How to Install Terraria Dedicated Server on Ubuntu 24.04 VPS: TShock & Vanilla Setup

Running your own Terraria dedicated server gives you a persistent world that stays online even when you log off, lets you invite friends without forwarding ports on your home router, and unlocks community features like admin commands, anti-grief protection, and custom plugins. This guide walks you through installing both the vanilla Re-Logic server and the popular TShock replacement on an Ubuntu 24.04 VPS, from first SSH connection to a production-hardened deployment with automatic backups.

Want to launch faster? Deploy on the CloudCore Starter plan and follow along -- the whole setup takes under 30 minutes end to end.

Table of Contents

Why Self-Host a Terraria Server?

Terraria ships with a peer-hosted multiplayer mode where one player's game acts as the server. That works for a quick session, but it has real limitations: the world only exists while the host is online, the host's upload bandwidth becomes the bottleneck for everyone else, and any crash or power cut ends the session. A dedicated VPS server solves all of these in one move.

• Always-on world -- The world runs 24/7. Players can log in and build whenever they want, and progress continues even when everyone is offline. Farms, NPC shops, and traps keep working.
• Symmetric, stable bandwidth -- Datacenter networking delivers predictable latency. No more lag spikes when the host's partner starts a video call. Most VPS plans include a gigabit uplink with unmetered bandwidth.
• Admin control with TShock -- Run commands like /ban, /protect, or /kick against griefers. Define regions that only trusted players can edit. Automate rules with plugins.
• Privacy and control -- No third-party game host has admin credentials to your world. You decide who has access, what plugins are installed, and when updates roll out.
• Mod and plugin flexibility -- TShock supports dozens of community plugins, and the same server directory layout drops in for tModLoader if you want to run modded content later.
• Cost stability -- A CloudCore Starter VPS costs a flat monthly fee regardless of how many hours players spend online. Commercial Terraria hosts charge per player slot or per gigabyte of RAM and scale up fast.
• Learning value -- Running a game server is an approachable way to pick up Linux fundamentals: SSH, systemd, firewalls, cron, and log analysis. Every skill transfers to other self-hosted projects.

Vanilla vs. TShock: Which Should You Choose?

Terraria has two mainstream Linux server builds. Both run on the same port and accept connections from the same vanilla game client, so players do not need to install anything special to join.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, make sure you have:

• A VPS running Ubuntu 24.04 LTS with root or sudo access
• SSH access to your server (PuTTY on Windows, or the built-in terminal on macOS/Linux)
• At least 2 GB of RAM (4 GB recommended for TShock with plugins or 8+ players)
• 2 GB of free disk space for the binaries, world file, and backup rotation
• A Terraria game client on your PC/Mac/console to test the connection

Recommended Plan: CloudCore Starter

For a private Terraria server with up to 8 players on a medium world, the CloudCore Starter plan has everything you need:

- 2 vCPU cores

- 4 GB RAM

- 50 GB NVMe SSD

- Unmetered bandwidth

- Starting from EUR 7.99/month

This leaves plenty of headroom for TShock, plugins, and backup snapshots. Larger servers with 16+ players or modded worlds benefit from stepping up to CloudCore Professional.

Connect to your server via SSH to get started:

ssh root@your-server-ip

Step 1: Update System Packages

Start by updating the package index and applying security patches. Ubuntu 24.04 ships with a recent kernel and a modern glibc, both of which Terraria and TShock rely on.

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Expected output (abbreviated):

Hit:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu noble InRelease
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Calculating upgrade... Done
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.

If the kernel was updated, reboot before continuing:

sudo reboot

Reconnect over SSH after about a minute.

Step 2: Create a Dedicated terraria User

Running game servers as root is a bad idea -- a vulnerability in the server or a plugin would give an attacker full system control. Create an unprivileged system user that will own the install and run the process.

sudo adduser --system --group --home /opt/terraria --shell /bin/bash terraria

Verify the user was created:

id terraria

Expected output:

uid=998(terraria) gid=998(terraria) groups=998(terraria)

The --system flag creates a user without a login password, which is fine because we will run commands as this user via sudo -u terraria.

