How to Customise Gameplay on Your SCP: 5K Server

SCP: 5K lets a server change the shape of the game, from SCP spawn rates to custom modes. There is one thing to understand before you start, because it is not reversible for a session.

The trade

Enabling the gameplay config disables stats and achievements on your server. A server running a custom ruleset does not award progression. That is by design.

If your community plays for progression, leave the override off and change only the map rotation and the server settings.

Turn on the override

1. Stop the server.
2. In the panel open Files and go to the saved config under:

   Pandemic/Saved/

3. Find the gameplay config file. On a fresh server it may not exist until the server has started once, so start it, stop it, then look again.
4. Set:

   bOverrideDefaults=true

5. Save and start the server.

What you can change

• SCP spawn rates, which is the single biggest lever on how a round feels.
• Round and wave rules for the survival modes.
• Custom mode definitions, built from the same values the stock modes use.
• Player and item settings that shape the difficulty.

Change one value at a time and play a round between changes. A spawn rate that looks reasonable in a config file can make a map unplayable.

Back up before you start

Stop the server and download the config folder from Files. A known good copy is how you get back to a working server after an experiment.

Verify it took effect

Read the panel console at startup. It reports the config it loaded. Then play a round and check that the change is visible. If the game behaves exactly as before, the override is probably still off, or the file you edited is not the one the server reads.

Going back to stock

Set bOverrideDefaults back to false and restart. The server returns to the default rules, and stats and achievements work again.