Skip to main content

Unturned

This guide walks you through the process of deploying, managing, and connecting to an Unturned Dedicated Server using FluxCloud. Whether you're building a small survival camp with friends or running a large PvP community with custom maps and workshop mods, this page provides step-by-step instructions and key details for a seamless experience.

The FluxCloud Unturned template is built on the ich777/steamcmd:unturned image, which bundles SteamCMD and keeps the Unturned Dedicated Server (Steam app 1110390) up to date on every restart.

For more information on Unturned visit: https://smartlydressedgames.com. For server documentation, see: https://docs.smartlydressedgames.com/en/latest/servers/server-hosting.html. For the container image, see: https://github.com/ich777/docker-steamcmd-server.

How To Install an Unturned Server​

Steps​

  1. Access FluxCloud
  1. Find the Unturned Server
  • Navigate to the Marketplace → Games tab, then locate the Unturned tile and click View Details.
  1. Select Server Configuration
  • Choose your preferred configuration based on expected player count:
    • 12 Slots — 2GB RAM, 1 CPU core, 8GB SSD. Ideal for small groups of friends running the default PEI map.
    • 24 Slots — 3GB RAM, 2 CPU cores, 10GB SSD. Balanced for medium-sized communities on larger maps like Washington or Russia.
    • 32 Slots — 4GB RAM, 2.5 CPU cores, 10GB SSD. Recommended for large communities, PvP servers, and workshop-heavy setups with custom maps and mods.
  • Click Install Now to continue.
  1. Choose Subscription
  • Select your desired subscription duration.
  • Agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy, and click the blue Continue arrow at the bottom.
  1. Deployment Location
  • Configure whether you want your Unturned server to deploy in specific geographic regions:
    • Global (Recommended): No geographic restrictions for best availability.
    • Custom: Restrict by continent or country.
  • Click the blue Continue arrow to proceed.
  1. Email Notifications
  • Optionally enter your email address to receive notifications about your game server, including:
    • When your application finishes launching.
    • When the primary server changes.
    • When your app expiration date is approaching.
  1. Launching the Application
  • Your application must be signed and registered on the Flux network.
    1. Click Sign and Register.
    2. Sign the message using the pop-up.
      • If you logged in via Google or Email, this step is completed automatically.
  1. Complete Payment
  • Choose your payment method:
    • Fiat: Stripe or PayPal
    • Crypto: FLUX coin (5% discount)
  • Payment is monitored automatically. Once confirmed, your application will be deployed, and a blue Manage button will appear—directing you to your application's management panel.

⚠️ Important: FLUX Payments

FLUX payments are only accepted via the FLUX Mainnet, not through any of our EVM tokens.

We ALSO strongly recommend not sending FLUX payments from exchanges, as:

  • Transactions or withdrawals may not complete within the required 30-minute window.
  • Many exchanges do not support adding a MEMO, which is required for proper payment processing.

First Launch — Allow Time for the Server to Download​

When your Unturned server starts for the very first time, the container uses SteamCMD to download the full Unturned Dedicated Server before the game port is opened. This is normal and only happens on the first boot.

  • Expect the initial download and validation to take 5–15 minutes depending on node bandwidth and disk speed.
  • During this time the server will not accept player connections and will not appear in the in-game server browser.
  • You can follow progress from Applications → Management → Logs in FluxCloud. Once you see Loading level / Server startup complete in the log, the server is ready.
  • Subsequent restarts are fast — the binaries are persisted on the volume and only patched when Smartly Dressed Games releases an update (SteamCMD VALIDATE=true is enabled, so files are verified on every boot).

Finding the IP of Your Game Server​

Flux runs on a decentralized network, meaning your application is deployed across three instances.
For game servers, a Primary/Standby setup is used — your game runs on the primary instance, while others are on standby for redundancy.

To find your server's primary IP address:

  1. Visit cloud.runonflux.com and log in.
  2. Go to Applications → Management.
  3. Click the Settings icon on your Unturned Server.
  4. Open the Instances tab.
    • The Primary IP address is shown here.
    • You can also view geolocation details for all instances.

