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Don’t Starve Together has no built-in switch for automatic dedicated-server updates or scheduled restarts. The dependable pattern is an external script that calls SteamCMD, stops the server, installs the current files, checks the result, and starts the server again. On Linux, cron is commonly used to run that script. Windows administrators use an equivalent scheduled script.
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Mods follow a separate rule: the dedicated server downloads or refreshes the Workshop items listed in dedicated_server_mods_setup.lua when it starts. A mod update therefore becomes active only after a restart, and downloading a mod does not enable it on a shard.
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The guidance below reflects Klei community discussions and hosting guides, many of which are older and secondhand rather than a current, definitive Klei manual. Treat paths, service commands and script details as templates to adapt to your installation.
What “auto-update” means for a DST server
There are three separate jobs that are often confused:
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- Game-file updates: SteamCMD downloads a newer dedicated-server build.
- Mod updates: the server refreshes Workshop content listed in its setup file during startup.
- Restarts: a process manager, cron job or watchdog stops and launches the server so the new files are loaded.
Don’t Starve Together does not provide one in-game or server-console setting that performs all three. The automation has to live outside the game server. A useful design is therefore:
- A scheduler starts an update script.
- The script obtains an exclusive lock so two runs cannot overlap.
- The script stops the Master and Caves processes cleanly.
- SteamCMD installs the server into the existing installation directory.
- The script verifies SteamCMD’s exit status and log output.
- Only a successful update step is allowed to proceed to startup.
- The server launches both shards, and startup refreshes configured mods.
If SteamCMD fails and the script ignores the error, the server can come back on its old files or remain offline. Error handling is not optional.
Linux: build an external update-and-restart job
1. Identify the commands you already use
Before automating anything, write down the commands that reliably start and stop your installation. Keep the Master and Caves shard commands together if you launch them separately. Do not guess at a path or service name: use the same working commands you use manually.
Create a small configuration section in your script for the installation directory, SteamCMD executable, game app ID, log file and the commands that stop and start the shards. Variables make the job portable between machines and avoid hard-coding a particular hosting layout.
2. Make the SteamCMD step explicit
The update operation should be a non-interactive SteamCMD invocation that logs in anonymously (where your installation permits that), installs or updates the dedicated-server files in the configured directory, validates the files if your normal maintenance procedure uses validation, and exits. Use the app ID and install directory already associated with your DST installation.
A generic command shape is:
steamcmd +login anonymous +force_install_dir "$DST_DIR" +app_update "$DST_APP_ID" validate +quitThe variable names above are intentional. Set DST_DIR, DST_APP_ID and the SteamCMD path to the values used by your server. The command is an example of the sequence, not a universal copy-and-paste path for every distribution.
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3. Add locking and failure checks
Run only one maintenance job at a time. A cron job that starts while the previous SteamCMD process is still downloading can corrupt the operational logic even if SteamCMD itself protects individual files. A lock file or flock is suitable on Linux.
The following skeleton shows the control flow. Replace the four command variables with the commands for your installation:
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -u
DST_DIR="/srv/dst"
STEAMCMD="/usr/games/steamcmd"
DST_APP_ID="your-configured-dst-app-id"
LOG="/var/log/dst-update.log"
LOCK="/run/lock/dst-update.lock"
STOP_CMD="/usr/local/bin/dst-stop"
START_CMD="/usr/local/bin/dst-start"
exec 9>"$LOCK"
flock -n 9 || exit 0
echo "$(date -Is) update attempt" >> "$LOG"
if ! "$STOP_CMD" >> "$LOG" 2>&1; then
echo "$(date -Is) stop failed; refusing to update" >> "$LOG"
exit 1
fi
if ! "$STEAMCMD" +login anonymous +force_install_dir "$DST_DIR"
+app_update "$DST_APP_ID" validate +quit >> "$LOG" 2>&1; then
echo "$(date -Is) SteamCMD failed; server was not confirmed updated" >> "$LOG"
"$START_CMD" >> "$LOG" 2>&1 || true
exit 1
fi
if ! "$START_CMD" >> "$LOG" 2>&1; then
echo "$(date -Is) start failed after successful SteamCMD step" >> "$LOG"
exit 1
fi
echo "$(date -Is) update and restart completed" >> "$LOG"This conservative pattern stops the server before every scheduled update attempt. That is simple and makes mod refreshes predictable, but it also creates downtime whenever the job runs. Test it manually first and choose a maintenance interval your players can tolerate.
