Vintage Story Dedicated Server Hosting on GlassHosting

Why a dedicated Vintage Story server

Vintage Story co-op on a listen host works until the host sleeps, updates mid-season, or sits behind residential CGNAT. Friends time out, world progress stalls, and someone always asks whether the server is up. A dedicated Vintage Story instance on GlassHosting (Glass Gaming — powered by GlassHosting) stays on in a datacenter so the group can join on their own schedule.

This guide is the main-site hub for first launch: panel start, ports, password and advertise settings, world saves, and how friends join. Deeper ticket-style how-tos live in the GlassHosting knowledgebase as articles land.

Order, then open the game panel

After checkout, open your Vintage Story service in panel.glasshosting.com. Note the allocated public IP and the game port shown for the service. You will share that address with friends later—do not invent a home router port forward.

New to the panel? Skim the game panel beginner guide for console, files, SFTP, and safe restarts. Background on why home hosting fails for friends: CGNAT explained and home Wi-Fi vs datacenter.

Configure name, password, and advertise before first start

Vintage Story stores most server settings in serverconfig.json (panel File Manager or SFTP). Common day-one knobs:

ServerName — something your friends will recognize.
Password — set a join password for private communities; share it only with your group (not a public Discord channel).
AdvertiseServer — leave false for friends-only so the world stays off the public masterserver browse list.
MaxClients — keep within your plan; do not oversell peak concurrency on day one.
Port — match the port the panel allocates. On GlassHosting the panel is the source of truth; do not hard-code a home default if the allocation differs.

Stop the server cleanly before editing serverconfig.json, save, then Start again so changes take effect. Treat join credentials like any other shared secret.

Ports Vintage Story actually uses

Vintage Story’s usual default is port 42420. Current builds expect TCP and UDP on the published game port. On GlassHosting you do not configure home router forwarding—the datacenter path already publishes the allocation. Share the panel IP and port exactly as listed.

If friends still cannot join, verify the console shows the world loaded, that they used the password you set, and that you did not paste a home LAN address. Related join walkthrough: how friends join with IP:port.

Start clean and watch the console

Click Start in the panel.
Watch the console until the world finishes loading and the server reports it is listening.
Do not invite the full group while the process is still installing or mid-boot.

If boot fails, stop, re-check serverconfig.json (especially Port, Password, and AdvertiseServer), and start again. Avoid rapid restart loops that interrupt saves.

How friends join

Friends need a matching Vintage Story client build. They join with:

The public IP from the panel
The game port shown for the service
The server password you configured (if any)

Have one trusted friend smoke-test before you announce to everyone. Confirm they load into the correct world and that crafting/combat feels normal. If only some players fail, compare client versions before wiping the world.

World saves, mods, and backups

World and config files live under the server data path. Before mods, map experiments, or major config changes:

Stop the server cleanly from the panel so saves flush.
Create a named panel backup, or download the data / Mods folders via File Manager or SFTP.
Add mods into the Mods layout Vintage Story documents; keep packs consistent when a mod requires matching client content.
Start once, watch the console for missing-mod errors, then invite one tester before the whole group.

Named backups beat “I think there was an auto copy.” Related habit: backups before mods. Panel-level file tips: SFTP workflow.

Private survival co-op checklist

Password set (or whitelist strategy you understand) and shared off public channels
AdvertiseServer off for friends-only seasons
One friend join smoke-test before group announce
Named backup before updates or mod drops
Console clean on boot (no repeated crash loops)
Join info is panel IP + port — not a home LAN address

Related guides

MSP note

GlassHosting runs Vintage Story as always-on Glass Gaming capacity—panel control, datacenter connectivity, and backup hygiene—not a PC that sleeps after work. Order or manage plans at billing.glasshosting.com; operate day-to-day at panel.glasshosting.com.