Server player cap / Dedicated server setup issues?

[PaperLaur]

Hello! I greatly apologize if something like this has been posted or answered before, or if this is in the wrong section--I'm relatively new to the forums and not entirely sure how to go about looking for things, so please feel free to point me in the right direction as I am noob.

So! I started up a roleplaying server on DST, recruiting players through Tumblr. I didn't expect to have much interest, but last night, we had an issue I couldn't figure out how to fix--we hit the 6 player limit and people still needed to get in. I've tried to look up ways to change it, I used a mod on the server to try and raise the cap and I changed the cluster.ini file's player limit value. No dice.

What does this have to do with a dedicated server? Well, it seems like the most reliable way to get a higher player limit. I followed the quick start guide, but ran into a problem when I tried to start the server. When I run "StartDSTServers.bat" I get an error saying "Windows cannot find 'dontstarve_dedicated_server_nullrenderer'". Someone in the quickstart thread was having a similar problem which someone answered, but even changing the bat file as they suggested didn't work. I tried asking in the thread, but got no response. (I'd post the contents of my current .bat but last time I tried to in the thread the whole website decided to block me...)

My computer is kind of potato-y. I run Windows 10, and have an Intel Core Duo processor at 3.12 GHz, and 4GB RAM. It'd also be useful to know if with these specs I should even bother trying or just bite the bullet and buy server hosting. (At this point I KNOW I can't host caves.)

I'm sorry if this is kind of vague or asked before, but I'm kind of in a panic about it and really not sure what to do, since I'm far from the most "tech-y" person here.

[Zillvr]

Hey @PaperLaur, welcome to the forums. I drop by that thread sporadically and I should've replied to your question, sorry about that.

To the matter at hand, since you are following this Guide, I'd like to ask where you installed and placed the steamcmd folder? The exact location of steamcmd should be what's inside the .bat file.

[PaperLaur]

4 minutes ago, Zillvr said:

Hey @PaperLaur, welcome to the forums. I drop by that thread sporadically and I should've replied to your question, sorry about that.

To the matter at hand, since you are following this Guide, I'd like to ask where you installed and placed the steamcmd folder? The exact location of steamcmd should be what's inside the .bat file.

I admit it's in kind of a complicated directory since I wasn't sure whether I was going to need to find it again and there's a lot of junk on my computer. I didn't just put it in C, I put it in the folder with a lot of my games.

I put steamcmd in (copied the path exactly) C:\Users\Laura\Documents\Video Games\steamcmd

This is my .bat for reference (hopefully a screenshot won't cause the forums to block me again)

It's probably something super obvious that I overlooked but like I said I'm not the best with all this technology xD (I should also probably take caves out of the dedicated server since it caused a huge lag problem just running caves through DST alone...)

[Zillvr]

@PaperLaur Does steamcmd\steamapps\common\Don't Starve Together Dedicated Server folder exist? If not do the following method:

• Go to your steamcmd folder and start up .exe file called steamcmd.
• Once steamcmd is opened and the command prompt reads Steam>, type in the following line:

login anonymous

• Press enter
• Once the command prompt reads Waiting for license info...OK, type the next line after Steam>:

app_update 343050 validate

• Press enter
• There would be a bunch of lines with a progress number going from 0.00 upwards, then when the prompt reads Success! App '343050' fully installed, open your steamcmd folder and check whether steamcmd\steamapps\common\Don't Starve Together Dedicated Server folder exists now.

[Muche]

Having spaces in paths makes things more complicated.

Try quoting the steamcmd:

"C:\Users\Laura\Documents\Video Games\steamcmd\steamcmd(dot)exe" ...

Also note that validate parameter for steamcmd makes sure your DST installation is pristine, including mods/dedicated_server_mods_setup.lua file that is used for mods installation; validate parameter reverts your changes to it.

[PaperLaur]

33 minutes ago, Zillvr said:

@PaperLaur Does steamcmd\steamapps\common\Don't Starve Together Dedicated Server folder exist? If not do the following method:

• Go to your steamcmd folder and start up .exe file called steamcmd.
• Once steamcmd is opened and the command prompt reads Steam>, type in the following line:

login anonymous

• Press enter
• Once the command prompt reads Waiting for license info...OK, type the next line after Steam>:

app_update 343050 validate

• Press enter
• There would be a bunch of lines with a progress number going from 0.00 upwards, then when the prompt reads Success! App '343050' fully installed, open your steamcmd folder and check whether steamcmd\steamapps\common\Don't Starve Together Dedicated Server folder exists now.

Ah, should've noticed that. I did what you said and after a while it said "sim paused" so I just figured I'd look and see what the deal was and it appears that my server is on the list as it should be! I'm not sure if it added caves or not, though. "Show World" only gave Forest presets. Perhaps it's for the best if it didn't but I'd like to know if it's there and I'm just not seeing it.

This isn't quite related, however is it in any way possible to copy world data from an existing server? We've had to restart our RP world a good five times by now and we can do it again if necessary, we just would rather not have to do it again.

3 minutes ago, Muche said:

Having spaces in paths makes things more complicated.

Try quoting the steamcmd:

"C:\Users\Laura\Documents\Video Games\steamcmd\steamcmd(dot)exe" ...

Also note that validate parameter for steamcmd makes sure your DST installation is pristine, including mods/dedicated_server_mods_setup.lua file that is used for mods installation; validate parameter reverts your changes to it.

You ninja'd me, Zillvr's solution worked but it's good to know I don't have to kick myself for not installing mods first...

[Zillvr]

@PaperLaur that's good you got it up and running. If you do see the following lines in the Master server's command prompt:

[00:00:24]: [Shard] Slave Caves(##########) connected: [LAN] 127.0.0.1
[00:00:25]: [Shard] Slave Caves(##########) ready!
[00:00:25]: World ########## is now connected

That means there's a caves world attached to it already. To check which one of the command prompts is the master, scroll the prompt to the top and it should say the following line:

[00:00:00]: PersistRootStorage is now APP:Klei//DoNotStarveTogether/MyDediServer/Master/

And now about your question: Is it in any way possible to copy world data from an existing server?

I believe so but I haven't tried it personally so issues may occur that I'm not aware of.

To do so just copy the save folders inside the Master and Caves from which ever Cluster_# you want to copy from and then paste them in the Master and Caves folder of your MyDediServer folder replacing the current save folders in Documents\Klei\DoNotStarveTogether\MyDediServer\Master and Documents\Klei\DoNotStarveTogether\MyDediServer\Caves folders. Make sure you're copying from the right server folders. Cluster_1 is the server in the first slot of the Host Game menu (assuming the existing server you're talking about was made through the in-client Host Game screen), Cluster_2 is for the second slot, etc. The Cluster_# folders are under Documents\Klei\DoNotStarveTogether. I could go into more detail but that should help for now. Be sure to back up your save folders to another folder that you're replacing in case it doesn't work. If you're stuck on something don't hesitate to mention me, I'll try my best to help if I can.

So for now, cheers.