4. Decide how often to run it
A widely shared Linux approach polls SteamCMD from cron about once a minute. That frequency is an implementation choice, not a DST feature, and it can be unnecessarily disruptive if the script restarts on every run. If you use the conservative skeleton above, schedule it less aggressively or add a tested “new build detected” gate before stopping the server.
For example, a cron entry that runs every five minutes is:
*/5 * * * * /usr/local/sbin/dst-update-and-restartUse an absolute script path, redirect output to a log, and run the job as the same account that owns the server files. Make the script executable and verify that cron has permission to reach SteamCMD, the installation directory and the stop/start commands.
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5. Test the complete cycle while nobody is playing
- Run the script directly from a shell and watch both its log and the server log.
- Confirm that both shards stop, SteamCMD exits successfully, and both shards start again.
- Join the server and verify that the expected world, settings and mods are present.
- Temporarily make the SteamCMD command fail, for example by using an invalid executable path in a test copy, and confirm that the script records the failure instead of reporting success.
- Leave the script scheduled only after you know how to restore the server manually.
Do not remove the install/update command from a separate Klei launch script and leave both scripts active. Community guidance for this arrangement specifically warns that the SteamCMD install step should live in the external auto-update script, otherwise two different update paths can race or duplicate work.
Using build checks without confusing version numbers
Some community scripts query SteamCMD app information and compare a stored build identifier with the latest value before deciding whether to restart. That can reduce needless downtime, but there is an important limitation: Steam’s build number is not the same thing as the version number in Klei’s version file. They cannot be compared directly.
If you implement a gate, compare Steam’s value with a Steam value that your own script previously recorded. Do not read a Klei version string and treat it as a Steam build ID. If the comparison logic is uncertain, the safer fallback is to run SteamCMD, inspect its exit status, and use a maintenance schedule that you have tested.
Mods: update them at startup and enable them per shard
List Workshop items in the setup file
The dedicated server uses dedicated_server_mods_setup.lua to know which Workshop IDs to download. Keep the file syntactically valid and maintain the IDs for every mod that should be available to the server.
A malformed setup file can prevent startup. One documented failure pattern is a loader error followed by shutdown, so validate edits on a staging copy or during a maintenance window rather than changing the file while players are connected.
Understand when a mod update takes effect
Downloading and updating a mod is a startup operation in the community guidance available for DST servers. Mods do not refresh while the server is running. The next successful restart is what causes the server to load the newly downloaded files.
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This is why a game-file update script that never restarts the shards does not fully automate mod maintenance. Conversely, a restart script that omits the SteamCMD step can reload existing files without obtaining a newer game build.
Enable the mod in each shard’s overrides
Downloading a Workshop item does not enable it. The Master shard and the Caves shard each need the appropriate entry in their own modoverrides.lua. If a mod is intended for both shards, configure both files; configuring only Master leaves Caves without that mod.
Keep the Workshop ID in the setup file and the enablement/settings entry in the correct shard directory. After a restart, inspect each shard log for mod-load errors rather than assuming that a successful download means the mod is active.
Be cautious with force-enable alternatives
Community sources disagree about using ForceEnableMod in modsettings.lua as an alternative to shard-specific overrides. Reports also say that force-enabling this way does not permit normal mod-setting changes. Because the behavior is disputed, use the documented per-shard modoverrides.lua configuration when you need predictable settings, and test any force-enable method on a disposable world before using it on a live server.
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Windows: schedule the same sequence
Windows community scripts commonly combine game and mod maintenance, but the underlying sequence is the same as on Linux:
- Stop both shards and wait until their processes have exited.
- Run SteamCMD against the existing installation directory.
- Check the process exit code and capture the SteamCMD log.
- Start the shards again only when the update step completed as expected.
- Let startup download or refresh the mods listed in
dedicated_server_mods_setup.lua.
