Host a factorio server

factorio.md

Factorio Server

This guide assumes you are using Ubuntu and have some basic linux command-line know-how.

Download

Download the server https://www.factorio.com/download-headless/stable:

Install

adduser --disabled-login --no-create-home --gecos factorio factorio
mkdir /var/lib/factorio
mkdir /etc/factorio
mkdir /opt/factorio

Extract the archive to /opt/factorio

Factorio User

For security, don't run factorio as root. You'll need to create a user and chmod some things so the factorio user can access them.

adduser --disabled-login --no-create-home --gecos factorio factorio
chown -R factorio:factorio /var/lib/factorio/
chown -R root:root /opt/factorio
chmod -R a+x /opt/factorio/bin/x64/factorio
chmod a+r /etc/factorio/

Startup

Move your save file to /var/lib/factorio/saves and reference by name. You can start the server like this:

/opt/factorio/bin/x64/factorio -c /opt/factorio/config-path.cfg  --start-server zivix2.zip --latency-ms 100 --disallow-commands

Upstart

Make sure the uid/gid corresponds to the factorio user. You can see the correct one to use via:

cat /etc/passwd | grep factorio

Upstart file for /etc/init/factorio.conf

start on (filesystem and net-device-up IFACE=lo)
stop on runlevel [!2345]

setuid 1001
setgid 1001

env DAEMON=/opt/factorio/bin/x64/factorio
env OPTS="-c /opt/factorio/config-path.cfg --start-server zivix2.zip --latency-ms 100 --disallow-commands"

respawn
respawn limit 5 5

exec $DAEMON $OPTS

After adding this run:

start factorio

Systemd

Systemd unit file for /usr/lib/systemd/system/factorio.service

[Unit]
Description=Factorio Server

[Service]
Type=simple
User=factorio
ExecStart=/opt/factorio/bin/x64/factorio -c /opt/factorio/config-path.cfg --start-server zivix3.zip --latency-ms 100 --disallow-commands --autosave-interval 10

After adding this run:

systemctl daemon-reload
systemctl start factorio

when i run start factorio , i get start: Job failed to start , using Upstart. Any clues?

Systemd : there is no folder /usr/lib/systemd/system on ubuntu 16.04. so no unit file can be created. Folder should be /etc/systemd/system

using raspbian, but the process is usually the same... works with other ubuntu projects, but anyway I did what the tutorial said but got stuck at Startup... console output is this:

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ /opt/factorio/bin/x64/factorio -c /opt/factorio/config-path.cfg --start-server zivix2.zip --latency-ms 100 --disallow-commands
-bash: /opt/factorio/bin/x64/factorio: cannot execute binary file: Exec format error

now I'm using ubuntu I get:
0.000 Error Util.cpp:57: There is no package core in /usr/share/factorio

@Nobody1213:
I'm pretty sure it won't run on your raspberry due to being compiled for X86-systems, not ARM.

Regarding the other error - Did you install factory to /usr/share/factorio? Otherwise, maybe it is under /opt/factorio?

Hi there, thanks for the instructions, I got the Server running. I added a second server and want someone elso to look after them. I created an account with limited rights to serve that pupose. But I can't get into the /opt solder because obviously this user does not have the rights to do so. Is there a way to install the server somewhere else than the opt folder? And if not, why?
Thx 4 F1.

you need to be root in order to put and modify files in /opt and /etc. You most likely can use sudo for this as long as you have been given access or own the server.