Enshrouded runs best on a server you control, and this project exists to make that happen without drama: one image, sensible defaults, and configuration that lives entirely in environment variables. Proton is the only supported runtime — the Wine path is gone, and anyone still on a wine tag needs to move before their next restart. Treat the compose examples as the contract, set only the variables you actually care about, and leave the rest alone. Back up your saves before you change anything.
Skip cloning. The published image is all you need.
Prerequisites: Docker with Compose (docker compose, no hyphen). A Linux host with the ntsync driver loaded (lsmod | grep ntsync, device at /dev/ntsync) is strongly recommended — without it Proton falls back to fsync and the server can crash during its multithreaded startup. No ntsync? Drop the devices: block; it runs, just less reliably.
Runtime: this project ships Proton only. It is the only runtime validated on a cold volume that reaches a healthy /ready state. Use the Proton image for production.
Option A — one-off docker run: the fastest way to try it. Map game ports 15636 and query ports 15637 over both TCP and UDP, mount a host directory to /home/steam/enshrouded, and set NAME, SET_GROUP_ADMIN_PASSWORD, and SET_GROUP_GUEST_PASSWORD. Always pass --stop-timeout 120: the server needs room to save the world on stop, and the default 10s kills it mid-save. The Proton image tag is proton-latest.
Option B — Compose (recommended): create an empty folder, drop in a compose.yaml with the same ports, volume, and environment, plus stop_grace_period: 120s. Bring it up with docker compose up -d, watch first boot with docker compose logs -f (the initial install is slow — be patient), and stop it with docker compose down. Saves, logs, and config land in ./data next to the file.
Back up your saves. This is not optional advice — configure automatic backups on top of whatever you run.
Everything else is overridable via environment variables: general settings, game settings, and user group overrides are all covered in Configuration. If you set a game setting override, remember the preset must be Custom or it will be ignored.
Prefer editing enshrouded_server.json by hand? You can. Environment variables always win over matching file values; everything else is left alone. If the JSON fails to parse, the container logs it and leaves the file untouched rather than resetting it, and keeps the five most recent timestamped backups.
Every setting is an environment variable. There is no config file to template and no first-run wizard — define what you want in your compose file, restart, done. Variables you omit keep their defaults.
Game parameters use the same mechanism. Keys must be SCREAMING_SNAKE_CASE, and GAME_SETTINGS_PRESET must be Custom or your overrides are silently ignored — this is the one trap people hit.
Group overrides follow SET_GROUP_<GROUPNAME>_<FIELD>. Naming a group that doesn't exist yet creates it with default permissions, so you can invent groups freely. Group names with underscores work as expected.
Precedence is simple and strict: an environment variable always beats the value in the generated JSON. Hand-edit a field that a variable also controls, and the variable wins on the next restart. Hand-edit anything no variable covers, and it stays. If the JSON is malformed, the container logs it and leaves the file untouched rather than resetting defaults — fix and restart. Every rewrite keeps a timestamped backup beside the original.
Set the usual server basics (NAME, ports, SLOT_COUNT, chat toggles) as top-level variables. A WEBHOOK_URL gives you stop/start notifications. Keep STOP_TIMEOUT below your compose stop_grace_period or the save gets cut off mid-write.
Health checks are built in, so use them. The image ships a Docker HEALTHCHECK, which means docker ps already reports healthy or unhealthy without any configuration on your part. The container also exposes liveness and readiness routes on HTTP_PORT (default 3000):
/liveand/livenessreturn200while the server process is running./readyand/readinessreturn200only once the game port is actually accepting connections./healthrequires both of the above.
Treat /ready as the source of truth for "can players join." Process-up is not the same as world-up. Publish the port (3000:3000) if you want to probe from outside the container; set HTTP_PORT: "0" to turn the endpoints off entirely.
For backups: mount a real host path and back it up. Everything that matters lives under the mounted volume (/home/steam/enshrouded) — saves, logs, and the generated config. If it only exists inside the container, it isn't backed up.
Schedule backups outside the container against the mounted directory — a cron job on the host or a sidecar is simpler and more reliable than anything baked into the image. Snapshot while the server is stopped, or accept that a live copy may catch a mid-write save. Pair this with stop_grace_period and STOP_TIMEOUT so the server actually finishes saving before it dies; a killed container mid-save is how you lose a world.
Config rewrites are already safe: before the container touches enshrouded_server.json, it copies the previous version alongside it as a timestamped backup and keeps the five most recent. That covers config drift, not your saves — do not confuse the two.
The opinionated version: if you can't restore from a backup you've tested, you don't have backups. Restore one before you need one.
I changed a game setting and nothing happened. You left GAME_SETTINGS_PRESET on Default. Flip it to Custom — every gameplay override below that is ignored otherwise.
My container gets killed mid-save. Your stop timeout is too short. Set stop_grace_period to 120s and keep STOP_TIMEOUT below it. The server needs room to write the world out; the default is not enough.
First boot failed on SteamCMD. Expected. A fresh container frequently misses its first install attempt. Raise STEAMCMD_ATTEMPTS and let it retry before you start debugging anything else.
Can I just edit enshrouded_server.json? Yes, and your edits stick — except for anything an environment variable also covers. Env always wins. Hand-edit slotCount while SLOT_COUNT is set and it reverts on the next restart. Drop the variable if you want manual control.
I broke the JSON. Did I lose my config? No. Unparseable files are logged and left untouched, never overwritten with defaults. Fix the syntax and restart.
How do I add a group that doesn't ship by default? Name it. SET_GROUP_FRIEND_PASSWORD creates a FRIEND group with default permissions. Underscores in names are fine.
Do I need the ntsync driver? No, but you want it. Without it Proton falls back to fsync and the multithreaded startup gets noticeably less stable. No driver, no /dev/ntsync — just drop the devices: block and accept the risk.
Where are my saves? In the volume you mounted, next to your compose file. Back them up. This is not optional advice.
Something's wrong and I can't tell what. Read the logs, then check /health. It tells you whether the process is up and whether the game port is actually accepting connections — two different failures.
BSD-3-Clause. That's it — no dual licensing, no "contact us for commercial terms," no vague "see LICENSE for details" hand-waving. If you fork it, ship it, or run it for your server, the terms are already spelled out in the license file. You don't need to ask.
