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Guides / Factorio / Basics

Set up a Factorio server, from order to first join

A new Factorio server on Loafhosts makes its own world on the first start. Start it, copy the address from the Players page, and join with Connect to address.

Updated , checked on Factorio 2.1.24

A new Factorio server on Loafhosts is ready as soon as the order finishes. It has a world, it runs the current game version, and it is not listed anywhere. Start it, wait for the Console to show Starting RCON interface (the remote console is open), copy the address from the Players page, and join from the game’s Multiplayer menu with Connect to address.

What a new server starts with

Factorio is made by Wube Software. Your server runs the game’s own headless build, a version of the game with no window that is made for servers. It comes from factorio.com. You do not need a Steam account or a copy of the game on the server.

When the server is installed it is set up like this:

  • Its name is Loafhosts Factorio. Change the name players see in Server name on the Startup page. Rename Server on the Settings page changes only the name in the panel.
  • It has one world, named world. The install makes it with a random seed, so the map is different for every server.
  • The join password is empty. Anyone who has the address can join. To ask for a password, see set a Factorio server password.
  • It is not listed in the game’s public server list. Players join by address.
  • Only players with a factorio.com account can join. The game checks the account name.
  • Nobody can use Lua commands unless they are an admin. Lua commands are typed with /c and they end Steam achievements on a save for good. More on that further down.
  • The game saves by itself every 10 minutes and keeps 5 autosave files.
  • When nobody is on, the game waits and does not run. This is the Pause when nobody is on setting.
  • It runs the stable version of the game. The server checks for a newer stable version before each start and installs it.
  • Standby is on by default, after 10 days with nobody playing. Check the switch on the Settings page. See standby and the wake link.
  • The number of players is not limited by the game. The plan is sized for 10, 20 or 40 players (Small, Standard, Large). See what each size holds.

Start the server and watch the Console

  1. Open the server page and choose Start at the top right.
  2. Open the Console page. It shows the game’s own output.
  3. Wait for the line Starting RCON interface. The server is ready when it appears. This takes a few seconds.
The Console of a running Factorio server, with the line Starting RCON interface and the first players joining

RCON is the remote console. The panel uses it to read who is on the server and to send commands. Players never use it.

If the Console shows a line about updating Factorio, the panel is changing the game version before the start. Wait for it to finish.

Let your friends join

  1. Open the Players page.
  2. Find the Join card. It shows the address of your server.
  3. Choose Copy (1) and send the address to your friends.
The Players page of a Factorio server with the Join card and its Copy button
  1. Copy the address

The card says: “In Factorio: Multiplayer, Connect to address, then paste this.” The steps for your friends are in connect to a Factorio server.

Everyone who joins needs exactly the same game version as the server, and the same mods. The game’s own wiki says all game copies “need the installation of exactly the same game-versions and mods.”

The expansion and the official mods

A server with no mod list loads all four of Wube’s own mods: Space Age, Quality, Elevated Rails and Recycler. While Space Age is on, players need the Space Age expansion to join. The Mods page shows this as a note. To play without the expansion, turn Space Age off on the Mods page. It applies at the next start. Choose before you play: a world made with Space Age has Space Age content in it.

Lua commands and achievements

Steam achievements are turned off on a save the first time any Lua command runs on it. That cannot be undone for that save. The panel’s live game details (a switch on the Players and Map pages that shows where players are and what is built) use short Lua commands, so they are off until you turn them on for a world. Each world is asked once. Nothing on a new server turns achievements off by itself.

Good to know

  • A stop from the panel asks the game to save and quit. A stop that takes too long is killed, and a kill does not save. The limit is Seconds until auto-kill on the Settings page.
  • The Config Editor page has settings for the world that apply only when a world is made. See the Config Editor guide.
  • To start over with a new map, use the World page. It stops the server, takes a backup, and makes the new world. The old world stays as a save.
  • More about the game on Loafhosts: Factorio servers.

If it does not work

  • The Console never shows Starting RCON interface. The game stopped before it was ready. Open the Crashes page. It names the usual causes and what to do about each one.
  • Friends cannot see the server in the game’s list. A new server is not listed. They must use Connect to address.
  • Friends are refused with a version message. Their game is not the same version as the server. See the version on the World page, under Game version.
  • Friends are refused because of mods or the expansion. They need the same mods, and Space Age needs the expansion.

What to do next

Sources: wiki.factorio.com: Multiplayer, factorio.com: Latest releases, wiki.factorio.com: Command line parameters

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