How To Configure Your Enshrouded Server Settings

Running an Enshrouded server gives you complete control over gameplay difficulty, player limits, and world behavior. However, adjusting these settings requires editing a JSON configuration file, which can be confusing if you've never worked with structured data formats before.

In this guide, you will learn how to access your Enshrouded server configuration file, understand what each setting does and how to adjust it, configure difficulty presets (Default, Relaxed, Hard, or Custom), set up player limits, passwords, and voice chat options, and avoid common configuration mistakes that break your server.

What Is The enshrouded_server.json File?

The enshrouded_server.json file is the main configuration file for your Enshrouded server. This file controls everything from server name and player count to detailed gameplay settings like enemy spawn rates and resource multipliers.

When you first start a dedicated Enshrouded server, this file generates automatically with default values. Every time your server boots, it reads this file to determine how the game world should behave.

The file uses JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) format, which structures data using brackets, quotes, and commas. While this might look intimidating initially, you only need to change specific values without modifying the structure.

Understanding Difficulty Presets

Enshrouded offers three difficulty presets that automatically configure dozens of gameplay settings at once. You can also create custom configurations for complete control.

Default Preset

The standard Enshrouded experience balanced for first-time players. This preset maintains vanilla difficulty with:

• Standard enemy health and damage
• Normal resource drop rates
• Default player stats
• Balanced experience gain

Best for groups experiencing Enshrouded for the first time or players who want the intended difficulty curve.

Relaxed Preset

Designed for players focused on building and exploration rather than combat challenge. Changes include:

• Reduced enemy spawn rates
• Lower enemy aggression
• Increased resource drops
• More forgiving survival mechanics

Perfect for creative-focused servers or casual groups who want less combat pressure.

Hard Preset

Increases challenge for veteran players seeking tougher encounters. Modifications include:

• More frequent enemy spawns
• Higher enemy aggression
• Stronger enemy stats
• Reduced resource availability

Ideal for experienced groups wanting hardcore survival gameplay.

Custom Preset

Allows individual adjustment of every gameplay parameter. When set to Custom, you can modify specific values in the gameSettings section while leaving others at default.

This option gives maximum flexibility for servers with specific requirements, like reduced combat difficulty but increased resource scarcity.

Basic Server Configuration Settings

These settings control fundamental server properties that every server owner should configure.

Server Name

Setting: "name": "Enshrouded Server"

The name displayed in the server browser. Make it descriptive so players can find your server easily. Avoid offensive language as all players can see server names.

Example: "name": "Pine Gaming - PVE Server"

Server Password

Setting: "password": ""

Protects your server from unwanted players. Leave blank ("") for a public server or add a password for private play.

Example: "password": "MySecurePassword123"

Important: After Enshrouded Update 2, password configuration changed. The basic password field still works for simple setups, but advanced role-based permissions now use user groups (covered below).

Player Slots

Setting: "slotCount": 16

Maximum concurrent players allowed on your server. The game supports up to 16 players.

Range: 1-16

Lower numbers work better for servers with limited hardware resources. Higher numbers require more CPU and RAM.

Save And Log Directories

Settings:

• "saveDirectory": "./savegame"
• "logDirectory": "./logs"

Determines where world saves and server logs are stored. Default values work fine for most servers. Change these only if you want saves stored in specific locations.

IP Address And Query Port

Settings:

• "ip": "0.0.0.0"
• "queryPort": 15637

The IP address should remain "0.0.0.0" (listens on all network interfaces). The query port defaults to 15637 and is used by the server browser to discover your server.

Only change the query port if running multiple Enshrouded servers on the same machine or if this port conflicts with other services.

Voice And Text Chat Settings

Control communication options between players.

Voice Chat Mode

Setting: "voiceChatMode": "Proximity"

Options:

• "Proximity" - Players only hear others within range
• "Global" - Server-wide voice chat

Proximity chat adds immersion but makes coordination harder. Global chat helps large groups communicate regardless of location.

Enable Voice Chat

Setting: "enableVoiceChat": false

Options:

• true - Voice chat enabled
• false - Voice chat disabled

Disabling voice chat reduces server bandwidth usage and forces players to use external voice solutions like Discord.

Enable Text Chat

Setting: "enableTextChat": false

Options:

• true - Text chat enabled
• false - Text chat disabled

Text chat provides communication backup when voice isn't practical.

Detailed Gameplay Settings

These settings appear under the "gameSettings" section and control specific gameplay mechanics. When using a difficulty preset other than Custom, these values are set automatically.

To customize individual settings, change "gameSettingsPreset" to "Custom" first.

Player Stats Modifiers

Control player capabilities and survivability.

