Jagex has shipped an official dedicated server for RuneScape: Dragonwilds since the 0.11 update in March 2026. It is free, it runs on 64-bit Windows and Linux, and it carried on into the 1.0 release on 15 September 2026. What Jagex does not ship is a Docker image or a Pterodactyl egg. Both exist, but they come from the community.
This guide follows Jagex's dedicated server guide and fills in the Linux, Docker and Pterodactyl parts it leaves out.
What you need
| What | Details |
|---|---|
| Operating system | 64-bit Windows or Linux |
| RAM | 2GB plus 1GB per player, so 8GB for a full server and 4GB for two players |
| Players | Up to 6 per server. Jagex set that with 0.11, and the 1.0 patch notes do not change it |
| Network | UDP port 7777 reachable from the internet. A second server on the same machine uses 7778 |
| Owner ID | Your Dragonwilds Player ID, shown at the bottom of the in-game Settings menu |
The machine that runs the server does not need a copy of the game. SteamCMD downloads the server with an anonymous login.
Install the server with SteamCMD
On a desktop PC the server shows up as a free tool in the Tools section of your Steam library. Since patch 1.0.0.5, the Self-hosted Server button in Steam takes you straight there. On a headless Linux box, SteamCMD is easier. Jagex's example uses a Windows folder; on Linux it is the same command with a Linux path:
steamcmd +force_install_dir /opt/dragonwilds +login anonymous +app_update 4019830 validate +quit
validate is optional. It checks the files after the download, which is slower but catches a broken install.
On Windows you start RSDragonwilds.exe from the install folder. Jagex recommends the launch options -log -NewConsole, so you get a console window that shows what the server is doing. On Linux the binary sits in RSDragonwilds/Binaries/Linux/. The community Pterodactyl egg starts it like this:
./RSDragonwilds/Binaries/Linux/RSDragonwildsServer-Linux-Shipping -log -port=7777 -ini:Game:[/Script/Engine.GameSession]:MaxPlayers=6
During install the egg also copies SteamCMD's linux64/steamclient.so to ~/.steam/sdk64/. If you set things up by hand, do the same.
Fill in DedicatedServer.ini
The server will not start without an Owner ID. Jagex lists four required values and one optional one:
- Owner ID: your Player ID. The owner can ban and unban anyone, online or offline.
- Server Name: the name of the server, whatever world it runs.
- Default World Name: the world the server creates on its first start. Players search for this name.
- Admin password: anyone who enters it under Server Management in the pause menu settings counts as an admin until you change it. Admins can ban players who are online, but cannot unban.
- World password (optional): overrides any password saved in the world. Leave it empty for an open server.
Jagex gives the Linux path as RSDragonwilds/Saved/Config/Linux/DedicatedServer.ini. On Windows you create RSDragonwilds/Saved/Config/WindowsServer/DedicatedServer.ini yourself by copying the values over. The community egg writes to RSDragonwilds/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/DedicatedServer.ini instead, so if your edits seem to be ignored, look at which folder the server actually created on its first start. These are the keys the egg sets:
[/Script/Dominion.DedicatedServerSettings]
OwnerId=YOUR_PLAYER_ID
ServerName=MyServer
DefaultWorldName=MyWorld
AdminPassword=pick-a-long-password
WorldPassword=
Stop the server before you edit the file. Jagex lists it as a known issue: anything you change while the server runs is lost.
Ports and how players join
Forward UDP 7777 on the firewall and on every router between the server and your internet connection. Jagex warns that some ISPs do not allow port forwarding at all, and others only do it through their support desk. If players can see your world in the list but cannot join it, the port forward failed somewhere along the way.
Players find a dedicated server in the Public tab of the Worlds screen by typing the exact world name. The search is case sensitive. The egg's README adds one catch for LAN play: the server only reports its public IP to Epic Online Services, so players on the same network as the server have to use the Direct tab.
Two more things from Jagex. Steam invites to a dedicated server do not connect as intended; the guide still lists that as a known issue. And 1.0 added invite codes, shown in the pause menu, plus a crossplay option for dedicated servers. The server guide has not been updated for either yet, so check the 1.0 patch notes and your own DedicatedServer.ini after the first start on 1.0.
