Setting up and running your servers

1. Install#

Before the manager, set up the game: install Farming Simulator 25 on the server PC and let it update. Then download the manager and run the installer. It installs for all users into C:\Program Files\FS Game Server Manager and adds Start menu and desktop shortcuts.

The manager always runs as administrator. It needs that to create scheduled tasks for the servers, to see which processes belong to which server and to stop them. Opening it from the shortcut shows a UAC prompt. Turn on Open the manager when I log in to Windows in Settings and it starts in the tray at login without one.

2. First start#

The first time, it asks for two folders:

1. Game folder, the one with FarmingSimulator2025.exe. The manager searches the registry, Steam libraries and the usual places on every drive, so normally you just confirm it.
2. Profiles folder, where each server's profile goes: savegames, mods, DLCs, settings and logs. The suggestion is Documents\My Games\FS25 Server Profiles. Use an SSD if you have one; servers load everything from here.

You can change both later in Settings.

3. Add a server#

Click + Add server.

• Server folder: the folder with that server's dedicatedServer.exe, for example …\Farming Simulator 2025\2501. The list shows the server folders it found and starts on the first one not in use. The manager reads the web admin port from the folder and warns you if two servers clash. Need another server folder? Here's how to make one.
• Windows account: leave it on the shared account (your own user). Each server still gets its own profile folder, named after the server. No password needed for your own account.
• Start automatically and Startup delay: stagger servers, say 0, 20, 40 seconds, so they don't all load at once when the PC boots.
• Restart it if it stops unexpectedly: the manager brings it back up. After 5 restarts in 30 minutes it stops trying and tells you.
• How it runs: Background is the normal choice. It runs from Task Scheduler, starts at boot without anyone signed in, and has no window. If a server starts but never comes up, try Hidden in my session, which runs it hidden inside your own login instead (you'll need to stay signed in).

4. Activate (game key)#

A new server's card says Needs activation. Every server is its own copy of the game and needs its own key; see Keys & DLC.

1. Click Activate on the card.
2. The GIANTS key window opens. Enter the key for this server and click Activate.
3. GIANTS then starts a test server. The manager closes it for you. The card switches to Start.

5. Start, stop, restart#

The buttons on the card control the whole dedicated server: the web admin and the game together. To restart only the game and keep the web admin up, use Stop and Start on the web admin's own dashboard.

Stop is a hard stop. It ends the processes straight away, so anything since the last save is lost. Save from the web admin first if people are playing.

Start all and Stop all do every server, spaced out by the gap set in Settings. The tray icon's menu has the same controls. Closing or quitting the manager doesn't stop Background servers.

6. Game server settings#

Edit on a card has Game server settings: server name, game password, admin password, game port, max players (1 to 16), crossplay, web admin port and HTTPS port. The server has to be stopped, because a running web admin writes its own copy over the file. Changes apply on the next start.

The manager won't let you pick a port another server or the SFTP service already uses. After changing a port, update your router's forwarding and the firewall. The original files are kept once as <file>.before-manager.

The web admin's login isn't set here. The first login comes from <initial_admin> in dedicatedServer.xml; after that, manage logins on the web admin's Users page.

7. Web admin address#

On each server, Web admin address is what people type to reach that web admin from the internet: a host name (2501.example.com) or your internet IP (203.0.113.5:2501), with https:// in front if you use TLS. The form offers your current IP as buttons.

Add :port only if people have to type it. Behind a reverse proxy or on port 80, leave it off. The links the web admin shows (stats feed, map image, savegame files) then start with exactly what you entered.

A host name is saved into dedicatedServer.xml and needs a server restart. The link fix is a small script added to the web admin's frontend.js; reload the page to see it (Ctrl+F5 if the browser cached it). GIANTS updates can replace that file, so the manager puts the script back on start and every 30 minutes.

8. Move existing servers in#

Already running servers with runas shortcuts or a Windows user each? Bring them over one at a time:

• Onto the shared account (recommended): click Import, pick the old server's profile (for example the dedi2501 user), and fill in the server's details. The manager copies the profile into the new server's own folder, with a progress bar. Tick Bring the GIANTS activation along if the old user won't run that server any more; it saves activating again.
• Keep its own Windows user: click + Add server, set Windows account to that user and enter its password. Saves and mods stay where they are.

Then delete the old shortcut from the Startup folder (shell:startup) so it doesn't start a second copy. A server the old shortcut already started shows as Running; Stop and Start it once from the manager to move it into the background. Do one server first and check it comes up before moving the rest.

Import profile on a stopped server's card copies another profile into a server you already have. The copy takes savegames, mods, mod settings, the web admin's data and game settings, and skips caches, logs and screenshots. Files with the same name are overwritten.

9. DLCs#

Every server has its own DLCs, and needs its own key for each one. Click DLC in the top bar (or on a card) to see what each server has.

1. Download the DLC installer from the GIANTS download page with your DLC or season pass key. It's named like FarmingSimulator25_extraContent…_ESD.exe.
2. Click Install DLC… next to the server and pick the installer.
3. The installer opens for that server's profile. Enter the key and let it finish.
4. The DLC appears in the list within a few seconds of the installer finishing. Restart the server to load it.

The same installer works for every server; run it once per server with that server's key. Remove (server stopped) moves a DLC file to the Recycle Bin. Open DLC folder shows the server's pdlc folder.

Season passes are the cheaper route if you want several DLCs, but the pass doesn't install anything by itself: download and install each DLC in it separately. More on Keys & DLC.

Servers running under their own Windows user can't install DLCs from the manager. Sign in to Windows as that user and run the installer there.

10. Mods#

Each server has its own mods folder inside its profile: <profile>\Documents\My Games\FarmingSimulator2025\mods. Put mod .zip files there with the web admin's mods page, over SFTP, or by copying them on the PC. Then choose which mods a game uses in the web admin when you set the game up. More in the FAQ.

