Satisfactory: Claiming Your Server, Admin and Settings

The server is managed from the game

The Satisfactory server has no interface of its own. Everything happens in the Server Manager inside the game - claiming, settings, saves and backups. You use the control panel to start and stop the server and for file access.

The first time the server starts it is unclaimed. The first person to connect gets in without a password and is allowed to take it over. That is why you should claim it straight away.

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Step 1 - Claim the server

1. Launch Satisfactory on your own computer.
2. Go to Server Manager in the main menu and add the server by address and port - the default port is 7777.
3. Give the server a name.
4. Set an Administrator Password.

Once the admin password is set, the server is claimed and no longer lets anyone log in without a password.

If you lose the admin password, the only way back is to stop the server and delete the file ServerSettings.<PORT>.sav - so ServerSettings.7777.sav, for example. The server becomes unclaimed again, and your saves are untouched.

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The two passwords

	Administrator Password	Player password
Set	At claim time, mandatory	Optional, any time afterwards
Default	None until the server is claimed	Not enabled
Grants	Everything: create and load games, upload and download saves, all settings, restart, Creative Mode	Only the right to join and play

If you do not set a player password, anyone who can reach the port can join your server. Changing the player password logs out every existing client, who then have to enter the new one.

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Step 2 - Open the right ports

Port	Protocol	Used for
7777	UDP and TCP	Game traffic and the server API
8888	TCP	Reliable messaging

Do not open 15000 and 15777. They were removed in Update 1.0 but still appear in many older guides. Port 7777 cannot be remapped externally - the internal and external port numbers have to match.

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Step 3 - Start a game or upload your own save

In Server Manager you can either create a new game or bring your existing world up:

1. Go to Manage Saves.
2. Choose Upload Save and pick your .sav file.
3. Load it so it becomes the active session.

The same place lets you download a save from the server to your own computer. That is the easiest backup method, and it needs no file access.

On disk, the server's saves live under:

~/.config/Epic/FactoryGame/Saved/SaveGames/server/

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Settings: three different places

This confuses a lot of people, so here is the split:

1. The Server Settings tab in-game - server name, passwords, autosave interval, restart time and network quality. Stored in ServerSettings.<PORT>.sav, a binary file you cannot edit by hand.

2. The .ini files in the server's installation directory (not the save folder):

FactoryGame/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/

File	Section	Key	Default
Game.ini	[/Script/Engine.GameSession]	MaxPlayers	4
Engine.ini	[/Script/FactoryGame.FGSaveSession]	mNumRotatingAutosaves	3
Engine.ini	[URL]	Port	7777

Always edit the ini files while the server is stopped. The server writes them back on a graceful shutdown, so changes made while running are overwritten.

3. Console values such as FG.AutosaveInterval and FG.NetworkQuality.

There is no ServerSettings.ini. Guides telling you to edit a file by that name are wrong.

And watch the unit: the autosave interval is shown in minutes in-game, while FG.AutosaveInterval is given in seconds (default 300).

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Creative Mode - read before enabling

What used to be called Advanced Game Settings is called Creative Mode as of Update 1.2. It unlocks No Build Cost, Flight Mode, No Power, Keep Inventory, God Mode, Unlock All Tiers and several others.

Enabling Creative Mode disables achievements - and it cannot be turned off again. That applies to that save, permanently.

Download a copy of your save before experimenting. Then you still have a version with achievements intact.

Note also that once an admin enables it, every player on the server has access to the settings - not just you.

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Autosaves and backup

• Autosaves land in the same place as your normal saves
• Three rotating autosaves are kept by default, controlled by mNumRotatingAutosaves in Engine.ini
• The interval is set in the Server Settings tab, or with FG.AutosaveInterval in seconds

The server does not save on shutdown. Stop it between two autosaves and you lose everything since the last one. Take a manual save from in-game before restarting or updating.

For real backups: use Manage Saves → Download in Server Manager, or pull the whole save folder down over file access.

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Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
Network Error: Encryption token missing	The player used Join Game instead of Server Manager	Add the server in Server Manager and join from there
Certificate is not yet valid	The clock on the client or server is wrong	Fix the time. If the server clock was wrong at first boot: stop the server and delete ServerSettings.<PORT>.sav
The server cannot be added	Ports not open, or the server is not running	Check that 7777 UDP+TCP and 8888 TCP are open
The server does not ask to be claimed	It is already claimed	Delete ServerSettings.<PORT>.sav to reset it
Version mismatch between client and server	The client updated before the server, or you are on different branches	Update the server, and make sure you are both on stable or both on experimental
My ini changes disappeared	The server was running when you saved	Stop, edit, start
The autosave interval looks wrong	Minutes in-game, seconds in FG.AutosaveInterval	Convert it
Achievements are gone	Creative Mode was enabled	It cannot be undone - use an earlier save
Progress lost after a restart	The server does not save on shutdown	Save manually before restarting

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Good advice

• Claim the server immediately after its first start. An unclaimed server can be taken over by whoever connects first.
• Set a player password if the server is not meant to be open to everyone.
• Download a save before every game update - branches change, and experimental saves cannot always be loaded on stable.
• Pick one branch and stay on it. There is no cross-branch compatibility.
• Save manually before restarting the server.

Can your server not be added in Server Manager? Send us the error message in a ticket - most of them point at something very specific.