Enshrouded launched into Steam Early Access in January 2024 and racked up over one million players within the first week. In January 2026 Keen Games reported 5 million players, making it one of the biggest Early Access survival RPG launches on Steam. Developed by Keen Games, it drops up to 16 players into the fallen realm of Embervale - a voxel-built world choked by a toxic fog called the Shroud. You build bases, battle twisted creatures, and push back the Shroud one flame shrine at a time.
If you want a smooth experience with your crew, you need a proper dedicated server. Running it from your gaming PC works for a quick test, but it falls apart the moment your group grows, your base gets complex, or Keen Games drops a major patch.
What is Enshrouded?
Enshrouded is a survival action RPG built around voxel terrain that can be sculpted, destroyed, and rebuilt. The Shroud - a creeping, corrupting fog - covers large sections of the map and grows more dangerous the further you push into it. Players explore diverse biomes, unlock NPC artisans, craft legendary gear, and construct increasingly ambitious bases.
The co-op experience supports up to 16 players on a single server. That player cap is generous compared to most survival games, but it also means your server hardware needs to be up to the task. When 16 players are simultaneously digging terrain, triggering Shroud areas, and building elaborate structures, the load adds up fast.
Enshrouded Dedicated Server Requirements
Keen Games provides an official dedicated server tool via SteamCMD (App ID 2278520). Keen only ships a Windows build, so Linux hosts (DoomHosting included) run it through Proton. It is headless and needs no GPU.
Minimum hardware (4-8 players):
- CPU: 4-core at 3.0 GHz or faster
- RAM: 8 GB
- Storage: 20 GB SSD
- Network: 100 Mbps with stable uptime
Recommended hardware (up to 16 players):
- CPU: 6-8 core CPU at 3.5 GHz or faster (Ryzen 5 5600X or equivalent)
- RAM: 16 GB
- Storage: 40 GB NVMe SSD
- Network: 1 Gbps
Network port:
- UDP 15637 -
queryPort, the only port key in Keen's current default config
A fast SSD matters more than most people expect. Enshrouded saves voxel terrain data per chunk, and when players modify terrain across a wide area the server needs to write chunk data continuously. Slow disk I/O causes stuttering and lag spikes even on a machine with plenty of RAM and CPU headroom.
Setting Up Co-op: How Enshrouded Multiplayer Works
Enshrouded uses a standard dedicated server model. The server runs 24/7, persisting your world independently of whether any players are online. This is a big deal for groups playing across different time zones - one player's progress is saved even when others are offline.
The server config file is enshrouded_server.json, found in the installation directory. Key settings include:
name- the server name shown in the browseruserGroups- one password per group (Admin, Friend, Guest, Visitor), each with its own permissionsslotCount- player cap, up to 16queryPort- default 15637saveDirectory- where world data is stored
Older guides list password and gamePort. Those keys come from the config format before userGroups existed, and current builds no longer use them.
The world save system stores terrain edits, base structures, chest contents, and NPC positions. When many players are making changes simultaneously, the save queue grows. A dedicated server with SSD storage handles this without the delays you get on a spinning hard drive or a home machine with other processes competing for disk access.
Voxel Terrain and Base Building Performance
Voxel terrain is one of Enshrouded's standout features. Unlike tile-based or static-mesh survival games, the world here is fully deformable. Players can dig tunnels, carve mountains, reshape entire hillsides, or pile up terrain to create a natural-looking castle foundation.
This is impressive - and demanding. Every terrain modification generates a chunk update that the server must process and distribute to all connected clients. The more players actively digging or building, the more frequent these updates become.
What puts strain on a server:
- Large-scale terrain sculpting (digging, explosions, mass removal)
- High NPC counts in bases (each artisan runs its own AI)
- Complex bases with hundreds of placed objects and lights
- Multiple players in different biomes loading new chunks simultaneously
For groups planning large builds, 16 GB of RAM is a solid minimum. Base building does not just affect visual complexity - it increases the number of entities the server tracks, which grows memory consumption over time. Servers that start with 8 GB can run out of headroom after weeks of active building.
Shroud Settings and Server Load
The Shroud is not just a gameplay mechanic - it has real performance implications. Shroud vortexes are persistent world features that generate heightened AI activity, environmental hazards, and special spawn events. More active vortexes means more server-side calculations.
Keen's config has only two Shroud keys, and both change difficulty, not load: shroudTimeFactor (0.5 to 2) sets how long players survive inside the Shroud, and curseModifier (Easy, Normal, Hard) sets how often curses are applied. If you want to lighten the load, the setting that matters is randomSpawnerAmount (Few, Normal, Many, Extreme), which controls how many enemies spawn in the world. All three live in the gameSettings block and only take effect when gameSettingsPreset is set to Custom.
The Shroud timer also matters for co-op planning. Players inside the Shroud face escalating danger over time, which forces groups to coordinate entry and exit. A lagging server can desync this timer, causing one player to take Shroud damage while another's screen shows them safely out. Keeping the server well-resourced prevents these kinds of timing mismatches.
Keen Games Update Cadence
Keen Games has been one of the most active Early Access studios since Enshrouded launched in January 2024. By November 2025 the team had shipped seven major content updates, adding new biomes, overhauled skill trees, NPC artisans, expanded map areas, and entirely new mechanics.
Update 7, "Wake of the Water" (November 2025), was the biggest so far. It introduced dynamically simulated water across all of Embervale, a brand new high-level biome called Veilwater Basin (located between the Blackmire and Albaneve Summits), swimming and diving gameplay, and raised the level cap from 40 to 45. The Veilwater Basin added vast lakes, underwater ruins, and new Drak enemy types - all of which translate to increased server load for groups pushing into late-game content.
Update 8 shipped in April 2026, and 1.0 launches October 15, 2026 on PC and PS5, with Xbox in spring 2027. Keen has confirmed Early Access saves migrate to 1.0 automatically. See our 1.0 release date breakdown for what changes.
Each major update requires a server restart. Keen has never wiped saves during Early Access, and 1.0 migrates existing saves automatically. Dedicated hosting providers handle this automatically - they detect Steam updates and apply them with minimal downtime. If you're self-hosting, you're doing that manually at whatever time the patch drops, which is not ideal.
Dedicated Hosting vs Self-Hosting
Running an Enshrouded server on your gaming PC is possible, but it creates real problems:
- Performance hit: The server competes with your game client for CPU and RAM. Both suffer.
- Uptime: Your server is only online when your PC is on. Friends in different time zones lose access.
- ISP restrictions: Many residential ISPs block or throttle game ports. Port forwarding is inconsistent.
- No DDoS protection: Exposing your home IP to a public server is a security risk.
- Hardware costs: Buying and maintaining a dedicated machine for hosting is expensive.
A managed dedicated server removes all of these problems. You get a guaranteed SLA, DDoS protection, instant setup, automatic Steam updates, and a clean control panel. You pay per month, not per crisis.
For groups of 4 or more who play regularly, dedicated hosting costs less than the hassle of maintaining your own setup.
Get Your Enshrouded Server
DoomHosting runs Enshrouded servers on low-latency hardware with NVMe storage, DDoS protection, and one-click configuration. Servers deploy in minutes. Get your group into Embervale without the setup headache.
