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Factorio Server

Stack

Game Servers

Headless Factorio via factoriotools/factorio - the community-standard image. Saves, mods, and server settings live on the /factorio volume; a new map generates on first boot and the latest save loads thereafter.

Image details

Pulls: 29.8M
Architecture: amd64, arm64
Image size: 209 MB
Latest: 2.1.24-rootless
User: factoriotools
Created: May 02, 2019
Updated: 7 days ago
Status: active

Configuration

Type
Compose
Platform
linux
Image
factoriotools/factorio:stable
Ports
34197:34197/udp
Volumes
/factorio : factoriodata
Env vars
LOAD_LATEST_SAVE=trueGENERATE_NEW_SAVE=trueSAVE_NAME=${SAVE_NAME:-miget}UPDATE_MODS_ON_START=${UPDATE_MODS_ON_START:-false}
Restart
unless-stopped
Source

Standalone Install

Select an install method, to see config/commands for deploying Factorio Server

Installation method

Install on Portainer

Import all app templates into your Portainer instance, for easy 1-click deploys

  1. Ensure both Docker and Portainer are installed, and up-to-date
  2. Log into your Portainer web UI
  3. Under Settings → App Templates, paste the below URL
  4. Head to Home → App Templates, and the list of apps will show up
  5. Select Factorio Server, fill in any config options, and hit Deploy

Template Import URL

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Lissy93/portainer-templates/main/templates.json
Show Me demo
Original stackfile

The compose file this template deploys, straight from its repo:

name: factorio

services:
  factorio:
    image: factoriotools/factorio:stable
    restart: unless-stopped
    environment:
      LOAD_LATEST_SAVE: "true"
      GENERATE_NEW_SAVE: "true"
      SAVE_NAME: ${SAVE_NAME:-miget}
      UPDATE_MODS_ON_START: ${UPDATE_MODS_ON_START:-false}
    ports:
      - "34197:34197/udp"
    volumes:
      - factoriodata:/factorio

volumes:
  factoriodata:

Or deploy it directly from the source:

git clone https://github.com/deployable-sh/stacks
cd stacks
docker compose -f factorio/compose.yaml up -d

More install options in our documentation.

Factorio Docker Version Docker Pulls Docker Stars

!NOTE ARM64 images for Factorio 2.1 and newer run the native linux-arm64 headless build. Older versions have no native build and run the x64 build under box64 emulation, which is experimental: expect crashes and lag if you try to run those on a raspberry pi.

中文
  • latest, 2.1.24

Tag descriptions

What is Factorio?

Factorio is a game in which you build and maintain factories.
You will be mining resources, researching technologies, building infrastructure, automating production and fighting enemies. Use your imagination to design your factory, combine simple elements into ingenious structures, apply management skills to keep it working and finally protect it from the creatures who don't really like you.
The game is very stable and optimized for building massive factories. You can create your own maps, write mods in Lua or play with friends via Multiplayer.
NOTE: This is only the server. The full game is available at Factorio.com, Steam, GOG.com and Humble Bundle.

Usage

Quick Start

Run the server to create the necessary folder structure and configuration files. For this example data is stored in /opt/factorio.
sudo mkdir -p /opt/factorio
sudo chown 845:845 /opt/factorio
sudo docker run -d \
  -p 34197:34197/udp \
  -p 27015:27015/tcp \
  -v /opt/factorio:/factorio \
  --name factorio \
  --restart=unless-stopped \
  factoriotools/factorio

For those new to Docker, here is an explanation of the options:
  • -d - Run as a daemon ("detached").
  • -p - Expose ports.
  • -v - Mount /opt/factorio on the local file system to /factorio in the container.
  • --restart - Restart the server if it crashes and at system start
  • --name - Name the container "factorio" (otherwise it has a funny random name).

The chown command is needed because in 0.16+, we no longer run the game server as root for security reasons, but rather as a 'factorio' user with user id 845. The host must therefore allow these files to be written by that user.
Check the logs to see what happened:
docker logs factorio

Stop the server:
docker stop --timeout 120 factorio

Allow enough time for the world to save before Docker sends SIGKILL. Increase the timeout for large saves; with Compose, configure stop_grace_period instead.
Now there's a server-settings.json file in the folder /opt/factorio/config. Modify this to your liking and restart the server:
docker start factorio

Try to connect to the server. Check the logs if it isn't working.

