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How to Run a V Rising Dedicated Server in Docker

A practical Docker Compose guide to hosting V Rising: choose the right Wine image, persist server data, publish UDP 9876/9877, control configuration precedence, back up worlds, and recover from failed updates.
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The most repeatable way to host a V Rising dedicated server in Docker is to use an image that bundles Wine and SteamCMD, publish UDP ports 9876 and 9877, and keep both the server files and data directories on persistent volumes. The server is a Windows application, so the container supplies the compatibility layer, downloads the dedicated-server files, starts the process, and preserves your world outside the container.

What you need before creating the container

Stunlock Studios says that “The V Rising Dedicated Server application is needed to host a dedicated server.” The application is available through Steam’s Tools section, and the official hosting documentation is the authoritative reference for game-specific settings. A Docker image does not change that requirement; it automates installation and execution of the same dedicated-server software.

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  • A Linux host with Docker Engine and the Docker Compose plugin installed.
  • A stable local directory for the Compose project and its persistent volumes.
  • Router and host-firewall access if players will connect from outside your network.
  • Enough resources for the world and player count. The V Rising Wiki lists around 4 GB memory as a minimum reference, up to 16 GB memory, 5 GB of disk space, and a quad-core processor with the server requiring up to two full cores. These are published baseline figures, not a performance guarantee for every world, mod, or future server build.

Allocate additional disk space for downloaded updates, logs, backups, and the Wine prefix. A small virtual private server can run a lightly populated world, but monitor memory, CPU, and storage rather than treating the baseline figures as hard limits.

Choose an image and understand its configuration model

Because the dedicated server is a Windows binary, choose an image that includes Wine and SteamCMD. The rhavinx image downloads the files with SteamCMD using anonymous login and runs the binary under Wine. Diyagi documents an Ubuntu 24.04 image built with WineHQ 9 and supplies a Compose deployment. Either approach can work, but their environment-variable names and precedence rules are different.

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Do not combine variables from different image documentation. For example, rhavinx uses SERVER_NAME, GAME_PORT, QUERY_PORT, and SAVE_NAME, while Diyagi uses names such as VR_NAME, VR_GAME_PORT, VR_QUERY_PORT, and VR_SAVE_NAME. Copy the schema belonging to the image tag you actually deploy.

Pin a tested image tag for production when the image offers tags, and review its release notes before changing versions. The examples below use rhavinx/vrising:latest because that is the documented minimal structure; latest can pull a newer build on a later recreation, so back up the data directory first.

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Deploy the server with Docker Compose

1. Create a project directory

On the Docker host, create a directory and enter it:

mkdir -p ~/vrising-docker
cd ~/vrising-docker
mkdir -p server data

The two subdirectories are intentional. The server mount stores downloaded dedicated-server binaries. The data mount stores the Wine prefix, saves, and settings.

2. Save a Compose file

Create compose.yml with the image-specific variables shown in the rhavinx documentation:

services:
  vrising:
    image: rhavinx/vrising:latest
    container_name: vrising
    stop_grace_period: 30s
    environment:
      SERVER_NAME: "My V Rising Server"
      SERVER_PASSWORD: "change-me"
      GAME_PORT: "9876"
      QUERY_PORT: "9877"
      SAVE_NAME: "world1"
      LIST_ON_STEAM: "true"
    volumes:
      - ./server:/home/steam/vrising/server
      - ./data:/home/steam/vrising/data
    ports:
      - "9876:9876/udp"
      - "9877:9877/udp"
    restart: unless-stopped

Replace the password before allowing public access. Keep SAVE_NAME stable after the first launch: rhavinx warns that changing it later starts a new world rather than renaming the existing one.

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3. Start and observe initialization

  1. Pull and start the service with docker compose up -d.
  2. Follow the startup output with docker compose logs -f.
  3. Wait for SteamCMD to download or update the server and for Wine to start the executable. The first run takes longer because it creates the prefix and downloads files.
  4. Press Ctrl+C to stop following logs; the container continues running in the background.

Check the actual state with docker compose ps. If the service exits, read the complete log before repeatedly restarting it; an invalid variable, missing mount permission, or incomplete download is easier to diagnose from the first failure.

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Open the correct ports

V Rising normally uses UDP 9876 for game traffic and UDP 9877 for Steam queries. Forward the same external ports to the Docker host unless you deliberately configure different values in the image and make matching router and firewall rules.

