How to host a Night of the Dead server (2026)

Short answer. You can host a Night of the Dead server yourself for free: install the dedicated server (Steam app 1420710) with SteamCMD using an anonymous login, edit ServerSettings.ini, and open UDP 7777 (game) and UDP 27015 (query). Or rent a Night of the Dead server and skip the networking.

The developer's guide says one thing about joining: the server and the players' game must be on the same version.

Checked on 5 November 2026 against game version 1.2.0.0 (Development Update #21, 13 October 2025), the newest version the developer had announced on Steam.

This guide uses the developer's own dedicated server guide, posted by Jackto Studios on the game's Steam forum in 2020, the files in the current server download, and what we run on our own Night of the Dead servers. Where they differ, it says so. To skip to the rental route, go to Option 2.

What you need

• The server software: the Night of the Dead dedicated server, Steam app 1420710. It is free and downloads with an anonymous Steam login. The game itself is app 1377380.
• A machine that stays on: the developer's guide lists 64-bit Windows, the Steam client and SteamCMD as prerequisites. We run the Windows server on Linux through Wine, which the developer does not document.
• Hardware: the developer's server guide lists no hardware requirements. The Steam page lists only what the game itself needs.
• Network: UDP 27015 for the query port and UDP 7777 for the game client port, in the firewall and forwarded on your router.
• The game: every player needs Night of the Dead on Steam, on the same version as the server.

Option 1: host it yourself

Windows (the developer's route)

1. Install SteamCMD on the host machine.
2. Download the server. In SteamCMD, with double quotes around the folder:

   login anonymous
   force_install_dir "C:\NOTDServer"
   app_update 1420710 validate
   exit

3. Edit ServerSettings.ini in the installed folder. The copy in the download (checked 5 November 2026) starts like this, with comments left out:

   [ServerSettings]
   ServerName=YOUR_SERVER_NAME
   Password=YOUR_PASSWORD
   MaxPlayers=16
   
   [SystemSettings]
   IngameAdminPassword=YOUR_ADMIN_PASSWORD
   DefaultMessageOfTheDay=YOUR_SERVER_MESSAGE
   SaveName=SAVE_NAME
   SaveIntervalHour=2
   
   [GameSettings]
   Difficulty=Normal

   Difficulty takes Peaceful, Easy, Normal, Hard, Survival, Challenge, Legend or Custom. On/off rules such as NoWave and NoTeamKill sit in [GameSettings/General]. The file says the [GameSettings/Basic], [GameSettings/Advanced] and [GameSettings/Detail] sections work only when the difficulty is Custom.
4. Open the ports. Allow UDP 7777 and UDP 27015 as firewall exceptions and forward both to the machine.
5. Run StartServer.bat. It copies ServerSettings.ini into LF\Saved\Config\, overwriting the copy there, and then starts LFServer.exe on UDP 7777 and 27015. Edit the file next to the .bat, not the one in LF\Saved\Config. To change ports, edit the server line in the .bat, for example:

   LFServer.exe ?listen -log -Port=7779 -QueryPort=27016 -CRASHREPORTS

   The developer's 2020 guide shows the older path LF\Binaries\Win64\LFServer.exe; in the current download LFServer.exe is in the top folder.
6. Anti-cheat. The download also has StartSever_Non_EasyAntiCheat.bat (spelled that way), the same server line with -DisableAntiCheat added. The developer says only players with anti-cheat protection enabled can join a server that has it enabled, and any player can join a server that has it disabled.
7. Find your saves in LF\Saved\SaveGames. A save is loaded when its name matches SaveName in [SystemSettings].
8. Update by running the same SteamCMD commands again after a game update. The developer notes that joining needs the same server and client version.

Linux, the way we run it

The developer's guide covers only Windows and gives no Linux instructions, so treat this as what runs on our servers, not an official route. Our install downloads the Windows build:

./steamcmd.sh +force_install_dir /home/steam/notd +@sSteamCmdForcePlatformType windows +login anonymous +app_update 1420710 validate +quit

Our startup then runs the server under Wine, with a virtual display and the Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 runtime and core fonts installed through winetricks. The command has this shape, with your own ports in place of the panel's:

wine LF/Binaries/Win64/LFServer-Win64-Shipping.exe ?listen -Port=7777 -QueryPort=27015 -console -log

This skips StartServer.bat, so copy ServerSettings.ini into LF/Saved/Config yourself, as the .bat does on Windows. Our panel counts the server as started once its log shows Start Session Complete or Successfully updated session.

The install trap

In our own installs, SteamCMD has sometimes answered "Missing configuration" on a fresh install and still finished as if it had succeeded, leaving a folder with no game files. A new SteamCMD also updates itself and restarts on its first run, and in our installs a download issued across that restart could fail the same way. Our install script runs SteamCMD once to let it update, then retries the download up to three times, and counts the install as done only when steamapps/appmanifest_1420710.acf exists. Check for that file yourself and run the command again if it is missing.

Option 2: host it on PlayNHost

Renting removes the install, the ports and the update routine. You still choose a name, a password and your rules.

1. Pick a plan. Open the Night of the Dead server hosting page and compare GREGORY and CLEON. Press Create Server on GREGORY (Customize Plan on CLEON) and finish the order. Prices change, so check them on that page.
2. Wait for the install. The server appears in the panel. The panel counts it as started once its Console shows Start Session Complete or Successfully updated session.
3. Name it. On the Settings tab, under Game Settings, set Server Name (up to 32 characters) and, for a private server, Server Password. Then restart.
4. Choose your rules. Set Difficulty to Normal, Peaceful, Easy, Hard, Survival, Challenge, Legend or Custom, and set Server MOTD, the message of the day. Custom uses the values in the [GameSettings/Basic], [GameSettings/Advanced] and [GameSettings/Detail] sections of LF/Saved/Config/ServerSettings.ini, which you can edit on the Files tab.
5. Pick the save. Savegame Name decides which save the server loads. To move a save from a dedicated server you ran yourself, copy it from that server's LF\Saved\SaveGames folder to LF/Saved/SaveGames on the Files tab, set Savegame Name to its name and restart.
6. Set an admin password in Server Admin Password if you want one, then restart and invite your players.

What the panel does for you:

• The game port and the query port are assigned to your server when it is created and written into the start command, so there is no port forwarding to set up.
• These settings are written into LF/Saved/Config/ServerSettings.ini at every start: ServerName, Password, SaveName, IngameAdminPassword, DefaultMessageOfTheDay and Difficulty. A hand edit to those lines is overwritten at the next start, so change them in the panel. The PVP switch (on by default) is written to the MODSelect key in the [GameSettings/General] section, a key that neither the developer's guide nor the ServerSettings.ini in the server download lists.
• With Auto Update on (the default, under Show advanced in Game Settings), the server downloads any new build at each start, so a restart is an update. You can turn it off to stay on a known build, but players can only join a server on the same version as their game.
• Extra Args adds your own launch arguments after the ones the panel sets.

Self-hosting or renting: an honest comparison

• Cost: the server software is free. Self-hosting costs power, hardware and bandwidth, or a cloud machine. Renting is a monthly fee set by the plan.
• Uptime: a home server is only up while your PC, power and internet are. A rented server runs on the host's hardware.
• Exposure: at home, players connect to your public IP address and you look after the firewall and router. A rented server keeps your home IP out of it.
• Setup: the developer's route is short on Windows. On Linux you run a Windows program under Wine yourself. Renting needs a name, a password and your rules.
• Control: self-hosting gives you every file and every launch argument. On our servers you change settings in the panel and still have the Files tab and SFTP.

Ready to skip the setup? See the Night of the Dead server plans.