server.json settings

The server reads server.json from its working directory (or the file named by --config) once, at boot, so edit it while the server is stopped. If the file is missing, the server writes one with every key and its default:

server.json

{
    "apihost": "0.0.0.0",
    "apiport": 27016,
    "host": "0.0.0.0",
    "map": "",
    "maxplayers": 512,
    "mod": {
        "level": "kutnohorsko",
        "navmesh": "",
        "required_dlc": [],
        "scoreboard": true,
        "world_resources": []
    },
    "password": "",
    "port": 27015,
    "server-token": ""
}

Top-level keys

Key	Default	What it does
host	"0.0.0.0"	Address the game session binds to
port	27015	Game session port, UDP
apihost	"0.0.0.0"	Address the HTTP endpoints bind to
apiport	27016	HTTP port, TCP
maxplayers	512	Player slots. Values above 512 are clamped to 512 with a warning
password	""	Password players must give to join. Empty lets anyone in. See Password
server-token	""	Masterlist push key. Empty means the server is not listed in the server browser
map	""	Unused by KCDC. The level is mod.level

Get a token and check the listing with Server browser listing. The matching command-line arguments override these keys for one run; nothing overrides maxplayers or mod.

Password

Set password to make players type it before they can join:

server.json

{
    "password": "correct horse battery staple"
}

Only change that line. Leave the rest of the file as the server wrote it. Restart the server after changing it. The startup log shows whether a password is set:

Password:  required

"password": "", the default, lets anyone in. The server checks the password during the connection handshake, before the player downloads anything. A wrong or missing password is refused with:

The server refused the password.

Players enter it under Connect directly in the launcher menu, or pass it in a join link (kcdc://host:port?password=...). The server browser shows a padlock next to a server with a password and asks for it before joining. The status document at http://<host>:<apiport>/ shows "password_required": true, but never the password itself.

• Keep it to 63 bytes. The server accepts up to 255 bytes and refuses to start with a longer one. The client only accepts 63, so players cannot enter a longer password. Plain ASCII characters are one byte each.
• --password overrides it for one run (options). The key in the file is safer, because a command line shows up in process lists.
• It is shared, not per player. Everyone uses the same password. To stop someone who already knows it, change it and restart.
• It needs KCDC 1.5.1 or later. Older servers ignore the key.

When the file is wrong

The server refuses to start on invalid JSON, a key of the wrong type, or a mod value it does not accept (the log says why). An unknown key under mod is kept with a warning, so a newer file still loads on an older server:

server.json: 'mod.something' is not a key this build understands; keeping it

level, required_dlc and scoreboard are replicated: a client receives them in the connection handshake, before it downloads or runs anything. The status document at http://<host>:<apiport>/ also lists them under mod_config. navmesh and world_resources stay on the server.

mod.level

The level clients load when they join. Any other value fails at boot.

Value	Level
kutnohorsko	Kuttenberg and its countryside (the default)
trosecko	Trosky
klaster	The monastery

These are the level directories the game ships under Data/Levels.

mod.required_dlc

The DLCs a player must have to join. Empty, the default, requires none.

server.json

{
    "mod": {
        "level": "kutnohorsko",
        "required_dlc": ["ForgeTycoon", "MysteriaEcclesiae"]
    }
}

The client checks the list right after the handshake and refuses before downloading anything or loading the level, naming the DLCs by store name:

This server requires Legacy of the Forge, Mysteria Ecclesiae.

The game’s own DLC service answers, so on Steam a DLC must be installed, not just purchased.

Accepted names

Names are case-sensitive and several differ from the store name.

Key	Sold as
QuestForValor	The Lion’s Crest
BanditCamps	Brushes with Death
ForgeTycoon	Legacy of the Forge
MysteriaEcclesiae	Mysteria Ecclesiae
SeasonPassShields	Season pass rewards
GoldEditionHuntsman	Gold Edition rewards
Barber	Barber (free, so every install has it)
HorseRacing	Horse Racing (free)
HardcoreMode	Hardcore Mode (free)

Listing a free one is harmless but pointless. Any other name fails at boot, including TouristMode and Unpublished, which the game carries but no account can own:

Refusing to run: 'Nonsense' is not a DLC this build knows. Use one of the
game's own names, such as ForgeTycoon or MysteriaEcclesiae.

