Barotrauma Server Hosting
Crew a submarine through the oceans of Europa with friends while the AI copilot keeps the reactor cool.
What do you need to host a Barotrauma server?
A Barotrauma dedicated server is the free Barotrauma Dedicated Server (Steam app 1026340), 2–4 GB of RAM, UDP port 27015 (plus 27016 for the server list) and its settings in serversettings.xml. It runs whether or not the host is playing, unlike the in-game Host Server button. With GameTeam's Barotrauma server hosting you pay per GB of RAM, from $0.49/GB a week, a full 16-player crew included, and the AI copilot edits the settings, enables mods and sets ranks when you ask.
Run your Barotrauma server by just asking.
Barotrauma keeps the server in one XML file, the mod list in another and the ranks in a third. Tell the copilot what the crew needs instead: it edits the right file, restarts, and reads the log when a modded sub acts strange mid-round.
Everyone Aboard
The copilot keeps server-side mods and submarines consistent so joins do not fail mid-round.
Play in Bursts
Weekly billing suits a game you binge for a week and shelve for two.
Same Server, Next Crew Night
When the sub is retired, the server hosts whatever the crew plays next.
Barotrauma with friends
A co-op survival horror set inside a submarine under the ice of Jupiter's moon: someone steers, someone runs the reactor, someone fights what got aboard. It is chaos by design, and the fun is a crew coordinating through the panic — or failing to.
Barotrauma server RAM requirements
2-4 GB is comfortable for a full crew.
| Your server | Starting RAM | From (Budget, weekly) |
|---|---|---|
| Small crew, vanilla subs | 2 GB | $0.98 / week |
| Full 16-player crew or a campaign | 3 GB | $1.47 / week |
| Large mod list or big Workshop subs | 4 GB | $1.96 / week |
Barotrauma is light on memory; mods and large custom submarines are what push it up. Start at 2–3 GB and add RAM in one click from the panel if a heavily modded campaign needs it. Player limit: 16 is the standard maximum crew size.
How to set up a Barotrauma server on GameTeam
Pick RAM and a location
2 GB covers a vanilla crew. Choose the location closest to most of your players, from 25+ across Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific.
Set up the voyage
Tell the copilot the server name, password, game mode, submarine and mods, or edit serversettings.xml in the file manager. Upload mods to LocalMods and list them in config_player.xml.
Bring the crew aboard
Share the address and port from the panel. Players join from Barotrauma's server browser or by connecting to that address, and enter the password if you set one.
Good to know before you start
The submarine selection and campaign settings are chosen server-side, so the crew joins into whatever was configured rather than voting at start.
The most common problem
Workshop submarines that reference mod content the server does not have will load but behave incorrectly, often only noticed mid-round.
Barotrauma server settings explained
The dedicated server reads serversettings.xml from its own folder at start and rewrites it whenever settings change in game, so stop the server before editing it by hand. Everything sits as attributes on the <serversettings> element. The ones crews change most:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
ServerName | Name in the server list, up to 60 characters. |
port / queryport | Game port (default 27015) and Steam query port (default 27016). |
password | Password players need to join. Empty means open. |
MaxPlayers | Player cap, 1 to 16. Barotrauma itself stops at 16; GameTeam never charges per slot. |
IsPublic | Whether the server shows up in the public server list. |
GameModeIdentifier | The game mode for the next round, sandbox by default. |
SelectedSubmarine / SelectedShuttle | Which sub and respawn shuttle load. |
SubSelectionMode / ModeSelectionMode | Manual (the host picks) or a crew vote. |
KarmaEnabled / KarmaPreset | The karma system that punishes griefers. Off by default. |
TraitorProbability | Chance of a traitor round, from 0 to 1. Default 0. |
AllowFriendlyFire | Whether crew members can hurt each other. |
RespawnMode / RespawnInterval | When dead players come back, and how often the respawn shuttle runs. |
BotCount / MaxBotCount | Bot crew members to fill empty stations. |
AllowModDownloads | Lets joining players download the server's mods. On by default. |
VoiceChatEnabled | In-game voice chat on or off. |
AutoRestart | Starts a new round automatically after a delay. |
Barotrauma server commands
Type these in the server console (or ask the copilot). In game, players with the right rank use the same commands from the F3 debug console.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
start / end | Starts a new round, or ends the current one. |
sub [name] | Selects the submarine for the next round. |
gamemode [name] | Selects the game mode for the next round. |
clientlist | Lists everyone connected, with their client IDs. |
kick [name] / kickid [id] | Kicks a player. |
ban [name] / banid [id] | Kicks and bans a player. unban [name] lifts it. |
giverank [player] | Gives a player a rank (a set of permissions, such as Moderator or Admin). |
giveperm [player] | Grants individual admin permissions. |
say [message] | Sends a chat message to everyone. |
servermsg [message] | Changes the message shown in the server lobby. |
setpassword [password] | Changes the server password. |
botcount [x] | Sets the number of bots in the crew. |
difficulty [0-100] | Changes the level difficulty for the next round. |
restart | Closes and restarts the server. |
Can I add mods to a Barotrauma server?
