How to host a The Front server (2026)

Short answer. You can host a The Front server yourself for free: download the dedicated server (Steam app 2334200) with SteamCMD, start ProjectWar/Binaries/Linux/TheFrontServer with your ports and settings as launch arguments, and make sure players can reach it on the ports you give it. Or rent a The Front server and skip the setup.

Players find it in the game's server list: they open Standard Mode in the main menu, go to Servers and pick your server by its name.

Checked on 5 November 2026 against Update 1.5.10, the newest patch notes on the game's Steam page. The newest server maintenance notice there is for 30 October 2026.

The Front is an open-world survival crafting sandbox game made by Samar Studio. This guide uses three sources: the developer's Steam announcements, Steam's own listing of the server app, and the exact install and start command we run on every The Front server we host. Steam lists app 2334200 as "The Front Linux Dedicated Server". The developer's August 2024 notes place a Create Dedicated Server option in the game's Standard Mode menu, and the developer posted a video guide for creating a dedicated server in October 2023, but we found no written manual for the standalone server, so where a setting's effect is not documented here, we say so. To skip to the rental route, go to Option 2.

What you need

• The server software: the dedicated server is Steam app 2334200, separate from the game itself (app 2285150). It downloads with an anonymous Steam login.
• A machine that stays on: a spare PC, a home server or a cloud virtual machine running 64-bit Linux. Steam lists the standalone server for Linux, and that is what we run. This guide does not cover the in-game Create Dedicated Server option.
• Plenty of RAM: the developer does not publish server requirements. In our own tests the server was killed for running out of memory when we gave it too little, so do not size it from a figure you read elsewhere without testing it.
• Disk space: the download is about 3.3 GB, plus room for your saves.
• Network: the server takes four ports on its command line: the game port, the beacon port, the query port and the shutdown-service port. Our servers get a public port for each of the four. The launch command below shows where each is set.
• Your SteamID64: the 17-digit number of your Steam account, to make yourself admin.

Option 1: host it yourself

These steps are for Debian or Ubuntu. The launch arguments come from our own start command.

Install the server

1. Install the libraries SteamCMD needs.

   sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install wget tar lib32gcc-s1 libc6:i386 libstdc++6:i386 -y

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

   sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash -U thefront
   sudo su - thefront

3. Install SteamCMD and let it update itself once.

   mkdir -p ~/steamcmd ~/server
   cd ~/steamcmd
   wget https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steamcmd_linux.tar.gz
   tar -xf steamcmd_linux.tar.gz
   ./steamcmd.sh +quit

   Our install runs +quit first for a reason: a fresh SteamCMD updates itself and restarts on its first run, and we have seen a download requested across that restart fail.
4. Download the server.

   ~/steamcmd/steamcmd.sh +force_install_dir /home/thefront/server +login anonymous +app_update 2334200 validate +quit

   Steam's own launch entry for this app is ProjectWar/Binaries/Linux/TheFrontServer, the file you start below. On our installs SteamCMD has sometimes ended with "Missing configuration", left no game files and still carried on as if it had succeeded. Check that steamapps/appmanifest_2334200.acf exists in the server folder, and run the command again if it does not.
5. Copy the Steam client library into ~/.steam, as our install does:

   mkdir -p ~/.steam/sdk32 ~/.steam/sdk64
   cp ~/steamcmd/linux32/steamclient.so ~/.steam/sdk32/
   cp ~/steamcmd/linux64/steamclient.so ~/.steam/sdk64/

Start it

1. Create the mods folder the server loads paks from, then start the server from the server folder. This is the core of our start command with example values (the ports are ones you choose):

   cd ~/server
   mkdir -p ./ProjectWar/Content/Paks/~mods
   ./ProjectWar/Binaries/Linux/TheFrontServer \
     "ProjectWar_Start?DedicatedServer?MaxPlayers=20" \
     -server -game -log \
     -Port=30000 -BeaconPort=27016 -ShutDownServicePort=27018 -QueryPort=27017 \
     -ConfigServerName=new \
     -UserDir="/home/thefront/server/TheFrontManager/new/" \
     -ServerName="My The Front server" \
     -ServerAdminAccounts="76561198000000000" \
     -ServerPassword=

