Soulmask
Server Hosting

Soulmask server performance depends heavily on CPU multi-core performance, RAM capacity, and storage speed. Unlike simpler survival games, Soulmask's tribe AI system and mask synchronization demand consistent processing power across multiple cores.

Recommended CPU Specifications

Soulmask benefits from CPUs with strong multi-core performance to handle tribe AI, NPC pathfinding, and physics calculations. High-frequency processors (3.6 GHz+) ensure smooth gameplay during large tribal raids and complex interactions.

RAM Requirements by Player Count

• 10-30 players: 16 GB DDR4 minimum. Adequate for small tribe communities with basic mod setups.
• 30-50 players: 24 GB DDR4 recommended. Handles larger tribes with multiple NPC tribesmen active simultaneously.
• 50-70 players or heavy mods: 32 GB DDR5. Necessary for maximum player counts, extensive tribe networks, and complex mod configurations.

Storage: Why NVMe Matters

NVMe SSDs reduce world save times by 60-80% compared to SATA SSDs. Soulmask frequently autosaves world data, tribe states, and NPC positions. Fast storage prevents lag spikes during saves and speeds up server startup. PCIe 4.0 drives offer double the throughput of PCIe 3.0, making them ideal for servers with large worlds and extensive building.

Soulmask's core mechanic revolves around building and managing your tribe. Players recruit up to 20 tribesmen NPCs, each with unique personalities, talents, and skills. These tribesmen can be possessed using masks, allowing consciousness synchronization.

How the Tribe System Works

Tribesmen handle tasks autonomously—farming, production, defense, and resource gathering. The game's AI manages pathfinding, task prioritization, and needs satisfaction (hunger, rest, morale). This creates a unique gameplay loop where you lead a tribe rather than playing as a lone survivor.

Server Performance Impact

Each active tribesman requires CPU cycles for AI calculations. With 50 players each controlling 20 tribesmen, servers must process 1,000+ NPC entities simultaneously. This demands:

• Multi-core CPUs: Parallel processing for AI pathfinding and task management
• High RAM: Storing NPC states, inventories, and behavior trees
• Fast storage: Rapid world saves to prevent data loss during crashes

Mask Possession Mechanics

Players can synchronize consciousness with any recruited tribesman, taking over their body. This allows strategic gameplay—using a warrior's combat skills during raids or a craftsman's abilities for production. Mask switching must be instantaneous to maintain fluid gameplay, requiring responsive server tick rates.

Optimizing Tribe Performance

• Limit active tribesmen during peak hours if experiencing lag
• Use automation stations to reduce AI pathfinding overhead
• Schedule world saves during off-peak times
• Monitor CPU usage—sustained 80%+ indicates need for hardware upgrade

Soulmask supports both PvP (player versus player) and PvE (player versus environment) modes on private servers. Understanding how to configure these settings is essential for creating your desired gameplay experience.

PvE Mode (Cooperative Survival)

PvE servers focus on cooperative gameplay. Players build tribes, explore ruins, and survive environmental challenges without direct player conflict. Key features:

• No player damage—tribes cooperate rather than compete
• Ideal for role-playing communities and casual players
• Focus on exploration, building, and NPC tribe management
• Environmental threats (weather, creatures, resources) provide challenge

PvP Mode (Competitive Tribal Warfare)

PvP servers enable tribal raids, territorial control, and player combat. This mode demands:

• Stable server performance during large-scale raids
• Fast save times to prevent rollbacks after defeats
• DDoS protection—competitive servers are frequent attack targets
• Higher tick rates for responsive combat and mask switching

Server Configuration Options

Private servers support extensive customization through config files:

• Resource rates: Adjust gathering speed and crafting costs
• Tribe limits: Set maximum tribesmen per player
• Damage multipliers: Balance PvP combat difficulty
• Day/night cycle speed: Control passage of time
• Creature spawn rates: Adjust wildlife density
• Building decay timers: Prevent abandoned structure buildup

Recommended Settings by Server Type

Casual PvE: 2x resource rates, longer days, reduced creature aggression

Hardcore PvP: 1x rates, full damage, strict building decay, faster night cycles

Role-Playing: Balanced rates, extended tribe limits, custom events

Soulmask supports extensive modding through Steam Workshop integration and official Soulmask Modkits. Community-created content ranges from quality-of-life improvements to total conversion mods.

