Factorio Elevated Rails Mod Sync for Dedicated Server
With the launch of **Factorio 2.0** and the **Space Age** expansion, the game's core features—like Elevated Rails and Quality—are technically treated as official mods. This has led to a common "Mod Mismatch" error on dedicated servers where players are prompted to download or sync mods even if they own the expansion. This guide covers how to fix these synchronization loops.
🚆 The Official Mod Pack
Space Age, Elevated Rails, Quality, and Vulcanus/Fulgora/Gleba are five distinct mod files (.dat) that must be enabled on the server.
🔄 The Sync Loop
If the server version differs even slightly from the client (e.g., 2.0.14 vs 2.0.15), the Elevated Rails mod will fail CRC checks and trigger a restart loop.
Correct Mod Installation for 2.0+
1. Use the mod-list.json Override
To ensure your Factorio dedicated server loads the expansion correctly, you must explicitly enable the mods in your mod-list.json. Simply placing the files in the mods/ folder is not enough.
{
"mods": [
{ "name": "base", "enabled": true },
{ "name": "elevated-rails", "enabled": true },
{ "name": "quality", "enabled": true },
{ "name": "space-age", "enabled": true }
]
}2. Verify Auth Token for Downloads
If your server is missing the expansion files, it will attempt to download them from the Wube portal. You MUST have your player-data.json configured with a valid service-token. Without this, the server cannot "prove" it has permission to host the Space Age DLC.
3. Client-Side "Synchronize Mods"
When joining, if the client says "Mods Mismatch," always use the Synchronize and Restart button. Factorio 2.0 is excellent at matching the server's mod state perfectly, but it requires the game to restart to apply the Baked lighting and Elevated Rail logic.
Common Error: "Failed to load mod 'space-age': dependency 'base >= 2.0.0' not met." This means your Factorio Headless binary is outdated. Update to the latest stable build before enabling the expansion.
Space Age Server Ticks
Remember that the **Elevated Rails** mod adds new pathfinding logic for trains. This is more CPU intensive than standard rails. Ensure your dedicated server has enough single-core headroom to process thousands of pathfinding requests per minute.
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