Set the GameMode value to Creative or Survival in the file that controls the world you are loading. A new world reads SpaceEngineers-Dedicated.cfg; an existing world reads Saves/<WorldName>/Sandbox_config.sbc. Stop the server before editing, make a backup, save the file, and restart.
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Which file controls the game mode?
Space Engineers has two configuration situations, and confusing them is the most common reason a mode change appears not to work. The server does not always use the main dedicated-server configuration after a world already exists.
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| Situation | File to edit | When the setting is read |
|---|---|---|
| You are creating a new world | SpaceEngineers-Dedicated.cfg, inside its SessionSettings block |
When the server generates the world |
| You are changing an existing world | Saves/<WorldName>/Sandbox_config.sbc |
When that save is loaded |
The relevant element is GameMode. The accepted values are Survival and Creative. Use the capitalization shown in those values and change only the value, not the element name.
The save-specific file takes priority over the general settings. The documented order is Sandbox_config.sbc, then Sandbox.sbc, then the SessionSettings block in SpaceEngineers-Dedicated.cfg. Consequently, changing the .cfg file will not normally change a world that already has its own session file.
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Prepare the server before editing
Configuration files are read while the world starts. Editing them while the process is running can be overwritten by a save operation or ignored until a later launch. Use this preparation sequence for either type of world:
- Announce a short maintenance window to connected players.
- Stop the server through the host control panel, service manager, or your normal shutdown command.
- Wait until the process has fully stopped and the final save has completed. Do not edit a file while the server is still writing it.
- Copy the complete world folder, or at minimum the file you will edit, to a separate backup location. Keep the original filename and directory structure in the backup.
- Open the file with a plain-text or XML-aware editor. Avoid a word processor that can add formatting or change quotation marks.
A backup gives you a quick rollback if the XML becomes malformed or the server starts with an unexpected session state. It also lets you compare the edited file with the pre-change version.
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Set Creative or Survival for a new world
Use this procedure when the server will generate a world after the change. If a save already exists in the server’s world directory, follow the existing-world procedure instead.
- With the server stopped, open
SpaceEngineers-Dedicated.cfg. - Locate the
SessionSettingsblock. It contains other session options such as player limits, inventory multiplier, view distance, and sync distance. - Find the
GameModeelement and replace its value with one of these two choices:
<GameMode>Creative</GameMode><GameMode>Survival</GameMode>- Save the file without changing its extension or surrounding XML structure.
- If you want a newly generated world to use the new mode, move or delete the existing world folder only after confirming that your backup is usable. Leaving the old world in place means the server can continue loading that save rather than generating a new one.
- Start the server and wait for world creation to finish.
- Join the server and verify the mode in the in-game session information before inviting players back.
Changing the value in the general configuration does not convert an already-created save by itself. The new value is used when the server creates a world from that configuration.
Change the mode of an existing world
For a world that players have already built, edit the save’s session file rather than the top-level .cfg file. This is the normal path for changing a running Survival save to Creative or the reverse.
- Stop the server and wait for the shutdown to complete.
- Back up the world directory. Replace
<WorldName>below with the actual directory name:
Saves/<WorldName>/Sandbox_config.sbc- Open
Sandbox_config.sbcas plain text. - Search for
GameModeinside the session-settings section. - Set the element to the required value:
<GameMode>Creative</GameMode>or:
<GameMode>Survival</GameMode>- Save the file, preserving the
.sbcextension. - Start the server and allow it to load the save completely.
- Join the world and check the displayed session mode. Test with an administrator account before reconnecting the full player group.
The file is called Sandbox_config.sbc. Some unofficial instructions incorrectly write Sandbox_config.sav; that is a different extension and is not the documented session file for this change.
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Edit the XML safely
Change the value, not the structure
Keep the opening and closing tags paired. A valid change replaces only the text between them:
<GameMode>Survival</GameMode>becomes:
<GameMode>Creative</GameMode>Do not remove the SessionSettings container, rename GameMode, or paste a second copy of the element into the file. Duplicate or unbalanced XML can prevent the server from reading the session.
Preserve the file type and encoding
Use the editor’s normal save command and confirm that the filename still ends in .cfg or .sbc, as appropriate. Do not let the editor append .txt. Keep the original backup until the server has loaded successfully and players have confirmed the intended mode.
Do not copy unrelated settings
The same SessionSettings area contains many independent options. Copying an entire block from another world can unintentionally alter player capacity, inventory scaling, view distance, synchronization distance, or block-limit behavior. For a mode change, edit only GameMode unless you deliberately intend to change another setting.
Hosted-server file locations
Control-panel hosts commonly expose the dedicated-server configuration through a web file manager. The main file may be stored in a config directory, for example:
config/SpaceEngineers-Dedicated.cfgThat path applies to the general configuration used for new-world creation. The existing world’s file remains under the save directory, typically:
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Saves/<WorldName>/Sandbox_config.sbcUse the host’s file manager, SFTP access, or another supported method to download a backup, edit the file locally, and upload it again. Save the upload before restarting. If the control panel has both a “server configuration” page and a file manager, the page may edit the general .cfg while the active world still uses its save-specific .sbc; identify the world file when changing an existing save.
Verify the change after restart
A successful process restart is not proof that the intended session mode loaded. Verify in the game and, if necessary, inspect the file again.