Steam Workshop Integration

Servers can automatically download and sync Workshop mods. Benefits include:

• Automatic updates when mod authors release new versions
• No manual file management—Workshop IDs handle everything
• Players automatically download mods when joining server
• Fast downloads via Steam's CDN (10 Gbps networking maximizes speed)

Popular Mod Categories

• UI Enhancements: Improved inventory management and tribal oversight
• New Masks: Additional mask types with unique abilities
• Building Additions: Expanded structures and decorations
• Tribe AI Improvements: Enhanced NPC behaviors and task management
• Custom Creatures: New wildlife and enemies
• Quality of Life: Stack size increases, faster crafting, etc.

Using Soulmask Modkits

CampFire Studio provides official modding tools for creating custom content. Modkits allow:

• Custom item creation and balancing
• New building blueprints and structures
• Modified game rules and mechanics
• Custom tribal events and quests

Mod Performance Considerations

Heavy mod loads impact server performance. Consider:

• RAM usage: Each mod adds memory overhead—32 GB recommended for 10+ mods
• CPU impact: Script-heavy mods increase processing requirements
• Save times: More mod data = larger world saves, requiring NVMe storage
• Update frequency: Automatic Workshop updates may cause brief restarts

Installing Mods on Your Server

1. Subscribe to mods on Steam Workshop
2. Note the Workshop ID from the mod's URL
3. Add IDs to server config file or control panel
4. Restart server to download and activate mods
5. Players auto-download mods when connecting

Soulmask servers use configuration files and admin commands to control gameplay, performance, and server behavior. Proper configuration ensures optimal balance and stability.

Essential Server Configuration Settings

Main configuration file location: /Saved/Config/WindowsServer/Game.ini

Common Configuration Parameters

• ServerName: Display name in server browser
• ServerPassword: Optional password for private access
• MaxPlayers: Maximum concurrent connections (recommend 50-70)
• PvPEnabled: Toggle PvP combat on/off
• ResourceMultiplier: Gathering speed modifier (1.0 = default)
• TribeMemberLimit: Max tribesmen per player (default 20)
• XPMultiplier: Experience gain rate
• DayTimeSpeedScale: Day cycle duration
• NightTimeSpeedScale: Night cycle duration

Admin Console Commands

Access admin console by pressing specific key (typically F1 or ` backtick):

• EnableCheats [password] - Activate admin mode
• Teleport [X] [Y] [Z] - Teleport to coordinates
• GiveItem [ItemID] [Quantity] - Spawn items
• KillPlayer [PlayerName] - Kill specified player
• BanPlayer [PlayerID] - Ban player from server
• SaveWorld - Force world save
• ServerShutdown - Graceful server shutdown

Performance Tuning Settings

• AutoSaveInterval: Frequency of automatic saves (default 15 minutes)
• MaxStructuresInRange: Building density limits to prevent lag
• NPCSpawnMultiplier: Control NPC density (lower = better performance)
• PhysicsQuality: Physics calculation detail (adjust for lower-end hardware)

Backup and Rollback

World saves stored in: /Saved/SavedGames/

Backup before major config changes. Corrupted configs can prevent server startup.

Not all Soulmask hosting is created equal. Tribe AI performance, world save stability, and mod support depend on infrastructure choices that budget hosts often overlook.

CPU Multi-Core Performance (Most Critical)

Soulmask's tribe system is CPU-intensive, requiring strong multi-core performance for NPC AI and pathfinding. High-frequency processors (3.6+ GHz) with modern architecture (Ryzen 5000/7000, Intel 12th/13th gen) deliver superior tribe responsiveness. Budget hosts using older or slower CPUs will exhibit delayed NPC reactions and sluggish task completion.

RAM Capacity and Speed

Soulmask requires substantial RAM for tribe states, NPC inventories, and world data. Minimum 16 GB for small servers, but 24-32 GB DDR4/5 recommended for 50+ players with mods. DDR5 provides higher bandwidth for faster data access during heavy tribe activity.

Storage Performance

World saves occur frequently in Soulmask. SATA SSDs cause noticeable lag spikes during saves. NVMe SSDs (especially PCIe 4.0) eliminate save-related stuttering and reduce backup/restore times by 70-80%. Essential for servers with large worlds or extensive building.

