Don't Starve Together server: cluster token, admins and mods

A Don't Starve Together server will not run without a cluster token: a long string from your Klei account that tells Klei's servers who owns this world. Torchlite cannot make one for you, so this is the first thing to sort out after creating the server. This guide covers the token, the settings on the Startup page, what running without caves means, and how to add admins and mods.

Where the token comes from

The token is tied to the Klei account you play with. If you play on Steam, that is the Klei account linked to your Steam profile.

1. Open the Klei account page for game servers: https://accounts.klei.com/account/game/servers?game=DontStarveTogether. The panel shows the same link under Server Token on Startup.
2. Sign in with your Klei account.
3. Add a new server and give it a name you will recognise, for example "Torchlite".
4. Copy the token Klei shows you. It is one long line; copy all of it.

Treat the token like a password. Anyone who has it can run a server under your account, so do not paste it in Discord or in screenshots. If it leaks, delete it on the same Klei page and make a new one.

Put the token where the server reads it

When you created the server on torchlite.host, the website asked for a Server Token. If you pasted it there, you are done: start the server and skip to the next section.

If you left it empty, the website filled in the placeholder changeme so the server could be built. Until you replace it, the server stops right after you press Start, and the console says it needs your Klei cluster token. To add it:

1. Open Startup in the panel.
2. Paste your token into Server Token, the whole line, with no spaces before or after it. The field saves on its own.
3. Start the server and watch the console.

On every start the server copies Server Token into DoNotStarveTogether/config/server/cluster_token.txt, the file the game reads. You do not need to edit that file. If you do edit it by hand, put the same token on Startup too, because a token on Startup overwrites the file at the next start.

When the panel shows the server as running and the console goes quiet, the world is up and waiting for players. If the console keeps complaining about the token, see the problems section at the end.

The other Startup settings

Everything else you are likely to change is on Startup. The panel writes these values into DoNotStarveTogether/config/server/cluster.ini every time the server starts, so change them on Startup, not in the file, or your edit will be overwritten.

Other settings in cluster.ini are yours to edit, because the panel leaves them alone. The file the server starts with has PvP off (pvp = false), pauses the world when nobody is online (pause_when_empty = true) and has no password. To keep strangers out, set cluster_password in the [NETWORK] section, then restart.

Surface only: what that means

A Don't Starve Together world is made of shards. The surface is one shard and the caves are a second one, a separate server process with its own memory and its own save. On Torchlite only the surface runs. The startup command launches a single shard, -shard Master, and the panel sets shard_enabled = false in cluster.ini on every start.

For players this means there is no underground. Nobody can go down into the caves, and anything that only exists below ground, such as the Ruins and their Thulecite, is out of reach. Everything on the surface works normally, including the seasons and the surface bosses.

You cannot turn the caves on by editing files. The panel rewrites the shard setting at each start and only ever launches one shard. The install still creates a Caves folder with its own server.ini, but nothing uses it. If you bring a world from a server that had caves, only the surface part of it runs here.

Make yourself admin

Admins are listed by Klei user ID in DoNotStarveTogether/config/server/adminlist.txt. The file may not exist yet; create it in Files if it is missing.

Put one ID per line. A Klei user ID starts with KU_, for example KU_ab12Cd34. It is not your Steam name or your in-game name. You can find yours on your Klei account page. Another way: join the server, then type this in the panel console:

c_listplayers()

The console lists everyone online together with their KU_ ID. Copy yours into adminlist.txt, save, and restart the server. Admins can kick and ban from the in-game player list, and can use the in-game console on the server.

The panel console takes the same Lua commands as the in-game console. A few useful ones are c_save() to save now, c_announce("Restart in 5 minutes") to message everyone, and c_rollback(1) to go back one save. The Stop button sends c_shutdown(), which saves before closing, so stopping from the panel does not lose progress.

Add Workshop mods

Mods take two files: one tells the server what to download, the other turns each mod on for the world.

First, open mods/dedicated_server_mods_setup.lua in the server's main folder and add a line for each mod, using its Workshop ID. The ID is the number at the end of the mod's Steam Workshop address, after ?id=.

ServerModSetup("123456789")
ServerModSetup("987654321")

Second, create DoNotStarveTogether/config/server/Master/modoverrides.lua and enable the same mods there, each with a workshop- prefix:

return {
  ["workshop-123456789"] = { enabled = true },
  ["workshop-987654321"] = { enabled = true },
}

Restart the server. It downloads the mods during startup, so the first boot with new mods takes longer. Players do not need to install anything by hand: mods that every client needs are downloaded automatically when they join.

Keep a copy of your dedicated_server_mods_setup.lua on your own computer. The file ships with the game, so a game update or a reinstall can put the empty version back. If your mods vanish after an update, paste your list in again.

Common problems

The console complains about the token

If the server stops at once with a message asking for your cluster token, Server Token on Startup is still empty or changeme. If it starts but Klei rejects the token, the token was cut short or deleted on Klei's site: copy it again, or make a new one. Either way, follow the steps in the token section above and make sure the whole token is on one line, with no spaces before or after it.

Players see a version mismatch, or the server is missing from the list after a game update

Auto-update server is 0 by default, so the server keeps the version it was installed with. When Klei releases an update, players on the new version cannot join an old server. Set Auto-update server to 1 on Startup and restart, and the server updates itself on each start.

Players cannot find the server in the browser

Search for the exact Cluster Name, and check that the server finished starting. If the browser still shows nothing, a player can connect directly by opening the in-game console and typing c_connect("address", port), with the address and port shown in the panel.

Admin commands do not work for me

Check that you used the KU_ ID, not a name, that adminlist.txt is in DoNotStarveTogether/config/server/ and not in Master, and that you restarted after saving. The list is only read when the server starts.

Mods do not load

Both files must list the mod: the setup file with the bare ID in quotes, and modoverrides.lua with the workshop- prefix. Read the console during startup; a mod that failed to download or crashed is named there.

The server stopped by itself

Free servers need renewing while they run. Keep the panel open while you play and press Renew when it asks; the renewal guide explains the timer.