The complete guide · 4 min read
TerraTech Worlds Server Hosting: The Complete Guide
How to run a TerraTech Worlds dedicated server for your crew: what the game is, why a server beats hosting from a PC, picking a size and a planet, configuration, saves, Early Access updates and the habits that keep a long factory build safe.
By Matthew Griffin, Owner, Gaming DeluxePublished · Updated
In this guide
- TerraTech Worlds at a Glance
- Why a Dedicated Server Beats Hosting From Your PC
- Choosing a Size and Memory
- Choosing a Planet: Nibiru, Phaeton and Tyr
- Configuring the Server and Moving Saves
- Living With Early Access Updates
- Habits That Keep a Long Build Safe
- What to Compare Before You Rent a TerraTech Worlds Server
- TerraTech Worlds Server Glossary
- TerraTech Worlds Server Help and Next Steps
TerraTech Worlds at a Glance
TerraTech Worlds is an open-world build-craft adventure from Payload Studios, the team behind TerraTech. You land on an alien planet as a Prospector, design Techs, vehicles built block by block for mining, hauling or combat, and grow a base into automated production lines that refine minerals and keep you stocked with ammunition. Terraforming tools let you reshape the ground, from flattening a racetrack to raising walls for defence.
The planet itself is the draw: 300km² with no loading screens, a day and night cycle, weather, dangerous plants, hostile enemy factions and bases to raid. It is playable solo, but it is at its best in co-op, where one player mines, another designs combat Techs and someone else keeps the factory fed.
Why a Dedicated Server Beats Hosting From Your PC
In listen-server co-op the world only exists while the host plays. A dedicated server removes that problem: the planet is always reachable, crewmates can join at different times, and the host is not running the simulation and the game on the same machine, which matters in a game that asks for 16GB of RAM just to play.
- Always reachable: the factory is there whenever anyone logs in.
- Fair performance: nobody gets a host advantage or carries the load.
- Safe saves: offsite copies instead of one person's hard drive.
- Planet choice: dedicated servers can now be set to a specific planet.
Choosing a Size and Memory
The order form offers three sizes, and the choice is simply how many people are in your crew. Memory is the bigger question over time: a planet with a handful of Techs is light, while a sprawling automated base with conveyors, fabricators and generators keeps a lot in RAM.
| Crew | Plan | Memory on that plan |
|---|---|---|
| Two or three friends | 4 Slots | 5GB |
| A full squad | 6 Slots | 8GB |
| Large crew, big factories | 8 Slots | 12GB |
If the server starts to stutter once the base is huge, move up a memory tier from the client area. The save is untouched, and the server comes back with more headroom.
Choosing a Planet: Nibiru, Phaeton and Tyr
For most of Early Access, Nibiru was the only world. Update 0.7 on 25 February 2026 added Phaeton, a planet with more land and less sea and more freeform progression, unlocked after the Nibiru tutorial. Update 0.8 on 29 April 2026 added Tyr, a water world of small islands where bridges link the close ones and seafaring Techs reach the rest.
| Planet | Added | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Nibiru | Start here | The tutorial planet, with Woodlands, acidic Swamps and the snowy Arctic. |
| Phaeton | Update 0.7 | More land, freer progression, no onboarding. |
| Tyr | Update 0.8 | Archipelagos and open sea; build boats. |
Payload added dedicated server support for planet selection in the 0.7 unstable builds, so the server can be told which planet to run. New crews usually start on Nibiru; groups who already know the game often go straight to Phaeton or Tyr.
Configuring the Server and Moving Saves
TerraTech Worlds dedicated servers take their settings from a config file, which you edit in the panel's File Manager. Payload's own patch notes mention fixes to that file, so after a big update it is worth opening it to check nothing has changed name.
- Stop the server and open its config file.
- Set the server name and a password for your crew.
- Choose the planet you want to run.
- To bring a world, upload its save over SFTP to the server's save folder.
- Start the server and watch the console as the planet loads.
Living With Early Access Updates
Payload releases features to an unstable branch first, publishes patch notes for each unstable build, then ships a stable update with hotfixes. Dedicated servers have been part of those notes throughout: crash fixes when players join, when traders reset and when Fragmenters were used, and support for crash reports on dedicated servers from March 2024.
For a crew that means two simple habits. Keep the server on the stable branch unless everyone moves to unstable together, and take a snapshot before each update. If the new build breaks something, restore the snapshot and open a ticket so our support team can look at it with you. Payload's July 2026 development update previewed new weapons, tank tracks and booster blocks, so more changes are on the way.
Habits That Keep a Long Build Safe
Give each crewmate a role and keep the server password to the crew. Share Tech Snapshots on the Steam Workshop so everyone builds from the same designs. Set a nightly restart for when nobody is playing, which keeps memory tidy on a long-running factory planet.
Snapshots before risky experiments and the offsite backups we keep for the last 7 days mean an accident, an angry enemy base or a bad patch never wipes out weeks of work. If you move from another host, upload your save and config, start the server and the planet carries on.
What to Compare Before You Rent a TerraTech Worlds Server
Worth checking with any host.
- Memory per planA big factory needs more RAM than a fresh landing.
- Save accessYou should be able to upload and download your planet.
- Update helpAsk how the host handles a new Early Access build.
- Backups before patchesEarly Access needs a way back.
- PingTest from your PC before you buy.
- Fair termsLook for setup fees and minimum contracts.
TerraTech Worlds Server Glossary
- Prospector
- The player character, sent to claim and develop the planet.
- Tech
- Any vehicle or machine built from blocks.
- Tech Snapshot
- A saved Tech design that can be shared on the Steam Workshop.
- Bastion S.E.E.D.
- A key location you can fast travel to once discovered.
- Unstable branch
- The opt-in Steam build where new features are tested first.
- Payload Studios
- The developer of TerraTech and TerraTech Worlds.
- Classic mode
- A game mode added in Update 0.6.2.
TerraTech Worlds Server Help and Next Steps
Places to go next.
How this guide was made: researched from TerraTech Worlds' Steam store page and Payload Studios' patch notes and dev diaries on Steam, drafted with AI assistance, checked against our live order form for every plan, price and location, and reviewed by Matthew Griffin before publishing. Payload publishes no player limit or memory figure for dedicated servers, so plan sizes follow our order form and the memory steps are our own advice. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
Sources, checked 23 October 2026:
- TerraTech Worlds on Steam (Payload Studios, published by Mythwright; Early Access 22 March 2024; Windows; online co-op; Workshop; 300km² planet; 16GB RAM minimum)
- Payload Studios, Frequently Asked Questions: March Edition (8 March 2024, Workshop Tech Snapshots) and Important Update Patch Notes (27 March 2024, dedicated server crash reports)
- Payload Studios, Dev Diary: Payload & TerraTech Worlds Status Update (23 May 2025, Mythwright partnership, commitment to 1.0)
- Payload Studios, Update 0.6.2 Classic mode (14 April 2025) and 0.7-unstable.2 and .3 (February 2026, dedicated server planet selection, any save in an empty slot)
- Payload Studios, Patch Notes for Update 0.7 (25 February 2026, Phaeton) and Update 0.8 (29 April 2026, Tyr); Development Update (16 July 2026)
- Gaming Deluxe order form, TerraTech Worlds Dedicated Server (4, 6 and 8 slots)