11. SFTP (TFC, WinSCP, FileZilla)#

One SFTP service on one port (2222 by default) serves every server. Each server has its own login, which only reaches that server's profile: savegames, mods, settings, logs.

1. Click SFTP on the server's card.
2. If the service is off, click Turn on SFTP for this server. That starts the service and adds the firewall rule. Otherwise tick Allow SFTP login for this server and save.
3. Copy the connection details into TFC, WinSCP or FileZilla. The first time, compare the host key fingerprint your client shows with the one in the dialog.

Every server gets a user name and a random 20-character password. You can show it, copy it, change it or generate a new one. Changing it, renaming the user or turning the login off disconnects anyone using the old details.

The dialog also shows who's connected, recent logins and failed attempts, and that login's activity. After 10 failed logins in 10 minutes, an address is blocked for 15 minutes. There's no shell access, and paths can't leave the profile folder. The service runs from Windows startup, so it works when the manager is closed.

12. Ports and remote access#

Players joining from the internet need each server's game port forwarded (TCP and UDP). Managing servers from outside needs the web admin ports and the SFTP port forwarded (TCP). The Port forwarding guide in the SFTP dialogs lists the exact ports, this PC's address, your internet address and the firewall state, and adds the firewall rules for you.

Step-by-step router instructions and what to check when it doesn't work are in the FAQ.

13. Discord bot#

The manager can run a Discord bot that posts alerts and lets chosen people use /fs25 status, start, stop and restart. Click Discord; the dialog walks you through five steps and ticks each one off.

1. Create your bot in the Discord Developer Portal (the dialog opens it and lists the clicks), copy its token and paste it.
2. Invite it to your Discord server with the button. The dialog notices when it joins.
3. Channels: let it create a category with status, admin and players channels and a staff role, or pick channels you already have.
4. Who can use commands: Discord admins always can. Everyone else can't, and doesn't even see /fs25, until you open a command to a role or to everyone.
5. Alerts: tick the ones you want. Server down, auto-restart paused and start failures ping your staff role; the others don't.

Stop and restart ask for confirmation in Discord and say how many players are on. Every command is logged with who used it. The bot runs inside the manager, so it's online while the manager is.

14. Web admin themes#

Website themes changes how your servers' web admin pages look: header logo, login and footer logos, the imprint text in the footer, and extra CSS. Make a theme once (or from a server you already customised with From a server) and apply it to as many servers as you like. Restart or reload to see it. Apply it again after a GIANTS update.

15. Dashboard and graphs#

The strip under the header shows the whole PC: CPU, memory (split into the FS25 servers and everything else) and the drives that matter. A meter turns amber at 85% and red at 95%.

Each card has small RAM and CPU lines for the last 10 minutes. Click a server's name or Details for tiles (uptime, memory, CPU, players, unexpected stops, last save, log errors), plain-language notes when something needs a look, and graphs for the last hour or 24 hours. CPU is the server's share of the whole PC, so one busy core on a 16-thread CPU shows as about 6%.

16. Updates#

The manager checks this site when it starts and every 6 hours. When a new version is out, you get a notification and a bar at the top of the window with What's new, Install now and Later. Install now downloads it, checks its checksum, and runs the installer quietly. The manager closes and opens again in about a minute. Servers keep running, and everything you set up stays.

Settings › Updates has Check now and the switch for automatic checks. Nothing ever installs without you clicking.

17. Shared account or own user#

On the shared account, servers run as one Windows user (normally yours), each with its own profile folder. The manager points the game at that folder when it starts the server, so saves, mods, DLCs and settings stay separate. It's the simplest setup: no extra Windows users, no passwords to keep, and the manager can activate profiles and install DLCs for you.

The trade-off: shared servers run with your account's rights rather than a locked-down user, and they're less isolated from each other. If that matters to you, give a server its own Windows user. The manager can create one (a standard account with a password that doesn't expire), and stores its password encrypted with Windows DPAPI.

Background servers on your own account use Task Scheduler's Do not store password mode. They still start at boot without anyone signed in, and a Microsoft account, PIN or Windows Hello sign-in just works. They can't open network shares.

18. Where things are kept#

The folders still say "FS25 Server Manager", the app's old name. That's on purpose, so nothing had to move when it was renamed.

19. Troubleshooting#

Everything shows Stopped and there's a red bar#

The manager isn't running as administrator. Open it from the Start menu or desktop shortcut, which asks for it.

"The user name or password is incorrect"#

Only for servers with their own Windows user. The password is checked before anything is created; retype it.

The task won't start, or "Log on as a batch job"#

Task Scheduler normally grants that right by itself. If a group policy blocks it, add the server users in secpol.msc › Local Policies › User Rights Assignment › Log on as a batch job.

A server starts but never comes up#

Look at the log (the Log button). If it isn't activated, the card says so. Some PCs won't run the game without a desktop session; set How it runs to Hidden in my session for that server.

Players shows "?"#

The manager reads the stats feed code from the web admin. If it can't, add the code= value from the web admin's server stats link under Edit › Advanced.

SFTP client can't connect#

Open the server's SFTP dialog. The login must be On and the service Running. Its activity shows your attempt: "failed login" means a wrong user name or password; nothing at all means the connection never arrived, so check the firewall and router forwarding in the Port forwarding guide.

Discord bot not connected#

The Discord dialog says why and links to the step that fixes it. A rejected token: reset it on the bot's page in the Developer Portal and paste the new one. Missing /fs25 commands: invite the bot again from step 2 and click Reconnect.

Something else#

Check the FAQ, then the Activity list at the bottom of the window (or Open full log). It records everything the manager does and why things failed.