When Wube drops a new Factorio update, your players will grab it automatically through Steam. Then they'll try to connect to your server and hit a version mismatch. Here's how to sort that out quickly.
Update the Server
- Log into the LOW.MS Control Panel and select your Factorio server.
- Stop the server if it's running.
- Click Steam Update in the sidebar.
- Run the update. It'll pull the latest stable version.
That's genuinely it. One click. The server downloads and applies the update automatically.
Coordinate With Your Players
This is where it gets tricky in practice. Steam likes to auto-update games, so some of your players might be on the new version while others haven't launched the game yet.
Two strategies:
- Everyone updates together. Announce in your group chat, wait for confirmation, then update the server. Cleanest approach.
- Hold the server update. If not everyone's ready, tell players to disable auto-updates in Steam for Factorio. Update the server once everyone's on the same page.
A player on version 2.0.29 cannot connect to a server running 2.0.28, and vice versa. The versions must match exactly.
Back Up Before You Update
Always. Head to Cloud Backup before hitting that update button. Major version jumps occasionally change save formats or break things in unexpected ways. Having a snapshot means you can roll back instantly via Cloud Restore if something goes wrong.
Check Your Mods
This is the real pain point with updates. Mods that worked fine on the previous version might not be compatible with the new one. After updating:
- Check mods.factorio.com for compatibility notes on each mod you're running.
- Update mods that have new versions available – see the mod installation guide.
- If a critical mod hasn't been updated yet, consider rolling back via Cloud Restore and waiting.
Major updates (like the jump to 2.0 with Space Age) tend to break more mods than minor patches. Plan accordingly.