What it does not do

• It is not enforced by the server. The client decides, so a modified client can skip the check. It protects players from a session their game cannot match, not you from cheaters.
• It does not make content appear. Items, perks and buffs from every DLC ship in the base game’s tables and work for everyone. A missing DLC only removes the quests, dialogue and activities the game gates on it, so require one when your gamemode is built around that content.

mod.scoreboard

Whether players see the player list while they hold Tab. true, the default, shows it. Set it to false when your gamemode draws its own:

server.json

{
    "mod": {
        "level": "kutnohorsko",
        "scoreboard": false
    }
}

The list has three columns:

Column	What it shows
ID	The player’s connection slot, the same number as player.playerIndex in a server script
Name	The player’s nickname. Your own row is highlighted
Ping	The player’s ping to the server

The ID is what commands take when a name is awkward to type: the default gamemode’s /tp 3 puts you next to the player in slot 3, and /mute, /unmute and /lookalike accept a slot the same way. A slot stays with a player for the whole session and is handed to someone else after they leave.

With it off, no client asks for the list and Tab goes back to the game’s own use. It needs KCDC 1.5.6 or later; a client treats an older server as on.

mod.world_resources

World Builder exports to load at startup. The default is []. Each entry is a path to an exported .world.json; paths are relative to the server’s working directory.

server.json

{
    "mod": {
        "level": "kutnohorsko",
        "world_resources": [
            "worlds/market.world.json",
            { "name": "village-market", "path": "village/market.world.json" }
        ]
    }
}

Merge these settings into your existing config. The server creates each export’s props, effects, level edits and areas, and registers its patrol routes. Routes do not spawn NPCs. No loader script is needed. Keep editable .project.json files on your editing machine; copy the exported .world.json files to the server.

A resource’s default name is its filename without .world.json. Use a { "name": "...", "path": "..." } entry to name it explicitly. Names are case-sensitive and must be unique; listing the same file twice is rejected. All exports must match mod.level. A missing, malformed or wrong-level file stops startup with an error identifying the file.

Restart the server after changing the list or replacing an export. See Create maps with World Builder for editing, saving and exporting. World exports in scripts explains WorldResource.ready, stable names and reading the loaded objects. Route IDs must be unique across exports and script-created routes.

mod.map_editor

This older server-wide setting is no longer used in the World Builder workflow above. Multiplayer access is granted per player by a server script with player.setWorldBuilderEnabled(true) and revoked with player.setWorldBuilderEnabled(false). Offline access is always available. See Allow building in multiplayer for F7 and the sample game mode’s commands.

mod.navmesh

The game’s navigation mesh lets the server plan routes around walls and through buildings: NPCs walk around obstacles, and scripts can query paths with Navigation. It is the game’s own data, so it does not ship with the server. Copy it in from your installation:

1. Find Data/Levels/<level>/recast.pak in the game’s folder, for the level mod.level names.
2. Copy it to files/<level>/recast.pak beside the server, keeping the name:

server/
  KCDCServer.exe
  server.json
  files/
    kutnohorsko/
      recast.pak

3. Restart the server. Do it again after a game update.

The server searches files/ for recast.pak at startup, so navmesh can stay "". A copy under the level’s own folder wins; a bare files/recast.pak is tried last. To read the game’s files in place during development, set navmesh to the game folder, its Data/Levels folder, the level folder or the pak itself. That location is checked first:

server.json

{
    "mod": {
        "level": "kutnohorsko",
        "navmesh": "C:/Games/KingdomComeDeliverance2"
    }
}

Relative paths start at the server’s working directory. Without a mesh the server still runs: it logs a warning with the places it searched, NPCs walk straight at their goals, and Navigation.ready is false.

Related

• Run a dedicated server: ports, arguments and the console.
• Server browser listing: get and use a server-token.
• Let players connect: where players enter the password, and what they see when a DLC is missing.