Console

To issue console commands to the server, start the server in interactive mode with -it. Open the console with docker attach and then type commands.
docker run -d -it  \
      --name factorio \
      factoriotools/factorio
docker attach factorio

RCON (2.0.18+)

Alternativly (e.g. for scripting) the RCON connection can be used to send commands to the running factorio server. This does not require the RCON connection to be exposed.
docker exec factorio rcon /h

Server health

Regular and rootless images check server responsiveness using the read-only rcon /players count command, with a five-second timeout. RCON does not need to be published, and the check does not affect achievements.
docker inspect --format '{{.State.Health.Status}}' factorio

The default interval is 30 seconds, with three retries and a five-minute startup grace period. For large saves or heavy mod sets, adjust Compose healthcheck.start_period, interval and retries to allow for loading and save pauses. Use healthcheck.disable: true (or docker run --no-healthcheck) if you intentionally disable or replace RCON.
Docker reports starting, healthy or unhealthy; it does not automatically restart unhealthy containers. Use this status with your monitoring tool. The check does not test external UDP connectivity or provide an HTTP endpoint. Keep the Docker API and RCON private.

Upgrading

Before upgrading backup the save. It's easy to make a save in the client.
Ensure -v was used to run the server so the save is outside of the Docker container. The docker rm command completely destroys the container, which includes the save if it isn't stored in a data volume.
Delete the container and refresh the image:
docker stop factorio
docker rm factorio
docker pull factoriotools/factorio

Now run the server as before. In about a minute the new version of Factorio should be up and running, complete with saves and config!

Saves

A new map named _autosave1.zip (or SAVE_NAME when set) is generated the first time the server is started. The map-gen-settings.json and map-settings.json files in /opt/factorio/config are used for the map settings. On subsequent runs the newest save is used.
To load an old save stop the server and run the command touch oldsave.zip. This resets the date. Then restart the server. Another option is to delete all saves except one.
To generate a new map stop the server, delete all of the saves and restart the server.

Specify a save directly (0.17.79-2+)

You can specify a specific save to load by configuring the server through a set of environment variables:
To load an existing save, set SAVE_NAME to its name in the saves directory, with or without .zip, or to an absolute file path. The same path is used for generation and subsequent starts. A missing selected save produces an error rather than loading another world:
sudo docker run -d \
  -p 34197:34197/udp \
  -p 27015:27015/tcp \
  -v /opt/factorio:/factorio \
  -e LOAD_LATEST_SAVE=false \
  -e SAVE_NAME=replaceme \
  --name factorio \
  --restart=unless-stopped \
  factoriotools/factorio

To generate a new map set GENERATE_NEW_SAVE=true and specify SAVE_NAME:
sudo docker run -d \
  -p 34197:34197/udp \
  -p 27015:27015/tcp \
  -v /opt/factorio:/factorio \
  -e LOAD_LATEST_SAVE=false \
  -e GENERATE_NEW_SAVE=true \
  -e SAVE_NAME=replaceme \
  --name factorio \
  --restart=unless-stopped \
  factoriotools/factorio

To generate a new map with a specific preset (e.g., death-world):
sudo docker run -d \
  -p 34197:34197/udp \
  -p 27015:27015/tcp \
  -v /opt/factorio:/factorio \
  -e LOAD_LATEST_SAVE=false \
  -e GENERATE_NEW_SAVE=true \
  -e SAVE_NAME=replaceme \
  -e PRESET=death-world \
  --name factorio \
  --restart=unless-stopped \
  factoriotools/factorio

Mods

Copy mods into the mods folder and restart the server.
As of 0.17 a new environment variable was added `UPDATE_MODS_ON_START which if set to true` will cause the mods get to updated on server start. If set a valid Factorio Username and Token must be supplied or else the server will not start. They can either be set as docker secrets, environment variables, or pulled from the server-settings.json file.
To prevent specific mods from being automatically updated, you can use the `UPDATE_IGNORE environment variable with a comma-separated list of mod names. For example: UPDATE_IGNORE=mod1,mod2,mod3` will skip updates for those three mods. This can be useful to prevent compatibility issues when certain mods should remain at specific versions. Be warned that it can also create compatibility issues.
Note: When using the Space Age DLC, the built-in mods (elevated-rails, quality, and space-age) are automatically skipped during mod updates to prevent conflicts. These mods are included with the DLC and should not be downloaded separately.

