The complete guide · 5 min read
Hurtworld Server Hosting Guide: Wipes, Raids and Admin
A practical guide to running a Hurtworld server in 2026: what the 1.0 era changed, how to size a server, how anti-cheat and DDoS settings work, how to plan wipes and how to keep a map fair. It is written for the admin who gets the Discord pings.
By Matthew Griffin, Owner, Gaming DeluxePublished · Updated
In this guide
Why Hurtworld Players Run Their Own Server
Hurtworld is a hardcore survival game built for fast, skill-based PvP and PvE: you gather, craft, build a base, fight off the environment and then fight off everyone else. Steam's description talks about solid multiplayer foundations, and the community that remains plays it mostly on community servers, each with its own wipe rhythm and rules.
Running your own server puts those choices in your hands. You decide how many players a map holds, how often it wipes, which plugins run and who gets admin rights. Renting means the server sits in a data centre with a fixed address and filtered traffic, instead of on a PC at home that has to stay on through every raid night.
From Early Access to 1.0.1.0
Bankroll Studios released Hurtworld 1.0 on 10 December 2019, saying it had taken six years of development and more than 60 million hours of play to get there. The launch patch added the Talon rocket launcher, mainly an anti-air weapon against the Mozzy helicopter, and the super rare Roach Asylum body kit for the Roach vehicle.
- Starter bases: a craftable one-click 1x1 base, limited to 5 per wipe, and forced away from cell boundaries.
- Cheap hammer: a construction hammer that only builds inside claimed cells.
- Refunds: items removed within 5 minutes of placing give a full refund.
- Mozzy rockets: costs tightened, and the rockets cannot be used in PvP except against other helicopters.
- Exploit spots: rock exploits met an automatic kill-and-report system, and cave base spots were filled in.
A hotfix, 1.0.0.5, followed in January 2020 without a wipe. The last patch came on 17 March 2023: 1.0.1.0 swapped Easy Anti-Cheat for Epic Online Services, added basic Steam Deck support, made the map edge a no-build zone, let players recycle fabricator items, and enforced a wipe on all servers. There has been nothing since, so the build your server runs today is the one it will keep running.
Choosing Slots and Memory
Hurtworld is priced per slot, and the order form sells anything from 20 to 200. Size the server for your busiest raid night, not for the total number of people in your Discord. A clan server rarely needs more than 20; a public map with several clans fighting usually settles between 40 and 60; 100 is for an established community with players across time zones.
| Plan | RAM included | Typical server |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Slots | 5GB | A clan, a wipe group or a test map |
| 40 Slots | 8GB | Several clans on one map |
| 60 Slots | 12GB | A public server with regulars |
| 100 Slots | 16GB | A large community across time zones |
Memory use climbs through a wipe rather than staying flat. Early on, the map is mostly empty; by the last week, every base, stash and vehicle is loaded. That is why each bigger plan carries more RAM, and why the memory graph in the panel is worth a look near the end of a wipe rather than the start.
Anti-Cheat and DDoS Settings
Patch 1.0.1.0 gave server owners three commands worth knowing. enforceeac turns the Epic Online Services anti-cheat on or off, and Bankroll's notes say it must be run during start-up, so it belongs in the launch line in the Commandline Manager rather than in the console later. enableddosprotection and disableddosprotection toggle the game's own DDoS protection.
- Open the Commandline Manager and add the anti-cheat setting you want to the start-up commands.
- Restart the server so the setting takes effect from boot.
- Use the web console to switch the game's DDoS protection on, if you want it alongside our network filtering.
- Watch the log on the next busy evening for players being refused by anti-cheat.
Planning Wipes
On a community server, the wipe schedule is the most important rule you set. Because Hurtworld is no longer patched, no update will force a wipe on you; the timing is entirely yours. Some groups wipe every two weeks to keep the race to the first Mozzy fresh, others let a map run for months.
- Announce the next wipe date when the current one starts, and keep it.
- Snapshot the map in the Backup Manager just before you wipe, in case of a dispute or a rematch.
- Remind players that the 1x1 starter base is capped at 5 per wipe, which shapes the first evening.
- Restart the server on wipe day after the fresh map is loaded, then join and check it yourself.
Admins, Rules and Plugins
Decide who your admins are before launch and give them rights on day one, so nobody is waiting for you when a rule-breaker appears. Write the server rules down in one place: raid times if you set them, whether offline raiding is allowed, how exploits are treated, and what happens to bases built against the rules.
Bankroll does not publish an official mod API, but Hurtworld servers have long used community plugin loaders such as Oxide, now part of uMod, for things like kits, teleports and admin tools. The uMod site did not load for our automated check, so check that the loader and each plugin support 1.0.1.0 before you upload them. Install over SFTP, snapshot first and read the log after the restart.
Backups and Restores
Hurtworld maps take a lot of effort to grow and very little to ruin. The Backup Manager takes a snapshot on request, Scheduled Tasks can take one automatically before the nightly restart, and offsite copies cover the last 7 days. Restoring a snapshot puts the whole map back as it was.
Use snapshots for three moments in particular: before a wipe, before installing or updating a plugin, and before you change settings you are unsure of. If something breaks after any of those, restore, restart and tell the server what happened.
What to Compare Before You Rent a Hurtworld Server
Hurtworld hosts sell the same game. The difference shows up in the last week of a wipe.
- Price per slot, with memoryPer-slot pricing hides the memory question. Ask what RAM comes with your slot count.
- Console accessYou will run commands often. A web console saves joining the game to do it.
- Launch line controlenforceeac has to run at start-up, so you need to be able to edit the launch commands yourself.
- Snapshots before wipesCheck you can take and restore snapshots yourself, without a ticket.
- File accessPlugins and configs need SFTP or a file manager.
- Ping where your players areTest from your own PC; vehicle fights and gunplay feel lag first.
- Contract lengthLook for monthly billing with no setup fee, and check what the longer terms really save.
Hurtworld Server Glossary
- Wipe
- Starting the map afresh, removing every base and item, usually on a schedule.
- Mozzy
- Hurtworld's helicopter, countered by the Talon rocket launcher.
- Roach
- One of the game's vehicles; the Roach Asylum body kit is a rare armour kit for it.
- Talon
- A rocket launcher added at 1.0, mainly for anti-air use.
- Claimed cell
- Land you own; the cheap construction hammer only builds inside it.
- 1x1 base
- A one-click starter base, limited to 5 per wipe.
- EOS anti-cheat
- Epic Online Services anti-cheat, which replaced Easy Anti-Cheat in 1.0.1.0.
- enforceeac
- The start-up command that turns anti-cheat on or off.
- Slots
- How many players can be on the server at once.
Hurtworld Server Help and Next Steps
Where to go next as a Hurtworld admin.
How this guide was made: researched from Hurtworld's Steam store page and Bankroll Studios' patch notes on Steam, drafted with AI assistance, checked against our live order form for plans, add-ons and locations, and reviewed by Matthew Griffin before publishing. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
