The S&box dedicated server is started with sbox-server.exe and "+" arguments executed at boot. This tool assembles the command line described in the official documentation and the script that links the Steam client binaries, which are now required.
How to use the tool
Choose the platform (Windows .bat or Linux .sh) and enter the SteamCMD folder.
Enter the game package identifier (e.g. facepunch.sandbox) and, if needed, the map package.
Set the server name; leave ports at 0 to omit +port / +net_query_port.
Download the script, rename it to .bat or .sh, put it in the server folder and run it.
Limits and undocumented points
The official documentation gives no default for +port and +net_query_port, and no server config file. The 27015/27016 ports seen in third-party guides are not official. According to the official page, +net_game_server_token is only available once S&box is released. The Linux version follows the form described by the documentation (a script running sbox-server.exe): check it on your install.
sbox-server.exe +game facepunch.sandbox facepunch.flatgrass +hostname "My Dedicated Server"Frequently asked questions
- How do players join my S&box server?
- According to the official documentation, once the game code has created a lobby, type "status" in the server console to get the lobby ID, then "connect <lobbyId>" in the client console. Connections go through the Steam relay, so the server IP is not exposed.
- What is +net_allow_local for?
- It opens a loopback TCP connection for testing on a single machine without the Steam relay; local clients join with "connect local".