Windows host required
Run a Space Engineers dedicated server on the Windows PC you already have. NodeMesh installs it, writes the configuration the server needs and creates your first world. Space Engineers is in Beta on NodeMesh, and we haven't run it on our own hardware yet.
Free on your own PC — one host, no time limit.
Sign up, then paste one command from your dashboard on the PC that will run the server — PowerShell on Windows, a terminal on Linux. The agent installs as a service and pairs with your account.
Choose the game in the panel. NodeMesh downloads the dedicated server, sets it up and starts it, and you watch every step in the live console.
Switch on the traffic relay for the server and the panel gives you a public address. Send it to your friends: their traffic goes through the relay to your PC, so you never open a port on your router.
The memory figures are for the game server alone. If you also play on the same PC, the game itself needs its own memory on top.
Players open Join game and then Servers in the main menu, and find your server by name or add its address and port as a favorite, so pick a distinctive name. The server tells Steam its own address and ports, so we do not know yet whether a join through the NodeMesh relay works: if it does not, forward the two UDP ports on your router and share your own address.
The first Start creates a world from the Star System scenario, named after World Name on the Config tab; later Starts load that world, and a new name starts a separate one. The server uses two UDP ports, the game port and Steam's server-list port. NodeMesh gives every server its own pair, but only the game port goes through the relay, so on a home network forward both on your router. Keen lists .NET Framework 4.8 and the Visual C++ 2013 and 2017 runtimes as requirements; NodeMesh checks for the Visual C++ runtime but not for the rest. There is no remote console and the world autosaves every five minutes by default, so a plain Stop can lose what happened since the last autosave; the Config tab lets you change the interval. Gameplay settings are written for new worlds; it is not known yet whether they also change an existing world. The Config tab has no server password, and there is no mod support for this game yet.
One host — your own PC — is free with no time limit, for up to 5 game servers: the web panel and console, the config editor, the mod manager, auto-restart on crash and the traffic relay. Extra hosts cost credits.
See pricing →Beta: you can create this server today, but we have not run it on our own hardware yet. Expect rough edges, and tell us what you find.
No. The dedicated server is a free Steam tool that NodeMesh downloads anonymously, so no Steam login is stored on your PC. Your players do need the game.
No. The dedicated server is Windows-only, so the host has to be a Windows PC.
Keen lists 6 GB of RAM as the minimum and 10 GB as the recommendation for the server, and we use the same figures. Treat them as a starting point.
Possibly. NodeMesh cannot make the server save before a Stop. It autosaves every 5 minutes by default; lower the Autosave Interval on the Config tab to shrink that window.
Yes, for one host. Running game servers on your own PC is free with no time limit — up to 5 servers, traffic relay included. You only pay, in credits, if you add more hosts.
Create an account, install the agent and pick the game. One host is free with no time limit.
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