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World desk9 min

How to Change Gravity on a Space Engineers Server

Change planetary gravity by editing the stopped server’s world save, or create local artificial gravity with a Gravity Generator. This guide covers the exact files, settings, safety checks and common failures.
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There are two different ways to change gravity in Space Engineers. To change a planet’s natural gravity, stop the server, back up the world, edit the saved planet value named SurfaceGravity, upload the save, and restart. To create a local field around a ship or station, build a Gravity Generator or Spherical Gravity Generator and adjust it from the block’s Control Panel. The dedicated-server GUI and in-game Admin Screen do not replace the save-file edit required for a planet’s natural gravity.

Choose the gravity system you actually want to change

Gravity changes have different scopes, controls and risks. Decide which result you need before editing anything.

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System Where you change it What it affects Persistence
Planetary (natural) gravity The world save, by editing the planet’s SurfaceGravity value The natural gravitational field associated with that planet Stored in the world save and loaded when the world starts
Gravity Generator The block’s Control Panel A rectangular local field around a large-grid build Saved as part of the build
Spherical Gravity Generator The block’s Control Panel A radial field that pulls affected objects toward the generator Saved as part of the build

Planetary gravity is the right choice when you want to make takeoffs, landings or surface construction consistently harder or easier across a planet. Artificial gravity is better for an interior, corridor, hangar or ship where you want a controllable field without changing the planet itself.

Change a planet’s natural gravity by editing the world save

A planet’s gravity is not normally exposed as a simple slider in the dedicated-server panel. The reliable method is to edit the active world save while the server is offline. A hosted-server procedure updated March 5, 2026 uses this sequence: stop the server, download the save file, find the intended planet’s SurfaceGravity entry, replace its value, upload the file, and restart.

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Before you edit: stop the server and make a backup

  • Stop the dedicated server cleanly. Do not edit a file while the server is writing the world.
  • Download a complete copy of the active world, or at minimum the file you will replace, to your computer.
  • Keep the original filename and extension. A backup lets you restore the previous gravity if the wrong planet or wrong save is edited.
  • Record the current server and world names so you do not modify an inactive test world.

A backup is especially important because a server can have several saved worlds, and a file manager may display directories that are not the world currently loaded by the server.

Locate the active save

The example hosted layout is /home/container/config/Saves/World. In that directory, the planet data is contained in SANDBOX_0_0_0_.sbs. Your provider may use a different root directory or may expose the save through a web file manager rather than a shell. Use the provider’s file manager and confirm the active world before downloading anything.

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World settings can also be stored in sandbox_config.sbc and sandbox.sbc. Official documentation states that sandbox_config.sbc takes priority for manual edits. That priority matters when a setting appears in more than one configuration file: edit the file the game gives precedence to, and avoid changing unrelated settings.

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Find the correct planet entry

  1. Download SANDBOX_0_0_0_.sbs and open it in a plain-text editor that can handle a large XML-style save file.
  2. Search for surfacegravity or the XML-style element <SurfaceGravity>. Search is case-insensitive in most editors, but use the exact spelling if your editor requires it.
  3. Read the nearby planet name and surrounding data before changing a number. A save can contain more than one planet, so the first match is not automatically the world you intend to alter.
  4. Change only the value associated with the identified planet. Do not delete the element, its tags or nearby structural characters.
  5. Save the file without changing its name, extension or encoding unless your host specifically documents another format.

The file may contain several similarly structured sections. Identifying the planet by its nearby name is the safeguard against applying a correct edit to the wrong celestial body.

Upload the edited save and restart

  1. With the server still stopped, replace the server copy of SANDBOX_0_0_0_.sbs with your edited file.
  2. Check that the upload completed and that the file is in the active world directory, not merely in a parent or backup directory.
  3. Start the server and load the same world.
  4. Test the changed planet with a controlled flight or landing. Confirm that the natural field, rather than a nearby artificial generator, is producing the result.

If the server refuses to load the world, stop it again and restore the backup. A failed load after a text edit usually indicates that the file was damaged, the wrong file was replaced, or the upload did not preserve the original file correctly.

Use a Gravity Generator for local artificial gravity

A Gravity Generator is a large-grid block that creates a directional field in a defined box. It changes the field around the build; it does not modify the planet’s natural gravity value.

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Build and configure the generator

  1. Build a Gravity Generator on a large-grid ship or station and provide the power and structural support required by the build.
  2. Open the block’s Control Panel.
  3. Set the field direction. Direction determines which way affected objects are accelerated.
  4. Set the field width, height and depth to cover the room, deck or corridor you want to affect.
  5. Set acceleration. The documented range is -1 g to 1 g; this is a game-setting range, not a real-world performance measurement.
  6. Turn the block on and test it with jetpacks disabled so you can observe the artificial field clearly.

Artificial gravity affects players with their jetpacks off, dropped items and mobile grids that contain Artificial Mass. A ship without Artificial Mass will not be pulled as a mobile grid simply because it enters the generator’s field.

