Configuring the Meteor
The meteor timeline is Eco’s core strategic pressure, so changing it alters economy urgency, law priorities, and long-term retention dynamics across your entire server season.
Disabling the Meteor
In your server configuration (usually managed via the GUI or `Disasters.eco` config file):
If the world has already generated, you may need to use an admin command to destroy it: /meteor destroy.
Adjusting Impact Date
You can make the game easier or harder by changing the days until impact. Standard is 30 real-life days.
Meteor Policy by Community Type
Decide early whether your server is challenge-focused or sandbox-focused. Frequent meteor delays can improve casual accessibility but often weaken cooperative planning and policy engagement if not paired with alternate progression goals.
- Competitive worlds: Keep tighter deadlines and communicate milestone expectations weekly.
- Casual worlds: Extend timelines but add clear chapter objectives to sustain momentum.
- Mid-season tuning: Avoid drastic deadline changes that invalidate prior civic strategy.
Operational Checklist
Treat this topic as a repeatable server operation, not a one-time change. Schedule changes during lower traffic, announce maintenance windows, and keep a rollback snapshot before each update. If your server is modded, validate changes on a staging copy first so startup logs, world loading, and player joins are confirmed before production rollout.
Validation Steps
- Capture baseline metrics: Record CPU, RAM, and average player ping before changes.
- Apply one change at a time: Avoid batch edits that make root-cause analysis difficult.
- Review logs after restart: Check for version mismatch and dependency warnings immediately.
- Run a real join test: Confirm fresh clients can connect and complete core gameplay actions.
- Observe for at least 24 hours: Validate behavior under peak load, not only right after reboot.
Performance and Stability Notes
Most hosting incidents come from resource spikes combined with configuration drift. Keep restart cadence predictable, review world/save growth weekly, and cap optional systems that generate extreme entity counts. When performance drops, compare with your last known-good baseline and revert recent high-risk changes quickly to reduce downtime.
Backup and Rollback Policy
Use automated daily backups plus pre-change snapshots for risky operations. Keep at least one off-node copy and test restore procedures routinely. A practical retention strategy is 7 daily, 4 weekly, and 2 monthly restore points. If a change causes instability, roll back first, stabilize service, and then reattempt with a narrower test scope.
Game-Specific Hosting Notes
- Simulation tuning: Law, meteor, and economy settings should be tested together to avoid destabilizing progression.
- Admin policy transparency: Publish governance rules clearly so law changes do not feel arbitrary.
- World lifecycle: Plan season length and wipe criteria before launch to prevent mid-cycle conflict.