To connect to your server from the Unturned client:

  1. Launch Unturned and click Play → Connect.

  2. Enter your Primary IP address and the game port — for example:

    IP:   1.2.3.4
    Port: 27015

  3. Enter the server password if one has been configured (see below), then click Connect.

  4. Alternatively, add the server to your favourites from the Servers browser using the same IP and port.

💡 Tip: Unturned uses UDP port 27015 for gameplay traffic and UDP 27016 for the Steam query port. Both are exposed by the FluxCloud template automatically.

Connecting via Domain Instead of IP​

Every FluxCloud Marketplace game server is also reachable through its application domain. Flux's load balancer forwards UDP traffic over DNS and is already configured with the correct game port, so you keep a stable address even when the primary instance changes due to failover.

  • Find your app domain under Applications → Management → Information.

  • Use it in the Unturned client in place of the IP address. The game port is already baked into the domain's DNS routing, so you do not need to append :27015:

    your-app-domain.app.runonflux.io

Using the domain means you never have to update your saved server entry when the primary switches.

Adjusting Server Settings (Commands.dat)​

Unturned's primary server configuration lives in Commands.dat, a plain-text file on the persistent volume. Each line is a startup command that is executed when the server boots — this is how you set the server name, password, map, player cap, game mode, perspective, and more.

Settings are edited through the Volume Browser:

  1. Go to Applications → Management on cloud.runonflux.com and select your Unturned app.

  2. Click the Settings icon, open the Secure Shell tab and scroll to Volume Browser.

  3. Open (or create) the server commands file:

    /serverdata/serverfiles/Servers/Default/Server/Commands.dat

  4. Common commands you may want to add (one per line):

    Name My Flux Unturned Server
    Password mySecretPassword
    Welcome Welcome to my Flux-hosted Unturned server!
    Map PEI
    MaxPlayers 24
    Mode Normal
    PvP
    Perspective Both
    Cheats off
    Save 1200

  5. Save your changes, then open the Control tab, select Local, and click Restart Application so the new settings take effect.

Useful command reference:

CommandPurpose
Name <text>Server name shown in the browser
Password <text>Password required to join (remove the line to make the server public)
Map <name>Starting map (PEI, Washington, Yukon, Russia, Germany, Hawaii, Arid, Kuwait, or a workshop map)
MaxPlayers <n>Concurrent player cap (match your plan's slot count)
Mode <Easy|Normal|Hard>Overall difficulty
PvP / PvECombat mode
Perspective <First|Third|Both|Vehicle>Allowed camera perspectives
Welcome <text>Message of the day shown on join
GoldRestrict the server to players who own the Gold Upgrade
Cheats <on|off>Enable or disable cheat commands
Save <seconds>Auto-save interval
Port <n>Advanced — change the game port (leave at 27015 unless you know what you're doing)

⚠️ Important: Lines in Commands.dat are case-sensitive for command names. The server only re-reads the file on startup, so always restart the application after editing.

Deeper gameplay rules (Config.json)​

For finer-grained tuning — loot tables, stat modifiers, animal spawns, structure decay, vehicle respawn timers, zombie behaviour — edit:

/serverdata/serverfiles/Servers/Default/Server/Config.json

This file must remain valid JSON. Back it up before editing and restart the application from the Control tab after saving.

Listing Your Server Publicly (Game Server Login Token)​

Since Unturned 3.21.31.0, the dedicated server requires a Steam Game Server Login Token (GSLT) to appear on the public Internet server list. Without one, your server still runs and accepts connections — your players can join and play online via the Primary IP or the app domain — but it will be hidden from the in-game server browser and your join code will be regenerated every restart.

If you just want to play with friends using direct connect (IP or app domain), you can skip this section. If you want your server to appear in the public browser and keep a stable join code, add a GSLT.