Port Protocol Purpose Where it must be allowed
9876 UDP Game connections Container publishing, host firewall, and router forwarding for remote players
9876 TCP RCON when enabled Only when you enable RCON; restrict the source addresses
9877 UDP Steam server queries and browser discovery Container publishing, host firewall, and router forwarding for listing

The Wiki specifies that the firewall must allow UDP/TCP 9876 and UDP 9877. TCP 9876 is not needed for ordinary gameplay unless RCON is enabled. Do not expose RCON to the whole internet; use a strong password and a firewall rule or private network.

For a host firewall based on UFW, equivalent rules are:

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sudo ufw allow 9876/udp
sudo ufw allow 9877/udp
# Only if RCON is enabled and you have restricted the source network:
sudo ufw allow from 192.168.1.0/24 to any port 9876 proto tcp

Use your own trusted administration subnet in the RCON rule. The Docker port mapping alone does not configure your home router; create a UDP port-forward from the router’s WAN address to the host running Docker.

Make the server appear in the browser

Set the image’s listing option and allow time for propagation. The underlying host settings are commonly named ListOnSteam and ListOnEOS; set both to true where the selected image exposes those settings. Restart after changing them:

docker compose down
docker compose up -d
docker compose logs -f

Stunlock notes that a newly launched server can take a few minutes to appear in the list. A missing listing immediately after startup is therefore not proof that the server failed. Test a direct-IP connection while waiting, and confirm that UDP 9876 and 9877 are forwarded to the correct host.

  • Logs show the server running, but no listing: verify ListOnSteam/ListOnEOS, router forwarding, and host-firewall rules; then wait several minutes.
  • Players on the same LAN can join but internet players cannot: the container is probably healthy, so check the router’s WAN-to-LAN forwarding, CGNAT, and the public address being used.
  • Direct IP works but the browser does not: treat it as a discovery or query-port problem and recheck UDP 9877 and listing settings.
  • No one can connect: confirm that the container is running, the configured game port matches the published port, and no second service is already using that port.

Understand saves, settings, and precedence

With the documented rhavinx layout, saves are under data/Saves/v4/<save name>. The persistent data directory also contains the Wine prefix and configuration files. A typical project then looks like:

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vrising-docker/
├── compose.yml
├── server/                 # downloaded server files
└── data/
    ├── Saves/v4/world1/    # world data
    └── ...                 # Wine prefix and settings

ServerGameSettings.json controls game rules. ServerHostSettings.json controls host-level options such as the name, ports, password, and listing. rhavinx patches host settings from environment variables at startup, so an edit made directly to ServerHostSettings.json can be replaced on the next start if the corresponding variable remains set.

Diyagi has a similar but explicitly switchable model: its host environment variables overwrite ServerHostSettings.json; set COMPILE_HOST_SETTINGS=false before relying on manual host-file edits. Its game-setting variables overwrite ServerGameSettings.json; set COMPILE_GAME_SETTINGS=false to disable that behavior. These flags are not interchangeable with rhavinx variables.

  • Use environment variables for settings you want reproducibly declared in Compose.
  • Use the persistent JSON files for settings that the selected image documents as manual overrides.
  • Read the image documentation before editing either file, because startup compilation can overwrite it.
  • Back up data before changing the save name, image, or configuration-generation mode.

Never casually change SAVE_NAME. If you need a separate test world, choose a new name deliberately and understand that it creates a separate save directory.

Back up and restore the world

Stop the service cleanly before copying a live save. The Compose stop grace period gives the process time to shut down; the rhavinx example uses 30 seconds, while Diyagi’s example uses 15 seconds.

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docker compose stop
 tar -czf vrising-data-$(date +%F).tar.gz data
docker compose start

Store the archive outside the project directory or on another host. To restore, stop the container, preserve the current data directory as a rollback copy, extract the archive into the project directory, check ownership and permissions, and start the service again. A backup is especially important before an image update, a clean reinstall, or a migration between image families.

Update files without deleting the world

At startup, the image normally checks SteamCMD and updates the dedicated-server files. rhavinx provides SKIP_UPDATE for faster starts without validation. Use that option only when you intentionally want to avoid the update check and set it according to the image’s documented value format.

The underlying SteamCMD update command documented by the Wiki is:

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steamcmd.exe +login anonymous +app_update 1829350 validate +quit

In a container, normally let the image run this process rather than installing SteamCMD on the host. If server files are damaged, rhavinx documents REMOVE_SERVER_FILES=1 for one launch. That removes and redownloads server files while preserving saves and settings in the data volume. Use it as a targeted repair, not as a routine update setting, and remove the variable afterward.