   Replace the SteamID64 with your own. Separate several admins with semicolons. Leave -ServerPassword= empty for a public server, or set a password for a private one. Our servers also pass engine and queue flags, such as -ansimalloc and -Game.MaxFrameRate=35, that are left out here.
2. Wait for the ready line. The server is up when the log prints LogLoad: (Engine Initialization). Run it under a service manager such as systemd so it restarts after a crash.
3. Join it. In the game, open Standard Mode in the main menu, then Servers, and find your server by the name you gave in -ServerName.
4. Update by stopping the server and running the download command again. Do this after every game patch.

What the launch arguments do

• -Port, -BeaconPort, -QueryPort, -ShutDownServicePort: the four ports. Any free ports work. On our servers the panel picks a free port for each of the four.
• -ConfigServerName and -UserDir: together they decide where the save lives. Our setup keeps each save in its own folder, TheFrontManager/<save name>/, so changing the save name starts a fresh world and leaves the old one on disk.
• -ServerName: the name players see in the server list. It is separate from the save name.
• MaxPlayers in the first argument: our servers set the player limit there.
• Gameplay switches our panel exposes as launch arguments: -ServerFightModeType (0 or 1), -IsCanSelfDamage, -IsCanFriendDamage, -SaveWorldInterval, -GreenHand (novice protection), -UseACE (anti-cheat), -SensitiveWords (profanity filter), -IsShowGmTitle (admin badge), -UseSteamSocket and -ServerTags. The developer has not documented what each value does, so test a change before you announce it to players.

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 The Front server hosting page and compare the plans: COMBAT and HAZMAT at the time of writing. Press Create Server (Customize Plan on the biggest plan) and finish the order. Prices and player counts are on that page.
2. Wait for the install. The server appears in the panel. Its Console prints LogLoad: (Engine Initialization) when it is ready.
3. Name it. On the Settings tab, under Game Settings, set the Server Name and, for a private server, a Server Password (letters and digits only). Then restart. See How to Change Your The Front Server Name and Password.
4. Make yourself admin. Put your SteamID64 in Server Admins, with a semicolon between several IDs, and restart. Show Admin Badge shows a badge next to admin names in the game. See How to Become an Admin on Your The Front Server.
5. Choose your rules in the same Game Settings: Game Mode, Self Damage, Friendly Fire, Novice Protection, Anti-Cheat and Save Interval. Max Players there shows the player limit included with your plan.
6. Invite your players. They open Standard Mode, then Servers, and pick your server by name. See How to Connect to Your The Front Server.

What the panel does for you:

• The four ports are assigned and passed to the server at every start, so there is no router or firewall work.
• With Auto Update on (the default; it is under Show advanced in Game Settings), the server checks Steam for an update every time it starts, so a restart is an update.
• The settings above become launch arguments at every start, so you change them in the panel and not by editing a command line.
• Save Name keeps each world in its own folder. Change it to start a new world; the old one stays on the server.
• The ~mods folder is created for you at every start, because an update can remove an empty one. We tested a mod pak in it and the server loaded it. The Front has no Steam Workshop, so you upload mod paks yourself on the Files tab (check the mod's page for who must have it).
• If a server does not start, see How to Fix a The Front Server That Will Not Show or Start.

Self-hosting or renting: an honest comparison

• Cost: the server software is free. Self-hosting costs power, hardware and bandwidth, or a cloud machine with plenty of RAM. 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 router and firewall for the server's ports. A rented server keeps your home IP out of it.
• Setup: self-hosting needs the command line, SteamCMD and a long launch command. Renting needs a name, your admin list and, if you want one, a password.
• Control: self-hosting gives you every file. On our servers you change settings in the panel and still have the Files tab for your own mod paks.

Ready to skip the setup? See the The Front server plans.