- Confirm that the server started the expected world name, not a newly generated or similarly named folder.
- Open the in-game session information and check that the mode is the one you selected.
- Have an administrator perform a small, non-destructive check appropriate to the selected mode.
- If the mode is wrong, stop the server before making another edit. Do not make repeated live changes while players are connected.
For a new world, also confirm that the old world directory was moved or removed only if regeneration was intended. For an existing world, confirm that you edited the exact WorldName directory shown by the server, including capitalization and spaces.
Troubleshoot a mode that does not change
The server still loads the previous mode
The usual cause is editing SpaceEngineers-Dedicated.cfg while an existing save is being loaded. Stop the server, open that save’s Sandbox_config.sbc, and change its GameMode. Check the precedence order before changing any other file.
The save file appears to revert
Make sure the server was completely stopped before editing and that the final save had finished. A running process can write its in-memory settings back to disk. Restore the backup if necessary, apply the one-line change again, save, and restart once.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsAn older Steam community report describes conflicts in which values from an .sb4 file override or restore values found in .sbc files. That report is not confirmed for the current game version. If your edited value repeatedly reverts, look for a related .sb4 file in the same save and preserve all files before experimenting. Do not delete or recreate files without a known-good backup; the reported workaround was to recreate the .sb4 from the .sbc, but its current applicability is unverified.
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You cannot find Sandbox_config.sbc
First verify that you are inside the server’s actual save root and that the world has been started at least once. Search for the directory named by the active world, then check its files. Do not create a second file with a guessed name if the server has not generated the save structure; a new world should be configured through SpaceEngineers-Dedicated.cfg before first generation.
The server fails to start after editing
Stop the service, restore the backed-up file, and start again. If the backup starts normally, the edited file contains a syntax or encoding problem. Reapply only the GameMode value using the original file as the template. Check for an accidentally added .txt extension, missing closing tag, duplicate element, or text pasted outside the XML document.
A host keeps restoring the old file
Some panels generate configuration files from a separate settings form during restart. Download the file after the panel saves it and confirm that the value is still present. For an existing world, the panel may be rewriting only the general configuration while the save-specific file remains unchanged; edit the active save file and use the panel’s documented restart control.
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One third-party hosting guide recommends stopping the server, deleting Saves/LastSession.sbl, editing the save’s SBC file, and starting again. This deletion step is not established by the official session-settings reference and is not required for the standard procedure. Treat it as a last-resort troubleshooting action only after taking a complete backup and confirming that the server is not loading a different world.
Understand configuration precedence
When more than one file contains session settings, the server needs a consistent source of truth. The documented priority is:
Saves/<WorldName>/Sandbox_config.sbcSandbox.sbc- The
SessionSettingsblock inSpaceEngineers-Dedicated.cfg
This explains two common outcomes. A new world has no save-specific session file yet, so the dedicated-server configuration supplies GameMode. An existing world has its own session data, so its Sandbox_config.sbc wins even when the top-level configuration shows a different value.
If multiple files disagree, do not edit all of them at random. Identify the world being loaded, change the highest-priority file that contains the active setting, restart, and verify in-game. Keep the other files unchanged unless you are intentionally preparing defaults for future worlds.
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One free scan finds every outdated or missing driver and matches the right update for your exact hardware.Free scan · exact hardware matchRelated settings in the same session block
GameMode is only one member of SessionSettings. The same block can include MaxPlayers, InventorySizeMultiplier, ViewDistance, and SyncDistance. Block-limit settings use a mode with values NONE, GLOBALLY, PER_FACTION, or PER_PLAYER. The NONE option disables those limits and ignores MaxGridSize and MaxBlocksPerPlayer.
Those options are independent of the Creative/Survival selection. Changing the game mode does not require changing player limits, distances, inventory scaling, or block limits. If you modify them in the same maintenance window, record each change separately and test them independently so a later problem can be traced to the correct element.
Rollback plan
If players report an unexpected session state, stop the server rather than attempting to repair files while it is online.
- Preserve the current save folder and configuration files for diagnosis.
- Copy the backed-up
Sandbox_config.sbcorSpaceEngineers-Dedicated.cfgback to its original location. - Confirm that the filename and extension are correct.
- Start the server and verify that the previous mode and world load.
- Only after the rollback is confirmed, plan a second change with a fresh backup.
This approach protects the world data while separating a game-mode decision from unrelated file or hosting problems.
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| Goal | File | Value | Restart action |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generate a new Creative world | SpaceEngineers-Dedicated.cfg → SessionSettings |
Creative |
Move or delete the old world only if regeneration is intended, then start |
| Generate a new Survival world | SpaceEngineers-Dedicated.cfg → SessionSettings |
Survival |
Move or delete the old world only if regeneration is intended, then start |
| Convert an existing world to Creative | Saves/<WorldName>/Sandbox_config.sbc |
Creative |
Stop, back up, edit, then start |
| Convert an existing world to Survival | Saves/<WorldName>/Sandbox_config.sbc |
Survival |
Stop, back up, edit, then start |
The dependable rule is simple: configure the dedicated-server file before a world exists; configure the save’s Sandbox_config.sbc after it does. Always stop the server, retain a backup, restart, and verify the loaded session in-game.
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