Yes, through Steam Workshop. Submarines, item assemblies and total conversions are enabled server-side and downloaded by clients.
On a dedicated server, the enabled mods are the packages listed under <contentpackages> in the server's config_player.xml: one core package, then the regular ones in load order. Mods you upload go in LocalMods. Keep a Workshop submarine's required mods on the server too: a sub that uses parts from a mod the server lacks will load, then misbehave mid-round.
Barotrauma server ports
Hosting on GameTeam means no router setup: copy the address and both ports from the panel, since they are not always 27015 and 27016.
Pay per GB of RAM. Never per slot.
You pay for memory, not seats, and billing can be weekly, so you are never locked into a month the group might not play. Change RAM in one click, or switch the same server to another game. The AI copilot is included on every plan.
- ✓ AI copilot included on every plan
- ✓ Unlimited player slots — we never charge per slot
- ✓ Ryzen 9 7950X · NVMe storage
- ✓ DDoS protection included
- ✓ Switch to another game anytime
Hardware & network
Locations
What server owners say
"Honestly didn't expect much from an 'AI manager', but it's how I run my server now. I'll type something like 'why did the server crash last night' and it actually reads the logs and tells me."
Verified review
"I'd been on two other hosts before this. What sold me was the AI manager catching a memory leak in one of my mods and naming the exact one — something I'd been chasing for weeks."
Verified review
"I'm not very technical and setting up servers always stressed me out. Now I just ask the assistant to fix a config, and it either walks me through it or does it for me."
Verified review
Barotrauma server hosting FAQ
Why is my Barotrauma host server not working?
The in-game Host Server button starts DedicatedServer.exe from your game folder in the background and connects you to it. If that program is missing or can't start, you get "Failed to start server": verify the game files in Steam to put it back. A dedicated server runs on its own, so a rented one skips this entirely.
Why can't I host a server in Barotrauma?
The Host Server button only works while the game is signed in to Steam (or Epic Online Services); offline, it stays greyed out. If you can host but friends can't stay on, remember the in-game server is part of your game: when you quit, the server closes and the crew drops. A dedicated server keeps running with or without you.
How many players can join a Barotrauma server?
Up to 16. That limit is built into Barotrauma (MaxPlayers is capped at 16, and a new server starts at 8), not set by us; GameTeam charges for RAM and never per slot. Fill empty stations with bots through BotCount.
Can I rent a Barotrauma server just for a campaign?
Yes. Rent a Barotrauma server by the week, play the campaign while the crew is keen, and stop paying when it ends. Or switch the same server to another game when the sub is retired.
Do my friends need the same mods?
They need them, but they don't have to hunt for them: with AllowModDownloads on (the default), the server offers its mods to players who join without them. Keep the server's list and load order the way you want the crew to play.
How do I make someone admin on my Barotrauma server?
Run giverank with their name, Steam ID or client ID and pick a preset such as Moderator or Admin, or grant single permissions with giveperm. Ranks are saved in Data/clientpermissions.xml, so they survive a restart.
Is a dedicated server better than hosting from the game?
For one evening, the Host Server button is fine. For a campaign, a dedicated server wins: it stays up when the host logs off, nobody's PC carries the server load, and settings and ranks live in files you can back up.
How much does Barotrauma server hosting cost?
You pay per GB of RAM: $0.49/GB a week on Budget, or $1.99/GB billed monthly. A 2 GB server is $0.98 a week and 3 GB is $1.47 a week, with every slot included and the AI copilot on board. The first 72 hours are money-back.
Same server, any game.
Your sub, your crew, your Europa.
Deploy a Barotrauma server, tell the copilot how the voyage runs, and send the crew the address.
Deploy your Barotrauma server