The world rules are inside the world
In Dragonwilds, PvP, difficulty and the world type (Standard, Custom, Creative) are chosen on the create world screen, and they are saved inside the world file itself. The dedicated server never shows that screen. Its configuration only covers the owner, the admin and join passwords, the server name and the world name.
So on its first start, a dedicated server simply creates a default world under the name you gave it. There is no setting to switch that world to PvP or to a different difficulty afterwards.
| What you want to change | Where it is set |
|---|---|
| PvP, difficulty, Standard / Custom / Creative | The create world screen in the game, saved into the world file |
| World name, server name | The server settings |
| Owner, admin password, join password | The server settings |
The way to do it: create the world in the game, then upload it
This is the method Jagex describes in its own dedicated server guide. You make the world on your PC with exactly the rules you want, and the server then runs that world instead of its default one.
- Open Dragonwilds on your PC and create a new world with the settings you want.
- Enter the world once, then exit it, so the game writes the save file.
- Find the save in %LOCALAPPDATA%\RSDragonwilds\Saved\SaveGames. The file is named after your world, for example MyWorld.sav.
- Put that file in the server's RSDragonwilds/Saved/SaveGames folder, with the server stopped, and start it again.
On a server hosted with us
You do not need to touch any folders. Once you have the .sav from the steps above:
- In your server dashboard, open Deployment Settings and set World name to the file name without .sav, with the same capital letters. Save, and let the server restart.
- Open the Backup tab and, in the World snapshots section, click Upload world and pick the .sav.
- The dashboard stops the server, puts your world in place of the default one and starts the server again by itself.
Setting the World name first matters: the dashboard installs the upload under the world name the server loads, so matching the two keeps the file name exactly as the game wrote it.
Moving an existing single player world
The same steps move a world you have already been playing alone or with friends onto a server, with its progress. Skip the create step, take that world's .sav from the same folder, and upload it in the same way. Your group then keeps playing it even when you are offline.
If you host the server yourself
- Stop the server before copying. It keeps the world in memory and saves it every few minutes and again on shutdown, so a file copied under a running server is overwritten.
- Back up the server's SaveGames folder before replacing anything in it.
- Set DefaultWorldName in DedicatedServer.ini to the same name as the file, so the server and the save agree on which world is live.
Frequently asked questions
How do I enable PvP on a Dragonwilds dedicated server?
PvP is a world setting, not a server setting. Create a world with PvP enabled in the game on your PC, then upload its .sav file to the server.
How do I change the difficulty on my Dragonwilds server?
Difficulty is chosen when a world is created and is saved inside the world file. Create a world with the difficulty you want in the game, then upload that save to your server.
Can a Dragonwilds dedicated server run a Creative world?
Yes. The server cannot create one by itself, but it runs a Creative world you created in the game and uploaded as a .sav file.
Where are Dragonwilds world saves on my PC?
In %LOCALAPPDATA%\RSDragonwilds\Saved\SaveGames. Each world is one .sav file named after the world.
Can I move my single player Dragonwilds world to a server?
Yes. Upload that world's .sav file to the server without renaming it, and set the server's world name to match. The world keeps its progress.
Why is there no PvP option when I buy a Dragonwilds server?
Because the game has no server setting for it. The server creates a default world on its first start, and a world with different rules has to be created in the game and uploaded.