Unturned Server Settings Explained (Commands.dat and Config.txt)

The Game settings page in the FREAKHOSTING Game Panel changes your Unturned server’s settings in plain words: name, password, mode, map, player slots, zombies, loot, vehicles, death penalties and more. You change a field, click Review and save, check the exact lines that change in Commands.dat or Config.txt, and save. The old file is kept as a .bak copy. Changes apply after a restart.

Difficulty	Time	Works on	Panel page
Beginner	5 minutes	Every FREAKHOSTING Unturned server	Game settings

How to change a setting

Open Game settings

Open your server and click Game settings under GAME SETTINGS.

Find the setting

Type in Search settings, or switch from All to Changed to see only what you changed. Tick Show advanced settings (5) to show the advanced fields.

Review and save

Change the field and click Review and save. The Review your changes dialog shows each line that changes. Click Save changes.

Restart the server

If the server is running, click Restart now in the banner, or restart the server later.

Unturned Game settings page showing Checks, Search settings, Presets and the Server section with Server name, Mode, Map and Player slots — The Game settings page with Checks and the Server section

Review your changes dialog for Unturned showing a Welcome line added to Commands.dat and the note that Commands.dat.bak is kept — Review your changes shows the exact line written to Commands.dat

Checks at the top lists problems the page finds in your files. “Nothing to fix.” means it found none. To edit a file by hand, use Config.txt: open the raw file or Commands.dat: open the raw file at the bottom of the page. A rule you leave unset uses the default of the server’s Mode (Easy, Normal or Hard). The tables below show those defaults.

What do the presets do?

Presets fill in several settings at once. Nothing is saved until you review and save.

Preset	What it does
Relaxed survival	Normal mode with slow zombies and no instant headshot kills
Hardcore	Hard mode with sprinters and no crosshair

Server

Field	What it does	Default
Server name	The name in the server list (also on Startup)	Hosted by FREAKHOSTING.COM
Server password	Players need it to join; empty means open (also on Startup)	Not set
Mode	Which difficulty rules the server uses: Easy, Normal or Hard	Normal
Map	The map the server runs, for example PEI, Russia, Washington, Germany or Yukon	PEI
Player slots	How many players can be online at once. Set by your plan: the panel rewrites it at every start	Your plan
Camera	First person only, Third person only, Both, or Third person in vehicles	Both
Welcome message	Shown to players when they join	Empty

Map is marked CAREFUL: a map that is not installed stops the server from starting. Workshop maps such as Hawaii must be downloaded first. See Workshop maps.

Server list

Field	What it does	Default
Steam game server login token	Your GSLT; required on our servers (also GSLT on Startup)	Set by you
Short description	One line in the server list	Empty
List description	A longer description in the server list	Empty
Full description	The full description on the server page	Empty
Icon address	Web address of a 64 by 64 icon (http or https)	Empty
Thumbnail address	Web address of a larger picture (http or https)	Empty
Monetization	What the server list shows: Not specified, None, Only cosmetic or non-gameplay items, or Monetized	Not specified

See how to set a GSLT.

Limits and safety

Field	What it does	Default
Valve Anti-Cheat	Players are checked by VAC	On
BattlEye	Players must run BattlEye	On
Highest ping	Players above this ping are kicked	750 ms
Queue timeout	Seconds a player can wait in the queue without answering	15
Game timeout	Seconds a player can be silent before being dropped	30
Shut down every day	Shuts the server down at a set time each day	Off
Shut down for updates	Shuts the server down when a game update is released	Off

With Valve Anti-Cheat or BattlEye off, cheaters can join. A server that shuts itself down stays off; add a schedule to start it again.

Zombies

Field	What it does	Easy	Normal	Hard
Zombie spawn chance	How likely a zombie spawn point holds a zombie (0 to 1)	0.2	0.25	0.3
Zombie damage	How hard zombies hit	0.75	1	1.5
Zombie armor	How much damage zombies resist; higher is tougher	1.25	1	0.75
Crawler chance	Share of zombies that are crawlers	0	0.15	0.125
Sprinter chance	Share of zombies that are sprinters	0	0.15	0.175
Slow zombies	Zombies move slowly	On	Off	Off
Zombie respawn (day)	Seconds before a killed zombie respawns by day		360
Zombie respawn (night)	Seconds before a killed zombie respawns at night		30

Items and vehicles

Field	What it does	Easy	Normal	Hard
Item spawn chance	How likely an item spawn point holds an item (0 to 1)	0.35	0.35	0.15
Item respawn	Seconds before looted items respawn	50	100	150
Items wear out	Weapons and tools lose durability	Off	On	On
Dropped items vanish after	Seconds before a dropped item disappears		600
Vehicle decay time	Seconds before an unused vehicle starts to decay		604800 (7 days)
Vehicle respawn	Seconds before a destroyed vehicle respawns		300

More on loot: loot spawn rate and respawn.

