Getting Started with Your StarRupture Dedicated Server

StarRupture has one of the more unusual setup flows for a dedicated server: the first world is actually created from the game client, not from a web panel. Once you know the trick it's quick, but it catches a lot of first-time customers out. This guide walks you through the whole thing on a LOW.MS server.

If you just want the short version: Start your server → point Manage Server at it from the StarRupture main menu → New Game → Start Game → then join via Join Game. That's the flow the rest of this article expands on.

What you get on LOW.MS

Your StarRupture server ships pre-configured with:

• 10 GB RAM as standard (upgradeable if your factory gets ambitious)
• 2 CPU threads, with an optional Ryzen 7950X/9950X upgrade for simulation-heavy bases
• 10 GB SSD for the world, saves and autosaves
• DDoS protection on every server
• Automatic cloud backups so a bad patch never costs you progress
• SFTP / File Manager access for DSSettings.txt and save files
• Your server is provisioned within a couple of minutes of ordering

Step 1 — Order and find your server details

1. Head to the StarRupture hosting page and pick your slot count (StarRupture is hard-capped at 4 players so the base plan covers the full group).
2. Add any upgrades you want — more RAM, premium CPU, or a dedicated IP.
3. Pay and wait for the provisioning email. It arrives fast.
4. The email contains your Server IP and Game Port — save them, your group needs both.

Step 2 — Start the server in the LOW.MS Control Panel

1. Log in at control.low.ms.
2. Open your StarRupture service.
3. Hit Start (or Restart if it's already running) and wait about 60 seconds for it to finish booting.

At this point the server is running but it doesn't have a world yet. That's normal.

Rule of thumb: don't touch DSSettings.txt until after you've created a first save from the game client. Editing it first just gets you into odd states.

Step 3 — Create your first save (this is the bit people miss)

StarRupture's first save has to be created from the StarRupture client, via Manage Server on the main menu.

1. Launch StarRupture on your PC.
2. From the main menu pick Manage Server.
3. Enter your Server IP and Game Port.
   • If the game rejects IP:Port, try entering just the IP — some builds assume the default.
4. Set a Server Management password when prompted. This is not the same as the join password — it's the admin password for Manage Server itself.
5. (Optional) Set a Player/Join password if you want the server private.
6. Click New Game to generate the world on the server.
7. Click Start Game.

The server is now running with your world loaded. You only ever have to do this flow again if you want to swap worlds.

Step 4 — Join the server

1. Back to the StarRupture main menu.
2. Click Join Game → open the Dedicated Server tab.
3. Enter your Server IP (or IP:Port, whichever the current build wants).
4. Enter the Player/Join password if you set one — not the management password, that trips everyone up.
5. Click Connect.

Share the IP, port and join password with your group and they can follow the same steps.

Step 5 — Make the server auto-load the save after restarts

Once the world is running and you're happy with it, the thing you almost certainly want next is for restarts (or updates) to drop you back into the same save rather than an empty session. That's where DSSettings.txt comes in.

1. Stop the server in the LOW.MS Control Panel.
2. Open File Manager (or SFTP).
3. In the server root — the folder next to StarRuptureServerEOS.exe — create or edit DSSettings.txt with something like:

{
  "SessionName": "MyServer",
  "SaveGameInterval": "300",
  "StartNewGame": "false",
  "LoadSavedGame": "true",
  "SaveGameName": "AutoSave0.sav"
}

4. Start the server.

Full breakdown of every key is in the DSSettings.txt Configuration Guide.

After Update 1 (April 9 2026)

StarRupture's first big content update shipped on 9 April 2026. It adds a larger map with new zones, a couple of new resources, ziplines, higher-tier buildings, and a pile of new recipes. None of it changes how the dedicated server is set up — the flow above is unchanged — but it's worth restarting your server after you update your Steam client so both sides are on the same version.

If something goes wrong

• Join fails with "Server is online but I'm in an empty world" → the save didn't load. Re-do Manage Server → Load Game → Start Game, or set up DSSettings.txt as above. See Managing saves.
• "LogRemoteControl: Error: Web Remote Call..." → you tried to Manage Server after a save was already loaded. Details and fix in Fixing StarRupture server errors.
• Connection timeouts → Required ports and firewall.
• Wrong password → make sure players are using the join password, not the management one. Reset passwords.
• Anything else → open a ticket from control.low.ms and we'll take a look.