Three ways to play together
| Player-hosted world | Your own dedicated server | Rented server | |
|---|---|---|---|
| When the world is available | only while the host is playing | whenever your PC is running | 24/7 |
| Cost | free | free (electricity, PC tied up) | subscription with a host |
| Players on PC | up to 16 | 1 to 16 | depends on the plan, up to 16 |
| Permissions | one password + promote/demote in-game (1.0) | groups with separate passwords | groups with separate passwords |
| Best for | a regular group that plays at the same times | someone with a strong PC and a good connection | a group playing at different times |
The player-hosted world is the simplest: nothing to install, one of you invites the rest. The downside is that the world goes offline with the host — nobody can get in without them. How to run your own server is covered in our dedicated server guide, and we compared the prices of 12 companies in Enshrouded server hosting. Keen Games has a hosting partner — G-Portal, where you can also rent a server from inside the game.
How many players and on which platforms
| PC (Steam) | PS5 | |
|---|---|---|
| Players in one world | up to 16 | up to 8 online |
| Subscription for online play | not needed | PS Plus |
| Split-screen / local co-op | no | no |
| PC–PS5 crossplay | not in 1.0 | not in 1.0 |
Every player needs their own copy of the game and their own device. Console details: Enshrouded on PS5 and Xbox.
How to host a world step by step
- Start the game and pick a character and a world — new or existing.
- Instead of a private game, choose hosting (the Host button in Early Access). In 1.0 Keen Games reworked the pre-game menus: hosting now has "easily selectable modes" with extra settings, but the developers didn't publish the exact button names before launch.
- Set a password and the default permission level for joining players (more below). Without a password, the session is open to anyone who finds it in the list.
- Load into the world. From now on your friends can see your session in the list.
- Invite them through Steam: right-click a name on your friends list and choose Invite to Game.
If your session doesn't show up in the list, Keen Games suggests checking that your Steam profile is public (Steam → Settings → Account → Privacy Settings). A private profile can hide the session.
How to join a friend
- In the main menu, choose Join.
- In the filters on the right, tick sessions with Steam friends. The list shows player-hosted games and dedicated servers separately — dedicated servers need their own filter switched on.
- Pick the session and enter the host's password.
- You can also join a dedicated server by IP address (search in the Join menu) — see the server guide.
You can also accept a Steam invite — then you don't need to search the list.
Password and permissions — what changes in 1.0
Player-hosted world (new in 1.0). The host sets a single password that gives everyone who joins the same default permission level. After that, the host can promote or demote individual players in the Social menu at any time. The game remembers the level — when a player leaves and comes back, they keep the permissions you set. The host also sees a chat message showing who joined and with what permissions.
Dedicated server — no change. User groups with separate passwords in enshrouded_server.json still apply, and the password you enter when joining decides your permissions. Promoting or demoting players while playing on the server isn't possible.
Before 1.0 the host had 4 permission levels to choose from. The 1.0 changelog doesn't list new ones, so the table shows the pre-1.0 state:
| Level | Chests | Building in bases | World changes outside bases | Flame Altars | Kick and ban |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Visitor | no | no | no | no | no |
| Helper | no | no | not specified | no | no |
| Friend | yes | yes | yes (including terraforming) | no | no |
| Admin | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes |
Keen Games' description explicitly allows combat, looting, exploration and world progress from the Helper level up; for Visitor it lists only restrictions.
Visitor was added in November 2025 so that outsiders can't dig up terrain or redirect water outside your base. It's a good default level when you show your world to people outside your group. On a dedicated server, the Visitor group is in the config file from the start, next to Admin, Friend and Guest.
Protecting your base from griefing
- Always set a password. Without one, anyone who finds the session in the list can join.
- Give a low default level (Visitor) and raise trusted players' permissions in the Social menu.
- Flame Altars are off-limits even to Friend-level players — only Admin can touch them.
- Bans go on a persistent blacklist: a banned player can't come back until you unban them. This works for both hosts and servers.
- A player who can kick others can't be kicked — don't hand that right to people you don't trust.
- On a dedicated server, don't share the Admin password. You can't revoke a password from one person — when you change it, everyone loses it.
