Updating with Minimal Downtime
Tags: updates, downtime, maintenance
Patch days are when players churn. Stage updates, communicate windows, and keep a rollback plan so you can recover quickly.
Plan the window
- Announce maintenance at least 24 hours ahead with exact start time, duration, and time zone.
- Choose off-peak hours and avoid horde nights unless absolutely necessary.
- Prepare patch notes or links so players know what is changing.
Stage and back up
- Take a full backup (world, configs, mods) and verify it extracts.
- Test the update on a staging server with the same mods and settings.
- Record new config defaults; game updates sometimes overwrite custom values.
Deploy
- Stop the server cleanly, apply the update, and reapply any custom XML or mod changes.
- Start the server and scan logs for errors before opening it to players.
- Run a quick join test, a trader visit, and a quest to confirm core systems work.
Rollback plan
- Keep the previous server binaries and mod versions ready.
- If the update corrupts saves, shut down, restore the last backup, and announce the rollback with time lost.
- Log what failed so you can retry after a hotfix instead of guessing.
Communicate
- Post start and end updates in chat/Discord; include the new build number.
- If downtime runs long, give ETA updates every 15–20 minutes.
- After success, highlight any client steps (verify files, download mods) so players can reconnect smoothly.