Unturned's dedicated server is one of the friendlier ones to host: create it, set a name and (optionally) a password, press Start, and share your address and port. This guide covers the create step, the handful of variables that matter, the one that confuses everyone — the Steam GSLT — and the join flow.
| At a glance | |
|---|---|
| You need | A free Falix account |
| Time | About ten minutes |
| Plan | Free — Unturned runs on the free plan |
Step 1: create the server
Go to Servers → Create server, open the Games tab, and choose Unturned. That's the whole creation step — the panel installs the dedicated server for you. (New to the create page? The Knowledge Base has a walkthrough.)
Step 2: set your variables
Open the Settings page and its Environment tab — this is where a server's variables live, editable on every plan. Unturned gives you four worth knowing:
| Variable | What it does |
|---|---|
SRV_NAME |
The server name players see in the list |
SRV_PW |
Join password — leave blank for a public server, set one to keep it private |
GSLT |
An optional Steam game-server login token (see below) |
SRV_ID |
The server's internal ID, default FALIXSERVER — controls which save/config folder it uses |
Set the name and, if you want it private, a password. You can leave GSLT and SRV_ID at their defaults and the server runs fine.
Step 3: about the GSLT (optional)
A GSLT — Game Server Login Token — is a code you register with Steam that ties your server to your Steam account for the public server browser. Here's the honest version:
- You don't need one to play. Without a GSLT, your server still starts and friends can still join by address and port. Leave
GSLTblank and nothing breaks. - It's for public listing/identity. If you want your server registered to your Steam account and better behaved in Steam's public browser, you generate a free token on Steam's own Game Server Account Management page (search "Steam game server login token"), pick Unturned's game, and paste the token into the
GSLTvariable.
🎯 Good to know: Treat the GSLT as a "later" step. Get the server running and your friends in first; add a GSLT only if you decide you want it in Steam's public server list.
Step 4: start it
Press Start and watch the Console page. The dedicated server boots, loads its map, and settles into hosting. Once the console shows it up and waiting, you're ready for players.
Step 5: get your friends in
Unturned has no name-only shortcut, so players always need the address and the port. Open the Network page, copy both, and share them.
⚠️ Heads up: Include the port from the Network page, not just the address. In Unturned, your friends open Play → Connect and enter the address and port to join directly. If you set
SRV_PW, they'll need the password too.
What survives, and what doesn't
Your server's save and settings live in its files and ride through everyday use: restarts, stops, and the free-plan sleep all keep them. The one thing that wipes them is a reinstall — the Reinstall action on the Settings page's Danger tab, or switching the server to a different game (which reinstalls it too).
⚠️ Heads up: Before you reinstall or switch games, take a backup — on the free plan, backups save to your own Google Drive.
Verify it works
Two signals tell you everything's good: the Console shows the server finish loading and start hosting, and when a friend connects with address:port, their join prints in the log. If someone can reach the server and spawn in, you're done.
Troubleshooting
- Friends can't connect — the usual miss is leaving off the port. Unturned needs the address and port from the Network page. If that's right and it still fails, confirm the server actually started: I can't reach my server.
- It asks for a password unexpectedly —
SRV_PWis set. Clear it on the Environment tab for a public server, or share the password. - Server stopped on its own — expected on the free plan: it stops when empty and gets roughly a 60-minute grace window when unreachable. Revive the session from the Timer page — see How free game servers work.