Icarus Server Hosting
Drop onto a hostile planet, survive the mission and make it back with your crew while the AI copilot manages the drop.
What do you need to host an Icarus dedicated server?
Icarus server hosting comes down to four things: 8–12 GB of RAM, the free Icarus Dedicated Server app (Steam app 2089300), UDP ports 17777 and 27015 reachable, and a ServerSettings.ini with a join password, an admin password and the shutdown timers set the way your crew plays. Or choose Icarus dedicated server hosting that already has all of that. On GameTeam you pay per GB of RAM, from $0.49/GB a week, slots are never sold separately (Icarus itself caps a prospect at 8 players), and the AI copilot edits the config, reads the log and backs up your prospects when you ask in plain English.
Run your Icarus server by just asking.
Icarus hides its config until the first lobby, names settings that do nothing, and drops back to the lobby after five quiet minutes. Tell the copilot how your crew plays and it writes ServerSettings.ini, reads the log when a drop goes wrong, and saves your prospects before an update.
Drop-Shaped Billing
Weekly billing fits a game you play in missions, not in months.
Setup by Description
Settings written by the copilot from what you tell it, confirmed before the crew drops.
One Server, Any Game
Between prospects the server can be anything else the crew is playing.
Icarus with friends
A session-based survival game: drop onto an untamed planet with a mission, survive the storms, wildlife and cold, and extract before the window closes. Every drop is a story, and a crew that has been through a few of them moves like it.
Icarus server RAM requirements
8-12 GB. Prospects load large terrain sections and Icarus is demanding for its session size.
| Your server | Starting RAM | From (Budget, weekly) |
|---|---|---|
| 1–4 players on a mission prospect | 8 GB | $3.92 / week |
| 5–8 players, bigger maps and storms | 10 GB | $4.90 / week |
| Full crew on an outpost or open world | 12 GB | $5.88 / week |
Prospects load large sections of terrain at once, so Icarus needs more memory than most 8-player games. Treat 8 GB as the floor, not the target. A long-lived outpost or open world that the crew keeps building on is where 12 GB pays off. Change RAM in one click from the panel; your prospects stay where they are. Player limit: 8 per prospect.
How to set up a Icarus server on GameTeam
Pick RAM and a location
8 GB covers a small crew on missions; go to 12 GB for a full crew on an outpost. Choose the location closest to most of your players out of our 25+ across Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific.
Tell the copilot your rules
Join password, admin password, who may start or delete prospects, and whether the server waits in the lobby or keeps your prospect running. The copilot writes ServerSettings.ini, or edit it yourself in the file manager. Have a prospect from your own game? Upload its .json unchanged.
Drop in together
Launch Icarus, pick your character, select Join Session in the HAB menu, flip the toggle in the top right to dedicated servers and join yours. With no prospect loaded you land in the Server Lobby and pick one there.
Good to know before you start
Prospects are session-based rather than a persistent world, so the server hosts a sequence of runs rather than one continuous save.
Icarus server settings explained
Icarus keeps its server settings in Icarus/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/ServerSettings.ini, under the header [/Script/Icarus.DedicatedServerSettings]. The file only appears after the server reaches the lobby or loads a prospect for the first time, which is why fresh installs look like they have no config. Edit it with the server stopped. These are the keys RocketWerkz documents:
| Setting | What it does |
|---|---|
JoinPassword | Password to join. Leave it empty for a public server; set one to make it private. |
AdminPassword | Password for admin commands. If it is empty, anyone who types /AdminLogin becomes admin, so always set it. |
MaxPlayers | Players at once, from 1 to 8. The cap is the game's own. |
SessionName | Meant to name the server, but currently does nothing. The browser name comes from the -SteamServerName launch parameter (up to 64 characters). |
ShutdownIfNotJoinedFor | Seconds to wait for someone to join after a prospect starts before returning to the lobby. Default 300; the game is paused while it waits. A negative value keeps it running indefinitely. |
ShutdownIfEmptyFor | Seconds after the last player leaves before returning to the lobby. Default 300. Set -1 to keep the prospect loaded. |
AllowNonAdminsToLaunchProspects | Default True: anyone in the lobby can create or load a prospect. Set False to make it admin-only. |
AllowNonAdminsToDeleteProspects | Default False. Leave it that way unless you trust everyone with your saves. |
ResumeProspect | Default True: resume the last prospect on start, using LastProspectName, which the server fills in itself. |
LoadProspect | Name of a saved prospect to load on start, for example your outpost. |
CreateProspect | Create a new prospect on start: [ProspectType] [Difficulty 1–4] [Hardcore true/false] [SaveName]. |
Icarus server commands
Admin commands go in the in-game chat with a / or \ in front. Log in first with /AdminLogin and the password from AdminPassword. The copilot can change the settings behind them from the panel too.
