Docker Setup for 7 Days to Die

Run a Dedicated 7 Days to Die server on a Linx host under its own Linux account.

These instructions include setting up a Linux user with the appropriate permissions such that the server running in the container can appropriately share things like the Save files and read things like the Mods. This is necessary because of the way the default steamcmd server is configured and was a good practice for me on setting up some amount of isolation between the host and the container.

Setup the Linux User

Create the user:

sudo useradd sdtd

Add them to the docker group, so that they can create containers:

sudo usermod -a -G docker sdtd

Switch to the user:

su sdtd
cd

Setup the Environment

Install Git; clone this repo:

git clone https://github.com/jojenki/sdtd-server .

Create the save directory; this is where the server will write the save files:

mkdir Save

Create the Mods folder and put your mods in here:

mkdir Mods

Edit the serverconfig.xml file, specifically be sure to set a password if desired.

Important

Be sure to uncomment the line with UserDataFolder and set the value to /home/steam/GameSave.

Important

At some point, you will need to do a 1-time setup of port forwarding on your router. I recommend making sure your local computer can connect to your local server first and that all of the desired administration settings are good to go before opening up the ports.

Run the Server

Set the UID_V and GID_V values; these are your new user's UID and GID and will make sure that the resulting container runs as your Linux user and that the files in the container that are owned by the steam container user are accessible to your Linux user:

export UID_V=$(id -u)
export GID_V=$(id -g)

Tip

You will need to do this every time you create a new shell, so consider adding it to your ~/.bashrc:

echo 'export UID_V=$(id -u)' >>~/.bashrc
echo 'export GID_V=$(id -g)' >>~/.bashrc

Start the server:

docker compose up -d

Setup Administrator Priviledges

If this is the first time running the server, it will populate the Save/ directory with several files and folders, including a serveradmin.xml file.

1. Make sure the save files have been created by starting the server and connecting to it with any computer for the first time.
2. Stop the server.
3. Edit the serveradmin.xml file in the Save/ directory.
4. Start the server.

Stop the Server

docker compose down

Update the Server

The save files are in the Save/ directory, so we can safely destroy the old container and create a new one:

cp -r Save Save-backup
docker compose down
docker compose build --no-cache
docker compose up -d

Update Mods

Update the contents of the Mods folder and then re-run the compose command with --build:

docker compose up --build

Connect to the Instance

If you need to go into the instance, e.g. to check logs:

docker exec -it sdtd-server-1 bash

Warning

Changes are not persisted if the image is recreated.