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.
Branches: V2.6 stable vs V3.0 experimental
V2.6 is the stable branch. V3.0 "Dead Hot Summer" is experimental and live since June 15, 2026; you opt in through the Steam beta branch named latest_experimental. The client and the server must be on the same branch, or players hit an incompatible/invalid version error. See Version Mismatch for the exact symptoms.
- The server updates automatically on restart, so most branch changes are picked up by a clean stop and start.
- After flipping a branch, if the server is stuck on an old build, force a revalidation server-side:
steamcmd +login anonymous +app_info_update 1 +app_update 294420 validate +quit (294420 is the dedicated-server appid).
- Announce a branch change loudly. Players on the wrong branch cannot connect until they switch their client to match.
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.