Terraria is the ultimate place of adventure, where you can create your own digital world. Whether you want to explore and discover different places, build something new, or just fight the boss, the options are endless. Similarly, whether you’re an explorer, a collector, or just an active player, the variety of options means that you’re not going to get bored especially if you’re playing with your friends.
For that, you can either choose the Host & Play option or set up a dedicated server. But the former is only great for short co-op games online or in-home LAN, which is why most people opt for setting up their own dedicated servers and making their own worlds with their friends.
If you’ve also decided to set up a dedicated Terraria server, here’s everything you need to know.
Before you set up a server
Before getting started, here are a few things you should know:
- Renting a server is better than setting up your own PC as the server. This is because continuously running the server to ensure its availability adds to your electricity bill. Plus, you will be responsible for maintaining it.
- Make sure you install the Terraria server. Generally, the server file automatically installs when you download and install the game, but you should still check if the Terraria folder contains the server file.
- Your server should also have the Microsoft XNA framework downloaded and installed. This is important since it contains the runtime components needed to run the server. If your server doesn’t have the framework, you can download the necessary files from Microsoft’s website.
Steps to set up a Terraria server
The following steps are for setting up a dedicated Terraria server on Windows without using a configuration file. The game comes with its own server multistep setup wizard that makes the whole process very simple and gets your server up and running quickly.
Step #1: Find and run the .exe file
You can find the files for the dedicated server in the same folder that contains all the Terraria files. If the server files are missing, you can directly download them from terraria.org. Scroll down and you’ll see a link to the dedicated server. Once you click on that, the zip file will automatically start to download.
Once you have the files, search for the TerrariaServer.exe file and execute it. The server control interface will open up, where you can view information and enter commands.
Step #2: Create a world
The server config window will also ask you to select a world and list the worlds available on your computer. All your created worlds are locally stored on your PC’s hard drive. If you don’t have a world yet or want to create a new one, just type the letter ‘n’ in the command line and hit Enter.
You will then be prompted to choose the world size: 1 means small, 2 is medium, and 3 means large. Next, you will be asked to name the world. Once you enter all these details, your world will be generated. Once that’s done, you will be able to choose it as the server’s world.
Step #3: Configure the world
The next step is to select a world to host on the server. For that, you need to enter the corresponding number. You will then be able to configure the different settings. For instance, you will be able to set the maximum number of players you want to allow. The default number is 8, but you can choose whatever number you want as the limit.
You will also be able to set the port number. The default port number is 7777 and if you only have a single server running, you don’t need to change this. You can just press Enter and move on to the next option, which is port forwarding. If you want to enable it, type ‘y’, and if you don’t then just enter ‘n.’
And finally, you can set a password if you want to. If you press enter without entering anything in the Password field, then that means your server doesn’t have a password.
Things to note
Your world is now ready and playable for everyone who connects to the server. You can change the settings anytime you want using the server console window. You can even make changes while you’re playing and implement them in real-time.
Also note that if you plan to play with others not connected to the same router or LAN as your computer, then you will need a static IP and enable port forwarding to your Terraria server so that others can connect to it. You will also need to enable both UDP and TCP port 7777 since the server uses both for communication. So make sure you add firewall rules for both the ports before you start the server.
Connecting to the server
Now that your server is up and running, the next step is to get your friends to connect to it. Here’s how you can do that:
- Launch Terraria and go to Multiplayer.
- Click on ‘Join via IP’ and choose an avatar.
- Enter your server’s IP address. Make sure you also add :7777 at the end of the IP for the port.
- Click on Accept.
- If you set up a password for your server while setting it u, you will be asked to enter it.
The connected computer will now try to establish a connection with the server. Once that is done, you can start playing in your custom Terraria world with your friends!
