How to host a Nightingale server (2026)

Short answer. You can host a Nightingale server yourself for free: install the Nightingale Dedicated Server (Steam app 3796810) with SteamCMD using an anonymous login, copy ExampleServerSettings.ini to ServerSettings.ini, set your passwords and open UDP port 7777. PlayNHost's Nightingale server hosting is listed as Coming Soon at the time of writing.

The server runs on Linux and Windows. Players choose Play, pick a character, then Join a Game, and connect through Steam or by typing your address and port in the IP/LAN field.

Checked on 5 November 2026 against Inflexion's dedicated server guide (the July 2025 PDF linked from its Dedicated Servers page) and the February 2026 update, the newest update Inflexion had announced on Steam.

This guide is built from Inflexion Games' own dedicated server guide and Steam announcements, plus what we run on every Nightingale server we host. To skip to the rental route, go to Option 2.

What you need

• The server software: "Nightingale Dedicated Server", Steam app 3796810. It is free, and the same app id serves both the Linux and the Windows version: SteamCMD fetches the one for your system. The install command uses +login anonymous.
• A machine that stays on: a spare PC, a home server or a cloud virtual machine. This guide uses Debian or Ubuntu Linux, which is what we run.
• Hardware: Inflexion's guide does not publish server requirements. Treat any figure you read elsewhere as an estimate.
• A player cap: by default Nightingale supports six players in a realm. Inflexion says that raising it above six is unsupported and may cause unintended behaviour.
• Network: UDP 7777 for the game, reachable from the internet. You can change it with -port=.
• The game: every player needs Nightingale. Inflexion's guide names Steam and Epic accounts as the players a dedicated server stores.

Option 1: host it yourself

These steps are for Debian or Ubuntu. The app id, file names and setting names come from Inflexion's guide and from our own install.

Install the server

1. Install the library SteamCMD needs, and curl for the next steps.

   sudo apt-get update
   sudo apt-get install -y lib32gcc-s1 curl

2. Create a user for the server and switch to it.

   sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash nightingale
   sudo -iu nightingale

3. Install SteamCMD as that user and let it update itself once.

   mkdir -p ~/steamcmd ~/server
   cd ~/steamcmd
   curl -sSL https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steamcmd_linux.tar.gz | tar -xz
   ./steamcmd.sh +quit

4. Download the server.

   ~/steamcmd/steamcmd.sh +force_install_dir /home/nightingale/server +login anonymous +app_update 3796810 validate +quit

   On our installs, SteamCMD sometimes finished without error and still left no game files, so our install script checks that an app manifest (steamapps/appmanifest_*.acf) exists in the server folder and tries the download up to three times. Do the same by hand: if ~/server/steamapps/appmanifest_3796810.acf is not there, run the command again.
5. Copy the Steam client library into .steam/sdk64 in the home folder of the user that runs the server, as our install does:

   mkdir -p ~/.steam/sdk64
   cp ~/steamcmd/linux64/steamclient.so ~/.steam/sdk64/

Write the settings

1. Create your settings file from the example the developer ships:

   cd ~/server
   cp NWX/Config/ExampleServerSettings.ini NWX/Config/ServerSettings.ini

2. Edit NWX/Config/ServerSettings.ini. Options live in the [/Script/NWX.NWXServerSettings] section:

   [/Script/NWX.NWXServerSettings]
   Password=choose-a-connection-password
   AdminPassword=choose-an-admin-password

   With no Password, anyone who knows your address can join, and Inflexion recommends setting one. Players who enter the AdminPassword in game can kick and ban other players.
3. Know which settings are command-line only. The player cap (-ini:Game:[/Script/Engine.GameSession]:MaxPlayers=), the port (-port=) and cheats (-EnableCheats) cannot be set in the file. Keep the = in -port=7777: Inflexion warns that Unreal ignores the setting without it.

Open the port, start it and join

1. Open UDP 7777. Allow it on the machine's firewall (for example sudo ufw allow 7777/udp) and forward it on your router. The server listens on all interfaces unless you add -multihome=<IP>.
2. Start the server from the server folder:

   ./NWXServer.sh

   Our servers count it as ready when the log prints LogNWXGameMode: GameModeAwaiter became ready. Logs are in NWX/Saved/Logs. Press Control-C once, or twice if needed, for a graceful shutdown.
3. Join it. In the game choose Play, pick your character, choose Join a Game and connect through Steam, or enter your address and port in the IP/LAN field.
4. Update by stopping the server and running the step 4 download command again.

Back up and reset

Inflexion says copying NWX/Saved/Offline, NWX/Saved/Config and NWX/Config captures the whole state of a server. To reset a server to empty, remove NWX/Saved/Offline and NWX/Saved/Config.

The first player's realms are imported

When the first player connects to a new dedicated server, Nightingale sends and imports that player's realms to the server as well as the character. If you do not want that, join first with a brand new character to set up an empty Abeyance realm. Reconnecting with an existing character afterwards does not import realms.

Option 2: host it on PlayNHost

Nightingale servers are not on sale on PlayNHost yet. At the time of writing, the Nightingale server hosting page shows Coming Soon and takes your email so you hear when it opens. The steps below are how our panel sets up a Nightingale server once it does. Renting removes the install, the port forwarding and the update routine. You still choose your passwords and difficulty.

1. Order a server on the Nightingale server hosting page once its plans are open.
2. Wait for the install. The server appears in the panel. Its Console prints LogNWXGameMode: GameModeAwaiter became ready. when it is ready.
3. Set your passwords and difficulty. On the Settings tab, under Game Settings, set the Connection Password, the Admin Password and the Difficulty (easy, medium, hard or extreme), then restart. The panel passes the difficulty to the server as its starting difficulty, a setting Inflexion's guide does not document.
4. Invite your players. Give them the server's address and port from the panel and the connection password. They choose Play, then Join a Game. See How to Connect to Your Nightingale Server.

What the panel does for you:

• Your port is assigned and passed to the server at every start, and your passwords and difficulty are passed as start options, so you change them in the panel, not in a file. See How to Change Your Nightingale Server Settings.
• Auto Update is on by default (under Show advanced in Game Settings), so each start checks Steam and installs the newest server build.
• The install creates the two folders the server reads mods from, NWX/Mods for a mod packaged as a folder and NWX/Content/Paks/~mods for a single .pak file. Neither exists after a fresh SteamCMD install, so on a self-hosted server you create them yourself. We tested both folders against a Nightingale server build: it mounted a mod placed in either one.
• The settings file is created for you: the install copies ExampleServerSettings.ini to ServerSettings.ini if it is missing.

To become an admin in game, see How to Become an Admin on Your Nightingale Server.

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 recurring fee set by the plan and billing cycle.
• Availability: a home server is only up while your PC, power and internet are. A rented server runs on the host's hardware, so friends can play when you are offline.
• 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: self-hosting needs the command line, SteamCMD and port forwarding. Renting needs a few fields in the panel.
• Player cap: Inflexion supports six players by default and calls more unsupported. Our plans list 6, 7 and 8 players, so decide with that in mind.
• Control: self-hosting gives you every file and every start option. On our servers you change settings in the panel and still have the Files tab.

Ready to skip the setup? See the Nightingale server plans. Already have a server? Start with How to Fix Nightingale Server Settings That Do Not Apply.