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To change the game mode on a FREAKHOSTING Don’t Starve Together server, open Game settings, choose Survival, Endless or Wilderness in the Game mode dropdown, click Review and save, then Save changes, and restart. Survival resets the world 120 seconds after every player is dead. Endless never resets. In Wilderness, dead players respawn at a random spot as a new character.

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Which game mode should I use?

Source: the official Don’t Starve Wiki.

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How to change the game mode

1

Open Game settings

Open your server in the Game Panel and click Game settings under GAME SETTINGS.
2

Choose the game mode

In the Server section, open the Game mode dropdown (“The rules of the game.”) and pick a mode.
3

Review and save

Click Review and save, check the change, then click Save changes.
4

Restart

Restart the server so the new mode is used.
Game mode has a STARTUP label: the panel saves it as the Game mode variable on the Startup page, and the server reads it each time it starts. If you edit the variable on Startup directly, use exactly survival, endless or wilderness in lower case.

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Before you change the mode of an existing world

  • Make a backup first, so you can go back.
  • Pick the mode before your group starts playing if you can. It is the simplest way to be sure everyone gets the rules they expect.
  • To change seasons, resources or monsters instead, see world settings.

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Frequently asked questions

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What is the default game mode on a DST server?

Survival. It is set in Game mode on Game settings and as game_mode = survival in cluster.ini.

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What is the difference between Survival and Endless in Don’t Starve Together?

In Survival, the world resets if every player is dead for 120 seconds. In Endless, the world never resets, and ghosts can revive at the Florid Postern as often as they like.

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Where is Relaxed or Lights Out?

Those are playstyle presets in the game’s own Host Game screen. The server’s game_mode setting only accepts survival, endless and wilderness.

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Do I need to restart after changing the game mode?

Yes. The server reads the game mode only when it starts.

DST server guide

Every Don’t Starve Together page in one place.

World settings

Seasons, resources and monsters.

Name and password

Change how your server appears.

cluster.ini explained

Every setting in the file.
Tested by the FREAKHOSTING team on our Game Panel on 3 November 2026 (Don’t Starve Together dedicated server, version 761239). Game mode rules checked against the official Don’t Starve Wiki. Steps may differ slightly if the game changes.

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Last Updated: November 2026