Barotrauma server hosting for your submarine crew
Keep your submarine diving under the ice of Europa, with a crew of up to sixteen. The official dedicated server runs campaigns, missions and PvP with your Workshop mods, ranks and permissions.
- Official dedicated server for up to 16 players
- Campaign, mission, sandbox and PvP modes
- Steam Workshop mods for the whole crew
- Ranks, permissions, kicks and bans
- Players
- Up to 16
- PortsThe game port and query port set in serversettings.xml; forward both over UDP.
- 27015 · 27016 UDP
- Config
- serversettings.xml · clientpermissions.xml
- Mods
- Steam Workshop (config_player.xml)
- Server
- Steam app 1026340, Windows and Linux
- Game modes
- Campaign · Mission · Sandbox · PvP
Game modes
- Campaign
- Mission
- Sandbox
- PvP
- Workshop mods
- Bots
Game facts from the official Barotrauma wiki’s server pages and the Barotrauma Steam store page, checked in October 2026.
- DDoS protection
- 20 game server locations
Barotrauma plans are being prepared
Tell us your crew size, game mode and mods, and our team will reply with the options. Or open a ticket and we will let you know when the plans are online.
How much RAM does a Barotrauma server need?
A crew is at most 16 players, so the size of the submarine, the number of bots and your mods decide the load.
Find your size
| Feature |
Small crew
Up to 6 players
|
Recommended Full crew
Up to 16 players
|
Modded crew
Up to 16 players with large mods
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Memory (RAM)Working memory for the world, the players and every mod. Leave headroom: memory use grows as players explore. | 2 GB | 4 GB | 6 GB |
| CPU coresThe server simulates the submarine, its crew, bots and creatures; bigger subs and more bots need faster cores. | 2 | 2–3 | 3–4 |
| Disk spaceRoom for the game files, the world and its backups, plus updates and mods. | 10 GB | 10 GB | 15 GB |
| Typical use | Friends on a short campaign | A full crew on the campaign or PvP | Large Workshop mods and custom subs |
-
Small crew
Up to 6 players
- Memory (RAM)Working memory for the world, the players and every mod. Leave headroom: memory use grows as players explore.
- 2 GB
- CPU coresThe server simulates the submarine, its crew, bots and creatures; bigger subs and more bots need faster cores.
- 2
- Disk spaceRoom for the game files, the world and its backups, plus updates and mods.
- 10 GB
- Typical use
- Friends on a short campaign
-
Recommended
Full crew
Up to 16 players
- Memory (RAM)Working memory for the world, the players and every mod. Leave headroom: memory use grows as players explore.
- 4 GB
- CPU coresThe server simulates the submarine, its crew, bots and creatures; bigger subs and more bots need faster cores.
- 2–3
- Disk spaceRoom for the game files, the world and its backups, plus updates and mods.
- 10 GB
- Typical use
- A full crew on the campaign or PvP
-
Modded crew
Up to 16 players with large mods
- Memory (RAM)Working memory for the world, the players and every mod. Leave headroom: memory use grows as players explore.
- 6 GB
- CPU coresThe server simulates the submarine, its crew, bots and creatures; bigger subs and more bots need faster cores.
- 3–4
- Disk spaceRoom for the game files, the world and its backups, plus updates and mods.
- 15 GB
- Typical use
- Large Workshop mods and custom subs
Barotrauma’s developers publish no server hardware figures. These starting points are derived from the 5 GB install and the 16-player limit; large mods need more.
Game modes, mods and permissions
What your Barotrauma server can run, and how you keep the crew in order.
Campaign
Travel between locations on Europa, complete missions for money and upgrade your submarine over many sessions.
Mission and sandbox
Play a single mission such as retrieving an artifact, or explore a random level with no rules or rewards.
PvP
Split the players into Coalition and Separatist crews on copies of the same submarine, tasked with destroying each other.
Workshop mods
Copy the mod folders to the server and enable them in config_player.xml, then restart. Every player needs the same mods.
Ranks and permissions
Give trusted players a rank with giverank or single permissions with giveperm; clientpermissions.xml stores them.
Kicks and bans
Moderators with the right permissions use kick, ban, banip and unban, and you can allow vote kicking.
Set up your Barotrauma server
Four steps from dry dock to your first dive.
-
Pick crew size and mode
Campaign, missions or PvP, with or without mods: choose the size with the table above.
-
Pick a location
Choose the one closest to your submarine crew from our 20 game server locations.
-
Set the server and permissions
Edit serversettings.xml before the first start, add your mods and give yourself a rank with giverank.
-
Dive together
Find the server in the server browser or join by address once the console says Server started.
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Frequently asked questions
How many players can join a Barotrauma server?
Up to 16 players on board a submarine. Bots can fill the remaining crew roles in both single-player and multiplayer.
Which ports does the server use?
Two UDP ports set in serversettings.xml, 27015 and 27016 by default. Forward both over UDP; UPnP can be switched on in the settings but may fail.
Which game modes can I run?
Campaign, where the crew travels, completes missions for money and upgrades the sub; Mission, a single objective without rewards; Sandbox, a random level with no rules; and PvP, where two crews on copies of the same sub try to destroy each other.
How do I add Workshop mods to the server?
Subscribe to the mods on your PC, copy the mod folders from WorkshopMods/Installed to the same path on the server, copy the content packages section of your config_player.xml to the server’s file and restart. SteamCMD can download mods too, but its folder names need renaming.
How do I give someone admin rights?
Use giverank with the player and a rank, or giveperm for single permissions such as Kick, Ban or ConsoleCommands; the All permission grants everything. The permissions are stored in clientpermissions.xml.
How do I deal with griefers?
The developers do not run community servers, so the owner decides. Kick and ban players with kick, ban or banip, give trusted players moderator rights and allow vote kicking.
Does the server run on Linux?
Yes, on supported distributions. The server (Steam app 1026340) runs on Windows and Linux; some Linux versions need an older SSL library, and the wiki notes that Ubuntu 24.04 appears to work out of the box.
Where are the server settings?
In serversettings.xml in the server folder. Finish editing it before you start the server, as changes are best made while it is stopped.
Ready to dive with your crew?
Tell us your crew size, mode and mods, and we will help you pick the right Barotrauma server.