Green Hell throws you into the Amazon rainforest with nothing but your wits. Survival means finding food, treating injuries and diseases, building shelter, and not losing your mind. The co-op mode lets up to 4 players tackle the jungle together, and a dedicated server means the world persists even when everyone logs off. Your shelter stays built, your fires stay where you left them, and your crops keep growing.
System requirements
- RAM: 4 to 6 GB. The game loads detailed biome data and tracks many environmental objects. A server with all 4 players actively exploring different areas peaks around 5 GB.
- CPU: 2 to 3 cores. AI wildlife and environmental simulations run on the server side.
- Storage: 5 to 8 GB for server files and save data.
- Network: Port 27015 UDP (game) and 27016 UDP (Steam query). Green Hell is not bandwidth-heavy with just 4 players.
Installation
- Install SteamCMD on your VPS or select Green Hell from the HostValues game panel.
- Download the dedicated server:
app_update 1371610 validate. - Open ports 27015 and 27016 UDP in your firewall.
- Run the server on Linux with
./GreenHellDedicatedServer. Usescreenortmuxto keep it running in the background. - On first launch the server creates default configuration files. Stop the server, edit them, and start again.
Game modes
Green Hell offers two main multiplayer modes:
- Survival: Open-ended sandbox survival. No story objectives, just you and the jungle. Build, explore, and survive as long as you can.
- Story (Spirits of Amazonia): A multi-part narrative campaign set in the Amazon. You work with indigenous tribes, complete quests, and uncover the story. Playing this in co-op on a dedicated server means your group can progress through chapters over multiple sessions.
Server configuration
The configuration file controls the survival experience. Key settings:
| Setting | Effect |
|---|---|
| MaxPlayers | Player cap, maximum 4. |
| GameVisibility | Public, friends-only, or private. |
| GameDifficulty | Tourist, Normal, Hard, or Custom. Affects damage, hunger, and disease rates. |
| Nutrients | Toggle the nutrition system (carbs, fats, proteins, water). |
| Parasites | Enable or disable parasitic infections. |
| PermaDeath | Whether death is permanent. Adds serious tension to co-op. |
Survival tips for server admins
- Start your group in the same area. Green Hell's map is large and meeting up when scattered is difficult in the early game.
- Set the difficulty to Normal or Hard for the intended experience. Tourist mode removes most survival mechanics.
- Enable Nutrients for the full experience. Managing food types is a core part of the gameplay loop.
- Back up saves before game updates. Green Hell patches occasionally change save file formats.
Building and crafting on the server
Green Hell's crafting system is one of the most detailed in any survival game. Players build shelters from sticks and leaves, construct water filters and smokers, and fashion tools from stones and bones. On a dedicated server, all constructions persist between sessions. This means your base camp accumulates improvements over time, turning a rough lean-to into a proper jungle outpost with drying racks, rain collectors, and mud walls.
The server tracks every placed object. Very large bases with hundreds of items can add to save file size and memory usage, but with the 4-player cap this rarely becomes a problem. If your group builds multiple large camps across the map, plan for the upper end of the RAM range (6 GB) and use the RAM calculator to confirm your plan fits.
Performance optimization
- Green Hell is relatively gentle on server hardware. The 4-player cap limits resource usage naturally.
- Wildlife AI is the main CPU consumer. The server tracks animal spawns, patrols, and aggression across explored areas.
- Restart the server daily with a cron job to keep memory clean.
- NVMe storage on HostValues servers ensures save operations complete instantly, with no stutters during autosaves.
- If you experience occasional lag spikes, check whether all players are in different biomes simultaneously. The server loads terrain and AI for each active area, so four players spread across four distant locations is the highest-load scenario.
With the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X in HostValues servers, even the most demanding Green Hell sessions with all players exploring separate regions run without noticeable slowdowns.
Can more than 4 players join?
Not officially. The game is designed and balanced for 2 to 4 players. Community mods that raise the cap exist but can cause stability issues. For the best experience, stick to 4.
Does the server keep running when nobody is online?
Yes. The dedicated server keeps the world loaded. Time-based mechanics like crop growth continue. This is one of the main advantages over the built-in host-and-play multiplayer.
Why do I keep getting sick on the server?
Diseases and parasites are core mechanics. Eating raw meat, drinking unsafe water, or getting wounds in rain all cause infections. The server admin can disable parasites or lower the difficulty if the group prefers a more relaxed experience.
Is the Spirits of Amazonia DLC worth hosting?
Absolutely. The story campaign gives your group shared objectives and a reason to keep coming back. It spans multiple chapters with meaningful progression. Playing it on a dedicated server means you can pick up right where you left off each session.
Survive the Amazon on a HostValues VPS with AMD Ryzen 9 7950X performance and DDoS protection.
