Conan Exiles Linux Dedicated Server (Ubuntu + Wine)

Conan Exiles dedicated server on Ubuntu 22 with Wine

Funcom does not ship a native Linux build of the Conan Exiles dedicated server. To self-host on Linux you run the Windows server binary through Wine. This works reliably once configured, but the setup has more moving parts than a native Linux server and the Linux wiki pages floating around the community are mostly out of date by 2026. This page is a current, working setup for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS that survives the Enhanced (UE5) update.

What you need before starting

• Ubuntu 22.04 LTS server (or compatible Debian-family distro)
• A non-root user with sudo (the server runs as this user, not root)
• At least 8GB RAM (16GB recommended after Enhanced)
• 4+ CPU cores
• 50GB free disk space for the install
• Static IP or DDNS hostname for player connections

Step 1: install dependencies

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y wine wine32 wine64 winetricks \
    cabextract unzip lib32gcc-s1 libgnutls30:i386 \
    libldap-2.5-0:i386 libgpg-error0:i386 libxml2:i386 \
    libasound2-plugins:i386 libsdl2-2.0-0:i386 \
    libfreetype6:i386 libdbus-1-3:i386 libsqlite3-0:i386 \
    screen curl unzip

Some of these are pulled in automatically by Wine; listing them explicitly avoids a "missing dependency at first run" surprise. After install, verify Wine works:

wine --version
# expected: wine-7.0 or newer

If Wine is older than 7.0, install the latest from WineHQ's official repository instead of the Ubuntu version. Older Wine can run Conan Exiles' Windows binary but fails on some Enhanced (UE5) features.

Step 2: create the conan user and directories

sudo adduser --disabled-password --gecos "" conan
sudo mkdir -p /home/conan/steamcmd /home/conan/server
sudo chown -R conan:conan /home/conan

Switch to the conan user for everything that follows:

sudo -iu conan

Step 3: install SteamCMD

cd ~/steamcmd
curl -sqL "https://steamcdn-a.akamaihd.net/client/installer/steamcmd_linux.tar.gz" | tar zxvf -
./steamcmd.sh +quit

The first run downloads Steam's update payload (~50MB) and exits. Subsequent runs are fast.

Step 4: download the Conan Exiles dedicated server

./steamcmd.sh +force_install_dir /home/conan/server \
    +login anonymous \
    +app_update 443030 validate \
    +quit

This downloads ~40GB. Be patient. On a 1Gbit connection it takes ~10 minutes; on slower links plan for an hour.

Step 5: initialize the Wine prefix

export WINEPREFIX=/home/conan/.wine-conan
export WINEARCH=win64
wineboot --init

This creates a clean 64-bit Wine prefix for Conan Exiles. Keep it separate from any other Wine usage on the system — game prefixes and general Wine prefixes don't mix well.

Some admins install winetricks vcrun2019 and winetricks corefonts at this stage. The latest Wine usually doesn't need them, but they're safe to install and rule out a class of "first launch crashes" problems.

Step 6: launch the server (test first)

cd /home/conan/server
WINEPREFIX=/home/conan/.wine-conan wine ConanSandboxServer.exe \
    -log -server -USEALLAVAILABLECORES -nosteamclient

Output should show Conan Exiles initializing. After ~30 seconds you should see LogLoad: Took ... to LoadMap and the server idles. If it crashes before that point, see the troubleshooting section below.

Stop the test with Ctrl+C. Now configure the server settings before the real launch.

Step 7: edit server settings

On first launch the server creates default config files at /home/conan/server/ConanSandbox/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/. Edit at minimum:

ServerSettings.ini:

[ServerSettings]
ServerCommunity=PrivateGroup
ServerName=My Conan Server
ServerPassword=<optional>
AdminPassword=YourStrongAdminPassword
MaxNudity=1

Engine.ini (under the appropriate section):

[OnlineSubsystemSteam]
ServerName=My Conan Server
GameServerQueryPort=27015

Step 8: create the systemd service

This is what most Linux setup guides skip. Without a service file you have to run the server in a screen session forever. Create as root: /etc/systemd/system/conan-server.service

[Unit]
Description=Conan Exiles Dedicated Server
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=conan
Group=conan
WorkingDirectory=/home/conan/server
Environment="WINEPREFIX=/home/conan/.wine-conan"
Environment="WINEARCH=win64"
Environment="WINEDEBUG=-all"
ExecStart=/usr/bin/wine /home/conan/server/ConanSandboxServer.exe -log -server -USEALLAVAILABLECORES -nosteamclient
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=30
KillSignal=SIGINT
TimeoutStopSec=60

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Then:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable conan-server
sudo systemctl start conan-server
sudo journalctl -u conan-server -f

The last command tails the log. You should see the same initialization sequence as the manual test.

Step 9: open firewall ports

sudo ufw allow 7777/udp comment "Conan game"
sudo ufw allow 27015/udp comment "Conan query"
sudo ufw allow 27016/udp comment "Conan source query"
sudo ufw allow 25575/tcp comment "Conan RCON"
sudo ufw reload

Also forward these ports on your router if the server is behind NAT.

Mod updater script pattern

SteamCMD can update Steam Workshop mods alongside the dedicated server. A simple pattern script at /home/conan/update.sh:

#!/bin/bash
set -e

# Stop the server cleanly
sudo systemctl stop conan-server

# Update the server itself
~/steamcmd/steamcmd.sh +force_install_dir /home/conan/server \
    +login anonymous \
    +app_update 443030 validate \
    +quit

# Update mods (replace with your mod IDs)
for MOD_ID in 880454836 1369802940; do
    ~/steamcmd/steamcmd.sh +force_install_dir /home/conan/server \
        +login anonymous \
        +workshop_download_item 440900 $MOD_ID \
        +quit
done

# Restart the server
sudo systemctl start conan-server

Note: Steam Workshop downloads for Conan Exiles use the GAME app ID (440900), not the dedicated server app ID (443030). Easy to get wrong.

Common Linux+Wine failure modes

Why a managed host might still be the right call

This setup works and produces a stable Conan Exiles server on Linux. The maintenance cost: every Funcom patch and every Wine upgrade is a small risk that something will break and you'll spend a Saturday debugging. If your group is 4-8 friends playing casually, that's probably fine. If you're running 20+ players who expect uptime, a managed host (Linux-backed or otherwise) is usually less total work.

For a managed Conan Exiles server that handles updates without Wine on your end, see Supercraft plans.

Related articles

• General dedicated server setup
• Dedicated Server Launcher 1.9.0 stuck on Enhanced
• Dedicated server crashing diagnosis
• Mods installation