Enshrouded Server Not Showing in the List: How to Join Anyway

Your Enshrouded server is running, your friends are waiting, and it is nowhere to be found in the in-game list — a familiar situation. Most of the time the server is fine: it is a known quirk of the game, and you get around it in a minute with Steam favorites. Below is a short checklist, from “is the server actually running” to game versions, group passwords and the player cap, so you find the cause instead of restarting everything.

If you are still choosing a server, start with our overview of Enshrouded server hosting — it covers memory, player groups and difficulty settings.

Step 1. Make sure the server is actually running

Open the server in the panel and check its status. If it is stopped, start it and wait. The first start takes longer than usual: the server downloads the game files and creates the world, so it won't appear anywhere until that is done. Keep an eye on the Console tab: once the session is up, a line with HostOnline appears in the log.

If the server is suspended because a renewal wasn't paid, it won't start until you renew it in your dashboard — the world data stays where it is in the meantime.

Step 2. Why the server isn't in the in-game list

The Enshrouded server browser does not always show dedicated servers — even when the server runs perfectly and other players are already connected. Searching for the exact server name sometimes helps, but it is more reliable not to depend on the list at all. The game has no field for typing an address directly, so the standard workaround is Steam favorites.

Step 3. Join via Steam favorites

1. Copy the server's address and port from your dashboard.
2. In Steam, open View → Game Servers and switch to the Favorites tab.
3. Click the button to add a server and paste the address with the port as address:port.
4. Launch Enshrouded — the server appears under favorites. Connect and enter your group's password.

Each player does this once on their own PC; after that the server stays in their favorites.

Step 4. The server is visible but won't let you in

Different game versions

The server and the players must run the same version. The server updates the game itself on startup, so after a patch a restart is enough. If the server has updated but a client hasn't, the player should restart Steam to download the patch.

Wrong group password

Enshrouded has four groups — Admin, Friend, Guest and Visitor — each with its own password. At Elysium all four are unique: the Admin password is shown in your dashboard, the others in the Startup tab of the panel. That is also where you change them: on every start the server writes the passwords and name into enshrouded_server.json, so an edit in the file itself is lost on the next start.

The server is full

A dedicated Enshrouded server allows up to 16 players — that is the game's own limit. If every slot is taken, the next player can't join until someone leaves.

Step 5. You can join, but it doesn't feel good

If you can connect but combat feels floaty, latency is the more likely culprit than the server. Enshrouded combat is built on dodges and blocks, and high ping shows immediately. Pick a location close to most of your players — our guide on choosing a server location uses Minecraft as the example, but the rules are the same for any game. Available cities are listed on the locations page.

And while you're checking things: make a manual backup in the Backups tab before a game update. The server has a nightly automatic backup, but a copy made right before a patch is the fastest way back if something goes wrong. For how often you need copies, see whether daily backups are enough.