Icarus Server Quickstart

An Icarus dedicated server hosts one prospect (a mission or open-world map) at a time and lets your crew drop in and out without the host being online. This quickstart covers connecting, the settings file, prospects, and admin control. Panel basics are in Access Your Game Server Panel.

Connect#

In Icarus, choose your character, open the prospect selection screen, and switch to the Dedicated Servers tab. Search for your server name, enter the join password if set, and join the active prospect. Ports: 17777 UDP for the game and 27015 UDP for the Steam query, both allocated by the panel.

ServerSettings.ini#

Stop the server, edit Icarus/Saved/Config/LinuxServer/ServerSettings.ini, restart. The core keys:

[/Script/Icarus.DedicatedServerSettings]
SessionName=NoBull Networks Icarus
JoinPassword=
MaxPlayers=8
AdminPassword=change-me
ShutdownIfNotJoinedFor=300
ShutdownIfEmptyFor=-1
AllowNonAdminsToLaunchProspects=True
AllowNonAdminsToDeleteProspects=False
LoadProspect=
CreateProspect=
ResumeProspect=True

• ShutdownIfEmptyFor=-1 keeps the server up while empty; the panel restarts it if it ever exits.
• ResumeProspect=True reloads the last prospect after a restart, which is what most groups want.
• AllowNonAdminsToLaunchProspects decides whether anyone can start a new mission or only admins.

The same values are usually exposed on the Startup tab.

Prospects and admin#

A prospect is the save. Launch one from in game (with the admin password when non-admins are not allowed to), and it becomes the active session; the server holds one at a time, and switching prospects ends the current one for everyone. Prospect files live under Icarus/Saved/PlayerData/DedicatedServer/Prospects/, one JSON per prospect, so a backup schedule keeps every mission recoverable. Player characters and their progression are stored server-side too, so a crew's characters are tied to your server.

Open world versus missions#

Open-world prospects (Olympus, Styx, and Prometheus with the relevant DLC) are the long-running mode most dedicated servers use; timed missions can be launched between them. Players need to own any DLC a prospect requires.

Updates and performance#

Icarus updates weekly on Wednesdays; restart from the panel afterwards so the server fetches the matching build, or players on the new client cannot join. Weather events and large bases spike CPU; watch the panel graphs, and step up the plan for a full crew of eight on a big open-world map (see Upgrade or Downgrade a Plan).