Enshrouded Enshrouded left Early Access with its 1.0 release on October 15, 2026, at 11:00 EDT. If you run a dedicated server, four things matter: your existing world gets converted to a new save format, two difficulty settings changed, mods need EML v0.2.0 or newer, and your server picks up the update when it restarts.
This post covers each one, what Keen Games has and hasn’t said, and what we’ve confirmed on WinterNode servers.
Where these facts come from
Game changes are quoted from Keen Games’ 1.0 changelog and launch FAQ. Anything about WinterNode servers comes from our own launch-day testing, and we say so where it applies. Last checked October 16, 2026.
The short version
- Existing worlds convert automatically. Saves from version 0.8 or earlier are backed up, then migrated to the new 1.0 format. Skill trees reset the first time an existing save loads.
- WinterNode servers update on restart. We confirmed on launch day that our servers pick up the 1.0 dedicated server build on their own and run it.
- Two difficulty settings changed. Enemy count per encounter has a new Automatic option, and the enemy damage slider values were reworked.
- Update EML before using mods. On October 16, EML released v0.2.0, which its release notes say adds Enshrouded 1.0 compatibility. Older versions predate 1.0.
- No announced changes to ports, player cap, or the config file format.
Your existing world: automatic conversion
1.0 uses a new save format, which Keen says “results in smaller save game files and a simpler data structure in the save data folder.” When 1.0 loads a save from version 0.8 or earlier, “the existing save data will be firstly backed up and secondly automatically migrated to the new format.”
Two things to tell your group before the first 1.0 session:
- Skill trees reset. From the changelog: “When playing for the first time in version 1.0.0.0 with an existing save game, the skill tree will be reset.” Players get their points back to spend again.
- Keen recommends a fresh start. Its launch FAQ says you can “absolutely use Early Access saves,” but Keen “strongly encourage[s]” a new world to get the full benefit of the reworked world and early game. That’s a recommendation, not a requirement.
Keen describes the conversion for saves in general and doesn’t give a separate procedure for dedicated servers. We haven’t tested a converted Early Access world on our servers yet, so we can’t tell you how long its first 1.0 boot takes. We’ll update this section when we have.
Keep your own copy of the pre-1.0 world. The conversion only goes one way. Take a manual backup before your first 1.0 start. WinterNode also backs up Enshrouded servers twice a day and keeps those backups for 45 days, so if your server was running before October 15, your backup history includes copies from before the update. Open a ticket if you need one restored.
Want a fresh 1.0 world instead? Take a backup, stop the server, clear the savegame folder, and start it again. With no save in that folder, the server creates a new world.
Bringing a world over from another host or a co-op game? The same conversion runs when an Early Access save first loads on a 1.0 server. Our world import guide covers the upload.
How WinterNode servers update to 1.0
Your server installs game updates automatically when it restarts. On launch day we confirmed that a WinterNode server picks up Keen’s 1.0 dedicated server build on its own and runs it, and new Enshrouded servers deploy on 1.0. If your server has restarted since launch, it should already be on 1.0.
If it hasn’t:
- Take a backup. See our manual backup guide.
- Update EML if you use mods. Older versions predate 1.0. Replace
dbghelp.dllwith the one from v0.2.0 or newer (see Mods below). - Restart the server from the control panel. It downloads and installs 1.0 as it starts.
- Have your players update their game. Client and server versions have to match. If someone can’t join, see version mismatch.
Keen shipped Hotfix 1.0.0.1 later on October 15 with crash fixes. A restart picks up hotfixes the same way.
Server settings that changed
Two server difficulty settings changed in 1.0:
- Enemy count per encounter has a new Automatic option. Keen: “With Automatic, the amount of enemies is scaled depending on the size of the party in a multiplayer game.” It’s a good fit for groups whose size changes from session to session.
- Enemy damage: Keen “reworked the values for the enemy damage slider in the server difficulty settings.” If you’d tuned enemy damage for your group, check it again after the update.
Keen hasn’t published the enshrouded_server.json values for either change, so our server settings guide still lists the pre-1.0 ranges. We’ll update it once we’ve confirmed the 1.0 values.
Permissions haven’t changed. Per Keen, “On dedicated servers, the user groups with the associated passwords work as before,” and you still can’t promote or demote players while they’re on the server.
Performance and world size
Keen says 1.0 “reduced the memory needed for server and client communication” and added “several measures to reduce the performance impact on CPUs.” The full world is now open too, including Cinder’s Cradle and new areas at the edges of the existing biomes.
Keen hasn’t published new dedicated server requirements. The 16GB of RAM on Enshrouded’s Steam page is for the game itself; the dedicated server’s Steam page doesn’t list a RAM figure. Our RAM guide figures predate 1.0, and we’ll update them once we’ve checked them on 1.0. For a starting size, the Enshrouded server page recommends one based on your player count.
Mods: update EML
On October 16, 2026, EML, the community mod loader in our mods guide, released v0.2.0. Its release notes say “Added compatibility for Enshrouded 1.0.” The previous release, v0.1.2 from April 2026, predates 1.0, and on October 15 a user reported a fatal error with its dbghelp.dll after the 1.0 update. On October 16 we ran v0.2.0 on a WinterNode test server with Enshrouded 1.0: EML loaded and the server started normally. We haven’t tested individual mods.
To run mods on 1.0:
- Take a backup of your world.
- Stop the server and upload
dbghelp.dllfrom EML v0.2.0 or newer to your server root, replacing any older copy. The Install EML steps cover it. - Add mods back one at a time. A mod may still need its own 1.0 update, so check each mod’s page first.
Keen didn’t announce official mod tools or Steam Workshop support for 1.0.
What Keen hasn’t announced
Keen’s 1.0 changelog doesn’t mention any of these, so we’re not claiming changes:
- A new update procedure for the dedicated server
- New or renamed
enshrouded_server.jsonkeys, beyond the two settings above - Port changes
- A player cap change. Steam still lists co-op for up to 16 players.
- Crossplay or new platforms for dedicated servers
We’ll update this post if any of that changes.
Start a 1.0 world on WinterNode
WinterNode Enshrouded servers are $1.99/GB, so the 8GB size we recommend for 1 to 2 players is $15.92/month. They update when they restart and are backed up twice a day. If anything goes wrong after the update, real people answer support, with an average reply time of about an hour.