How to host a SCUM server (2026)

Short answer. You can host a SCUM server yourself for free: download the SCUM dedicated server (Steam app 3792580) with SteamCMD or from the Tools section of your Steam library, then start SCUMServer.exe with a game port, a query port and a player limit. Or rent a SCUM server and skip the install and the port work.

To run admin commands, you add your own SteamID to AdminUsers.ini in the server's config folder.

Facts checked on 5 November 2026. The newest build Gamepires had announced on Steam then was SCUM 1.3.5.2 (hotfix 1.3.5.2.172724+172352, 30 October 2026).

This guide uses two sources: what the developers, Gamepires, have said about the server files on Steam, and what we run on every SCUM server we host. Both routes below use the Windows build of the server, which is the build our install downloads. To skip to the rental route, go to Option 2.

What you need

• The server software: the SCUM dedicated server, Steam app 3792580. In June 2025 Gamepires said that with the 1.0 release, owners of SCUM would find "SCUM server" in the Tools section of their Steam library, and that the files come through Steam. Our own install downloads it with SteamCMD and an anonymous login.
• A machine that stays on: a spare PC, a home server or a cloud virtual machine. The server is a Windows program (SCUM/Binaries/Win64/SCUMServer.exe). We run it on Linux under Wine, and this guide gives the Windows commands.
• RAM and CPU: Gamepires does not publish server requirements. Their words in June 2025 were that it runs on all modern systems, and that how far you push it depends on item counts, player count and NPC spawning. Treat any figure you read elsewhere as an estimate.
• A player limit: set with -MaxPlayers on the command line. Gamepires' 1.0 patch notes give a range of 1 to 128 and say this launch option overrides scum.MaxPlayers in the settings file. Our panel passes the player limit of your plan, up to 64.
• Network: a game port and a query port, both passed on the command line, and a router you can forward ports on.
• Your SteamID64: the 17-digit number of your Steam account, to make yourself admin.

Option 1: host it yourself

Install the server

1. Install SteamCMD from Valve and open a command prompt in its folder.
2. Download the server into a folder of your choice:

   steamcmd +force_install_dir C:\scumserver +login anonymous +app_update 3792580 validate +quit

   The easier alternative is the SCUM server entry in the Tools section of your Steam library, as Gamepires described.
3. Check that it worked. On our Linux installs, SteamCMD sometimes ends with "Missing configuration", carries on to "success" and leaves no game files, and it comes and goes. Check that steamapps\appmanifest_3792580.acf exists in the folder, and run the command again if it does not. On our install, a fresh SteamCMD also updates itself and restarts on its first run, and a download issued across that restart can fail the same way, so run steamcmd +quit once first.

Start it

1. Run the server from the server folder with your ports and player limit:

   SCUM\Binaries\Win64\SCUMServer.exe -Port=7777 -QueryPort=27015 -MaxPlayers=64

   These are the same three options our panel passes. The numbers here are examples: choose ports that are free on your machine.
2. Wait for the ready line. The server writes its log to SCUM/Saved/Logs/SCUM.log. Our panel treats the line Config entry: GameID scum in that log as the sign that the server has started.
3. Open the ports. Allow the server through the firewall of the machine and forward its ports on your router. Gamepires does not publish a port list, so check which ports SCUMServer.exe has open (for example in Resource Monitor) and forward those. Since the June 2026 update (1.3.1.0), Gamepires says private servers work with only standard port forwarding.

Write the settings

1. Stop the server. Edit config files only while it is stopped.
2. Open SCUM/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/ServerSettings.ini. The server name, description, password, playstyle (PVE or PVP) and player limit live under [General], as scum.ServerName, scum.ServerDescription, scum.ServerPassword, scum.ServerPlaystyle and scum.MaxPlayers. These are the keys our panel writes. A -MaxPlayers launch option wins over scum.MaxPlayers. Gamepires' own settings post lists many more keys with the scum. prefix.
3. Make yourself admin. Gamepires' patch notes say a SteamID on its own line in AdminUsers.ini gives that player the admin commands. Adding your SteamID to ServerSettingsAdminUsers.ini as well gives you an in-game interface for server settings. See How to become admin on your SCUM server and use admin commands.
4. Update by stopping the server and running the download command again.

Option 2: host it on PlayNHost

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

1. Pick a plan. Open the SCUM server hosting page and look at the plan: VETERAN at the time of writing. Press Customize Plan and finish the order. Prices change, so check them on that page.
2. Wait for the install. The server appears in the panel. Its Console prints Config entry: GameID scum when it is ready.
3. Name it. Open the Settings tab and set the Server name, a Server description, a Join password for a private server, and the Playstyle (PVE or PVP). Then restart.
4. Make yourself admin. Follow How to become admin on your SCUM server and use admin commands.
5. Invite your players. Give them the server name and the join password. How to join your SCUM server shows what they do in the game.

What the panel does for you:

• It downloads the Windows server for you and runs it under Wine, with the game port and query port assigned. The install retries up to three times and treats the app manifest, not SteamCMD's exit code, as proof the files arrived, so the "Missing configuration" trap above does not leave you with an empty server.
• Five keys in ServerSettings.ini (name, description, password, playstyle and player limit) are rewritten from the panel fields at every start, so change them in the panel, not in the file. The player limit comes from your plan. The other settings stay in that file, and you edit them with the server stopped. Your admin, ban and whitelist lists are separate files that the panel never touches.
• With Automatic updates on (the default, under Show advanced on the Settings tab), the server checks for the newest build when it starts. See SCUM server settings: every option explained.

Self-hosting or renting: an honest comparison

• Cost: the server software is free for SCUM owners. Self-hosting costs power, hardware and bandwidth, or a cloud machine. Renting is a recurring fee set by the plan, billed monthly, quarterly or annually.
• 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: self-hosting needs SteamCMD, a command line, port forwarding and care with the install trap above. Renting needs a name, a password and your admin entry.
• Control: self-hosting gives you every file. On our servers you still have the Files tab and the full ServerSettings.ini.

Ready to skip the setup? See the SCUM server plans. Already have a server? Start with How to set up your SCUM server: key settings.