Players

Field	What it does	Easy	Normal	Hard
Experience	How fast players gain experience; 1 is normal	1.5	1	1.5
Skills lost on death (PvP)	Share of skill experience lost when killed by a player (0 to 1)		1
Skills lost on death (PvE)	Share lost when killed by zombies or the world		1
Items lost on death (PvP)	Share of items dropped when killed by a player (0 to 1)		1
Items lost on death (PvE)	Share dropped when killed by zombies or the world		1
Broken legs	Falling can break a player’s legs		On
Bleeding	Injuries can make a player bleed		On
Instant headshot kills	A headshot always kills	Off	Off	On

To let players keep their items when they die, set both Items lost on death fields to 0.

Gameplay rules

Field	What it does	Default
Friendly fire	Group members can hurt each other	Off
Hit markers	Show a marker when you hit something	On
Crosshair	Show the crosshair	On
Suicide command	Players can use the suicide button	On
Leave countdown	Seconds a player waits to leave the server	10
Respawn countdown	Seconds a player waits to respawn	10
Teleport home countdown	Seconds a player waits to teleport to their bed	30
Group size	Most players in one group; 0 means no limit	0

Weather and airdrops

Field	What it does	Default
Airdrops	Supply drops fall from the sky	On
Weather frequency	How often rain and snow come; 1 is normal	1

Where are the files?

File	What is in it
`Servers/PterodactylUnturned/Server/Commands.dat`	Startup commands, one per line, such as `Welcome`, `Owner` and `Cheats`
`Servers/PterodactylUnturned/Config.txt`	Gameplay rules, server list descriptions and server limits
`Servers/PterodactylUnturned/WorkshopDownloadConfig.json`	Steam Workshop mods and maps

Config.txt explains each option in comments that start with >, with the Easy, Normal and Hard defaults. For commands you can add by hand, see server commands.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to restart after changing a setting?

Yes. Unturned reads Commands.dat and Config.txt when it starts, so restart after you save.

Why did my change not apply?

The server was still running with the old settings, or the map wasn’t installed. Restart, then check the console. If a file edit broke something, the .bak copy has the previous version.

Where do I turn on cheats or set the owner?

There is no field for them. Add Cheats or Owner <SteamID64> to Commands.dat with Commands.dat: open the raw file. See how to become admin.

Can I turn off PvP?

Add the line PvE to Commands.dat while the server is stopped. Friendly fire only controls damage inside a group.

Unturned server guide

Every Unturned page in one place.

Getting started

Set up and join your server.

Loot spawn rate

Item spawn chance and respawn.

Server commands

Commands.dat and console commands.

File Manager

Edit files by hand.

Tested by the FREAKHOSTING team on our Game Panel on 2 November 2026 (Unturned 3.26.3.13 with RocketMod 4.9.3.18). Steps may differ slightly if the game changes.

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Last Updated: November 2026

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Unturned Server Settings Explained (Commands.dat and Config.txt)

How to change a setting

What do the presets do?

Server

Server list

Limits and safety

Zombies

Items and vehicles

Players

Gameplay rules

Weather and airdrops

Where are the files?

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to restart after changing a setting?

Why did my change not apply?

Where do I turn on cheats or set the owner?

Can I turn off PvP?

Unturned server guide

Getting started

Loot spawn rate

Server commands

File Manager

Need Extra Help?

Save on Your Hosting

​How to change a setting

​What do the presets do?

​Server

​Server list

​Limits and safety

​Zombies

​Items and vehicles

​Players

​Gameplay rules

​Weather and airdrops

​Where are the files?

​Frequently asked questions

​Do I need to restart after changing a setting?

​Why did my change not apply?

​Where do I turn on cheats or set the owner?

​Can I turn off PvP?

​Related guides

Unturned server guide

Getting started

Loot spawn rate

Server commands

File Manager

​Need Extra Help?

​Save on Your Hosting

How to change a setting

What do the presets do?

Server

Server list

Limits and safety

Zombies

Items and vehicles

Players

Gameplay rules

Weather and airdrops

Where are the files?

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to restart after changing a setting?

Why did my change not apply?

Where do I turn on cheats or set the owner?

Can I turn off PvP?

Related guides

Need Extra Help?

Save on Your Hosting