Every Vintage Story dedicated server is controlled by a single file called serverconfig.json. It holds your server name and description, max players, whitelist mode, world rules like PvP and fire spread, performance tuning like tick time and view distance, and the world-generation options applied the first time a new world is created. On a Vintage Story server hosted with LoafHosts, you do not have to open that file by hand or worry about a stray comma breaking the whole server. The Config Editor, currently in BETA, reads serverconfig.json and lays the settings out as a grouped form with a plain-English tip under each one, plus three one-click presets for the moderation choices you make most often. This guide explains exactly what the Vintage Story Config Editor does, what it edits, how the groups and presets work, why a few keys are locked, and when a change actually needs a restart.
What the Vintage Story Config Editor Does
The Config Editor is a form-based editor for one file: serverconfig.json, the file Vintage Story’s dedicated server generates the first time it boots and reads again every time it starts. Instead of a raw JSON tree, it shows you a labelled control for each setting, a text box, a number field, a dropdown, or an on/off toggle, depending on what the value expects, with a short explanation of what it does underneath.
Your input is validated before anything is written. Numbers must be whole (or decimal, for the one field that expects it) and inside the allowed range, dropdown values must be one of the listed choices, and toggles are written as true or false. If a value is out of range or the wrong type, the save is rejected and the on-disk file is left exactly as it was.
Note: The Config Editor edits
serverconfig.jsononly, the file Vintage Story’s dedicated server writes and reads at the data path you configured on the Startup tab.Note: This feature is in BETA. It covers the settings documented below; anything outside that list is left untouched in the file.
Note: Values are checked against an allowed range or list before saving, so a bad entry never reaches the server.
Before You Open It: The File Has to Exist First
Vintage Story does not ship serverconfig.json with a fresh install. The dedicated server generates it the first time the process boots, inside the data path passed on the startup command (--dataPath ./data). If your server has never been started, the file does not exist yet.
Tip: If the editor tells you no settings were found, start the server once so the game can write
serverconfig.json, then reopen the editor.
How the Settings Are Grouped
The form splits serverconfig.json into four groups so you can find a setting without hunting through the whole file:
- Server: how your server presents itself and who can find it: server name, description, welcome message (supports a
{0}placeholder for the joining player’s name), max players, max queued players, whether the server is listed on the public master server list, and UPnP (which you can leave off on a hosted server, since port forwarding is already handled for you). - World: the rules that shape live play plus the options applied when a brand-new world is generated: PvP, fire spread, falling blocks, whether time passes while the server is empty, world name, play style, world type, seed, and whether creative mode is allowed.
- Moderation: currently just whitelist mode, the single switch that controls whether only approved players may join.
- Performance: the technical dials: network packet compression, client connection timeout, max view distance in chunks, target tick time in milliseconds, and the free-disk threshold that shuts the server down safely before it runs out of space.
Tip: A short explanation sits under every setting’s label, written to help you decide, not just describe the key.
One-Click Presets
The editor ships three presets for the moderation and PvP decisions most servers make once and rarely revisit:
- PvE (no player damage): turns off AllowPvP.
- PvP enabled: turns on AllowPvP.
- Whitelist only: sets Whitelist mode to On.
Each preset writes its patch in a single save. None of the presets touch the World-generation fields (world name, play style, world type, seed), so applying one never resets your map or affects an existing world.
Note: No preset changes the world-generation keys, so applying one never resets your map or player progress.
Locked Settings and Why They Are Read-Only
Three fields are shown with a Locked tag and cannot be edited from this form: Port, Ip, and Password.
These are locked because they are tied to the network allocation your server was assigned, or because they are a secret the panel treats as sensitive the same way it treats other game passwords. Editing them here would either be ignored by the server or conflict with the allocation the panel manages for you. If you need to change your server’s connection details, that happens through the server’s Startup tab and network settings, not the config file editor. If you need to set or change a join password, do it from the in-game /serverconfig console commands.
Note: Locked settings (Port, Ip, Password) are tied to your server’s network allocation or are managed secrets, not values you edit in this file.
World-Generation Fields Only Apply to a New World
A handful of settings in the World group, specifically world name, play style, world type, and seed, describe how a brand-new world is generated. They have no effect on a world that already exists. If you are tuning an existing server, focus on the live-play World settings instead (PvP, fire spread, falling blocks, time passing while empty) and leave the world-generation fields alone unless you are intentionally starting fresh.
Tip: World name, play style, world type, and seed only take effect the moment a new world is created; changing them afterward does nothing to your current save.
How Changes Apply: Save Then Restart
After you make changes, save them in the editor. It writes only the settings you changed to serverconfig.json. Vintage Story reads this file at boot, so a change is not live until the server reads the file again.
- Most settings apply on a plain restart: server identity, max players, whitelist mode, world rules, and performance tuning.
- World-generation fields only take effect the next time a brand-new world is created; they do nothing to a world already in progress.
The save itself only changes the file. Nothing is applied until you restart, so you can make several edits, save once, then restart to bring them all in at the same time.
Note: Saving writes the file but does not apply the change; restart the server to load the new settings.
Putting It Together
The Vintage Story Config Editor turns serverconfig.json from a file you would otherwise edit blind into a guided form: four clear groups, plain-English tips on every field, three presets for the moderation choices most servers make once, validation that stops bad values before they reach disk, and locked fields for the network and secret settings the panel already manages for you. Set your server identity, pick a moderation stance, tune performance if you need to, save, restart, and your Vintage Story server is running exactly the way you configured it.