Windrose Server FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to the most common questions about Windrose dedicated server hosting on GameGrid: player limits, updates, mods, saves, backups and Windrose Plus.
General Questions
Q: How many players can a Windrose server support?
A: the limit is yours to set. "Max Player Count" on the Settings tab accepts 1 to 64 and a new server ships at 8; the platform adds no cap of its own. Our sizing guidance for Windrose is roughly 8 GB of RAM for 2 players, 12 GB for 4 and 16 GB for 10, so raise it in steps and watch the Resource Usage card on the Overview tab.
Q: Does Windrose support PvP?
A: there is nothing on a GameGrid Windrose server that turns PvP on or off. The game exposes no such setting, so the Settings tab has none, and Windrose Plus adds none either. Every difficulty setting on the Settings tab is about enemies and enemy ships, and the Windrose Plus multipliers are about loot, XP, crafting, cooking and harvesting. Whether the game itself has any player-versus-player mode is a question for its own documentation, not something we can configure for you.
Q: Is Windrose crossplay?
A: the platform has no crossplay controls for Windrose. The dedicated server is installed from Steam and runs on Windows, and there is no platform selector, no per-platform player ID format and no crossplay join code anywhere in the Windrose panel, unlike the games the panel does have crossplay controls for. If you need to know which client platforms the game itself supports, check with the publisher.
Q: Which build is my server on?
A: the Admin tab shows it, in the Game Updates card, along with whether a newer one has been detected. Windrose is in active development, so expect updates that change gameplay and occasionally the save format. A backup is taken automatically before every update the platform applies, and you can take your own from the Backups tab whenever you want a fixed point to come back to.
Server Management
Q: How do I update my Windrose server?
A: on the Admin tab, in the Game Updates card. "Automatically apply game updates" is on by default, so a new build is normally applied for you; with it off, press "Update now" when you are ready. Restarting the server does not fetch a new build — on any game. See Updating Your Windrose Server.
Q: Can I install mods on my Windrose server?
A: yes. The Mods tab browses CurseForge and Nexus Mods for Windrose and installs .pak mods into R5/Content/Paks/~mods for you; Steam Workshop is not a source for Windrose. Lua and script mods additionally need UE4SS, which the Mods tab installs from a loader panel above the Installed and Browse views. Windrose Plus is itself a mod, and GameGrid installs it on every Windrose server for you. All of it is installed on your server only. Windrose Plus needs nothing on your players’ machines; whether a .pak mod from CurseForge or Nexus Mods must also be installed by each player depends on the mod, so check its own page.
Q: How do I become admin on my server?
A: Windrose Plus is already on your server. On the Windrose Plus tab, set an RCON password if you want your own, and add your Steam ID to the admin list. See our how to become admin guide for step-by-step instructions.
Q: Can I change the server difficulty?
A: yes. The Settings tab has World Difficulty Preset (Easy, Medium, Hard, Custom) under World, and the individual values behind it under Gameplay — combat difficulty, immersive exploration, shared co-op quests, the enemy and enemy-ship damage and health multipliers, boarding difficulty and co-op scaling. Each needs a restart. The individual values are new to the panel and we have not yet confirmed on a live server that the game picks each one up, so check a change in game after the restart; if it has not taken, set the preset instead and tell support. Windrose Plus adds 127 settings of its own — loot, XP, player stats, talent trees, combat effects — on its own tab.
Saves and Backups
Q: Where are my Windrose saves stored?
A: Saves are in the R5/Saved/ directory inside your server folder. See our save file location guide for details.
Q: How often are backups created?
A: once a day automatically, and again immediately before a game update and immediately before a restore. By default, automatic backups are kept to the last 7 backups or 7 days, whichever comes first. You can take your own at any time with "Create Backup Now" on the Backups tab; those share the server's 30 GB backup storage with the automatic ones and are removed 30 days after they are taken, not earlier.
Q: Can I transfer my Windrose world to another server?
A: yes. Download a verified backup with its Download button on the Backups tab, or, for the live world rather than the last backup, copy R5/Saved off the source server over FTP or SFTP (credentials are on the File Access (FTP/SFTP) card on the Overview tab). Then copy R5/Saved onto the target server over FTP or SFTP, with both servers stopped.
Q: Will an update delete my world?
A: No. Updates replace game binaries, not save data. However, major Windrose updates may occasionally change the save format. Always back up before updating.
Windrose Plus
Q: What is Windrose Plus?
A: a free third-party community mod, published on GitHub by HumanGenome and not affiliated with the Windrose developers. It adds a web dashboard with an admin console for the 30-plus console commands Windrose Plus ships, a live Sea Chart map, an item catalog, a status module the dashboard serves as JSON, and 127 Windrose Plus settings in the panel. It does not add server-browser visibility — Windrose has no browsable server list.
Q: Do my players need to install Windrose Plus?
A: No. Windrose Plus is entirely server-side. Your players do not need to install any mods. Everything works from the server.
Q: How do I enable Windrose Plus?
A: you do not have to. GameGrid installs Windrose Plus on every Windrose server by itself and keeps it there, because your server's live Sea Chart comes from it. A new server gets it before its first start; if a server is running when it is installed, it loads at the next start. The Windrose Plus tab shows "On" and "Managed by GameGrid" (or "Being installed" while that happens), and it cannot be switched off. See Windrose Plus Guide.
Q: Can I use Windrose Plus and still get official updates?
A: yes. Game updates are applied from the Admin tab as normal. A Windrose update can leave the mod behind, though: GameGrid polls GitHub for new Windrose Plus releases every 30 minutes and pushes them out, and if a game update leaves it behind so that the game stops while loading it, GameGrid starts your server without Windrose Plus and tries it again after the next game update or Windrose Plus release — you do not have to switch anything.
Billing and Support
Q: How much does a Windrose server cost?
A: GameGrid uses a flat monthly rate per game server, not per-player pricing. See the order page for current pricing. Volume discounts are available when ordering multiple servers.
Q: Can I change my server location after purchase?
A: open a support ticket. A move depends on the location you want having capacity; the order page shows which locations have capacity right now. When you order, choose the location closest to most of your players: distance adds latency that no setting can fix.
Q: What happens if my server crashes?
A: restart it from the status bar at the top of any tab of the server panel, and read the Console tab for what happened. If the host itself stops answering for 30 minutes, the platform rebuilds your server on a healthy host from its most recent disaster-recovery snapshot; snapshots are taken every 2 hours. If crashes are frequent, open a ticket with the console output.
Q: How do I get support for my Windrose server?
A: Open a support ticket from the Support page. Our team can help with server issues, configuration questions, and Windrose Plus problems.