How do I run multiple dedicated server instances from the same PC?

[Kane99]

I'm aware that this topic was answered in this forum post, however, it was answered 7 years ago and seems to be outdated...? (Not entirely sure.)

In the old forum post, the advice offered was to add 10 to each port number - however I am still unable to run more than one dedicated server instance even after doing so.

There are 3 different ".ini" files for each server instance - one in the main server folder (cluster.ini), and two others in the "Master" and "Caves" folder (server.ini). I am not sure what to change the port numbers to (or which ".ini files" to change at all.) 

One last question - can players who join my dedicated server(s) access any information about my PC or internet - such as my IP address or router information?

I'd appreciate any input or help on this - thank you! 

[Daniel86268]

On 8/26/2024 at 4:31 AM, Kane99 said:

I'm aware that this topic was answered in this forum post, however, it was answered 7 years ago and seems to be outdated...? (Not entirely sure.)

This part of the game hasn't changed since then, so it'll still work just fine.

On 8/26/2024 at 4:31 AM, Kane99 said:

In the old forum post, the advice offered was to add 10 to each port number - however I am still unable to run more than one dedicated server instance even after doing so.

While this being quite a brute-force method, this should just work.

However, do make sure that you also create a second startup script to launch the other server shards. (Or edit your script to launch all 4 shards.)

On 8/26/2024 at 4:31 AM, Kane99 said:

There are 3 different ".ini" files for each server instance - one in the main server folder (cluster.ini), and two others in the "Master" and "Caves" folder (server.ini). I am not sure what to change the port numbers to (or which ".ini files" to change at all.) 

Well, the post said change all port numbers in all .ini files to +10 on the second server.

In general the cluster.ini is a general file for configurations for the entire cluster, and the individual server.ini files are only for the individual shards.

If a config paramter is in both the cluster.ini and the server.ini (and both accept the parameter), the server.ini overwrites the cluster.ini.

On 8/26/2024 at 4:31 AM, Kane99 said:

One last question - can players who join my dedicated server(s) access any information about my PC or internet - such as my IP address or router information?

Technically your router's public IP might be accessible, however DST does a really good job on keeping that stuff hidden. DST probably is one of the safest servers in that regard.

Your router information of any kind (except your public IP) stays completely hidden, as it doesn't matter to the DST Network protocol (as fat as I know).

[Kane99]

I appreciate your comprehensive reply Daniel.

Sadly, even after creating a separate startup script & adding 10 to each port number, I still am unable to host more than one server instance. The second server simply does not appear in the server listings.

Furthermore, on the first server, something really weird happens. When I enter a sinkhole, instead of sending me to the caves, it seems to send me to a random sinkhole in the second server's overworld. Even though it sounds ridiculous, it seems as the two (non cave) shards are linked together, so when you enter a sinkhole in the first, you are sent to the other servers overworld shard.

(I think this because when I look at my map after entering the first server's sinkhole, none of the world is explored, and it looks like I just spawned at the sinkhole since the only area explored on my minimap is around the sinkhole.)

TLDR; After meticulously changing the port numbers to +10 to the second server, it seems as the 2 overworld shards are connected to eachother. (Assuming this is true, then the 2 cave shards must also be connected to eachother in their own "server"... and thus might explain why the second server doesn't even appear in the listings.

Anyways. You seem knowledgeable on this topic so please let me know if you've seen this happen before (or might have a solution for it.) I'm certain that I'm doing everything correctly (in terms of adding 10 to every port, and creating separate start scripts).

Thanks

[Daniel86268]

The two overworld shards shouldn't connect to eachother, since 1: the Master_server_Port is different on both clusters, and 2: a master server can't connect to another master server.

What I can imagine is that somehow either due to misconfiguration the caves world got overwritten by the second overworld server (no idea how), or you accidentally deleted/modified the worldgenoverride.lua on the caves server, which should contain something like this:

Spoiler

KLEI     1 return {
    override_enabled = true,
    worldgen_preset = "DST_CAVE",
    settings_preset = "DST_CAVE",
    overrides = {
    },
}

Which makes the shard generate a caves world, instead of an overworld one.

 

I'd say try going step by step and see when it starts to fail:

1. Shut down all servers.

2. Start Server cluster 1, and see if everything is as it should be. Listed, you can connect, caves are accessible, and they are actual caves.
  If caves are still an overworld, delete the caves save, and make sure the worldgenoverrides.lua file in your caves shard folder is correct. Afterwards start the server again, and see if the caves are correct.

3. Shut down the first server, and repeat Step 2 with the second server cluster to see if that one is correctly configured as well.

4. If both servers are functional, see what happens when you start both at the same time again.

[Kane99]

Thank you. For some odd reason I had deleted the worldgenoverride.lua file. I added it back, and it solved the aforementioned issues with the overworld shards. 

I am able to start up dedicated server #1 - joining it is normal, and the caves are working again.

When I shut down server #1 and start server #2, it gives me the below error in the console:

It seems like adding 10 to each port number in the second server didn't work. I'm no expert in ports or firewalls, so I have no idea how to open a port in my firewall.

(Also - I got port 10909 from adding 10 to the default port # of 10899 in the first server.)

Any idea on how to fix this?

[Daniel86268]

You can try opening port 10909 in your server's Firewall. I assume you are hosting your server on Windows?

You can follow a guide like this: https://www.howtogeek.com/394735/how-do-i-open-a-port-on-windows-firewall/

Alternatively you can try some other ports and see if those work. Subtracting 10 from the MasterPort could do the trick.

If it does work, but the Ping shows ??? in the server listing, you also have to portforward that port to your server in your router.