How to set up your Terraria server: key settings

Most of what you want to change on a Terraria server is on one page of the panel.

Open Game Settings

1. Open your server in the panel and click the Settings tab.
2. Click Game Settings.

3. Change a value and click outside the field, or press Enter. The panel saves it. Switches save as soon as you flip them.
4. Restart the server so the change takes effect. See How to start, stop, restart and force-stop your server.

Options most owners change first

• World Name. Also the world's file name. The server loads that world, or creates a new one with that name if it does not exist yet. Changing it does not rename your world, the old one stays on disk and returns if you set the name back.
• Max Players. Read-only here. To run with fewer players, use Players on the server overview and pick any number up to your plan limit.
• World Size. Small, medium or large for a new world. It only applies when a world is created and never resizes an existing one.
• Difficulty. Classic, expert, master or journey for a new world. It does not change a world that already exists.
• World Seed. Seed for a new world, leave empty for a random one. Letters, numbers, spaces and punctuation only, 20 characters at most.
• MOTD. The message players see when they join. Accented letters, emoji, double quotes and backslashes are not supported.
• Password. Players must enter it to join. Leave empty for a public server. Up to 64 characters; accented letters, emoji, double quotes and backslashes are not supported.
• NPCStream. Reduces enemies appearing to skip across the screen, at the cost of more bandwidth. Lower values are smoother, 0 turns it off.
• Auto-update server. Keeps the server on the newest Terraria build so updated players can still connect.
• Terraria version. Leave on latest to follow updates. A number pins the server to the build it has now.

These settings are for the standard Terraria server type; the TShock type shows only Max Players, World Name, World Size and Tshock Version. Settings are applied when the server starts, so restart after changing one. World Size, Difficulty and World Seed only matter for a brand new world. Password and MOTD changed with a console command last only until the next restart, so set them in Settings, then Game Settings, to keep them. These settings are written into the server's settings file at every start, so change them in the panel rather than editing that file.

Every option is listed in Terraria server settings: every option explained.