Terraria Server Best Practices

Checklist

• [ ] Setup mode turned off after creating your owner account (/setup with no code). Setup
• [ ] A server password for friends-only servers, or RequireLogin: true for public ones.
• [ ] Staff in the lowest group that does the job, never shared accounts.
• [ ] Spawn protection on, and important builds protected with /region.
• [ ] TShock's own backups on (BackupInterval) and panel backups every 6 hours. Backups
• [ ] A locked backup before boss fights, events and updates. Nothing else can roll a Terraria world back.
• [ ] Plugins matched to your TShock version, added one at a time.

How much memory

World size barely changes memory use; players and mods do. Lag during boss fights or big events is usually the CPU, not memory, so more memory won't fix it. Lowering enemy spawns helps instead: TShock's /maxspawns and /spawnrate commands set how many enemies can exist and how often they spawn.

Accounts and protection (TShock)

Set these in tshock/config.json with the server stopped, then start it. Full settings

Protect builds with regions: stand at one corner and run /region set 1, then the opposite corner and /region set 2, then /region define <name>. Use /region allow <player> <name> to let a builder in.

Backups

TShock can back up the world by itself:

Those copies go to tshock/backups/, on the same disk as the world, so keep panel backups too: every 6 hours, with a save command just before the backup task. TShock keeps the world in memory and only writes it to disk when it saves. Backup schedules

To restore, stop the server first. A running server overwrites the restored world the next time it saves.

Restarts

Terraria doesn't need restarts for performance. A restart once a day at a quiet time is still a good habit, because the world saves cleanly on shutdown and plugins reload. Use save first, then Restart.

Updating Terraria and TShock

When Terraria updates, players' games update automatically from Steam, but they can't join until TShock supports the new version, which usually takes a few days.

1. Check the TShock releases page for a version supporting the new Terraria.
2. Make a backup and lock it.
3. Settings → Reinstall Server (with TShock Version on latest) to download the new TShock. Your world and tshock folder are kept.
4. Start, and update plugins that stop loading.

Until TShock updates, players can roll back Terraria in Steam (Properties → Betas) to keep playing.

Modded servers (tModLoader)

tModLoader servers are a different server type from TShock: TShock plugins don't work on them, and they need more memory (see above). Ask us to switch your server; your world can come along. On a tModLoader server:

• Everyone needs exactly the same mods and versions. tModLoader offers to download the server's mods when players join from the in-game server list.
• Which mods load is decided by Mods/enabled.json. If a mod isn't listed there, it doesn't load, even if it's installed.
• The easiest way to move a mod list to the server: in game, open Workshop → Mod Packs, choose Save Enabled as New Mod Pack, and send us the pack. We'll install it with its install.txt and enabled.json.
• Worlds come in pairs: <World>.wld and <World>.twld. Always copy both.
• Make a locked backup before adding or updating mods. Removing a content mod deletes its items and blocks from the world.

Common problems