Step 3: Install Dependencies

Terraria ships with its own bundled Mono runtime for the vanilla build, but TShock requires the .NET 6 runtime. Install the common tools you will need for both paths plus the .NET runtime for TShock users.

sudo apt install -y unzip wget curl tmux ufw cron

If you plan to run TShock (Step 4B), also install the .NET 6 runtime:

sudo apt install -y libicu-dev
wget https://packages.microsoft.com/config/ubuntu/24.04/packages-microsoft-prod.deb
sudo dpkg -i packages-microsoft-prod.deb
rm packages-microsoft-prod.deb
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y dotnet-runtime-6.0

Verify the .NET install:

dotnet --list-runtimes

Expected output:

Microsoft.NETCore.App 6.0.x [/usr/share/dotnet/shared/Microsoft.NETCore.App]

Step 4A: Install Vanilla Terraria Server

The official Terraria server binary is distributed from the Re-Logic website. Find the current version number on the Terraria server page -- the filename encodes the version (1449 means 1.4.4.9). Substitute the latest version in the URL below.

sudo -u terraria mkdir -p /opt/terraria
cd /tmp
wget https://terraria.org/api/download/pc-dedicated-server/terraria-server-1449.zip
unzip -q terraria-server-1449.zip -d /tmp/terraria-extract

The archive contains Windows/, Mac/, and Linux/ directories. Copy the Linux build into /opt/terraria.

sudo cp -r /tmp/terraria-extract/1449/Linux/* /opt/terraria/
sudo chown -R terraria:terraria /opt/terraria
sudo chmod +x /opt/terraria/TerrariaServer.bin.x86_64

Verify the binary runs:

sudo -u terraria /opt/terraria/TerrariaServer.bin.x86_64 -help 2>&1 | head -20

Expected output (abbreviated):

Terraria Server v1.4.4.9
Usage:
  -config <config>    Specifies the configuration file to use
  -port <port>        Specifies the port to listen on
  -world <world>      Specifies the world file to load
  -autocreate <size>  1: small, 2: medium, 3: large
  ...

Clean up the extraction directory:

rm -rf /tmp/terraria-extract /tmp/terraria-server-1449.zip

Skip to Step 5.

Step 4B: Install TShock Server

TShock releases are published on GitHub at github.com/Pryaxis/TShock. Download the latest TShock-for-Terraria-vX.X.X-linux-x64-Release.zip asset. As of writing, the latest stable release is v5.2, which matches Terraria 1.4.4.9.

sudo -u terraria mkdir -p /opt/terraria
cd /tmp
wget https://github.com/Pryaxis/TShock/releases/download/v5.2.0/TShock-5.2-for-Terraria-1.4.4.9-linux-x64-Release.zip -O tshock.zip
unzip -q tshock.zip -d /tmp/tshock-extract
sudo cp -r /tmp/tshock-extract/* /opt/terraria/
sudo chown -R terraria:terraria /opt/terraria
sudo chmod +x /opt/terraria/TShock.Server

Verify the TShock binary runs:

sudo -u terraria /opt/terraria/TShock.Server -help 2>&1 | head -20

Expected output (abbreviated):

TShock 5.2.0 (Terraria 1.4.4.9) Linux
Server started...
  -configpath <path>  Path to TShock config directory
  -world <world>      World file to load
  -port <port>        Port to listen on
  ...

Clean up:

rm -rf /tmp/tshock-extract /tmp/tshock.zip

TShock automatically creates a tshock/ subdirectory with its own configuration (separate from serverconfig.txt), a SQLite user database, and a ServerPlugins/ folder for DLL plugins.