Scenarios

If you want to launch a scenario from a clean start (not from a saved map) you'll need to start the docker image from an alternate entrypoint. To do this, use the example entrypoint file stored in the /factorio/entrypoints directory in the volume, and launch the image with the following syntax. Note that this is the normal syntax with the addition of the --entrypoint setting AND the additional argument at the end, which is the name of the Scenario in the Scenarios folder.
docker run -d \
  -p 34197:34197/udp \
  -p 27015:27015/tcp \
  -v /opt/factorio:/factorio \
  --name factorio \
  --restart=unless-stopped  \
  --entrypoint "/scenario.sh" \
  factoriotools/factorio \
  MyScenarioName

Converting Scenarios to Regular Maps (deprecated)

The legacy /scenario2map.sh wrapper is retained for compatibility, but is deprecated for new deployments. Factorio's --scenario2map operation does not apply map-gen-settings.json or map-settings.json; copying those files does not make conversion honor them. See the upstream explanation.
Instead, use /scenario.sh as described above to start a scenario with the desired map settings, then save the running world through the console or RCON (/server-save). After confirming the save completed, stop the container and use the normal entrypoint to load that save. Keep a backup before changing an existing world.

RCON

Set the RCON password in the rconpw file. A random password is generated if rconpw doesn't exist.
To change the password, stop the server, modify rconpw, and restart the server.
To "disable" RCON don't expose port 27015, i.e. start the server without -p 27015:27015/tcp. RCON is still running, but nobody can to connect to it.

Whitelisting (0.15.3+)

Create file config/server-whitelist.json and add the whitelisted users.
[
"you",
"friend"
]

Banlisting (0.17.1+)

Create file config/server-banlist.json and add the banlisted users.
[
"bad_person",
"other_bad_person"
]

Adminlisting (0.17.1+)

Create file config/server-adminlist.json and add the adminlisted users.
[
"you",
"friend"
]

Customize configuration files (0.17.x+)

Factorio does not expand environment variables inside JSON. Prefer mounting a complete settings file (see SERVER_SETTINGS_FILE below). If you need per-instance values from Compose, the image already includes jq, which safely encodes quotes, backslashes and newlines instead of doing raw text substitution.
First create a complete, valid server-settings.json template, for example by copying data/config/server-settings.json after the initial startup. The following example mounts that template read-only and renders a separate settings file on every start. Supplied variables override the template; unset variables preserve its values. This intentionally regenerates the output file: edit the template, not the generated copy.
services:
  factorio:
    image: factoriotools/factorio:stable
    ports:
      - "34197:34197/udp"
    volumes:
      - ./data:/factorio
      - ./server-settings.json:/server-settings.template.json:ro
    environment:
      INSTANCE_NAME: "My Factorio server"
      INSTANCE_DESC: "A server configured through Compose"
      # Optional: USERNAME, TOKEN and GAME_PASSWORD override the matching fields.
      # Keep credentials out of version control.
    entrypoint:
      - /bin/sh
      - -ec
      - |
        mkdir -p /factorio/config
        jq '
          .name = (env.INSTANCE_NAME // .name) |
          .description = (env.INSTANCE_DESC // .description) |
          .username = (env.USERNAME // .username) |
          .token = (env.TOKEN // .token) |
          .game_password = (env.GAME_PASSWORD // .game_password)
        ' /server-settings.template.json > /factorio/config/server-settings.json.tmp
        mv /factorio/config/server-settings.json.tmp /factorio/config/server-settings.json
        exec /docker-entrypoint.sh

These settings variables are consumed by this example wrapper, not by the normal entrypoint. Set visibility.public explicitly in the template; public listing also needs valid Factorio credentials. For rootless images, the generated file's directory must already be writable by the container UID.