- You can set one Flame Altar as the visitors' spawn point — there's a toggle at the altar.
What stays with you and what stays in the world
Your character is saved on each player's own computer, and the world is saved with the host or on the server. Keen Games: "Character progression is stored only on clients". You can take the same character into other worlds.
| Your character takes along | Stays in the host's world |
|---|---|
| equipment and backpack contents | buildings, bases, Flame Altars |
| level and skills | chests in bases and their contents |
| your explored map | most recipes (they depend on rescued survivors and crafting stations in the world) |
| personal recipes (no crafting station needed) | rescued survivors — in a new world you free them again |
| destroyed Shroud Roots (you can't farm them by starting new worlds) | towers discovered by other players |
| lore notes and tutorials you found, towers you discovered yourself |
In 1.0 the journal shows whether a quest is personal or a world quest. Your custom map markers are visible only to you. Keen Games hasn't said whether loot from chests in the world is shared or separate for each player — agree on it within your group.
Enemy scaling in co-op
- The "Automatic" option (new in 1.0) in the enemy amount setting: the number of enemies in an encounter scales with the size of your party. Only players actively playing nearby count, not those in other parts of the map. The developers didn't say whether it's the default.
- The enemy damage slider in the difficulty settings has new values in 1.0 — according to the developers, it better reflects the actual damage increase. It applies to regular enemies; bosses have separate sliders.
- The changelog implies that some enemies also scale their health with party size (a fix for the Fell Fungal Friends). Keen Games didn't publish exact values.
- When the whole party dies at a boss, in 1.0 the boss doesn't instantly restore all its health — if you come back quickly, it will still be partly weakened.
Split-screen and local co-op
There isn't any. Steam lists only online co-op for the game (it doesn't list split-screen or Remote Play Together), and the PlayStation Store lists "1 player" for offline play. To play together in one home, you need two devices and two copies of the game.
PC–PS5 crossplay
Not in 1.0. Keen Games in the Launch FAQ: "Enshrouded will not be cross-platform at launch". The studio is working on it but has "no current estimate" — there's no date. PS5 players can't join worlds or servers on PC.
Can't connect? Checklist
| Problem | What to do |
|---|---|
| Your friend's session doesn't show up | Host: make your Steam profile public. You: check the list filters or join from a Steam invite. |
| The dedicated server doesn't show up | Turn on the dedicated server filter or add the server in Steam (View → Game Servers → Favorites → IP:15637). |
| Error when joining | Update the game — the player, host and server versions must match. After the 1.0 launch the server needs updating too. |
| Disconnects or the list won't load | Forward port 15637 and the Steam ports on your router and allow the game through Windows Firewall. |
| You only have IPv6 | Multiplayer uses IPv4 only — check with your internet provider that you have an IPv4 address. |
| DNS errors | In Command Prompt: ipconfig /flushdns; optionally switch to Google DNS (8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4). |
| Lag, packet loss | Use a cable instead of Wi-Fi. |
Keen Games also suggests clearing the Steam download cache (Settings → Downloads).
FAQ
Does Enshrouded have local co-op or split-screen?
No. The game only has online co-op — every player needs their own copy of the game and their own device.
How many players can play together?
Up to 16 in one world on PC, and up to 8 online on PS5 with PS Plus.
Can my friends play in my world when I'm offline?
Not if you host the world yourself — it goes offline when you quit. To play without the host you need a dedicated server, either your own or a rented one.
Can I play with a friend on PS5?
Not in version 1.0 — there's no crossplay at launch and no date for it.
Will my character stay in my friend's world?
No. Your character (level, skills, equipment) is saved on your side and goes with you into other worlds. The host's world keeps the buildings, chests, rescued survivors and most recipes.
How do I change a player's permissions during the game?
In a player-hosted world — in the Social menu (since 1.0), and the game remembers the change. On a dedicated server, permissions depend on the group password, so you change them in the config file, not in the game.
I have Early Access decorations. Can I give them to a friend?
Yes. According to the Launch FAQ, an Early Access player can visit a friend's world and place the decorations there. Your friend can remove them later but can't place them on their own.