Step 5: Configure serverconfig.txt

Both vanilla and TShock read a plain-text configuration file called serverconfig.txt. Create it at the root of the install directory.

sudo -u terraria tee /opt/terraria/serverconfig.txt > /dev/null <<'EOF'
Terraria Dedicated Server Configuration
World file path (will be created on first run if missing)
world=/opt/terraria/worlds/world1.wld
Auto-create world on first launch: 1=small, 2=medium, 3=large
autocreate=2
World seed (leave blank for random)
seed=
World name (shown in the server list)
worldname=MyVPSWorld
World difficulty: 0=classic, 1=expert, 2=master, 3=journey
difficulty=1
Network port (TCP)
port=7777
Maximum concurrent players (1-255)
maxplayers=8
Server password (leave blank for no password)
password=changeme
Message of the day
motd=Welcome to my Terraria server!
Listen on all interfaces
ip=0.0.0.0
Enable UPnP (set to 0 on a VPS; port is opened explicitly via UFW)
upnp=0
Auto-save interval (seconds)
autosave=300
Secure mode (disables console commands from remote sources)
secure=1
EOF

Create the worlds directory:

sudo -u terraria mkdir -p /opt/terraria/worlds

Security note: Change the password=changeme line to a real password before starting the server, especially if you will not enable TShock's stricter authentication. Pick a password of at least 12 characters.

Difficulty Levels

World Sizes

Step 6: Generate a World

Start the server once manually to generate the world. This also verifies everything is wired up before we hand control to systemd.

For vanilla:

sudo -u terraria /opt/terraria/TerrariaServer.bin.x86_64 -config /opt/terraria/serverconfig.txt

For TShock:

sudo -u terraria /opt/terraria/TShock.Server -config /opt/terraria/serverconfig.txt

Expected output on first launch:

Terraria Server v1.4.4.9
Listening on port 7777
Type 'help' for a list of commands.
Creating world - world1
0% - Resetting game objects
10% - Generating terrain
...
100% - Hang on just a moment!
Loading world data: 100%
: Server started

World generation takes 1 to 3 minutes on a CloudCore Starter, longer for a large world. Once you see Server started, stop it cleanly so we can set up systemd.

At the server prompt, type:

exit

This saves the world and shuts down the server gracefully. Confirm the world file exists:

ls -lh /opt/terraria/worlds/

Expected output:

-rw-r--r-- 1 terraria terraria 9.8M Apr 16 12:00 world1.wld
-rw-r--r-- 1 terraria terraria 3.2M Apr 16 12:00 world1.wld.bak

Step 7: Run Persistently with systemd

A systemd unit starts the server on boot, restarts it if it crashes, and lets you use journalctl to view logs. This is the production-grade way to run a game server -- far cleaner than tmux or screen, which we will only use for interactive console access when needed.

Create the service file:

sudo tee /etc/systemd/system/terraria.service > /dev/null <<'EOF'
[Unit]
Description=Terraria Dedicated Server
After=network.target
[Service]
Type=simple
User=terraria
Group=terraria
WorkingDirectory=/opt/terraria
ExecStart=/opt/terraria/TerrariaServer.bin.x86_64 -config /opt/terraria/serverconfig.txt
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10
StandardInput=null
StandardOutput=journal
StandardError=journal
SyslogIdentifier=terraria
Hardening
NoNewPrivileges=true
PrivateTmp=true
ProtectSystem=strict
ReadWritePaths=/opt/terraria
ProtectHome=true
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target
EOF

If you installed TShock in Step 4B instead, change the ExecStart line to:

ExecStart=/opt/terraria/TShock.Server -config /opt/terraria/serverconfig.txt

Enable and start the service:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now terraria

Verify it is running:

sudo systemctl status terraria

Expected output:

