file named by the world line in its serverconfig.txt, and when no file is found there, autocreate makes a new one. The serverconfig.txt that ships with the 1.4.5.8 server explains the keys involved in its own comments:

• autocreate: "Creates a new world if none is found. World size is specified by: 1(small), 2(medium), and 3(large)."
• worldname: "Sets the name of the world when using autocreate".
• difficulty: "Sets the difficulty of the world when using autocreate 0(classic), 1(expert), 2(master), 3(journey)". The shipped file has it commented out as #difficulty=0.

The words "when using autocreate" matter. The difficulty line is read only when the server creates a world. Changing it later does nothing to a world that already exists, which fits the wiki's rule that a world's mode is fixed once it begins generating. A server set up for a Classic world looks like this, with your own path and name:

world=/path/to/Worlds/Friends.wld
worldname=Friends
autocreate=2
difficulty=0

Lines that start with # are skipped, so remove the # from any line you want the server to use. Every other key in the file is in our serverconfig.txt reference.

Switching without losing the world you have#

1. Stop the server with exit in its console, which saves the world on the way down. The wiki's Server page notes that the server "will only save on shutdown when using the exit command".
2. Point world at a file that does not exist yet, give worldname the same new name, and set difficulty to the mode you want.
3. Start the server. autocreate builds the new world, and the old world's file stays in the worlds folder, untouched.
4. To go back, point world at the old file again. Its mode comes with it, because the mode lives in the world.

If the group already has a single-player world of the right kind, you can bring that instead. The move-a-world guide covers the copy.

Journey powers on a server#

On a Journey world, a dedicated server decides who may use each Journey power through one journeypermission_ key per power. The shipped file defines the values as "0: Locked for everyone, 1: Can only be changed by host, 2: Can be changed by everyone", and lists all fifteen keys commented out at 2:

journeypermission_time_setfrozen=2
journeypermission_time_setdawn=2
journeypermission_time_setnoon=2
journeypermission_time_setdusk=2
journeypermission_time_setmidnight=2
journeypermission_godmode=2
journeypermission_wind_setstrength=2
journeypermission_rain_setstrength=2
journeypermission_time_setspeed=2
journeypermission_rain_setfrozen=2
journeypermission_wind_setfrozen=2
journeypermission_increaseplacementrange=2
journeypermission_setdifficulty=2
journeypermission_biomespread_setfrozen=2
journeypermission_setspawnrate=2

To keep a power away from everyone, such as god mode or the difficulty slider, set its key to 0 and restart the server. Item research is shared too: the Journey Mode page says that "in multiplayer, two players on the same team will share any fully researched items."

Where ForgeWorld Gaming fits#

ForgeWorld Gaming's Terraria servers run the vanilla 1.4.5.8 server from serverconfig.txt. Each start writes the Startup tab's World Name, World Size, Difficulty, World Seed, Password and MOTD into that file, along with the port and your plan's player count. A new server's Difficulty variable is set to 3, Journey, so the world it creates on its first start is a Journey world and only Journey characters can join it. For a Classic, Expert or Master world instead, set Difficulty to 0, 1 or 2 and give World Name a new name on the Startup tab, then restart. The panel's Stop button sends exit, so the old world is saved on the way down. The server then creates the new world under the new name, and the Journey world stays in saves/Worlds for when you set the old name back. The journeypermission_ lines are not among the settings the start rewrites, so add them to serverconfig.txt on the Files tab and restart. Last checked 2026-10-18.

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