Read this before you organise anyone: there is no crossplay at 1.0
Enshrouded 1.0 does not support crossplay. Keen Games confirmed this in a FAQ dated 13 October 2026 and says it is working on it, with no estimated timeframe.
That has two consequences that decide everything else:
- PC and PS5 players cannot share a world. There are two kinds of dedicated server — PC (Steam) servers and PS5 servers — and crossplay between them is off.
- A PS5 cannot run a dedicated server itself, so PS5 groups must rent one.
So the first question for your group is not “how do we connect,” it is “which platform is everyone on?” Settle that before anyone buys anything.
Player limits by platform
| Edition | Announced online capacity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Windows / Steam | Up to 16 players | 16 is the game’s own hard limit |
| PS5 | Up to 8 players | Per the US PlayStation Store listing; PlayStation Plus is required for online play |
For a group larger than 8, Steam is the only edition with room. For a smaller group either works, but note that the slot counts do nothing about platform compatibility — 8 free slots on PS5 will not let a PC friend in.
Three ways to get everyone into the same world
1. Steam invite (simplest, peer-to-peer)
Official network support recommends this when players struggle to find or join a session.
- Open your Steam friends list while in your session.
- Right-click the friend you want.
- Select “Invite to game”.
- Have them join through the invitation.
Sending an invite is not confirmation it worked — check they actually entered the session.
If they still cannot see you: a private Steam profile is a documented reason a peer-to-peer session does not appear in the server browser. If you would rather not change that setting, use the direct invite first.
2. Join a dedicated server (the normal group route)
There is no direct-connect box in Enshrouded. Everyone joins through the in-game server browser, and all you need to hand out is the Server Title and the Lock Password.
- From the main menu, choose Join.
- In the server filters on the right, enable “Show dedicated server”.
- Search for your Server Title.
- Enter the Lock Password or the Admin Pass — the password you enter decides your permissions.
- Click the star icon to favourite it, and it sorts to the top from then on.
If you are on PC and a rented host gives you an address, you can also search by IPv4/Domain.
3. Run your own server (free, but the host PC stays on)
Keen’s dedicated server tool is free on PC.
- In Steam Library, enable Tools and install Enshrouded Dedicated Server. (Via SteamCMD it is app 2278520.)
- Run
enshrouded_server.exeonce to generateenshrouded_server.json, then stop it with Ctrl+C. - Edit the JSON to set the name, slots, difficulty and separate role passwords.
- Allow UDP 15637 in Windows Firewall and forward it on your router to the host machine’s LAN address. If you changed
queryPort, use that number. - Run the executable again and wait for
HostOnlinein the console or inlogs/enshrouded_server.log.
Leave at least 30 GB free for the install. The catch with self-hosting is simple: the machine must stay powered on and connected whenever friends want in.
If your server does not appear in the browser, add it through Steam: View → Game Servers → Favorites → ”+”, then enter your public IP with the query port, e.g. 123.123.123.123:15637. Note that if your ISP uses CGNAT, you may need to request a public IPv4 address before port forwarding will work at all.
Setting up a rented server
The steps are near-identical across hosts:
- Order the server — choose slots (8 or 16; 16 is the game limit), the location nearest your group, and a billing cycle.
- Set the Server Title. This is what players search for in the browser, so make it distinctive.
- Set a Lock Password. Anyone with it joins as a normal member. Leave it blank and anyone can join.
- Set an Admin Pass. Anyone entering this gets kicking and banning rights. Use a different password from the Lock Password.
- Choose a Difficulty Preset — Default, Relaxed, Hard, Survival or Custom. Changing any individual setting flips the preset to Custom.
- Set a Restart Interval. Keen recommends restarting about once a week; a daily restart at a quiet hour is a reasonable default.
- Save and Start. The first start takes a few minutes while the world is created.
The world settings worth touching
There are 37 settings, and each preset sets all of them at once — the server ignores individual values unless the preset is Custom. Changes apply on the next restart.
| Setting | What it does | Change it when |
|---|---|---|
| Day / Night Duration | 2–60 minutes each | Your group plays short sessions and keeps losing the daylight |
| Loot Loss On Death | Materials only (default), everything, or nothing | The default penalty feels too harsh — or not harsh enough |
| Enemy Amount | Few, Normal, More, Many | Builders want quiet; fighters want more |
| Loot Amount | Multiplies materials per stack, 25%–200% | You have limited play time and would rather build than grind |
| Plant Growth Speed | How fast farms grow | Same |
| Combat / Mining / Quest XP | Separate multipliers | You are catching a new player up to the group |
| Harsh Weather Occurrences | Disabled, Rare, Normal, Often | Players find storms get in the way |
| Starvation Mode | Off by default | — |
Two that matter more than they look for a co-op group: Loot Amount at 200% removes most of the grind that makes group play tedious, and separate XP multipliers are the fastest way to bring a late-joining friend up to level.
Fixes for the usual failures
| Symptom | Fix |
|---|---|
| Server not in the browser | Enable the Show dedicated server filter; check UDP 15637 is open; confirm the game version matches |
| Friend cannot see my session | Their or your Steam profile is private — use a direct invite instead |
| Rubber banding / “Server overloaded” | Too many players or built-up bases for the host’s hardware; consider a rented server |
| “Game creation failed” | Restart the server; check the config for a bad value |
| Cannot play with a PS5 friend | Not fixable at 1.0 — crossplay is off |