● terraria.service - Terraria Dedicated Server
     Loaded: loaded (/etc/systemd/system/terraria.service; enabled; preset: enabled)
     Active: active (running) since Wed 2026-04-16 12:05:00 UTC; 30s ago
   Main PID: 12345 (TerrariaServer.)
      Tasks: 9 (limit: 4608)
     Memory: 180.4M
        CPU: 2.3s
     CGroup: /system.slice/terraria.service
             └─12345 /opt/terraria/TerrariaServer.bin.x86_64 -config /opt/terraria/serverconfig.txt

Stream the live log:

sudo journalctl -u terraria -f

Optional: Interactive Console via tmux

The systemd unit above sends stdin to /dev/null, so you cannot type commands into the live server. For occasional admin use (broadcasting a message, saving the world manually), run the server inside a tmux session instead:

sudo systemctl stop terraria
sudo -u terraria tmux new -d -s terraria '/opt/terraria/TerrariaServer.bin.x86_64 -config /opt/terraria/serverconfig.txt'

Attach to the session to type commands:

sudo -u terraria tmux attach -t terraria

Detach without stopping the server by pressing Ctrl+B, then D. In practice, most operators use systemd as the persistent runner and rely on TShock's in-game admin commands or REST API for live administration, falling back to tmux only when troubleshooting.

Step 8: Open Port 7777 in UFW

UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall) is the easiest way to manage iptables rules on Ubuntu. If it is not already enabled, configure it now -- but be careful to allow SSH first so you do not lock yourself out.

sudo ufw allow OpenSSH
sudo ufw allow 7777/tcp
sudo ufw enable

Confirm:

sudo ufw status

Expected output:

Status: active
To                         Action      From
--                         ------      ----
OpenSSH                    ALLOW       Anywhere
7777/tcp                   ALLOW       Anywhere
OpenSSH (v6)               ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)
7777/tcp (v6)              ALLOW       Anywhere (v6)

If you want to restrict access to specific friends' IP addresses (a good practice for small private servers), replace the allow 7777/tcp rule with:

sudo ufw delete allow 7777/tcp
sudo ufw allow from 203.0.113.50 to any port 7777 proto tcp
sudo ufw allow from 198.51.100.22 to any port 7777 proto tcp

For a deeper UFW tutorial, see the companion guide How to Install and Configure UFW on Ubuntu.

Step 9: Connect from the Game Client

Launch Terraria on your PC or Mac. From the main menu:

You should connect within 2 to 4 seconds. Other players can now join using the same IP, port, and password.

If the connection fails, see Troubleshooting below.

Step 10: Install TShock Plugins

This step only applies if you installed TShock in Step 4B. Plugins extend TShock with features like region protection, economy systems, in-game voting, custom chat commands, and more.

Browse plugins at github.com/Pryaxis/TShock and the community plugins list. Popular plugins include:

• CreativePowers -- Grants per-group access to journey-mode creative controls
• Rests -- REST API server for programmatic administration
• HousingRegions -- Protect player housing plots
• AutoBroadcast -- Scheduled in-game announcements
• CustomNpcNames -- Override NPC display names per server

cd /opt/terraria/ServerPlugins
sudo -u terraria wget https://example.com/plugins/AutoBroadcast.dll
sudo systemctl restart terraria

Verify the plugin loaded:

sudo journalctl -u terraria -n 100 --no-pager | grep -i plugin

Expected output:

Plugins loaded: AutoBroadcast v1.2, HousingRegions v2.0, ...

TShock Admin Setup

On first launch, TShock prints a setup code to the log. Retrieve it:

sudo journalctl -u terraria --no-pager | grep -i setup

Expected output:

To become SuperAdmin, join the game and type /setup 12345678

Join the server in-game, then type the command in the chat box. You will gain full admin rights. Once you are promoted, disable the setup code:

/setup-disable

From there, use /user add, /group add, and /group addperm to build out your permission model.

Step 11: Configure Daily World Backups

The world file is the only piece of state you truly cannot rebuild. Back it up daily. A simple cron job that copies the .wld file to a snapshot directory is more than enough for most servers.

