Enshrouded Config Changes Not Applying

Enshrouded Config Changes Not Applying

This is one of the most common admin traps after major Enshrouded updates. You edit enshrouded_server.json, restart, and nothing changes in-game. In practice there are three usual causes: you are editing preset-controlled settings, the file is carrying forward an outdated structure, or the JSON contains a bad value.

Fast Triage

Let the Server Tell You Which One It Is

You do not have to guess between the three causes. The server says which one it hit, in its own log, in the directory logDirectory points at, which defaults to ./logs. The previous run is moved into a backup subfolder at each start, so the current file is always the newest.

• The preset gate. If your gameSettings block is being discarded, the server writes a line saying the game settings will not be applied because the preset is not set to the value that would read them. Seeing that line means the fix is one word: "gameSettingsPreset": "Custom".
• A bad value. If one of the word-valued settings has a spelling the game does not know, the server writes a deserialization failure naming the invalid value, naming the setting it belongs to, and then listing the values it does support. That list is the authoritative answer to "what am I allowed to type here", and it is more reliable than any guide.
• A structure it could not read at all. If the whole block fails, the server writes that deserialization failed and it is resetting to default values, sometimes adding that the version was unknown. That is the case where regenerating the file is the right move.
• A file it could not parse. A JSON syntax error is not a settings problem: the server reports a config parse failure and stops. Nothing you changed applied, because nothing started.

If none of those lines is present and your change still has no effect in game, the change did apply and the setting does not do what you expected it to.

Fix Order That Saves the Most Time

1. Set gameSettingsPreset to Custom if you touched anything under gameSettings.
2. Undo every optional edit except the one you are testing.
3. Restart the server and verify the change in-game.
4. If even top-level settings still ignore you, back up enshrouded_server.json, delete it, start the server once, and let Enshrouded generate a fresh file.
5. Copy your values back in carefully, section by section.

Minimal Known-Good Layout

{
  "name": "Enshrouded Server",
  "saveDirectory": "./savegame",
  "logDirectory": "./logs",
  "ip": "0.0.0.0",
  "queryPort": 15637,
  "slotCount": 16,
  "voiceChatMode": "Proximity",
  "enableVoiceChat": false,
  "enableTextChat": false,
  "gameSettingsPreset": "Default"
}

Values That Commonly Break Boots

• Typing text options wrong, such as global instead of Global.
• Using unsupported words for fields like weatherFrequency or randomSpawnerAmount.
• Leaving a trailing comma in the JSON.
• Copying snippets from outdated guides that still assume a much older schema.

Once the file is clean, use the server settings reference to build a sensible ruleset instead of guessing field names.

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