The first start prepares the vanilla server files that Stratum needs. You do not download them yourself.
What happens
- The launcher reads the Vintage Story stable and unstable version manifest and selects the vanilla build that the Stratum release targets.
- It downloads the official Vintage Story server archive and verifies it.
- It unpacks the archive.
- It writes Stratum’s patched files on top.
- It starts the server.
Later starts use the prepared install. Stratum prepares again only when the Stratum version or the base Vintage Story version changes, or when you pass --stratum-refresh. Refresh reuses a cached archive when its checksum is valid. To force a new download, remove the cached archive from .vanilla-cache first.
Launcher flags
The launcher reads these flags. Anything else goes to the server, such as --port and --dataPath.
| Flag | Effect |
|---|---|
--stratum-version | Print version information and exit |
--stratum-help | Print the launcher options and exit |
--stratum-refresh | Re-extract and rewrite the base server files and patched files. It downloads the archive only when the cached copy is missing or fails checksum verification. |
--stratum-skip-bootstrap | Skip vanilla preparation and the patched-file overlay on every run. Use this only when both are already prepared. |
--stratum-prepare-only | Prepare the install, then exit. Exits with an error if the build contains no patched files. Cannot be combined with --stratum-skip-bootstrap |
--stratum-no-banner | Start without the startup banner |
Set up access
A new dedicated server is invite-only. Before you configure it to run as a service, start it once in a terminal and wait for startup to finish. At the server console, run these commands, replacing the names with your own:
/op <your player name>
/whitelist add <player name>Run /whitelist add for each player who should be able to join. Stop the server with /stop in the console, then set up the systemd service. A systemd service has no interactive console. In game, /op requires the grantrevoke privilege and /whitelist requires the separate whitelist privilege.
Data folder
The world and settings are stored in the data folder. Without --dataPath, that is a Data folder next to StratumServer. The launcher prints the path in its startup banner unless you pass --stratum-no-banner. Pass --dataPath <path> or --dataPath=<path> to choose another location.
The first start creates serverconfig.json, serverroles.json, stratum.json, stratum-commands.json, and stratum-performance.json in the data folder. If preparation fails, the launcher prints the failure and exits. Fix the reported cause and run it again; the vanilla base marker is written only after preparation succeeds. The Mods folder in the install directory also receives Stratum’s patched VSEssentials.dll and VSSurvivalMod.dll assemblies.
For a headless install, run ./StratumServer --stratum-prepare-only --stratum-no-banner. A successful preparation prints Stratum: prepare complete and exits. A failure prints Stratum: vanilla asset bootstrap failed: <message> and exits with an error. The launcher suggests --stratum-skip-bootstrap as a recovery option only when the needed vanilla assets are already present.
Next steps
Read the configuration overview to change settings, and the player commands to see what players can use.