Environment Variables

These are the environment variables which can be specified at container run time.
Variable NameDescriptionDefaultAvailable in
PUIDServer user ID in regular images; use id -u to find your host user ID845Regular images
PGIDServer group ID in regular images; use id -g to find your host group ID845Regular images
GENERATENEWSAVEGenerate a new save if one does not exist before starting the serverfalse0.17+
LOADLATESTSAVELoad latest when true. Otherwise load SAVENAMEtrue0.17+
PORTUDP port the server listens on341970.15+
BINDIP address (v4 or v6) the server listens on (IP\[:PORT)0.15+
RCONPORTTCP port the rcon server listens on270150.15+
SAVENAMEName to use for the save fileautosave10.17+
PRESETMap generation preset when GENERATENEWSAVE is true0.17+
TOKENfactorio.com token for mod updates (server listing uses settings JSON)0.17+
UPDATEMODSONSTARTIf mods should be updated before starting the server0.17+
UPDATEIGNOREComma-separated list of mod names to skip during automatic updates0.17+
USERNAMEfactorio.com username for mod updates (server listing uses settings JSON)0.17+
CONSOLELOGLOCATIONSaves the console log to the specifies location
DLCSPACEAGEEnables or disables the mods for DLC Space Age in mod-list.json^1true2.0.8+
MODSMod directory to use/factorio/mods2.0.8+
SERVERSETTINGSFILEAbsolute path to server settings$CONFIG/server-settings.jsonNew builds
SERVERIDFILEAbsolute path to server identity$CONFIG/server-id.jsonNew builds
SERVERADMINLISTFILEAbsolute path to the server admin list$CONFIG/server-adminlist.jsonNew builds
SERVERBANLISTFILEAbsolute path to the server ban list$CONFIG/server-banlist.jsonNew builds
SERVERWHITELISTFILEAbsolute path to the server whitelist$CONFIG/server-whitelist.jsonNew builds

Note: All environment variables are compared as strings. Quote YAML mapping values, for example DLC_SPACE_AGE: "false". In list syntax, quote the whole item (- "DLC_SPACE_AGE=elevated-rails"), not only the value: - DLC_SPACE_AGE="elevated-rails" passes literal quotation marks to the container.
An explicit port in BIND overrides PORT, for example 127.0.0.1:34201 or [::1]:34201. A bare IPv6 address still uses PORT.

Host file ownership

The regular image starts as root, adjusts ownership inside /factorio, and runs the server as PUID:PGID (845:845 by default). To keep a bind-mounted data directory owned by your host user, set these to the numeric output of id -u and id -g. Changing them changes ownership of the mounted data, so use a dedicated directory—not your entire home directory.
Relative bind paths such as ./data:/factorio are convenient but do not bypass filesystem permissions. With --user, a rootless container engine, or a rootless image, prepare the host directory for the actual container UID/GID and any user-namespace mapping. PUID/PGID do not change identity in the rootless image; its default is 1000:1000.

Server configuration paths

The SERVER_*_FILE overrides apply to regular and rootless images, including scenario startup. Upgrade or rebuild older images to use this feature. Unset or empty values use the defaults above; $CONFIG defaults to /factorio/config. The mod updater also reads credentials from SERVER_SETTINGS_FILE unless credentials are supplied explicitly or through Docker secrets.
Use absolute file paths, not directory paths. Existing settings are preserved; if SERVER_SETTINGS_FILE is missing, the default settings are copied there. For example, -e SERVER_SETTINGS_FILE=/factorio/config/private/settings.json selects a separate settings file.
Parent directories are created when possible. Custom settings files must be readable by the server user. Files that Factorio updates (including its server ID and player lists), and their parent directories, must be writable by that user. For paths outside /factorio, pre-create directories with the appropriate permissions: the regular image only adjusts ownership inside /factorio, and the rootless image does not adjust ownership. An existing read-only settings-file mount is supported; a missing settings file in a read-only directory is not.

PRESET Values

The PRESET environment variable is used when generating a new map (when GENERATE_NEW_SAVE=true). It corresponds to Factorio's built-in map generation presets. Common values include:
  • default - Normal settings
  • rich-resources - Resources are more abundant
  • marathon - Recipes and technologies are more expensive
  • death-world - Biters are more aggressive and numerous
  • death-world-marathon - Combines death-world and marathon settings
  • rail-world - Resources are further apart, encouraging train usage
  • ribbon-world - Map height is limited for a unique challenge

If PRESET is not specified or left empty, the map will be generated using the settings from map-gen-settings.json and map-settings.json without a preset.

