Don't Starve Together server will not go online or caves are missing

Three problems account for nearly every Don't Starve Together ticket.

1. The server never goes online

This is almost always the cluster token.

1. Open the Console tab and restart the server. A token problem is reported in plain language during boot.
2. Stop the server and open cluster_token.txt in the cluster folder.
3. The file must contain the token and nothing else. No quotation marks, no comments, no blank first line.
4. Generate a fresh token from your Klei account if you are not sure the old one is still valid.
5. Save and start the server.

A server without a valid token runs happily in the console and is invisible to everyone.

2. The caves shard will not connect

• Both shards need the same cluster_key in cluster.ini.
• The master shard must have is_master = true in its server.ini, and the caves shard must not.
• Leave the shard ports as they are. They are set to match the ports allocated to your service.
• The console reports the caves shard registering with the master. If that line never appears, the shards are not talking.

3. Players are dropped when entering caves

The mod lists differ between the shards. Copy modoverrides.lua from the Master folder into the Caves folder so both shards enable exactly the same mods, then restart.

4. The world went back to day one

• Check the cluster folder name on the Startup page of your server, which is not linked in the sidebar, so add /startup to the end of your server's panel address.
• Pointing at a different cluster name creates a new world and leaves the old one on disk.
• If the world is genuinely damaged, use c_rollback(1) in the console to step back one save.

5. Changes do not apply

• Stop the server before editing. The cluster files are rewritten on shutdown.
• World generation options only apply to a new world.
• Lua files must stay valid. A missing comma or bracket in modoverrides.lua stops all mods loading.

Open a ticket from Support in the Client Area with the console output from a fresh start if none of this fits.