  1. Stop the server and make a dated archive of data.
  2. Review the new image tag or pull the updated image.
  3. Start the service and watch docker compose logs -f through the download and launch.
  4. Confirm the expected save directory, server name, ports, and listing behavior.
  5. Keep the backup until players have successfully connected and the world loads normally.
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Shutdown, restart, and administration

Keep restart: unless-stopped so Docker brings the service back after a host reboot or an unplanned process exit. The stop grace period matters because an abrupt kill can interrupt a save. To perform routine maintenance:

docker compose restart
# or for a full stop and start:
docker compose down
docker compose up -d

Diyagi documents optional RCON through environment variables or ServerHostSettings.json. Its examples use an in-container client:

docker exec -it container-name rcon-cli announce "Server maintenance soon"
docker exec -it container-name rcon-cli shutdown 60
docker exec -it container-name rcon-cli cancelshutdown

Replace container-name with the actual container name and follow the selected image’s syntax. Keep RCON private, use a strong password, and limit TCP 9876 to an administration network. The documented commands provide remote control; they are not evidence that a particular image has undergone a security audit.

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Common configuration mistakes

Mixing image variable names

A Compose file can start successfully while silently ignoring variables that belong to another image. Compare every variable with the selected image’s documentation, then inspect startup logs for the resulting name, ports, save name, and settings path.

Publishing TCP instead of UDP

Game and query traffic use UDP. A mapping such as 9876:9876 without /udp does not express the required protocol. Publish 9876:9876/udp and 9877:9877/udp; add TCP 9876 only for protected RCON.

Editing a file that startup regenerates

If your edits disappear after restart, environment compilation is taking precedence. Either declare the value in Compose or disable the selected image’s compilation flag before editing the JSON file manually.

Using a temporary container filesystem

Without both bind mounts, a container recreation can remove the downloaded files, Wine prefix, saves, or settings. Verify mounts with docker inspect vrising and confirm that the host’s data directory changes after a test configuration change.

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Changing the save name to fix a startup issue

Changing SAVE_NAME creates a new world. Diagnose permissions, paths, and logs first. If you need to test a different configuration, back up the original data and use a deliberately separate save name.

Docker or managed hosting?

Self-managed Docker is appropriate when you want control over the image version, files, networking, logs, backups, and RCON. It also makes you responsible for updates, firewall rules, router forwarding, storage, recovery, and security.

Decision factor Docker on your host Managed hosting
Setup effort Install Docker, create Compose and networking rules, and maintain the host. Use a provider’s control panel and provision a server.
Version and file control Direct control of image tags, mounts, JSON files, and update timing. Constrained by the provider’s supported versions and interface.
Backups and recovery You design, store, and test data-volume backups. Depends on the provider’s backup and retention policy.
Logs and administration Direct Docker logs, shell access, and optional RCON. Usually exposed through a dashboard; features vary.
Network responsibility You handle UDP forwarding, firewalling, public reachability, and RCON exposure. The provider handles the host network, while you still configure server settings.
Recurring cost Uses your existing hardware or a server rental. Requires a recurring hosting charge; verify current pricing separately.

Stunlock’s official guide links PocketHost as a managed option and describes an interface with status, basic settings, logs, configuration files, restart and update controls, and permission management. Choose that route when minimizing host administration matters more than controlling the container and filesystem yourself.

Operational checklist

  • Use an image that bundles Wine and SteamCMD.
  • Keep separate persistent mounts for server and data.
  • Use only the environment-variable names documented for your image.
  • Publish and forward UDP 9876 and UDP 9877.
  • Allow TCP 9876 only when protected RCON is enabled.
  • Keep SAVE_NAME unchanged for the existing world.
  • Know whether startup variables overwrite either JSON settings file.
  • Set a stop grace period and restart: unless-stopped.
  • Back up the data directory before updates, migrations, and clean reinstalls.
  • Allow several minutes for browser discovery and test direct IP when troubleshooting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where are V Rising Docker saves stored?

With the documented rhavinx layout, saves are in the host-mounted directory at data/Saves/v4/<save name>. The corresponding container path is /home/steam/vrising/data/Saves/v4/<save name>.

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Which ports should I forward for a V Rising server?

Forward UDP 9876 for game traffic and UDP 9877 for Steam queries. TCP 9876 is only needed when RCON is enabled and should be restricted.

Why does my server not show in the browser?

Confirm listing settings, UDP 9876 and 9877 forwarding, and host-firewall rules. A newly launched server can take a few minutes to appear, so test a direct-IP connection while discovery propagates.

Will changing SAVE_NAME rename my existing world?

No. On the rhavinx image, changing it after the first run starts a new world. Keep the original value or make a backup and intentionally use a separate save name.

How do I reinstall only the server files?

Back up the data directory, then use the rhavinx image’s documented REMOVE_SERVER_FILES=1 setting for one launch. It redownloads server files while preserving saves and settings in the data volume; remove the setting afterward.

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