Building images

Normal deployments should pull published images rather than build them. For development, run python3 build.py --both from the repository root to build regular and rootless variants. Add --multiarch --push-tags only when you intend to publish images and have registry credentials configured.
Use --changed-from GIT_REF to build only releases with new versions, changed archive checksums or added tags. Removing a tag alone does not trigger a rebuild. Automatic release updates use this mode; runtime/build-source changes and manual workflow runs rebuild all current versions.
Omit --changed-from to retry a failed publication or refresh base layers.

Container Details

The philosophy is to keep it simple.
  • The server should bootstrap itself.
  • Prefer configuration files over environment variables.
  • Use one volume for data.

Volumes

To keep things simple, the container uses a single volume mounted at /factorio. This volume stores configuration, mods, and saves.
The files in this volume should be owned by the factorio user, uid 845.
factorio
|-- config
|   |-- map-gen-settings.json
|   |-- map-settings.json
|   |-- rconpw
|   |-- server-adminlist.json
|   |-- server-banlist.json
|   |-- server-settings.json
|   `-- server-whitelist.json
|-- mods
|   `-- fancymod.zip
`-- saves
    `-- _autosave1.zip

Docker Compose

Use the current Docker Compose plugin (docker compose) and the repository-root docker-compose.yml. It runs the published factoriotools/factorio:stable image and stores data in ./data alongside the Compose file. No source build, VERSION build argument or download checksum is needed.
git clone https://github.com/factoriotools/factorio-docker.git
cd factorio-docker
docker compose up -d
docker compose logs factorio
docker compose stop factorio

Before restarting, configure data/config/server-settings.json: set visibility.public to false for an unlisted server, or supply valid Factorio username and token for public listing. Set a game password or whitelist as appropriate. USERNAME and TOKEN environment variables normally configure the mod updater, not public listing; use the JSON file or the explicit provisioning wrapper above for server settings. See host file ownership above if you cannot edit the generated files.
docker compose up -d factorio

To update, back up data first, then pull and recreate the service in the same Compose directory with the same volume mapping:
docker compose pull factorio
docker compose up -d factorio

The image tag selects the game version. Use stable for the current stable release or pin a version compatible with your clients; latest may be experimental. Pulling a new image alone does not replace an existing container. Do not delete the data directory during an update.
docker/docker-compose.yml is a developer source-build example, not the normal installation path. Its VERSION, SHA256 and optional SHA256_ARM64 arguments verify downloaded game archives. Keep checksum verification enabled when building from source; use the published-image example if you do not want to maintain build arguments.

Ports

  • 34197/udp - Game server (required). This can be changed with the PORT environment variable.
  • 27015/tcp - RCON (optional).

LAN Games

Ensure the lan setting in server-settings.json is true.
"visibility":
{
  "public": false,
  "lan": true
},

Start the container with the --network=host option so clients can automatically find LAN games. Refer to the Quick Start to create the /opt/factorio directory.
sudo docker run -d \
  --network=host \
  -p 34197:34197/udp \
  -p 27015:27015/tcp \
  -v /opt/factorio:/factorio \
  --name factorio \
  --restart=unless-stopped  \
  factoriotools/factorio

Deploy to other plaforms

Vagrant

Vagrant is a easy way to setup a virtual machine (VM) to run Docker. The Factorio Vagrant box repository contains a sample Vagrantfile.
For LAN games the VM needs an internal IP in order for clients to connect. One way to do this is with a public network. The VM uses DHCP to acquire an IP address. The VM must also forward port 34197.
config.vm.network "public_network"
config.vm.network "forwarded_port", guest: 34197, host: 34197

Amazon Web Services (AWS) Deployment

If you're looking for a simple way to deploy this to the Amazon Web Services Cloud, check out the Factorio Server Deployment (CloudFormation) repository(https://github.com/m-chandler/facto

Check the logs first

Nine times out of ten the logs tell you exactly what went wrong.

