How to host a V Rising server

V Rising is comparatively modest to run, and a reasonable machine handles a full server without difficulty. Castles and their contents persist, so storage grows over a season, but not alarmingly.

How to install it

1. Install Steam’s command-line tool, then the V Rising dedicated server using an anonymous login.
2. Copy the example settings files into the save-data folder. The server reads your copies, not the examples, and skipping this leaves you editing files nothing loads.
3. Set your server name and both ports — the game port and the query port immediately after it.
4. Start it and check it appears in the in-game browser. If it runs but is invisible, the query port is the culprit.

steamcmd \
  +force_install_dir /home/vrising/server \
  +login anonymous \
  +app_update 1829350 validate \
  +quit

# Open UDP 9876 (game) and 9877 (query).

How to configure it

{
    "Name": "Your server name",
    "Description": "",
    "Port": 9876,
    "QueryPort": 9877,
    "MaxConnectedUsers": 40,
    "MaxConnectedAdmins": 4,
    "ListOnMasterServer": true,
    "AutoSaveCount": 20,
    "AutoSaveInterval": 120,
    "Password": "",
    "Secure": true
}

• Two files, and this is the source of most confusion. Host settings are about the server; game settings are about the rules. Changing a rate in the wrong one does nothing at all.
• Castle decay matters most to your players. Too aggressive and people lose bases on holiday; too generous and the map fills with abandoned castles.
• Decide PvP or PvE before launch. In practice these are different servers, and switching mid-season loses players either way.
• Some rules only apply to new content. Do not assume a change rewrites what already exists.

Written from experience running these servers. If something here no longer matches what you are seeing, tell us and we will recheck it.