Player Health Factor

• Setting: "playerHealthFactor": 1
• Range: 0.25 - 4.0
• Effect: Multiplies player max health (1 = 100%, 2 = 200%)

Player Mana Factor

• Setting: "playerManaFactor": 1
• Range: 0.25 - 4.0
• Effect: Multiplies player max mana

Player Stamina Factor

• Setting: "playerStaminaFactor": 1
• Range: 0.25 - 4.0
• Effect: Multiplies player max stamina

Player Body Heat Factor

• Setting: "playerBodyHeatFactor": 1
• Range: 0.25 - 4.0
• Effect: Increases time before hypothermia in cold areas

Player Diving Time Factor

• Setting: "playerDivingTimeFactor": 1
• Range: 0.25 - 4.0
• Effect: Multiplies underwater breathing duration

Higher values make survival easier by increasing player capabilities. Lower values create hardcore challenge.

Survival Mechanics

Enable Durability

• Setting: "enableDurability": true
• Effect: When false, items never break

Disabling durability removes maintenance requirements, letting players focus on exploration and combat.

Enable Starving Debuff

• Setting: "enableStarvingDebuff": false
• Effect: When true, players lose health when starving

Vanilla Enshrouded doesn't penalize starvation with health loss. Enabling this adds survival pressure.

Food Buff Duration Factor

• Setting: "foodBuffDurationFactor": 1
• Range: 0.5 - 4.0
• Effect: Multiplies how long food buffs last

Higher values mean less frequent eating and longer buff uptime.

From Hunger To Starving

• Setting: "fromHungerToStarving": 600000000000
• Range: 300000000000 - 1800000000000
• Unit: Nanoseconds (1 billion nanoseconds = 1 second)
• Effect: Time from hungry status to starving

Default is 600 billion nanoseconds (600 seconds = 10 minutes). Increase for more forgiving hunger mechanics.

Shroud And Weather

Shroud Time Factor

• Setting: "shroudTimeFactor": 1
• Range: 0.5 - 4.0
• Effect: Multiplies how long players can survive in the Shroud

Higher values let players explore Shroud areas longer before taking damage.

Enable Glider Turbulences

• Setting: "enableGliderTurbulences": true
• Effect: When false, removes turbulence affecting glider flight

Disabling turbulences makes gliding more predictable and easier.

Weather Frequency

• Setting: "weatherFrequency": "Normal"
• Options: "Off", "Rare", "Normal", "Often"
• Effect: Controls how frequently weather changes occur

Resource And Production Settings

Mining Damage Factor

• Setting: "miningDamageFactor": 1
• Range: 0.5 - 4.0
• Effect: Multiplies damage dealt to mineable resources

Higher values let players gather resources faster.

Plant Growth Speed Factor

• Setting: "plantGrowthSpeedFactor": 1
• Range: 0.5 - 4.0
• Effect: Multiplies how quickly planted crops mature

Increase for faster farming cycles.

Resource Drop Stack Amount Factor

• Setting: "resourceDropStackAmountFactor": 1
• Range: 0.5 - 4.0
• Effect: Multiplies resource quantities when harvesting

Set to 2.0 to double all resource drops, reducing grinding.

Factory Production Speed Factor

• Setting: "factoryProductionSpeedFactor": 1
• Range: 0.5 - 4.0
• Effect: Multiplies production speed for kilns, furnaces, etc.

Higher values reduce waiting time for crafting station outputs.

Progression Settings

Perk Upgrade Recycling Factor

• Setting: "perkUpgradeRecyclingFactor": 0.5
• Range: 0.0 - 1.0
• Effect: Percentage of skill points refunded when resetting perks

Default 0.5 = 50% refund. Set to 1.0 for full refunds.

Perk Cost Factor

• Setting: "perkCostFactor": 1
• Range: 0.25 - 4.0
• Effect: Multiplies skill point cost for perks

Lower values let players unlock perks faster.

Experience Combat Factor

• Setting: "experienceCombatFactor": 1
• Range: 0.25 - 4.0
• Effect: Multiplies experience from combat

Experience Mining Factor

• Setting: "experienceMiningFactor": 1
• Range: 0.25 - 4.0
• Effect: Multiplies experience from mining

Experience Exploration Quests Factor

• Setting: "experienceExplorationQuestsFactor": 1
• Range: 0.25 - 4.0
• Effect: Multiplies experience from quests and exploration

Adjust these to speed up or slow down character progression.

Death And Respawn Settings

Tombstone Mode

• Setting: "tombstoneMode": "AddBackpackMaterials"
• Options:
  • "AddBackpackMaterials" - Materials lost on death, backpack items kept
  • "Everything" - All items and materials lost
  • "NoTombstone" - Nothing lost on death

Choose based on desired penalty for death.

Enable Teleporting With Tombstone

• Setting: "enableTeleportingWithTombstone": false
• Effect: When true, allows teleporting while carrying tombstone items

Vanilla restricts fast travel with tombstone loot. Enabling this removes that limitation.

Enemy And Combat Settings

Random Spawner Amount

• Setting: "randomSpawnerAmount": "Normal"
• Options: "None", "Few", "Normal", "Many", "Extreme"
• Effect: Controls enemy spawn density in the world

Aggro Pool Amount

• Setting: "aggroPoolAmount": "Normal"
• Options: "Few", "Normal", "Many"
• Effect: Maximum enemies that can aggro simultaneously

Increasing this makes combat more overwhelming and challenging.

