Open World Sessions
Open World in Icarus shifts hosting from session-style resets to persistent infrastructure, so save durability and long-session stability become your primary operational risks.
Configuring Open World
When starting a new session on your dedicated server, you must specify the map and mode in the startup parameters:
Styx and Prometheus
DLC maps like Styx and Prometheus also support Open World. Make sure your server has the necessary DLC access if required by the hosting provider.
Persistent Session Strategy
Open World servers benefit from strict maintenance windows because long-lived worlds accumulate terrain edits, storage entities, and mission artifacts over time. Keep a documented cycle for restart, validation, and cleanup so players understand when world health checks happen.
- Lifecycle policy: Define when worlds are archived, cloned, or wiped before launch.
- Join reliability: Test reconnect behavior after restarts with characters at different progression tiers.
- Growth control: Review save size weekly and archive old branches before major experiments.
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
- Session model awareness: Align save handling with mission/session lifecycle expectations.
- Patch testing: Validate dedicated server tools and launch args after each update.
- Backup cadence: Snapshot before major world events or config changes.