Stardew Valley Multiplayer Server (Docker)

The reason I made this adaptation is because I saw that the code in the other repositories are becoming quite old.
In particular the Debian version, at the moment was 10, which is slowly becoming deprecated.
But less-efficient code was also one of the factors.

Therefor this project, it tries to modernize the packages with the same functionality.

Overview:

This container setup has a couple things to know. First off you need to get the game files yourself. I cannot legally present them here.
Furthermore you'll have to know that this server exposes at least 1 port, and at most 3 ports for a succesful server.
These are:

- 24642/udp # This is the Stardew Valley Server port
- 3000/tcp  # This is the raw-VNC port. For remote connections
- 3001/tcp  # This is the web-VNC port. For remote commections through a web-browser.

Steps to get it running:

1. Package the game files.
2. Build the container.
3. Run the container.
4. Go to the (web)-VNC port and access the server.
5. Create a world and prepare for multiplayer.
6. Once its done, you can join the server.

Getting the game files.

Getting the game files is arguably the hardest part. I love this game, and I do recommend buying it for yourself.
Have fun!

For indication on how to package the game yourself look at this document: Packaging Guide.

Where are the mods?

If you can't find the mods in here, or not all the mods for a smooth server. Look at the following lines.

Due to the permissions and rights, I am not allowed to give to you the mods directly from here, on Github.

Therefor you have to download the mods according to: Downloading Mods

Building the image:

Once you clone this repository you can build the image using the following command:
Note that you need to package the game yourself, als place it with the correct name in the local root of the repo.

docker build (-f ./Dockerfile) . -t stardew-server:latest

If you want to integrate the building directory into the compose, you can use the following:

services:
  stardew:
    restart: unless-stopped
    container_name: stardew-server
    build:
      context: .
      dockerfile: ./Dockerfile
    ports:
      - "3001:3001/tcp"
      - "24642:24642/udp"
    volumes:
      - config:/config
      - saves:/config/.config/StardewValley/Saves
volumes:
  config:
  saves:

This compose creates the image from the source code once you type docker compose up -d with the -d meaning detached (in the background).
For GPU support refer to the following docs:

• https://docs.linuxserver.io/images/docker-webtop/#dri3-gpu-acceleration-kasmvnc-interface
• https://docs.linuxserver.io/images/docker-webtop/#nvidia-gpu-support-kasmvnc-interface

How to set the server up for the first time:

Once you get the container running, which you can check like this:

docker compose up -d # This will make it run
docker ps            # This will show the running containers

CONTAINER ID   IMAGE                         COMMAND                  CREATED         STATUS          PORTS                                                                                                    NAMES
b3996663dd16   stardew-multiplayer-stardew   "/init"                  9 seconds ago   Up 8 seconds    3000/tcp, 0.0.0.0:3001->3001/tcp, [::]:3001->3001/tcp, 0.0.0.0:24642->24642/udp, [::]:24642->24642/udp   stardew-server

Once you see this, you can check the web-VNC (on port 3001/tcp):

The password is set inside the ENV variables of the container.

This presents a login pop-up where you need to fill in those credentials.

Then you are on the main menu.

You have to create your world and once you are setup:

Then the last thing you need to do is restart the docker container.

docker restart stardew-server # Or your server name

And as seen above you have a couple rows displaying you are hosting a Multiplayer game!
Good luck.

Extra tips

If you are having trouble with the low fps inside the VNC and can't get the world created - then:
Go to the assets folder and edit MongoHud.conf - change the fps_limit to something usable (or comment it out entirely).
After that rebuild the image, set up your world and then after you've done that and the AutoLoadGame mod has kicked in
Change it back to the low value to preserve the CPU utilization.

RESOURCE USAGE:

CREDITS:

Inspired by:

• Printfucks Version

Mods:

• Always On Server For Multiplayer
  
• Automate
  
• Auto Load Game
  
• Default On Cheats
  
• Multi-User Chests
  
• No Fence Decay Redux
  
• Non Destructive NPCs
  
• Skip Intro
  
• Unlimited Players
  

Kind Regards.

And here an example of a succesful run:

[custom-init] No custom services found, skipping...
[migrations] started
[migrations] no migrations found
usermod: no changes
───────────────────────────────────────

      ██╗     ███████╗██╗ ██████╗
      ██║     ██╔════╝██║██╔═══██╗
      ██║     ███████╗██║██║   ██║
      ██║     ╚════██║██║██║   ██║
      ███████╗███████║██║╚██████╔╝
      ╚══════╝╚══════╝╚═╝ ╚═════╝

   Brought to you by linuxserver.io
───────────────────────────────────────

To support LSIO projects visit:
https://www.linuxserver.io/donate/

───────────────────────────────────────
GID/UID
───────────────────────────────────────

User UID:    911
User GID:    911
───────────────────────────────────────
[custom-init] Files found, executing
[custom-init] 00-configure-i3.sh: executing...
'/etc/i3/config' -> '/config/.config/i3/config'
[custom-init] 00-configure-i3.sh: exited 0
[custom-init] 10-stardew.sh: executing...
'/data/stardewvalley/Mods/AutoLoadGame/config.json' -> '/config/modconfs/autoload/config.json'
'/data/stardewvalley/Mods/Always On Server/config.json' -> '/config/modconfs/always_on_server/config.json'
Starting...
Launching Stardew Valley in the background...
Entering Stardew Launching Function...
[custom-init] 10-stardew.sh: exited 0
Sleeping for 5 seconds to give the DE some breathing time...
[custom-init] 20-tail-smapi.sh: executing...
Starting to follow the SMAPI logs (main process)...
[custom-init] 20-tail-smapi.sh: exited 0
Removing old logs if they exist...
SMAPI logs are not yet here. waiting 3 seconds...
_XSERVTransmkdir: ERROR: euid != 0,directory /tmp/.X11-unix will not be created.

Xvnc KasmVNC 1.3.3 - built May 31 2025 19:03:06
Copyright (C) 1999-2018 KasmVNC Team and many others (see README.me)
See http://kasmweb.com for information on KasmVNC.
Underlying X server release 12101007

[ls.io-init] done.
[mi] mieq: warning: overriding existing handler (nil) with 0x64a73e3cf290 for event 2
[mi] mieq: warning: overriding existing handler (nil) with 0x64a73e3cf290 for event 3
19
Executing Stardew/SMAPI Binaries!
SMAPI logs are not yet here. waiting 3 seconds...
/usr/bin/xterm
[16:30:51 INFO  SMAPI] SMAPI 4.2.1 with Stardew Valley 1.6.15 build 24356 on Unix 6.6.87.1
[16:30:51 INFO  SMAPI] Mods go here: /data/stardewvalley/Mods
[16:30:51 TRACE SMAPI] Log started at 2025-06-06T14:30:51 UTC
[16:30:57 DEBUG SMAPI] Waiting for game to launch...
[16:31:00 TRACE game] Instance_Initialize() finished, elapsed = '00:00:02.5540054'
[16:31:01 DEBUG SMAPI] Loading mod metadata...
[16:31:01 DEBUG SMAPI] Loading mods...
<SNAP>
MORE TEXT BUT NOT RELEVANT