| Command | What it does |
|---|---|
/AdminLogin <password> | Gives you admin rights on the server. |
/KickPlayer <SteamID or name> [reason] | Removes a player. They can rejoin. |
/BanPlayer <SteamID or name> [reason] | Kicks and bans a player; the ban is saved. |
/UnbanPlayer <SteamID or name> | Lifts a ban. |
/ReturnToLobby | Kicks everyone and sends the server back to the lobby. |
/ReturnToLobbyWhenEmpty | Returns to the lobby as soon as the server empties, without waiting for ShutdownIfEmptyFor. |
/AdminSay <message> | Shows a message to everyone, anonymously. |
Can I add mods to a Icarus server?
Icarus has no official mod support for dedicated servers.
RocketWerkz does not support mods on dedicated servers, and a game update can break community mods without warning, so we don't sell mod installs for Icarus. What you can change are the server's own rules: passwords, the player cap, the lobby timers and which prospect loads.
Icarus server ports
On GameTeam there is nothing to forward on your router: the panel shows your server's exact address and ports, which may differ from these defaults.
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
Icarus server hosting FAQ
How does multiplayer work in Icarus?
Up to 8 players drop into a prospect together: a timed mission, an outpost you keep building on, or an open world. One player can host from their own game, or the crew can use a dedicated server that runs on its own, so nobody's PC has to stay on and anyone can start the session. On a dedicated server the world waits in a lobby until someone picks or resumes a prospect.
How do I set up a dedicated Icarus server?
Yourself: download app 2089300 with SteamCMD (no Icarus licence needed on the server), start IcarusServer.exe with -SteamServerName, forward UDP 17777 and 27015, then edit ServerSettings.ini once it has been generated. On GameTeam: pick RAM and a location, tell the copilot your passwords and rules, and join. The Icarus dedicated server guide covers the do-it-yourself route step by step.
How many players can join an Icarus server?
8 per prospect. That limit comes from Icarus itself (MaxPlayers, 1 to 8), so no host can raise it. GameTeam never charges per slot, so a full crew costs the same as a duo.
How much does Icarus server hosting cost?
You pay per GB of RAM: $0.49/GB a week on Budget, or $1.99/GB billed monthly. An 8 GB server is $3.92 a week and 12 GB is $5.88 a week, with every slot included and the AI copilot on every plan. Weekly billing suits a game you play one mission at a time.
Can I rent an Icarus server for a single mission?
Close to it. A GameTeam Icarus server can be billed by the week, so when you rent Icarus server time for a weekend drop, it costs one week, not a month. Keep it for the next prospect, or switch the same server to the crew's other game in between. The first 72 hours are money-back.
Why does my Icarus server keep going back to the lobby?
Both shutdown timers default to 300 seconds: five minutes without anyone joining a fresh prospect, or five minutes after the last player leaves, and the server returns to the lobby. Set ShutdownIfNotJoinedFor and ShutdownIfEmptyFor to -1, or ask the copilot to do it.
Can I move my own prospect or outpost to a dedicated server?
Yes. Copy the prospect's .json from %LocalAppData%\Icarus\Saved\PlayerData\<SteamID>\Prospects on your PC into the server's Saved/PlayerData/DedicatedServer/Prospects folder, then load it by name with LoadProspect. Don't rename or edit the file: that corrupts the save. Back it up first.
Why can't I find my server in the Icarus browser?
The browser opens on normal sessions: flip the toggle in the top right of the Join Session screen to dedicated servers. If it still isn't there, the query port (UDP 27015 by default) isn't reachable or the server is still starting. Look for the name you set with -SteamServerName, not SessionName, which currently does nothing.
Is Icarus game server hosting worth it, or should I host on my own PC?
Hosting on your own PC is free if it can stay on, but you forward two UDP ports, update the server after every patch and give it 8 GB or more on top of the game you are playing. A hosted server runs on hardware built for it — Ryzen 9 7950X and NVMe on GameTeam — with DDoS protection included and the copilot handling the config.
How do I update my Icarus server?
Stop it and start it again from the GameTeam panel and it updates to the latest Icarus build, so it matches your crew's game after a patch. Back up your prospects first, or ask the copilot to.
Run it yourself — or let the copilot.
Same server, any game.
Your Icarus crew, one server, every drop.
Deploy a server, tell the copilot how your crew plays, and send them the server name.
Deploy your Icarus server