Create the backup script:

sudo tee /opt/terraria/backup.sh > /dev/null <<'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
set -euo pipefail
BACKUP_DIR=/opt/terraria/backups
WORLD_DIR=/opt/terraria/worlds
RETAIN_DAYS=14
TIMESTAMP=$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M%S)
mkdir -p "$BACKUP_DIR"
Copy every world file into a timestamped archive
tar -czf "$BACKUP_DIR/worlds-$TIMESTAMP.tar.gz" -C "$WORLD_DIR" .
Prune snapshots older than retention window
find "$BACKUP_DIR" -name 'worlds-*.tar.gz' -mtime +$RETAIN_DAYS -delete
echo "Backup complete: worlds-$TIMESTAMP.tar.gz"
EOF
sudo chmod +x /opt/terraria/backup.sh
sudo chown terraria:terraria /opt/terraria/backup.sh

Test it manually:

sudo -u terraria /opt/terraria/backup.sh
ls -lh /opt/terraria/backups/

Expected output:

Backup complete: worlds-20260416-120500.tar.gz
-rw-r--r-- 1 terraria terraria 3.1M Apr 16 12:05 worlds-20260416-120500.tar.gz

Schedule the backup to run daily at 04:00:

sudo -u terraria crontab -e

Add the line:

0 4   * /opt/terraria/backup.sh >> /opt/terraria/backups/backup.log 2>&1

Save and exit. Verify the cron entry:

sudo -u terraria crontab -l

Off-Site Backups

Local backups protect against accidental deletion and grief events but not VPS-level loss. For true disaster recovery, sync the backup directory to a remote location. Rclone is the cleanest tool for this:

sudo apt install -y rclone
sudo -u terraria rclone config

Configure a remote (S3, Backblaze B2, Google Drive, etc.) and then extend the backup script with:

rclone copy "$BACKUP_DIR" myremote:terraria-backups --max-age 2d

Manual Save from In-Game

TShock admins can force an immediate save without waiting for autosave:

/save

Upgrading the Server

Terraria receives periodic content updates from Re-Logic, and TShock releases follow within 1 to 2 weeks to stay compatible. Always upgrade both the client and server together -- clients cannot connect to a server running a different major version.

Upgrade Checklist

# Step 1: Announce (for TShock users)
In-game: /broadcast Server restarting for update in 2 minutes
Step 2: Stop
sudo systemctl stop terraria
Step 3: Pre-upgrade backup
sudo -u terraria /opt/terraria/backup.sh
Step 4a: Vanilla upgrade
cd /tmp
wget https://terraria.org/api/download/pc-dedicated-server/terraria-server-NEWVERSION.zip
unzip -q terraria-server-NEWVERSION.zip -d /tmp/terraria-new
sudo cp -r /tmp/terraria-new/NEWVERSION/Linux/* /opt/terraria/
sudo chown -R terraria:terraria /opt/terraria
sudo chmod +x /opt/terraria/TerrariaServer.bin.x86_64
Step 4b: TShock upgrade
cd /tmp
wget https://github.com/Pryaxis/TShock/releases/download/vNEWVERSION/TShock-NEWVERSION-linux-x64-Release.zip -O tshock-new.zip
unzip -q tshock-new.zip -d /tmp/tshock-new
sudo cp -r /tmp/tshock-new/* /opt/terraria/
sudo chown -R terraria:terraria /opt/terraria
sudo chmod +x /opt/terraria/TShock.Server
Step 5: Start
sudo systemctl start terraria
sudo systemctl status terraria

Your serverconfig.txt, tshock/ config directory, ServerPlugins/, and worlds/ all survive the upgrade because we are only overwriting binaries.

