Enshrouded Hollow Halls Update: Server Impact and Configuration Guide

Enshrouded has been receiving major content updates since leaving early access, and Hollow Halls is one of the bigger ones. New underground biomes, additional enemies, crafting recipes, and building materials. For server operators, the question is always the same: what does this actually change on the backend, and do I need to do anything?

Here is what you need to know.

What Hollow Halls Adds

The update introduces an underground dungeon network with procedurally connected halls, new enemy types that spawn exclusively in these areas, new crafting materials dropped by those enemies, and additional building pieces tied to the dungeon aesthetic.

For players, this is exciting content. For server operators, the relevant changes are:

• Increased world complexity: the procedural dungeons add terrain data that was not in previous saves
• New enemy AI: the dungeon enemies have different pathfinding behavior that creates additional CPU load in populated dungeons
• Crafting and inventory expansion: more item types means the inventory system handles a larger item pool
• World save size increase: existing worlds grow as players explore and generate dungeon content

Server Requirements After the Update

The update shifts requirements upward, though not dramatically:

CPU requirements stay roughly the same. Enshrouded's server is single-threaded for the simulation tick, so the advice has not changed: clock speed over core count.

Storage grows more gradually. Expect save files to increase by 10 to 20% as dungeon content generates. NVMe storage keeps save operations fast, which matters because Enshrouded's autosave can cause brief hitches on slow disks.

How to Update

Managed Hosting

If you are on managed hosting like Space-Node Enshrouded hosting, the server binary updates through the control panel. Stop the server, trigger the update (or it updates automatically depending on your settings), and start it again. Save files are compatible, no migration needed.

Self-Hosted (SteamCMD)

# Stop the server first
steamcmd +force_install_dir /home/steam/enshrouded \
  +login anonymous \
  +app_update 2278520 validate \
  +quit

App ID 2278520 is the Enshrouded Dedicated Server.

Before You Update

1. Back up your save. Always. Save files are in the server's savegame directory. Copy the entire folder:

cp -r /home/steam/enshrouded/savegame /home/steam/backups/enshrouded-pre-hollow-halls

1. Check your RAM allocation. If you were running at 3.5 GB out of 4 GB, you will likely hit the ceiling with Hollow Halls content. Upgrade before the update, not after players start complaining about lag.

2. Communicate with your players. Tell them the server will be down for the update and approximately how long. Most Enshrouded updates take under 10 minutes to download and apply, but testing afterward takes as long as you let it.

Configuration Changes

The Hollow Halls update introduces new server configuration options in enshrouded_server.json:

Dungeon Generation Settings

{
  "gameSettings": {
    "dungeonDifficulty": "Normal",
    "dungeonRespawnTimer": 1800,
    "enemyDensity": "Normal"
  }
}

dungeonDifficulty: affects enemy health, damage, and loot quality in the new dungeons. Options are Easy, Normal, Hard. This is separate from the general world difficulty and only applies to the Hollow Halls content.

dungeonRespawnTimer: seconds before cleared dungeon sections repopulate with enemies. Default is 1800 (30 minutes). Lower values mean more combat (and more CPU load from enemy AI). Higher values give exploration-focused servers a calmer dungeon experience.

enemyDensity: controls how many enemies spawn in dungeon sections. Normal is the intended experience. Reducing it lowers CPU and RAM load but also reduces loot drops.

World Reset Considerations

The Hollow Halls dungeons generate in areas that were previously empty underground space. If your world has already been explored extensively, dungeons will generate where they can. They do not overwrite existing player structures. However, if you want the full dungeon experience, some server operators choose to reset unexplored areas or start fresh worlds.

To keep your existing world and still get dungeon content: the dungeons generate in any unexplored chunk. If your players have not been everywhere (most have not), new content will appear naturally as they explore.

Performance After the Update

What to Monitor

TPS (ticks per second): Enshrouded targets 30 ticks per second on the server side. After updating, monitor TPS during dungeon exploration. If it drops below 25 consistently while players are in dungeons, your CPU is the bottleneck.

RAM usage: watch for the first few play sessions after the update. Dungeon content loads into memory as players explore it. The peak will be higher than pre-update peaks. If you see the server using 90%+ of available RAM, you are at risk of the OS killing the process.

Save file size: check your save size before and after a few sessions. If it has grown significantly (more than 30% increase), make sure your backup system can handle the larger files.

Performance Settings to Adjust

If performance degrades after the update, these are the first things to try:

1. Reduce enemy density in dungeon settings. Fewer enemies means less AI computation.
2. Increase dungeon respawn timer. Less frequent respawning reduces the server's background workload.
3. Limit concurrent players. If you were at the edge with 8 players before, you might need to drop to 6 until you upgrade hardware.

Multiplayer Considerations

All players need to update their game client to the Hollow Halls version before connecting to an updated server. Version mismatches will be rejected at connection time.

If you have players who cannot update immediately (slow internet, away from their gaming PC), you can delay the server update. The game does not force-update servers, so running the previous version for a few extra days is fine.

Hosting Recommendations

For the Hollow Halls update specifically:

If you are on 4 GB: consider upgrading to 6 or 8 GB. The base game was comfortable at 4 GB for small groups, but dungeon content pushes memory usage into territory where 4 GB becomes tight.

If you are on 8 GB: you are fine for groups up to 8 players. Monitor RAM usage in the first week after the update.

If you are on 12+ GB: no changes needed. You have headroom.

Space-Node's Enshrouded plans start at 4 GB and scale to 24 GB. If you need to upgrade mid-session, the process is a server stop, plan change, and restart. No data migration, no reinstallation.

FAQ

Do I need to start a new world for Hollow Halls content? No. The dungeons generate in unexplored underground areas of existing worlds. You only need a new world if you have somehow explored every chunk in the game, which is extremely unlikely given the map size.

Will the update break my existing buildings? No. Player structures are preserved. Dungeons generate around them, not through them.

Can I disable the Hollow Halls content? Not entirely, but you can set enemy density to its lowest value and increase respawn timers to minimize the dungeon gameplay impact. The terrain generation itself cannot be disabled without modding.

How long does the update take? The download is typically 2 to 5 GB depending on the patch. On a 100 Mbps connection, under a minute. The first server start after the update takes longer than usual (30 to 60 seconds extra) as it indexes the new content.

Related guides: for full configuration reference, see Enshrouded server settings guide. Comparing providers? Read best Enshrouded hosting compared.

Do clients and server need the exact same version? Yes. Enshrouded does not support version mismatching between client and server. Everyone needs to be on the same build.