Your players join your Astroneer server with its Server Address, shown on the server's Overview page in the panel. Astroneer is a co-op space exploration and base-building game for up to 8 players, and a hosted dedicated server keeps one shared save running around the clock so friends can join without anyone's PC being the host.
Join in a few steps
- Open your server in the panel. If the status badge says Offline, click Start and wait until it says Online. See How to start, stop, restart and force-stop your server.
- On the Overview page, click the copy icon next to Server Address. It looks like
address:port.
- These steps are for the Steam or Epic version of Astroneer on a Windows PC. Console players may not be able to join this server, because the Engine.ini edit below can only be made on a Windows PC.
- Before your first join, close the game completely, open the Engine.ini file in %LocalAppData%\Astro\Saved\Config\WindowsNoEditor\ and add these two lines at the end: [SystemSettings] and then net.AllowEncryption=False. Save the file. The server runs with encryption switched off, so a game without these lines is refused.
- Start Astroneer and open the server list from the main menu, then choose the option to add a dedicated server.
- Enter the address and port exactly as shown in the Server Address on your server's Overview page, then give the server a nickname if the game asks for one.
- If you set a Server Password in Settings, then Game Settings, type it when the game asks.
- Join the game, then choose your start style and begin the session.
Ports
Players use the single port that is part of the Server Address on the Overview page. Enter the address and the port together. The server does not need any second port from players.
Game version
Everyone in a multiplayer session must run exactly the same game version as the server. Our server checks Steam for a server update each time it starts while Automatic Updates is on, which is the default, so restart the server after an Astroneer patch and make sure your players have updated their game too.
If you cannot join
- The server must be Online. Check the badge at the top of the page.
- Copy the address again from the panel. A missing or mistyped port is the most common cause.
- Make sure every player runs a compatible game version.
- Check the password, if you set one. See How to set up your Astroneer server.
- More checks: How to join your server and Astroneer server problems and fixes.