Running it in Docker
There is no official image. Jagex's guide says it is still working with cloud providers on documentation for hosting in the cloud. The community images all download the same Steam app, 4019830, some through SteamCMD and others through DepotDownloader. A few have not been touched since before 1.0, so check the last commit before you pick one.
A maintained example is indifferentbroccoli/runescape-dragonwilds-server-docker on GitHub, published under GPL-3.0 by a game hosting company and last updated in late September 2026. It takes your settings as environment variables (OWNER_ID, ADMIN_PASSWORD, SERVER_NAME, DEFAULT_WORLD_NAME, WORLD_PASSWORD, MAX_PLAYERS) from an .env file and keeps the install and saves in one volume. The compose file from its README:
services:
runescape-dragonwilds:
image: indifferentbroccoli/runescape-dragonwilds-server-docker
restart: unless-stopped
container_name: runescape-dragonwilds
stop_grace_period: 30s
ports:
- 7777:7777/udp
- 8888:8888/udp
env_file:
- .env
volumes:
- ./server-files:/home/steam/server-files
Two notes from that README are worth knowing even if you use another image. It also opens UDP 8888 for what it calls a world settings beacon, used to create and edit worlds from inside the game; Jagex's guide only mentions 7777. And it warns that the port inside and outside the container has to be the same, or players get sent back to the title screen when they join.
Whatever image you use, keep RSDragonwilds/Saved on a volume. That folder holds the worlds, the config and the logs. Everything else can be downloaded again.
The Pterodactyl and Pelican egg
The egg lives in the pelican-eggs/games-steamcmd repository under runescape_dragonwilds. It was added in April 2026 and comes in two formats in the same folder: a YAML file for Pelican and a JSON file for Pterodactyl. It runs on the ghcr.io/pelican-eggs/steamcmd:debian image.
The startup tab gets these variables:
| Variable | Notes |
|---|---|
| Owner ID | Required. The egg ships a placeholder that you have to replace |
| Server Name | Up to 16 characters |
| Default World Name | Up to 32 characters |
| Admin Password | Required |
| World Password | Optional |
| Max Players | 1 to 6 |
| Automatic Updates | On by default. Checks SteamCMD for a new server version on every start |
The panel writes these values into DedicatedServer.ini every time the server starts, so change them in the startup tab rather than in the file. For backups, the README suggests keeping only Saved/SaveGames, Saved/Config and Saved/Logs, and skipping PersistentDownloadDir and SpudCache, which are large and get rebuilt anyway.
Moving a world to the server
On start, the server loads the newest .sav file in RSDragonwilds/Saved/SaveGames. If there is none, it creates a default Standard world. Jagex's guide spells the server folder Savegames, but the community egg's README uses SaveGames, the same as the folder on your PC. Linux paths are case sensitive, so use the folder your server actually created. To bring over a world you played on your own PC:
- Stop the server.
- Back up everything in
RSDragonwilds/Saved/SaveGames, then empty that folder. - Copy your world's
.savfile fromC:\Users\YOUR_NAME\AppData\Local\RSDragonwilds\Saved\SaveGamesinto it. - Start the server.
For a Custom or Creative world, create it in your own game first, enter it once and leave again, then copy it over the same way.
After every patch
Jagex's patch notes say it plainly: dedicated servers need a restart to pick up an update. The server and the players also have to run the same version. If your world suddenly disappears from the list after a patch, compare the two: the server prints its version at the top of RSDragonwilds/Saved/Logs/RSDragonwilds.log, and the game shows its version in the top left corner.
If you would rather not host it yourself
We run the same official Linux server on our Premium AMD Ryzen 9 DDR5 node in the Netherlands, from €8.99 a month. You paste your Player ID into the Owner ID field in the panel, the server checks for updates on every restart, and saves are backed up for you. We only host Dragonwilds in the Netherlands for now, so players far from Europe will see a higher ping. See the Dragonwilds server plans.