Unturned server: Server Code, GSLT and admins

An Unturned server on Torchlite has no address you need to hand out. Players join with a Server Code, a number the server gets from Steam, and Steam carries the connection. This guide covers joining with the code, the optional GSLT that keeps the code from changing, the files that hold your settings, and how to make yourself admin.

Join with the Server Code

Start the server and watch the Console. Unturned first updates itself, then loads the map, and the panel shows the server as running once the console reports Loading level: 100%. Right after loading, the console prints the Server Code: a 17-digit number.

To join, a player opens the game's Connect Directly menu, as Unturned's documentation calls it, pastes the code and connects. If you set a Server Password, they type that too. Players who are already on the server can copy the code from the game and pass it on.

A few things are different from joining by IP:

• Nobody needs the server's IP or port, and no ports have to be opened anywhere.
• The connection goes through Steam's relay network, which hides the server's IP and the players' IPs from each other.
• Joining by code skips the screen with server details that you see before joining from the server list.

The catch is that, without a GSLT, the code is different every time the server starts. On a free server that stops whenever a renewal is missed, that means sending your friends a new code almost every session.

What a GSLT is

A GSLT, short for Game Server Login Token, is a token from Steam that lets a server log in to Steam under your account instead of anonymously. It is free and optional; the server runs fine without one. According to Unturned's documentation, a token gives you two things:

• A Server Code that stays the same. The code is tied to the token, so the one you gave your friends keeps working after every restart.
• A place in the Internet server list. Servers without a token count as anonymous and are hidden from it.

If your group only ever joins by code and you do not mind sharing a new one each time, you can skip this part.

Get a GSLT from Steam

Tokens come from Steam's game server account management page. Sign in with your Steam account, then:

1. Enter App ID 304930. That is the ID of Unturned itself, not of the dedicated server, and it is the one tokens are made for.
2. Add a memo such as "Torchlite Unturned", so you can tell your tokens apart later.
3. Create the token and copy the long string it gives you.

Steam has a few requirements for accounts that create tokens, and the page explains them if yours does not qualify. Use one token per server, and treat it like a password: anyone who has it can run a server under your account.

In the panel, open Startup, paste the token into GSLT and restart the server. The new Server Code in the console is the one that stays. If you ever delete or regenerate the token on Steam's page, paste the new one into GSLT as well.

Where the settings live

The Startup page holds the settings the egg passes to the server on its command line: Server Name, Server Password, GSLT and Auto update. Change those there rather than in the files, so the two never disagree. The port is set by the panel too.

Everything else lives in the server's own folder, Servers/PterodactylUnturned, which the server creates on its first start. Open it in Files:

• Server/Commands.dat holds the basic settings, one command per line. Lines starting with // are comments.
• Config.txt holds gameplay settings. Servers created before Unturned 3.25.8.0 had a Config.json instead, which the server converts on startup.
• The egg also loads RocketMod, which Unturned ships in its Extras folder. Rocket keeps its own configs and plugins under Servers/PterodactylUnturned/Rocket.

A small Commands.dat might look like this:

// One command per line
Map PEI
MaxPlayers 16
Perspective Both
PvE
Owner 76561198000000000

Map picks the map, MaxPlayers caps the player count, Perspective accepts First, Third, Both or Vehicle, and PvE turns off player-versus-player damage. Stop the server before editing, save, then start it again, since the file is read at startup.

Auto update is on (1) by default, so every start runs SteamCMD and updates Unturned before the server launches. After a game patch, that start takes a little longer. Leave it on: players' games update automatically through Steam, and a server on an older version cannot take them in.

Make yourself an admin

Unturned identifies admins by their SteamID64, a 17-digit number that starts with 7656119. Steam shows yours on your account details page. Your display name or custom profile URL will not work.

There are two simple ways to make someone admin:

1. Put an Owner line with your SteamID64 in Commands.dat, as in the example above. This is the surest way to make sure you are always admin.
2. Type admin followed by a player's SteamID64 in the panel Console while the server runs. The server keeps its admin list in Server/Adminlist.dat, so these stay admins after a restart.

Admins can then run commands from the in-game chat by starting them with / or @. Commands that hand out items or vehicles also need the Cheats command in Commands.dat.

Starting the server also begins a renewal period, so keep the panel open while you play and admin, as the renewal guide explains.

Common problems

There is no Server Code in the console

The server has not finished loading. The update and map load can take a few minutes on the first start. Wait for Loading level: 100%; the code follows right after.

Yesterday's code does not work today

Without a GSLT, the code changes on every start. Copy the new one from the console, or add a token so it stays the same.

Players cannot find the server in the server list

Without a token, the server is anonymous and hidden from the Internet list. Joining by code works either way.

The server ignores my GSLT

Check that the token was created for App ID 304930 and pasted without spaces. A token that was deleted or regenerated on Steam's page stops working, so paste the current one.

My changes to Commands.dat do nothing

Make sure you edited Servers/PterodactylUnturned/Server/Commands.dat while the server was stopped. Remember that the name and password always come from Startup.

Admin commands do nothing

Check that you used the SteamID64, not your name or profile URL. Spawning items or vehicles also needs Cheats in Commands.dat, followed by a restart.