The ETS2 1.61 update went live on Steam on September 17, 2026, after a few weeks in open beta. It is not a map expansion, but it quietly changes how you discover the map, rebuilds one of the oldest trailers in the game, and lays the groundwork for the upcoming Coaches DLC. If you run a Convoy session for your crew, it also means your dedicated server needs a little attention before everyone jumps back in.
Here is what changed in Euro Truck Simulator 2 1.61, and what to do on the server side so your first drive after the update is not a round of "version mismatch" messages in Discord.
What Is Proximity Exploration in ETS2 1.61?
Proximity Exploration is the headline feature, and it is an optional one. With it switched on, the game reveals a small area around your vehicle as you drive, so you no longer have to crawl over every short stub of road to get it marked as explored.
That matters most in the places that have always ruined 100% runs: rest stops, toll gates, border crossings and fuel stations, where several tiny road segments sit next to each other. SCS kept one bit of challenge in place. Secret roads only reveal their first segment when you get close. The rest still has to be driven.
For convoy groups this is a nice change. Map exploration is per profile, so everyone in your session fills in their own map as you drive together, and nobody has to peel off to tick a gas station exit.
Volvo FH 100 Year Edition and the Improved Material System
Volvo Trucks turns 100, and ETS2 celebrates with the Volvo FH Series 6 100 Year Edition in the base game. It is built on the Aero XL cabin with two new paint jobs (100 Year Edition Night and Day), a choice of light boxes with the 100 Year or FH16 logo, and a new interior: black leather door panels, two-tone seats, a leather steering wheel and dashboard ambient lighting in red or blue.
The bigger technical change is the Improved Material System. It changes how interior materials react to light, so leather, fabric, plastic and metal read differently even in a dark cab at night. After the DAF NGD and MAN TG3 TGX, the Volvo FH Series 4, 5 and 6 are now on the new system, and SCS says more trucks will follow.
Worth knowing if you use cab mods: because the Volvo FH interiors were reworked, interior and dashboard mods for those trucks are the most likely to look wrong until their authors update them.
Livestock Trailer Rework and the Schwarzmüller Low Loader
The livestock trailer was rebuilt from scratch on a modern European design. The old belly axle version is gone, replaced by a lowered chassis with dual wheels. If you own one, you now pick between a Straight 3 Axle and a Lowered 3 Axle chassis, an aluminium or fully paintable body, and a new paint system that lets you colour up to four sections of the trailer. Freight market and AI traffic versions use the new model too.
Owners of the Schwarzmüller Trailer Pack DLC also get the first step of a larger refresh: a redesigned low loader that matches Schwarzmüller's current real model, with updated accessories. Cargo options stay the same.
Map Changes Ahead of the Coaches DLC
A lot of 1.61 is preparation for Coaches, the passenger transport DLC that is still on its way. The biggest single change is in Nuremberg, which gets a brand new bus station and several remade landmarks around it. Bus stations in Karlstad, Aarhus and Thessaloniki now work with coaches, Karlstad gets a new station building, and a previously blocked street in Heraklion has been opened up for a new bus station. Border crossings across the map were adjusted with vehicle-specific navigation so coaches follow the right lanes.
On September 25, SCS followed up with a look at Mode Switch, the system that splits the game into Truck, Car and Coach modes with separate progression. Money and map exploration are shared between modes, which means anything Proximity Exploration reveals from your truck carries over once coaches arrive.
Two features from the 1.61 experimental beta did not make the final release: the Multi-Function Display (MFD) and the new In-Game Menu. SCS is holding them back for a future update.
What ETS2 1.61 Means for Your Convoy Dedicated Server
Convoy only lets players join a server running the same game version, so once your crew's Steam clients are on 1.61, a server still on 1.60 is effectively offline for them. Here is the short checklist we run on our own test server after every major ETS2 update:
- Restart to update. Our ETS2 servers run the official dedicated server build (Steam app 1948160) with auto-update on startup, so a single restart from the panel pulls 1.61. No reinstall needed.
- Re-export server_packages. Start ETS2 1.61 on your PC with the same DLCs and mods you want on the server, open the console (
uset g_console 1anduset g_developer 1inconfig.cfg) and runexport_server_packages. Upload the newserver_packages.siiandserver_packages.datnext toserver_config.siiin/.local/share/Euro Truck Simulator 2/through the File Manager or SFTP. Packages exported from 1.60 describe the old game data and are the most common reason a freshly updated server refuses players. - Check your mods before the drive. Anything baked into server_packages has to be installed by every player. Volvo FH interior mods and livestock trailer skins are the ones most likely to break with this update. If one is not updated yet, re-export without it rather than holding the whole crew back.
- Mind the map DLCs. The new coach stations in Karlstad, Aarhus, Thessaloniki and Heraklion sit in Scandinavia and Greece DLC territory. If those DLCs are in your packages, every player needs to own them, exactly as before.
- RAM stays low. Convoy is light. On our profile, around 2 GB covers a full 8-player vanilla session, and a heavy mod list adds roughly 1.5 GB on top. The ETS2 RAM calculator gives you a number for your own setup.
New to running a server? Our Getting Started guide walks through the first setup, and the Convoy vs TruckersMP comparison explains when a private Convoy server beats the public servers.
Is the 1.61 Update Worth Getting Back on the Road For?
As a standalone patch, 1.61 is a polish update rather than a reason to reinstall. But it is a good one for groups: Proximity Exploration removes the dullest part of completing the map together, the livestock trailer finally looks like it belongs in 2026, and the Coaches groundwork hints at a very different kind of convoy night once the DLC lands.
Host Your ETS2 Convoy Server with DoomHosting
Want a Convoy server that is always up, already on 1.61, and does not depend on one friend leaving their PC running? Rent a Euro Truck Simulator 2 server from DoomHosting with instant setup, full FTP and SFTP access for your server_packages, DDoS protection and 24/7 support.
Update your packages, fuel up, and see you on the road to Nuremberg.