Use Windows Task Scheduler to launch the script under the account that owns the server files. Configure “Start in” or equivalent working-directory settings so relative paths in your launch commands resolve correctly. Set the task to avoid overlapping instances, and test what happens after a reboot and after a failed SteamCMD run.
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A batch or PowerShell script should treat a non-zero SteamCMD exit code as a failure. Record standard output and error in a dated log, and make the script’s final status visible to Task Scheduler. If your script starts the server after a failed update anyway, label the log clearly so an old build is not mistaken for a current one.
Automatic restart versus crash recovery
An update script can restart a server on a schedule, but that is not the same as a watchdog. A watchdog watches the running process and relaunches it after a crash. Neither behavior is built into the DST dedicated server according to the sources reviewed.
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| Component | Purpose | Typical trigger | Important check |
|---|---|---|---|
| SteamCMD update job | Fetches newer game files | Scheduled maintenance run | SteamCMD exit status and log |
| Restart portion of the update script | Loads new game and mod files | After a successful update | Both shards reach a running state |
| Watchdog | Recovers from a crash | Process exit or health check | Avoid restart loops and preserve logs |
Do not let a watchdog hide update failures. If SteamCMD fails, the update job should report that fact even if a watchdog later brings the old server process back online.
Failure modes and recovery
The server never restarts after scheduling
- Run the script manually as the scheduler’s account; cron and Task Scheduler often have a smaller environment than an interactive shell.
- Replace relative paths with absolute paths.
- Check execute permissions, working directory and ownership of the installation.
- Inspect the scheduler history and the script log.
SteamCMD reports an error
Do not delete the installation or repeatedly restart it blindly. Read the SteamCMD output, verify network access and disk space, and run the same command manually. Keep the server stopped only as long as necessary to diagnose it; if your script’s policy is to bring the old installation back online after a failed update, make that recovery explicit in the log.
The game starts but a mod is missing
- Confirm the Workshop ID is present in
dedicated_server_mods_setup.lua. - Confirm the corresponding
modoverrides.luaentry exists in the shard that needs it. - Check both Master and Caves independently.
- Restart after the download; a running process will not hot-update the mod.
- Look for syntax or loader errors in the shard log.
A malformed setup file causes an immediate shutdown
Restore the last known-good dedicated_server_mods_setup.lua, validate its Lua syntax, and start without the newest edit. Add changes one at a time so the offending line or Workshop entry is identifiable.
The server keeps restarting
Check whether cron or Task Scheduler is launching a second copy before the first has finished. Confirm that the lock works, that the stop command waits for both shards, and that a watchdog is not interpreting a normal scheduled stop as a crash. Separate update logs from runtime logs so you can see which component initiated each restart.
Choosing an automation pattern
| Pattern | Platform | Updates game files | Refreshes mods | Restart behavior | Main risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| External SteamCMD script plus cron | Linux | Yes | At the following startup | Usually stop, update, start | A failed SteamCMD step can leave the server un-updated if unchecked |
| Scheduled batch or PowerShell script | Windows | Yes | At the following startup | Script-defined | Incorrect working directory, permissions or exit-code handling |
| Watchdog only | Linux or Windows | No | No | Relaunches after a crash | Can mask failures and create restart loops |
| Manual SteamCMD update | Any | Yes | Only after a manual restart | Administrator-controlled | Easy to forget, but simplest to audit |
The first two patterns are the ones that provide automatic game updates. A watchdog is complementary, not a substitute. Whichever pattern you choose, keep a manual start and rollback procedure documented.
Quick Recap
A practical operating checklist
- Back up shard data and configuration before changing the updater.
- Keep the SteamCMD executable, game directory and launch commands in one documented configuration.
- Use a lock to prevent overlapping runs.
- Stop every shard before replacing files.
- Capture SteamCMD output and test its exit status.
- Do not compare Steam build IDs with Klei version-file numbers.
- Start both shards only after the update step has completed or after an explicit recovery decision.
- List Workshop IDs in
dedicated_server_mods_setup.lua. - Enable each required mod in the correct shard’s
modoverrides.lua. - Expect mod changes to require a restart.
- Review logs after every automated run and investigate any loader, download or startup error.
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