Enemy Damage Factor

• Setting: "enemyDamageFactor": 1
• Range: 0.25 - 5.0
• Effect: Multiplies all enemy damage output

Enemy Health Factor

• Setting: "enemyHealthFactor": 1
• Range: 0.25 - 4.0
• Effect: Multiplies all enemy health pools

Enemy Perception Range Factor

• Setting: "enemyPerceptionRangeFactor": 1
• Range: 0.5 - 2.0
• Effect: Multiplies how far enemies detect players

Lower values let players sneak more effectively.

Boss Damage Factor

• Setting: "bossDamageFactor": 1
• Range: 0.2 - 5.0
• Effect: Multiplies boss attack damage

Boss Health Factor

• Setting: "bossHealthFactor": 1
• Range: 0.2 - 4.0
• Effect: Multiplies boss health pools

Adjust boss settings separately from regular enemies for balanced difficulty.

Fishing And Other Activities

Fishing Difficulty

• Setting: "fishingDifficulty": "Normal"
• Options: "Easy", "Normal", "Hard"
• Effect: Controls fishing minigame difficulty

Enable Armor Scrapping

• Setting: "enableArmorScrapping": false
• Effect: When true, allows scrapping armor for materials

Day And Night Cycle Length

• Setting: "dayTimeDuration": 1800000000000
• Unit: Nanoseconds
• Effect: Controls length of daytime

Default is 1800 billion nanoseconds (1800 seconds = 30 minutes). Increase for longer days.

Night Time Duration

• Setting: "nightTimeDuration": 720000000000
• Unit: Nanoseconds
• Effect: Controls length of nighttime

Default is 720 billion nanoseconds (720 seconds = 12 minutes).

Advanced: User Groups And Role-Based Passwords

Enshrouded Update 2 introduced user groups, allowing different permission levels with separate passwords.

Default User Groups

When creating a fresh configuration, three groups generate automatically:

Admin

• Full permissions
• Can modify bases
• Access to all features

Friend

• Standard gameplay permissions
• Can build and modify bases
• Cannot access admin functions

Guest

• Limited permissions
• Read-only base access (can't modify existing structures)
• Can use containers but not destroy them

User Group Configuration

Each user group requires:

Name: Identifier for the group Password: Access password for this group Permissions: Specific allowed actions

Reserved Slots: Number of slots guaranteed for this group

Example user group structure:

"userGroups": [
  {
    "name": "Admin",
    "password": "AdminPassword123",
    "canKickBan": true,
    "canAccessInventories": true,
    "canEditBase": true,
    "canExtendBase": true,
    "reservedSlots": 2
  }
]

Reserved Slots

Reserved slots guarantee access for specific user groups even when the server is full. If you set "slotCount": 16 and give Admins 2 reserved slots, the server appears full to other groups at 14 players, leaving 2 slots available exclusively for Admins.

This prevents situations where owners can't join their own server during peak times.

How To Edit Server Settings Manually

For self-hosted servers or manual configuration, follow these steps:

Locate The Configuration File

Navigate to your Enshrouded server installation directory. The file is named enshrouded_server.json and sits in the root folder alongside the server executable.

If this is your first time running the server, start enshrouded_server.exe once to generate the default configuration file.

Stop Your Server

Ensure the server is completely stopped before editing. Changes made while the server runs won't save.

Edit The File

Open enshrouded_server.json in a text editor. Windows Notepad works, but dedicated code editors like Notepad++ or VS Code provide better formatting.

Locate the setting you want to change and modify only the value, not the setting name or structure.

Example - Changing player count:

Before: "slotCount": 16 After: "slotCount": 8

Save And Validate

Save the file (keep the .json extension). Before starting your server, validate syntax using an online JSON validator to catch errors.

Restart Your Server

Start your server. Monitor the console window for error messages. If the server fails to start, check the logs directory for detailed error information.

Test Changes In-Game

Join your server and verify settings work as expected. Some changes (like difficulty modifiers) might not be immediately obvious and require testing specific scenarios.

Editing Server Settings With Pine Hosting

Pine Hosting streamlines configuration of files in Enshrouded server hosting with a web-based file editor that eliminates the complexity of manual editing.

Access Your Server

Log in to your game panel at panel.pinehosting.com and select your Enshrouded server from your server list.

Open The Configuration File

Navigate to the Files tab in your server control panel. Locate and click on enshrouded_server.json to open it in the web-based editor.

Make Your Changes

The editor displays the JSON file with syntax highlighting that makes different elements easy to identify. Change values directly in the browser - no need to download files or use separate text editors.

The panel's editor prevents common mistakes by highlighting syntax errors and ensuring proper file encoding.

Save And Restart

Click Save when finished editing. Return to your server's main panel and click Restart to apply changes. The server will read the updated configuration on startup.

Ready To Customize Your Enshrouded Server?

Server configuration gives you complete control over difficulty, progression, and gameplay mechanics in Enshrouded. Whether you want relaxed building sessions or brutal survival challenges, the enshrouded_server.json file lets you create exactly the experience you envision.

Check out our Enshrouded server hosting plans and start building your perfect survival world today.