Wake of the Water: What Changed for Your Dedicated Server
The Wake of the Water update (Update 7) went live on November 10, 2025, and it is the biggest change to Enshrouded server administration since dedicated servers launched. Most coverage focuses on the new biome and swimming, but admins running a persistent world need to know what changed on the server side. This guide covers the new discovery tags, the persistent ban list, the Visitor role, water-gameplay permissions, and how to update a dedicated server safely so your group does not lose progress.
First, update the server. The dedicated server and the game client must run the same version. After a major patch, clients on the new build will fail to connect to an out-of-date server until you re-run SteamCMD against app 2278520 and restart. If your update will not pull through, see Force Server Update on Version Mismatch.
What Wake of the Water Adds for Players
For context on why the server load changed, here is what the update brought to the world your server is hosting:
- Veilwater Basin is a new endgame region located between the Albaneve Summits and the Blackmire, built around rivers, waterfalls, and flooded ruins.
- Dynamically simulated water means rivers, currents, and player-built canals are now part of the world state your save file tracks.
- The level cap rose to 45, with weapons reaching level 50 after full upgrading.
- Fishing, new weapons, and reworked loot systems were added across the map.
The dynamic water and the larger map are why some admins saw heavier CPU use after patching. If your world is now flagging "Server Overloaded" or high load, read Server Overloaded before changing hardware.
New Server Discovery Tags
Hosts can now attach filtering tags so players browsing the server list can find a world that matches how they want to play. The official tag set documented for Wake of the Water is:
LookingForPlayersBaseBuildingExplorationRoleplay- Language tags for the language spoken on the server
These are configured in the server files. Keen's changelog points admins to the bundled enshrouded_server_readme.txt for the exact field layout, because the readme that ships with the server binary is the authoritative reference for the version you are running. Always check the readme that came with your build rather than copying tag syntax from an older guide, since the field names are confirmed there for your exact version.
Why tags matter: a public world tagged BaseBuilding plus LookingForPlayers fills up faster with the right players than an untagged server lost in the list. Tags do not change gameplay, only discoverability.
The Persistent Ban List
Before this update, the only moderation tool was a kick, and a kicked player could rejoin the moment the host opened a new session. Wake of the Water added a real ban system:
- Kick removes a player from the current session. They can rejoin when the host opens a new session.
- Ban removes the player and adds them to a persistent blacklist. They cannot rejoin until an admin removes them from the list.
The update also added an in-game UI widget for adding selected players to the ban list, viewing the current list, and unbanning. For a public or semi-public server this is the single most useful administration change in the patch, because the blacklist now survives restarts instead of resetting every session.
The New Visitor Role
Enshrouded uses preset roles to control what non-admin players can do. Wake of the Water introduced a Visitor role, available both to peer-to-peer hosts and as a preset in the dedicated server configuration file.
The Visitor role's defining restriction is that terraforming and interactions with the open world outside of bases are set to "not allowed." In practice this stops a stranger from digging up your landscape or redirecting water sources outside protected base areas, while still letting them explore and play inside the boundaries you set. It is the recommended default for open public worlds where you want visitors but not vandals.
| Role | Open-world terraforming | Typical use |
|---|---|---|
| Admin | Allowed | You and trusted co-hosts |
| Default / member roles | Configurable | Regular community members |
| Visitor (new) | Not allowed | Public drop-ins on open servers |
Water-Gameplay Permissions
Because water is now simulated, the patch expanded server permissions covering the use of water-gameplay items and tools. This lets a host decide who can place water-related building pieces and use water tools, so a single player cannot flood a shared build or reroute a river through someone else's base. If you run a build-focused community server, review these permissions alongside the Visitor role so terraforming and water control line up with the trust level of each role.
Recommended Setup Order After Patching
- Stop the server cleanly so the world saves.
- Update the server files (SteamCMD
+app_update 2278520 validate) to match the new client build. - Open the server config and review your roles. Add
Visitorfor any public access. - Set your discovery tags using the field names in the shipped
enshrouded_server_readme.txt. - Confirm water-gameplay permissions per role.
- Start the server, then verify it appears with the correct tags in the browser.
Back up first. A major patch touches save data. Take a copy of your savegame directory before updating so you can roll back if anything looks wrong. See Save Game Rollback and Backups.
References
- Official Enshrouded: Wake of the Water Update notes
- Wake of Water Update, Official Enshrouded Wiki
- Enshrouded Wake of the Water, Steam News
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