Network Quality and Bandwidth

10 Gbps networking matters for:

• Fast Workshop mod downloads (both server and client-side)
• Lower latency during high player counts
• Smoother tribe synchronization across network
• Rapid backup uploads to remote storage

DDoS Protection Quality

Soulmask PvP servers attract DDoS attacks. Generic web-focused filtering often fails for UDP game traffic. Game-specific protection (Anycast routing with Layer 7 filtering) maintains server visibility and performance during attacks.

Unlimited Slots vs Artificial Caps

True unlimited slots mean your server supports as many players as your hardware allows—typically 50-70 for Soulmask. Budget hosts impose artificial caps to oversell nodes. This limits growth and forces unnecessary upgrades.

Bare-Metal vs Virtualization

Shared virtualization (VPS) causes "noisy neighbor" issues—other users' activity impacts your performance. Bare-metal dedicated resources eliminate CPU contention, ensuring consistent tribe AI performance.

Feature Checklist

• ✓ High-frequency multi-core CPUs (Ryzen 5000+/Intel 12th gen+)
• ✓ 24-32 GB DDR4/5 RAM for medium-large servers
• ✓ PCIe 4.0 NVMe storage (eliminates save lag)
• ✓ 10 Gbps networking (Workshop downloads, player sync)
• ✓ Game-specific DDoS protection (not generic web filtering)
• ✓ Unlimited player slots (no artificial caps)
• ✓ Bare-metal nodes (dedicated CPU resources)
• ✓ UK datacentres (for UK/EU player bases)
• ✓ Instant deployment (automated provisioning)
• ✓ Full SFTP and console access
• ✓ Automatic backups with quick restoration
• ✓ Steam Workshop integration support

Common Soulmask server issues and their solutions. These problems affect many server operators—fixing them correctly saves hours of troubleshooting.

Server Not Showing in Browser

Symptoms: Server runs but doesn't appear in community server list.

Solutions:

• Verify server ports are open and forwarded correctly (default 8777)
• Check firewall allows Steam master server communication
• Confirm DDoS filtering isn't blocking server query packets
• Ensure server is set to public mode in configuration
• Test direct connection via IP address first

Tribe NPCs Acting Sluggish or Unresponsive

Symptoms: Tribesmen delay task execution, pathfinding issues, slow reactions.

Solutions:

• Check CPU utilization—80%+ indicates insufficient processing power
• Reduce active tribesmen count temporarily to test
• Upgrade to higher-frequency CPU plan
• Verify server isn't on shared/oversold node
• Optimize pathfinding by reducing structure density

Lag Spikes During World Saves

Symptoms: Regular stuttering every 10-15 minutes, freezing during saves.

Solutions:

• Upgrade from SATA to NVMe storage—eliminates save lag
• Increase auto-save interval (balance against data loss risk)
• Reduce world size or building count
• Check storage isn't near capacity (keep 20%+ free)

Mods Not Loading or Causing Crashes

Symptoms: Server crashes on startup, mods missing, conflicts.

Solutions:

• Verify Workshop mod IDs are correct and mods are still available
• Check mod compatibility—some mods conflict with others
• Remove mods one at a time to identify problematic ones
• Ensure sufficient RAM for mod overhead (32 GB for heavy loads)
• Clear Workshop cache and re-download: delete workshop folder contents

Players Getting Connection Timeout

Symptoms: Players disconnect randomly, "Connection Lost" errors.

Solutions:

• Verify network stability—packet loss above 1% causes timeouts
• Check DDoS protection isn't rate-limiting legitimate players
• Increase connection timeout value in server config
• Confirm server isn't CPU-throttled (tribe AI delays appear as connection issues)
• Test with different players to isolate client-side issues

World Save Corruption

Symptoms: Server won't start, "corrupted save file" errors, world rollback.

Solutions:

• Restore from automatic backup (check backup retention policy)
• Try loading previous save iteration from saves folder
• Verify storage hardware isn't failing (check SMART status)
• Increase backup frequency to minimize data loss
• Never force-kill server during save—use graceful shutdown

High Memory Usage / Out of Memory Crashes

Symptoms: Server crashes with memory errors, gradual slowdown over time.

Solutions:

• Upgrade RAM—Soulmask requires 24-32 GB for large servers
• Reduce tribe member limits if at maximum capacity
• Remove unnecessary mods (each adds memory overhead)
• Schedule regular restarts to clear memory leaks (every 24-48 hours)
• Check for mod-related memory leaks (test removal)