How to get an up-to-date DST server list + server info (API / lobby listings / A2S?)

[kmatvey]

Hi everyone,

I’m working on a small external tool (Node.js) and I’m trying to figure out the proper way to get an up-to-date list of Don’t Starve Together servers, along with basic info (name, players, mods, etc).

I already found references to lobbyListings*.json.gz used by the game, and I also saw third-party sites like dstserverlist.appspot.com that seem to aggregate this data.

However, I’m still unclear about the intended / supported approach:

1. Is there an official or semi-official endpoint for retrieving the current public server list?

2. Are the lobbyListings JSON files still the recommended way, or are they considered internal/unstable?

3. For detailed server info, is it expected to:

   • query Klei lobby services, or

   • use Steam A2S (UDP) directly per server?

4. Is there any documentation about the lobby API or server query protocol for DST?

I’m just looking for a stable way to read public server data for a community project.

Any guidance would be appreciated

Thanks!

[nome]

They're not an official API that we guarantee stability on but third party tools are welcome to use the lobbylisting JSON files. We try not to break them needlessly.

[kmatvey]

On 2/4/2026 at 2:57 AM, nome said:

They're not an official API that we guarantee stability on but third party tools are welcome to use the lobbylisting JSON files. We try not to break them needlessly.

Thanks, I got this

Edited February 9 by kmatvey