1. Generate a GSLT on Steam​

  1. Visit steamcommunity.com/dev/managegameservers and log in with the Steam account you want to tie the server to. Your account must:
    • Not be limited, banned, or community-banned.
    • Have a qualifying registered phone number attached.
    • Own Unturned on Steam (the game is free on app ID 304930).
  2. In Create a new game server account, set:
    • App ID: 304930
    • Memo: a short label to remind you which server this token is for (e.g. Flux Unturned PEI).
  3. Click Create and copy the Login Token string that appears.

⚠️ Treat the token like a password. Anyone with it can impersonate your server on Steam. Don't paste it into public channels and regenerate it if it leaks.

2. Add the Token to Commands.dat​

  1. Open Applications → Management → Settings → Secure Shell → Volume Browser and edit:

    /serverdata/serverfiles/Servers/Default/Server/Commands.dat

  2. Add the GSLT line on its own line (replace your_token_here with the string from Steam):

    GSLT your_token_here

  3. Save the file, then restart the application from Control → Local → Restart Application.

Alternatively, the token can be set in /serverdata/serverfiles/Servers/Default/Server/Config.json under the Browser section as Login_Token — either location works, but do not set it in both.

Once the server restarts with a valid GSLT, it will be listed on the Internet server browser and your server join code will remain stable across restarts.

Setting Server Admins, Bans, and Whitelists​

Unturned uses simple text files in the server folder for moderation. Each file contains one SteamID64 per line.

/serverdata/serverfiles/Servers/Default/Server/Adminlist.dat
/serverdata/serverfiles/Servers/Default/Server/Banned.dat
/serverdata/serverfiles/Servers/Default/Server/Whitelist.dat

To grant yourself admin:

  1. Look up your SteamID64 (e.g. via steamid.io).
  2. In the Volume Browser, edit Adminlist.dat and add your SteamID64 on a new line. You can use Owner <steamid64> in Commands.dat instead to make yourself a server owner with full permissions (including the ability to grant admin in-game).
  3. Save the file and restart the application from Control → Local → Restart Application.
  4. In-game, open the chat with / and run admin commands such as /kick, /ban, /admin <player>, /give <item>, /vehicle <id>, etc.

Banned.dat and Whitelist.dat behave the same way — one SteamID64 per line. In-game /ban and /unban commands update Banned.dat automatically, but manual edits through the Volume Browser also work.

💡 Tip: Set Whitelist in Commands.dat to enable whitelist-only mode — only Steam IDs listed in Whitelist.dat will be allowed to join. Useful for private friend groups.

Managing Save/World Data​

Unturned persists the entire world (player positions, built structures, dropped items, vehicles, NPC states) inside the server instance's Level/ folder:

/serverdata/serverfiles/Servers/Default/Level/<MapName>/

For example, a PEI server saves to Servers/Default/Level/PEI/. You can:

  • Download a backup via the Volume Browser before risky changes, map swaps, or major game updates.
  • Upload a world from another Unturned server by replacing the Level/<MapName>/ folder, then restarting the application.
  • Wipe the server by deleting the Level/<MapName>/ folder and restarting — the server will regenerate a fresh world on the next boot.

⚠️ Important: Changing the Map command in Commands.dat causes the server to load a different Level/<MapName>/ folder on next start. Your old save is not deleted — switching back to the original map will load the previous world intact.

Installing Workshop Mods and Custom Maps​

Unturned has full Steam Workshop integration. The dedicated server can subscribe to workshop items via a config file, and SteamCMD will download them on boot.

Option 1 — Workshop subscriptions (recommended)​

  1. Browse the Unturned Workshop at steamcommunity.com/app/304930/workshop and copy the File ID from each item's URL (the number after ?id=).

  2. In the Volume Browser, open (or create) the workshop config file:

    /serverdata/serverfiles/Servers/Default/WorkshopDownloadConfig.json

  3. Add the IDs as a JSON array:

    {
      "File_IDs": [
        1234567890,
        2345678901
      ]
    }

  4. If a workshop item is a custom map, set Map <map_folder_name> in Commands.dat to match the folder the map ships under.