When to use a Spherical Gravity Generator

Choose a Spherical Gravity Generator when a radial field is more useful than a rectangular one. Its field pulls affected objects toward the generator, which can suit a central station room, a compact interior or a design where “down” should point toward a center rather than along one fixed axis. Configure it from its Control Panel and test the boundary in an empty area before placing fragile machinery or loose cargo inside.

Can the dedicated-server panel change planetary gravity?

The official dedicated-server application lets an administrator configure a world and load saved worlds, but the normal interface does not expose every world-save value. Numerical values outside the normal interface range are unsupported and can affect gameplay or performance. For that reason, use the server or world settings UI when the setting you need is available there, but use a stopped-server save edit for a planet’s SurfaceGravity value when no corresponding control exists.

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The in-game Admin Screen is useful for administrator operations, yet it is not a substitute for editing a planet’s saved gravity value. Opening an Admin Screen option does not rewrite the planet definition in the world save.

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Planetary gravity versus artificial gravity

Question Planetary gravity Artificial gravity
Does it change the planet itself? Yes. It changes the saved natural field for the selected planet. No. It creates a local field in a build.
How is it changed? Offline edit of the world save’s SurfaceGravity entry. Control Panel settings on a Gravity Generator or Spherical Gravity Generator.
Does it follow a ship? No. It belongs to the planet’s natural field. Yes, when the generator is built into the ship and powered.
What is the documented numeric range? The supplied documentation does not state a universal editable range. -1 g to 1 g for the Gravity Generator acceleration setting.
What is the main risk? Editing the wrong save, planet or file structure can prevent the intended world from loading. Unexpected movement, items drifting or grids responding differently inside the field.
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Plan for the gameplay consequences

Heavier planetary gravity

Increasing a planet’s natural gravity makes launches harder and raises the cost of leaving the atmosphere. Players may need more thrust, fuel, power or staging to reach orbit. Landing approaches also become less forgiving, and vehicles that worked in the original field may no longer hover or climb as expected.

Lower planetary gravity

Lower gravity makes ascent and maneuvering easier, but it can also change how vehicles settle on the surface and how far a player or loose item travels after a jump. Test both powered flight and unpowered movement after the edit.

Local artificial fields

A generator can provide a gravity floor inside a station while leaving exterior space and the planet unchanged. Set the field dimensions to the smallest useful area first; an oversized field can pull items or Artificial Mass from places you did not intend to include. Use clear labels on multiple generators so administrators can identify which field is active.

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Troubleshooting checklist

Symptom Likely cause What to check
The planet’s gravity did not change The wrong world, file or planet entry was edited. Confirm the active world directory, the filename SANDBOX_0_0_0_.sbs, the nearby planet name and a full server restart.
The server loads the old value The edited file was uploaded to an inactive directory or overwritten by a higher-priority configuration. Verify the loaded world and check whether sandbox_config.sbc takes priority over sandbox.sbc.
The world will not load after editing The save structure was damaged or the wrong text was changed. Stop the server, restore the untouched backup and repeat the edit with only the intended value changed.
A generator appears to do nothing The block is off, lacks power, has an unsuitable field size or the test object is not affected. Check the Control Panel, direction, width, height, depth and acceleration; test with a player whose jetpack is off or with a dropped item.
A mobile grid is not pulled by artificial gravity The grid does not contain Artificial Mass. Add and enable Artificial Mass, then test inside the generator’s defined field.
Items or vehicles move unexpectedly Overlapping fields or an oversized generator volume is affecting them. Disable nearby generators one at a time and reduce field dimensions before retesting.

Safe operating procedure for administrators

  • Announce a maintenance window before stopping the server.
  • Back up the active world before every save-file edit.
  • Use a plain-text editor and change one value at a time.
  • Identify the planet by name, not by the order of search results.
  • Keep a record of the original value and the replacement value.
  • Restart the server after replacing the save; do not assume a live session has re-read the file.
  • Test in a low-risk area before inviting players back.
  • Restore the backup immediately if the world fails to load or the wrong planet changed.

Practical decision guide

You want every player on one planet to feel stronger or weaker gravity

Edit that planet’s saved SurfaceGravity value while the server is stopped. This is a world-level change, so communicate it to players and test common vehicles afterward.

You want normal gravity inside a station or ship in space

Build a Gravity Generator and configure its direction, dimensions and acceleration. This leaves planetary gravity untouched and can be switched or tuned as the build evolves.

You want objects pulled toward the center of a room

Use a Spherical Gravity Generator and verify that its radial pull matches the room layout before adding loose cargo or mobile grids.

You only have access to the server GUI

Use the GUI for settings it actually exposes and for loading the correct saved world. It cannot substitute for the offline save edit when the planet’s natural gravity value is not available as a supported control. Ask the host for file-manager access or an equivalent world-save workflow rather than entering unsupported numbers into unrelated fields.

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What to remember

Changing a planet’s gravity is a world-save operation: stop, back up, locate the active SANDBOX_0_0_0_.sbs, identify the correct planet’s SurfaceGravity, replace only that value, upload and restart. Changing gravity around a build is an in-game construction task: use a Gravity Generator for a directional box or a Spherical Gravity Generator for a radial field, then configure the block from its Control Panel. Keeping those two systems separate prevents most configuration mistakes.

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