How to update your Space Station 14 server

A Space Station 14 server on PlayNHost keeps the official build that was newest when it was installed, and players can still join it. To move to the newest build, open Settings and click Update and reinstall at the bottom of Game Settings. The panel takes a backup first and keeps your server_config.toml and your data folder. To pick a particular build instead, update by hand with the official zip, as described below.

Do I have to update?

No. When a player connects, the server tells the launcher which build it runs, and the launcher downloads that build (official hosting guide, "Server Build Configuration"). The guide adds that engine versions stay available "as long as they are not found to be vulnerable to any security exploits". Update when you want the new content and fixes from the Space Wizards. To see which build you run, open build.json under Files: its version value is the build, and engine_version is the engine.

How do I update to the newest build?

1. Click Settings in the left menu. It opens on Game Settings.
2. Scroll to the Update and reinstall card at the bottom, click Update and reinstall and confirm.
3. The server stops, the panel takes a backup, and the install downloads the newest official server build. It usually takes a few minutes. A server that was running starts again by itself when it is done.
4. Wait for the Server Version ... -> Ready line in the Console.

The backup is listed on Backups as "Automatic - before update and reinstall", and you can restore it if the new build does not suit you. If a backup is not possible, the panel asks "Update without a backup?" and does nothing until you press Update without a backup. Only the owner and subusers with the Reinstall permission can use the button.

What it keeps: server_config.toml and the data folder, which holds the server database with characters and playtime. What it replaces: the build's own files, such as Robust.Server and the Resources folder. The install also gives Robust.Server the permission to run, so the Permission denied problem of a manual update does not happen.

How do I update by hand to a particular build?

Use this only when you want a build other than the newest. PlayNHost has not yet run this manual update on a live Space Station 14 server, so the locked backup in step 1 is your way back.

1. Take a locked backup with the server stopped: click Stop and wait for Offline, click Backups in the left menu, turn on Lock this backup in the Create backup panel, click Start backup and wait until it finishes.
2. Click the Files tab. In the menu of server_config.toml, click Download file and keep the copy on your computer.
3. On your computer, open the official build page, wizards.cdn.spacestation14.com/fork/wizards, and under Latest build click Linux x64. The file is SS14.Server_linux-x64.zip, about 42 MiB.
4. Back in Files, in the main folder, click Upload and pick that zip. Wait until the upload finishes. If the browser upload fails, upload it with an SFTP program instead: How to connect to your server files with SFTP.
5. Tick the box next to SS14.Server_linux-x64.zip and click Unzip. The new game files should replace the old ones. Your data folder is not in the zip, so it stays as it was.
6. The zip also carries the official server_config.toml, which may have replaced yours. Open it, delete its whole content, paste the content of the copy you downloaded in step 2, and click Save content.
7. Delete SS14.Server_linux-x64.zip: in its menu, click Delete file.
8. Click Start and wait for the Server Version ... -> Ready line in the Console.

The official guide gives the same rule for any update: copy over "the data folder and server_config.toml (if you modified it)" from the old server files to the new ones.

Why must I put my own server_config.toml back after a manual update?

The official file in the zip has the official defaults: no admin user, the hub listing off, and no [auth] section, so Authentication in the panel would have no line to write. Your copy has all your changes and the [auth] section PlayNHost added when the server was installed. If you lost your copy, add these lines at the end of the new file and set the rest again:

[auth]
mode = 1

What if the server does not start after the update?

1. Read the last lines of the Console.
2. If it says You must install or update .NET to run this application., open Settings, Launch Details. Docker image should say Dotnet 10, the only runtime offered for Space Station 14. If it shows an older one, it cannot be changed there: ask support through the website chat or a ticket to move the server to Dotnet 10.
3. If a line ends with Permission denied, the server program lost its permission to run. The official zip stores Robust.Server without it, and the official guide says to run chmod +x Robust.Server "each time you download a new server update". Click Update and reinstall under Settings, Game Settings: the install sets that permission again and keeps server_config.toml and data. Or restore the backup as below.
4. In any other case, restore the locked backup from step 1: on Backups, open its menu, click Restore to server, keep Delete files that are not in the backup on, then click Restore backup. Your server is back on the old build with all its data.

Problems after an update: Space Station 14 server problems and fixes. Backups in detail: How to back up and restore your Space Station 14 server.