Configure Abiotic Factor SandboxSettings.ini and Official Mods

The right file, server stopped

Documented path, from the install directory:

AbioticFactor/Saved/SaveGames/Server/Worlds/<world>/SandboxSettings.ini

<world> is the -WorldSaveName value. The launch-parameter page documents Cascade as the default. -SandboxIniPath can point somewhere else, relative to the Saved folder. The dedicated-server wiki's example is Config/WindowsServer/Server1Sandbox.ini.

quit in the dedicated console saves and stops. Copy the whole world folder, including PlayerData and the save files, before you edit. If there is no INI, the wiki says to create one. A restart may be required. The dedicated console does not change these settings. The commands that page lists in full are showtime, showdatetime, hidedatetime and quit.

A few keys from the official table, not the whole list:

The official wiki misspells one heading (ApocalypticAbilties) while the default block writes ApocalypticAbilities. Use the key from the default block. Every other key, ranges included, is on the Sandbox page. A value outside the published range is not close enough.

Change one group, restart, and check with a player who is not an admin. If nothing moves, you edited a different world than -WorldSaveName, or an INI with no header.

Official mods, after the copy

The 1.5.0 patch notes (Community Update 5) add official mod.io support. Disabling a mod removes its content. They write that stability is not guaranteed, often as items disappearing. An official mod has a version number: after a game patch it stays disabled until the author updates it. Unofficial mods are described as broadly broken by that update, and the studio does not support them.

On the dedicated server, the launch-parameter page documents:

• -Mods=6472275;6472552;6456360 is mod.io IDs separated by semicolons. That example is the one on the page.
• -ModioToken= is a token from the mod.io account page. Without it, the server re-downloads mods on every start. Do not share it.
• If the token is set and a listed mod has dependencies you did not name, those download too. Without a token, you have to list a set that actually loads.
• Default folder: AbioticFactor\Saved\mod.io. -ModInstallTimeout is 900 seconds unless you change it.
• -OverrideModWarnings skips warnings that would stop startup. The page keeps that for people who know why.
• -SideloadMods does not download. It mounts mods already on disk, aimed at hosts, with limited support. The default folder is AbioticFactor\Mods. -Mods is still required to say which ones mount.

Enable a mod on a copy of the world folder. Join, check one item from the mod, quit, start again. If the server will not boot, remove -Mods and restore the copy. Do not fix it by deleting random files under Saved.

Player cap

-MaxServerPlayers accepts 1 to 24 on that parameter page. Above 6, the same text says it is not recommended and that a warning is shown before joining. It does not change SandboxSettings.ini.

Offers: Abiotic Factor comparison.

Questions