How to start your The Isle server for the first time

Click Start on your server's Overview page and wait for the badge to say Online. The game has then loaded the island and players can join a few minutes later, once the server shows up in the game's server list.

Start it

1. Open your server in the panel.
2. Click Start.
3. Open the Console tab, or watch the small console on Overview, to see what the server is doing.

What the Console shows

With Auto Update on (the default), every start first asks Steam for the newest Evrima server build and downloads it if there is one. A start right after a game update takes longer because of this.

Then the panel's start tools write your settings into the game's config and print a line like [playnhost] Server list address: .... That is the address and port the server announces to the game's server list.

The server is ready when the Console shows a line that starts with:

LoadMap Load map complete /Game/TheIsle/Maps/Game/

When that line appears, the badge changes to Online. The server then registers in the game's Unofficial server list, which takes 2 to 5 minutes for a new server.

What a new server already has

• Server Name: A PlayNHost server. Change it before you invite people, because players find your server by its name.
• Server Password: empty, so anyone who finds the server can join.
• Species: every species can be played.
• Player slots: the number your plan includes.
• Daily restart: a schedule that restarts the server around 05:00 every morning while it runs, after warning players in the game. See How to restart your The Isle server on a schedule.
• No admins, VIPs, whitelist or bans yet.

Next steps

1. Set the name and password.
2. Join your server.
3. Make yourself admin.
4. Invite your friends.

If the server does not reach Online, see The Isle server problems and fixes.