Getting Started with Your Don't Starve Together Server

So you've picked up a Don't Starve Together server – nice choice. With Klei's survival sandbox still pulling in players (and a brand-new standalone sequel, Don't Starve Elsewhere, just announced in April 2026), there's never been a better time to run your own world. I'll walk you through everything from your first boot to enabling caves and dropping in Workshop mods.

Ordering and First Boot

Head over to the Don't Starve Together server hosting page and grab a plan that suits your group size. Once your order's processed, your server will appear in the control panel. Give it a minute for the initial install to finish – the panel will show "Running" when it's ready.

Before anyone can connect, though, you'll need a cluster token from Klei. Without it the dedicated server won't authenticate with Klei's master server list at all.

Generating Your Server Token

1. Open a browser and log in to accounts.klei.com.
2. Navigate to the Games tab, then find Don't Starve Together.
3. Click Game Servers and hit Add New Server.
4. Copy the token it generates – it's a long string starting with pds-.

Back in your LOW.MS panel, open the File Manager and navigate to:

DoNotStarveTogether/Cluster_1/

Create (or edit) a file called cluster_token.txt and paste your token in there. Nothing else in the file – just the token, no trailing whitespace.

Restart the server from the panel after saving.

cluster.ini Basics

The cluster.ini file lives in the same Cluster_1/ directory and controls the core settings for your entire server. Here's a minimal setup to get you listed in the server browser:

[GAMEPLAY]
game_mode = survival
max_players = 6
pvp = false
pause_when_empty = true

[NETWORK]
cluster_name = My LOW.MS Server
cluster_description = A chill survival world
cluster_password = 
cluster_intention = cooperative
tick_rate = 15

[MISC]
console_enabled = true
max_snapshots = 6

A few notes on what these do:

• game_mode accepts survival, endless, or wilderness – survival is the classic experience where everyone respawns as ghosts
• max_players caps at 64, though most groups run fine between 4 and 16
• cluster_intention sets the category in the server browser: cooperative, competitive, social, or madness
• tick_rate defaults to 15; cranking it higher (up to 60) smooths gameplay but hits your CPU harder
• max_snapshots controls how many rollback points are saved

Connecting to Your Server

Players can find you three ways:

Server browser – launch DST, click Browse Games, and search for your cluster_name. If you set a password, they'll be prompted for it on join.

Direct connect – if the server isn't showing up yet (Klei's listing can lag by 5–10 minutes), players can connect via the console: press ~ and type c_connect("your.server.ip", 10999).

Steam invite – once you're in the server yourself, invite friends through Steam's overlay.

The default game port is 10999 UDP for the master shard.

Setting Up Caves

Caves run as a separate shard alongside your main forest world. This is one of DST's quirks – the caves process is essentially a second server instance that talks to the master.

First, enable sharding in your cluster.ini:

[SHARD]
shard_enabled = true
bind_ip = 127.0.0.1
master_ip = 127.0.0.1
master_port = 10888
cluster_key = SomeSecretKey

Then check your folder structure looks like this:

Cluster_1/
  cluster.ini
  cluster_token.txt
  Master/
    server.ini
    worldgenoverride.lua
  Caves/
    server.ini
    worldgenoverride.lua

The Master/server.ini needs:

[NETWORK]
server_port = 10999

[SHARD]
is_master = true

[STEAM]
master_server_port = 27016
authentication_port = 8766

And the Caves/server.ini:

[NETWORK]
server_port = 10998

[SHARD]
is_master = false
name = Caves

[STEAM]
master_server_port = 27017
authentication_port = 8767

For the caves world generation, create Caves/worldgenoverride.lua:

return {
    override_enabled = true,
    preset = "DST_CAVE",
}

Restart the server and both shards should spin up. Players enter the caves through sinkholes on the surface.

Adding Yourself as Admin

Create a file called adminlist.txt inside Cluster_1/. Each line should contain one Klei User ID (the KU_ format, not your Steam ID):

KU_abc123def
KU_xyz789ghi

You can find your KU ID by opening DST, going to the main menu, and checking Account Info. Once you're on the admin list and the server restarts, you'll have access to all the console commands – things like c_rollback(1) to undo the last save, c_save() to force a save, and TheNet:Kick(userid) to boot someone.

Installing Workshop Mods

Mod installation in DST uses two files working in tandem:

1. dedicated_server_mods_setup.lua – this goes in the server's mods/ directory (at the install root, not inside your cluster). It tells the server which mods to download on boot.

ServerModSetup("378160973")   -- Global Positions
ServerModSetup("462434129")   -- Wormhole Markers

The number is the Workshop ID from the mod's Steam Workshop URL.

2. modoverrides.lua – this goes in each shard folder (Master/ and Caves/) and actually enables the mods. Downloading alone doesn't activate them.

return {
    ["workshop-378160973"] = { enabled = true },
    ["workshop-462434129"] = {
        enabled = true,
        configuration_options = {
            ["IconScaling"] = 1.0,
        }
    },
}

After editing both files, restart the server. If you want both surface and caves mods, the modoverrides.lua file needs to exist in both the Master and Caves directories with the same content.

Quick Troubleshooting

• Server not showing in browser – double-check your cluster_token.txt has no extra newlines, and give Klei's listing service a few minutes
• Caves not loading – make sure shard_enabled = true in your cluster.ini and that the cluster_key matches between shards
• Mods crashing the server – remove recently added lines from modoverrides.lua one at a time to isolate the culprit

For deeper configuration – custom world generation, season tuning, and the full admin command reference – check out the Server Configuration Guide.