  5. Restart the application from Control → Local → Restart Application. SteamCMD will download or update the workshop items on boot.

Option 2 — Manual mod upload​

For vehicle packs, weapon packs, or asset overrides distributed outside the Workshop:

  1. Download the mod package.

  2. Upload its contents to the relevant subfolder under the server install — typically:

    /serverdata/serverfiles/Bundles/Workshop/

  3. Restart the server.

⚠️ Client-side content. Maps and asset mods must also be installed (or auto-downloaded via Workshop) on every player's client. Workshop subscriptions are the cleanest way to keep clients in sync — players who don't already own the item will be prompted to download it on first connect.

Frequently Asked Questions​

Why can't I connect right after deployment?​

The first launch downloads the full Unturned Dedicated Server via SteamCMD before opening the game port. This usually takes 5–15 minutes. Watch the container logs from Applications → Management → Logs and wait for the Server startup complete message before attempting to connect.

What ports does Unturned use?​

Unturned uses UDP port 27015 for gameplay traffic and UDP 27016 for the Steam query port. FluxCloud exposes both automatically. When connecting by IP you must specify the game port (1.2.3.4 on port 27015); when connecting by the app domain the port is resolved by DNS and you do not need to append it.

How do I change the server name or password?​

Edit /serverdata/serverfiles/Servers/Default/Server/Commands.dat via the Volume Browser. Set (or add) the Name <text> and Password <text> lines to the values you want. Save, then restart the application from Control → Local → Restart Application. Remove the Password line entirely to make the server public.

How do I change the map or game mode?​

Edit Commands.dat and update the Map <name> and Mode <Easy|Normal|Hard> / PvP / PvE lines. Save and restart the application. Note that each map has its own Level/<MapName>/ save folder — switching maps does not delete the old world; switching back loads it again.

What happens if the primary server goes down?​

If your current primary server becomes unavailable or experiences downtime, one of the standby instances automatically takes over as the new primary after a short delay. Your world saves, admin lists, workshop items, and server configuration are preserved on the persistent volume, so the game resumes where you left off once the switch is complete. You can check which instance is currently the primary from your application's management panel under the Instances tab.

💡 Tip: If you connect via the app domain (your-app-domain.app.runonflux.io, no port suffix) instead of the raw IP, your client will keep reaching the correct primary automatically after a failover.

Do I need a Steam Game Server Login Token (GSLT) to play?​

No — players can join and play online without a GSLT using the Primary IP or the app domain (direct connect). A GSLT is only required if you want your server to appear in the in-game Internet server browser and to keep a stable server join code between restarts. See the Listing Your Server Publicly section for how to generate one at steamcommunity.com/dev/managegameservers and add it to Commands.dat with GSLT <token>.

Can I run a whitelist-only / private server?​

Yes. Add Whitelist to Commands.dat to enable whitelist mode, then list the allowed SteamID64s (one per line) in Whitelist.dat. Only whitelisted players will be allowed to join. Combine with a Password for an extra layer of access control.

Can I install workshop mods and custom maps?​

Yes — see the Installing Workshop Mods and Custom Maps section above. Add workshop File IDs to /serverdata/serverfiles/Servers/Default/WorkshopDownloadConfig.json and restart the server. Players connecting to a modded server must subscribe to the same workshop items locally (Steam will prompt them on first connect).

How can I update my game server to the latest version?​

The ich777/steamcmd:unturned image pulls the latest Unturned Dedicated Server build via SteamCMD on every startup (with VALIDATE=true to repair any corrupted files). To update immediately, open Applications → Management, select your Unturned server, go to the Control tab, choose Local, and click Restart Application.

Can I change my server's hardware specifications after deployment?​

Yes. At any time — if you feel the hardware specifications no longer reflect your needs — you can adjust them from Applications → Management → Update App Specifications on the Components tab. Your world saves, settings, and data are preserved across the change, and you are billed according to the new specifications.