Setting up a Screeps:World private server on Ubuntu (WSL) (Last updated May 2025)

README.md

The Screeps:World server uses pretty outdated technologies which is a huge headache when you want to set up a private server at the present day. This is a documentation of how I managed to get the server up and running without relying on the Steam GUI version.

1. Set up your environment

I am using Ubuntu in Windows Subsystem Linux for this server. Install the following prerequisites for the server and take note of the exact versions needed since they are mostly outdated.

• Node v10.24.1 (I recommend nvm for this: https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm)
• Python v2.7.18 (I recommend pyenv for this: https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv)
• build-essential v12.9ubuntu3 (Newer/older versions might be fine, but beware of compile errors due to different gcc versions) (Install with sudo apt install build-essential)

2. Set up a folder for your server

# Create a folder
mkdir screeps-server

# Enter the folder
cd screeps-server

# Initialize npm to install packages
# Simply press enter until the command finishes
npm init

# Install isolated-vm, which is a dependency of screeps
npm install isolated-vm@^2

# Install screeps without running build scripts
# We need to make some changes before compiling
npm install screeps --ignore-scripts

3. A fix for new GCC version

This is a fix for screeps/screeps#145 Use your editor of choice to add #include <limits> to the top of node_modules/@screeps/driver/native/src/pf.h

vim node_modules/@screeps/driver/native/src/pf.h

4. Compile binaries

npm rebuild

5. Set up your server as instructed

Ref: https://github.com/screeps/screeps

# Enter your Steam API key here
npx screeps init

# Start the server
npx screeps start

# In another terminal, gain access to server console using this command
npx screeps cli

Enjoy!