If something breaks, roll back by extracting the previous backup:

sudo systemctl stop terraria
sudo -u terraria tar -xzf /opt/terraria/backups/worlds-PREVIOUS.tar.gz -C /opt/terraria/worlds/
Reinstall the previous binary release, then restart
sudo systemctl start terraria

Troubleshooting

Viewing Logs

sudo journalctl -u terraria -f            # Live stream
sudo journalctl -u terraria -n 200        # Last 200 lines
sudo journalctl -u terraria --since today # Today's logs

FAQ

What are the minimum VPS specs for a Terraria dedicated server?

A Terraria dedicated server runs comfortably on 2 GB of RAM and 2 vCPU for up to 8 players on a medium world. TShock with plugins and larger worlds benefit from 4 GB of RAM. Disk usage stays under 2 GB including the binaries, world file, and backup snapshots. The CloudCore Starter plan comfortably handles small to medium private servers, and CloudCore Professional is the sweet spot for busy public communities.

Should I run vanilla Terraria or TShock?

Vanilla Terraria -- Re-Logic's official build -- is the right choice if you want a pure multiplayer experience that matches single-player exactly and do not need admin tools. TShock is a drop-in server replacement that adds admin commands (/ban, /kick, /tp, /region), permission groups, anti-grief protection, and a plugin ecosystem. Most public servers and established communities use TShock because it makes moderation practical at scale.

Which port does Terraria use, and do I need UDP?

Terraria uses TCP port 7777 by default. You must open this port in UFW and in any cloud provider firewall (most VPS hosts leave all ports open on the provider side by default, but check). Terraria does not require UDP for normal gameplay -- only TCP. If you change the port= line in serverconfig.txt, remember to update both your UFW rule and the port your players enter when joining.

How do I back up a Terraria world?

Copy the .wld file from /opt/terraria/worlds to a backup location. The server writes the world to disk every autosave interval (default 300 seconds) and on clean shutdown, so a nightly cron job is sufficient for most servers. The script in Step 11 creates a timestamped tarball and retains 14 days of snapshots. For truly critical worlds, sync backups off-site with rclone to object storage.

Can I add mods like tModLoader on this setup?

Yes. tModLoader is a separate server build that replaces the vanilla binary. The directory layout, systemd unit, UFW rule, and backup strategy in this guide all apply to tModLoader without changes. Download the Linux server build from the tModLoader GitHub releases, extract it over /opt/terraria, and update the ExecStart= line in /etc/systemd/system/terraria.service to point at the new binary (start-tModLoaderServer.sh is the usual entry point).

How do I give a friend admin access on TShock?

Inside the game, as an existing SuperAdmin, run:

/user add FriendName password superadmin

Tell your friend to connect to the server, then type /login password in the chat. They now have full admin rights. For more granular control, create custom groups: /group add moderator followed by /group addperm moderator tshock.kick.

Next Steps

Your Terraria server is live, persistent, and backed up. Here are recommended follow-ups to build on this foundation:

• Install UFW properly -- Harden the firewall with rate limiting and geo-IP rules: How to Install and Configure UFW on Ubuntu.
• Run more game servers on the same VPS -- The Minecraft server install guide uses a similar systemd pattern and can share the same VPS if you have enough RAM.
• Host a factory game alongside Terraria -- See How to Install Factorio Server on Ubuntu for another multiplayer server that pairs well with Terraria communities.
• Automate backup rotation to cloud storage -- Extend the backup script with rclone to push snapshots to S3 or Backblaze B2 for true off-site disaster recovery.
• Set up Uptime Kuma -- Monitor your Terraria server's TCP 7777 port and alert on Discord or email when it goes down.
• Build a Discord bot -- Use the TShock REST API to pipe player joins, deaths, and chat into a Discord channel for a community hub.

Launch Your Terraria Server on CloudCore Starter

Spin up a 2 vCPU / 4 GB / 50 GB NVMe VPS in under 60 seconds and follow this guide end to end. Unmetered bandwidth, gigabit uplink, and snapshot backups included.

Deploy CloudCore Starter Now -- plans start at EUR 7.99/month.