Starbound Dedicated Server Setup Guide

Overview

Starbound is built for wandering strange planets, collecting questionable furniture, and getting into trouble with friends. A dedicated server keeps that universe online so players can join even when the original host is offline.

With a hosted Starbound server, you can manage the world from a control panel, change settings, add user accounts, enable a whitelist, and upload mods. The setup has a few moving parts, but once the base server is running, most changes are simple configuration edits and restarts.

Create the Starbound Server

• Open the HolyHosting server panel and find your panel's version selector.
• Use the dropdown menu to search for Starbound, then select it.

• Confirm the game change when prompted and choose to create a new world if the panel asks.
• Restart the server and give it a few minutes to finish loading.

• After startup completes, join the server once to confirm everything is working.

First Steps After Setup

After the server is online, the usual next tasks are connecting to it, creating an admin account, naming the server, limiting access, and adding mods. These changes let you shape the server around a private group, a public community, or a modded chaos laboratory with slightly better paperwork.

Join Your Starbound Server

• In the server panel, find the IP Address and Port section near the top of the page.

• Copy the IP address and port values, then launch Starbound.
• From the main menu, select Join Game.
• Pick an existing character or create a new one.
• Enter the IP address and port into the matching fields.

• Select Join Server to connect.

Add an Admin User

Admin access allows a trusted account to use server commands for moderation, testing, and general management. This is useful for handling players, checking new features, or using admin-only tools when needed.

• Open Config Files from the server panel.
• Select Server Config to view the Starbound configuration.

• Find the serverUsers setting.
• Replace the empty user block with a user entry in this format: "serverUsers" : { "UsernameHere" : { "admin" : true, "password" : "PasswordHere" } }
• Change UsernameHere to the username you want to use.
• Replace PasswordHere with a secure password.

• Save the file, then restart the server so the change applies.
• When joining, use the username and password you added.
• Once in-game, run /admin to enable admin permissions for that session.

Enable a Whitelist

A whitelist prevents random players from joining and limits access to the accounts listed in the server configuration. This is the better choice for private groups or test servers.

• Open Server Config from the Config Files area.
• Find allowAnonymousConnections.
• Change the value to false, then save the file.

• Restart the server to apply the whitelist.

Change the Server Name

A clear server name makes the server easier to recognize and helps players avoid joining the wrong destination.

• Go to the server panel and open the server settings.
• In the Server Settings section, find Server Name.

• Enter the name you want to display.
• Return to the main panel and restart the server.

Adjust Team Size

Starbound uses a default team size of 4. You can increase this for larger groups, but every player must also match the same value in their local game configuration. If the server and client values do not match, joining may fail or behave incorrectly.

• Open the server settings from the main panel.
• Find the World section.
• Change Max Team Size to the value you want.

• Restart the server after saving the change.
• On your computer, open Steam.
• Right-click Starbound in your Library.
• Hover over Manage, then select Browse Local Files.

• Open the Storage folder.
• Edit starbound.config with Notepad, Notepad++, or another text editor.

• Find maxTeamSize and set it to the same number used on the server.
• Save the file, then launch Starbound and connect again.

Install Starbound Server Mods

Workshop mods can change Starbound heavily, from quality-of-life improvements to full content expansions. Players normally need the same mods installed on their own clients, so share the mod list before asking everyone to connect.

• Open the Starbound Workshop in Steam.
• Subscribe to the mods you want to use and allow Steam to download them.

• In Steam, go to your Library and right-click Starbound.
• Select Manage, then Browse Local Files.
• From the opened folder, go up to steamapps, open workshop, then enter the 211820 folder.

• Open each mod folder and locate its .pak file.
• Rename each .pak file to a unique name. Starbound Workshop files often reuse the same filename, so unique names prevent upload conflicts.
• Place the renamed .pak files into a ZIP archive.

• Open the HolyHosting server panel.
• Open your FTP client and sign in with your panel password.
• Open the mods directory, then choose Upload.

• Drag the ZIP archive into the upload area and wait for it to reach 100%.
• Return to the mods folder.
• Select the uploaded ZIP file, choose Unzip, and submit the request.

• Go back to the main server panel and restart the server.

Useful Commands

Starbound commands help with moderation, testing, teleporting, spawning items, and other admin tasks. After joining with an admin account, use /admin to toggle admin mode. For a full list, check the official Starbound command documentation or a trusted Starbound wiki.

Conclusion

A dedicated Starbound server gives your group a persistent universe with room for custom rules, private access, larger teams, and Workshop mods. Start with the base server, confirm you can join, then make changes one at a time so troubleshooting stays simple. Once the settings, users, and mods are in place, the server is ready for exploration, building, and the occasional inventory full of things nobody remembers collecting.

Useful Links

• Starbound dedicated server documentation
• Starbound admin commands
• Starbound Workshop
• Starbound server configuration guides