Creating and setting up a Windrose server

Creating a Windrose server at RespawnHost

This guide takes you from ordering to your first login on your own Windrose server. The server itself is online in under 90 seconds — the rest takes just a few minutes.

Windrose does not connect players through a public server browser or an IP address — it uses an invite code. That’s the most important difference from many other survival games, so keep it in mind for step 5.

Requirements

• A RespawnHost account — register here
• Credit on your account (prepaid, top up via PayPal or credit card)
• Windrose on Steam (Windows) — the game is currently Windows-only

Step 1: Start your order

1. Open the Windrose order page (or go to respawnhost.com/en/windrose-server-hosting and click Get server).
2. Log in if you haven’t already.

Step 2: Choose a billing model

RespawnHost offers two models — you pick at checkout:

Model	How it works	Best for
Fixed package	A fixed price for a term, paid up front from your balance.	24/7 operation, communities
Pay-Per-Use	Billed by the second — you only pay while the server is running. Server off = no cost.	Weekend crews, casual sessions

Because Windrose crews rarely sail every day, Pay-Per-Use is the cheaper choice for most groups.

Step 3: Choose package and location

• Package: Pick by crew size. Windrose supports a maximum of 8 players per world (the developers recommend up to 4 for optimal performance). Most crews are fine with 8–12 GB of RAM. Details in Which Windrose package is right for me?
• Location: Germany (Frankfurt) for Europe or USA for North America. Choose the location closest to you and your crew.

Then complete the order — the server is installed automatically and ready to start in under 90 seconds.

Step 4: Set the basics

Windrose stores its server settings in a file called ServerDescription.json. At RespawnHost you don’t have to create the file by hand — under Configuration → Startup variables the panel gives you every value as a convenient input field:

Startup variable	Meaning
Server Name	Your server’s name
Invite code	The code your crew joins with — at least 6 characters, 0-9 a-z A-Z, case-sensitive
Server Password / Password Protected	Optional password protection (set the password + Password Protected to 1)
Max players	Maximum player count — up to 8
Auto Update	Update the server automatically on every start (recommended: 1)
WorldIslandID	The world loaded on start — must match the ID in a WorldDescription.json

You set all gameplay rules (difficulty, enemy strength, boarding difficulty) separately in WorldDescription.json — see Configuring Windrose server settings.

Step 5: Start the server and connect

1. Click Start in the panel. After a moment the status shows “Online”.

2. Launch Windrose and, in the Play menu, choose “Connect to server”.
3. Enter your server’s invite code (the one you set in step 4). If a password is set, enter it too.
4. The game remembers servers you’ve joined — next time just pick your server from the list.

Admin rights & server management

In the current Early Access build, Windrose has no in-game admin commands and no console. You manage your server entirely through the panel (start/stop, backups, config, logs) and the config files. More on this in Admin commands: what works (and what doesn’t).

Good to know

Next steps

• Co-op & multiplayer explained — how invite codes, hosted worlds and dedicated servers fit together
• Configuring server settings — difficulty and multipliers
• Which package is right for me? — RAM recommendations by crew size