  • In Portainer, go to Containers, click the container, then Logs. Or run docker logs <container>
  • Exit codes help too: 137 means killed, usually out of memory. 126 or 127 means the command inside the image is broken.

Port already in use

If deployment fails with "Bind for 0.0.0.0:34197 failed: port is already allocated", something else on your server is using that port.

  • Find what's using it: sudo ss -tlnp | grep :34197
  • Stop the other service, or pick a different host port. In 34197:34197 only the left number is yours to change, the right one belongs to the app.

Image won't pull

Test the pull directly on the host: docker pull factoriotools/factorio:stable

  • "manifest unknown" means the tag no longer exists.
  • "toomanyrequests" is the Docker Hub rate limit. Log in with docker login to raise it.
  • "no space left on device" means a full disk. Reclaim space with docker system prune

"exec format error"

This means the image was built for a different CPU architecture than your server.

  • This image supports: amd64, arm64
  • Check yours with uname -m: x86_64 is amd64, aarch64 is arm64. Raspberry Pi and other ARM boards are the usual culprits.

Container keeps restarting

The unless-stopped restart policy relaunches the app after every crash, so the real error can scroll past.

  • Check the logs right after a restart, the last few lines before it died are the useful ones.
  • Get the exit code with docker inspect <container> --format '{{.State.ExitCode}}'
  • Still stuck? Redeploy once with the restart policy set to no so the failure stays visible.

Stack won't deploy

Compose stacks fail fast on small mistakes, and Portainer shows the reason just above the editor.

  • YAML only accepts spaces for indentation, a single tab breaks the whole file.

Raise an issue

Found something which isn't working as it should? Here's how to report it.

A Compose stack

Factorio Server is a Compose stack, a set of containers defined in one file and brought up together by Portainer, then started and stopped as a single app.

The app image

An image is the app packed up ready to go, everything Factorio Server needs bundled into one download. This template pulls factoriotools/factorio:stable, which Docker fetches once (about 209 MB) and then starts your own copy from.

Where the image comes from

Docker pulls its images from registries, public libraries of ready-built apps. Factorio Server's comes from Docker Hub, published by factoriotools.

Version tags

The bit after the colon in the image name is the version tag. This one pins stable, so every redeploy gives you that exact build until you bump it yourself.

Which machines it runs on

Every image is built for particular CPU types. This one ships for amd64, arm64, so it runs on both regular x86 servers and ARM boards like a Raspberry Pi.

Ports

A port is the door the app answers on. A mapping like 34197:34197 means it's reachable on port 34197 of your server, where the left number is yours to change and the right one belongs to the app. It opens:

  • 34197:34197 over UDP

Volumes

A volume is where Factorio Server keeps its files so they survive an update or a restart. Without one, anything it saves would sit inside the container and vanish the moment it's recreated. This template mounts:

  • /factorio kept in the factoriodata volume Docker manages

Environment variables

Environment variables are the settings you hand over when you deploy, things like a password or a timezone. Factorio Server takes 4 of them, all with defaults you can leave alone or tweak:

  • LOAD_LATEST_SAVE, defaults to true
  • GENERATE_NEW_SAVE, defaults to true
  • SAVE_NAME, defaults to miget
  • UPDATE_MODS_ON_START, defaults to false

Restart policy

The restart policy here is unless-stopped, so Docker restarts Factorio Server after a crash or reboot, but leaves it off when you stop it on purpose. You can change this on the deploy screen. The choices are no (never restart), on-failure (only after a crash), unless-stopped (restart unless you stop it), and always (bring it back no matter what).

Networking

Nothing custom is set, so Factorio Server sits on Docker's default bridge network: its own private space that reaches the outside world only through the ports it publishes.

Container name

Once it's deployed, Portainer names the container factorio. That's what you'll spot in the containers list and use in commands like docker logs factorio.

Platform

The platform is linux, the kind of system the container is built to run on. Docker and Portainer handle this on a normal Linux server.

Portainer app templates

Zooming out, this whole page comes from a Portainer app template: a short recipe telling Portainer how to set Factorio Server up. Add the template list to Portainer once, then deploying Factorio Server is a click rather than a wall of config.