Outlaws of the Old West Server Hosting

Why Run a Private Outlaws of the Old West Server

Outlaws of the Old West is a survival game set on a large Wild West map, where you hunt, farm, fish and mine, build a cabin or ranch wherever you can walk, tame horses and haul goods by wagon. All of that takes time, and time invested in a world only pays off if the world is still there next week, under rules the group is happy with.

A rented server gives the group that certainty. It stays up when nobody is playing, the admin list and ban list are yours, and you decide whether the map is a lawless PvP frontier, a peaceful PvE homestead or a roleplay town with a sheriff and a saloon.

• Friends and families: a quiet PvE ranch without strangers burning it down.
• Roleplay groups: an RP server where buildings can stand close together, so a main street is possible.
• PvP gangs: a contested map with raiding, bounties and a ban list your own admins enforce.

Where Outlaws of the Old West Stands in 2026

The game is developed by Virtual Basement LLC and published by Wandering Wizard. It launched in Steam Early Access on 12 March 2019 and is still listed as Early Access. Patches arrived often through 2019 and into 2020; the latest patch notes from the developers on Steam are for 1.3.2 on 3 June 2020, and their last Steam announcement, in October 2020, covered an official server wipe.

• 1.2.7, August 2019: Single Player no longer needs a local dedicated server; PvE raiding fixed.
• 1.2.9, October 2019: the Bigfoot hunt in the alpine and mountain biomes.
• 1.2.12, February 2020: a large code overhaul, with a wipe recommended for private servers.
• 1.3, 7 April 2020: BattlEye anti-cheat, prefab buildings removed except the train station.
• 1.3.2, 3 June 2020: a round of fixes and the newest notes on Steam.

PvP, PvE or RP: Choosing a Server Type

Outlaws servers run as one of three game types, and the developers' patch notes show they behave differently in ways that matter once players start building.

Choose before the first big build. Switching an established world from PvE to PvP exposes everything players built under safer rules, so communities often pair a change of type with a fresh start. Our support team can change the game type for you on a ticket.

Slots, the 144 km² Map and Memory

The Steam store page describes a launch play area of 144 km², split into biomes with changing weather and a day and night cycle in which nocturnal wildlife comes out and temperatures fall. Survival means watching hunger, thirst and temperature, while predators, bandits and other players add danger.

The developers have not published a player cap or hardware guidance for the dedicated server, so our plans are sized around how groups tend to play: 10 slots with 5GB for a posse, 20 with 8GB for a small settlement, 40 with 12GB for a public map and 60 with 16GB for a large community. The order form goes up to 100 slots for anyone who needs more room.

• On a big map, more players mostly means more building, more tamed animals and more wagons, and that is what memory goes on.
• If restarts slow down or the server log complains as the world fills, step up one memory tier.
• Upgrades keep the save and all settings, so starting small costs nothing later.

Admins and Bans: AdminList.txt and BanList.txt

Outlaws keeps its staff and its banned players in two plain text files, both reachable from the configuration files list in our panel.

1. Look up the admin's Steam64ID from their Steam profile, for example with steamid.io.
2. Open AdminList.txt and add the Steam64ID on a new line.
3. Restart the server so the list is read again.
4. In game, press SHIFT + ~ to open the console at the bottom of the screen.
5. Type ActivateAdmin and press Enter. The Admin window now sits in the ESC menu, with options to add admins, kick and ban.

Bans work the same way in reverse: add or remove Steam64IDs in BanList.txt, one per line. Two console commands save you a restart when you edit either file: RefreshAdminTextList and RefreshBanTextList reload them on the spot.

Admin Console Commands Worth Knowing

Once admin is active, the console opened with SHIFT + ~ accepts commands. They are not case sensitive. These are the ones our knowledge base documents for Outlaws servers.

Used with restraint, these turn an admin into a game master: set up a gold rush event, hand out horses to new settlers, clear a griefer's eyesore or bring a lost player back to town. On a PvP server, publish your rules on admin item spawns so nobody suspects favouritism.

Building, Horses and Trade on a Private Frontier

According to the store page, the building system is modular, with support structures and free rotation, so players can put up anything from a hunting cabin to a full ranch. Horses and other animals can be tamed, wagons carry goods, and players trade directly or through an Auction House. Weapons run from melee and slingshots to long guns and explosives.

The game also tracks morality. Lawless behaviour can make a player wanted by NPC bounty hunters, and other players can claim bounties on outlaws. On a community server that system is a gift to roleplay: a sheriff's office, wanted posters in the saloon, and a reason for honest settlers and outlaws to keep crossing paths.

• PvE ranches: focus on farming, taming and trade, with the Auction House as the town's heart.
• RP towns: use the tight building rules for a main street, and let bounties drive the story.
• PvP maps: agree on raid rules early and keep the ban list fair and public.

Backups, Wipes and Restoring Progress

Every server keeps offsite backups for the last 7 days. Our knowledge base covers both directions: downloading a backup to keep your own copy, and restoring progress from one when something has gone wrong, such as a raid exploit, an accidental demolition or a file edited in the wrong place.

• Download a backup before any big change, such as a switch of game type.
• Schedule a nightly restart; it keeps a long-running world responsive.
• Announce wipes well ahead, and keep the last backup in case the community changes its mind.

Wipes on Outlaws have a history: the developers wiped their official servers several times, including for BattlEye in April 2020, and suggested private servers follow. On today's settled build there is no technical need to wipe, so a fresh start is purely a community decision.

What to Check Before Renting an Outlaws Server

A few details decide how easy a server is to live with once your town is built.

1. Access to the admin filesYou should be able to edit AdminList.txt and BanList.txt yourself, at any hour.
2. Choice of server typeMake sure PvP, PvE or RP can be set, and changed later with help if needed.
3. Backups you can restoreSeveral days of copies, ideally stored offsite, matter more on a game where building takes weeks.
4. Sensible slot sizesPlans for small posses as well as larger communities, with room to grow.
5. Location and pingTest from where your players are before you commit.
6. Support hoursProblems tend to show up on weekend evenings; check that help is available then.
7. Billing termsCompare monthly against longer terms, and look for setup fees or minimum contracts.

Outlaws of the Old West Server Glossary

PvP server

A server where players can fight, open each other's storage and destroy buildings.

PvE server

A server where raiding is off and other players' animals are protected unless you share a guild.

RP server

A roleplay server type that lets players build close together.

Steam64ID

The 17 digit Steam account number used in AdminList.txt and BanList.txt.

AdminList.txt

The file that lists which players can become admins.

BanList.txt

The file that lists banned players, one per line.

ActivateAdmin

The console command that turns admin on and adds the Admin window to the ESC menu.

BattlEye

The anti-cheat system added to the game in patch 1.3.

Bounty

A reward on a wanted player, hunted by NPC bounty hunters and claimable by other players.

Wipe

Resetting the world to a fresh map, removing all builds and progress.

Outlaws of the Old West Server Help

Official pages and our own step-by-step guides.

• Outlaws of the Old West on SteamThe official store page and the developers' patch notes.
• Adding admins to your Outlaws serverAdminList.txt, ActivateAdmin, console commands and bans.
• Downloading your server backups
• Restoring your server progress
• Gaming Deluxe control panelLogging in and finding your way around.
• Our locationsEvery site with a ping test.
• Contact support24/7 help with admins, backups and settings.