Multiplayer

All Custom Games support both singleplayer and multiplayer, and the following Scenarios are even specifically designed for multiplayer: Never Surrender, Lost Colony, Frostbite, Sparks of the Future, Uranium Heist, Space Standoff, and Scrap Race.

Multiplayer games can be in Creative Mode or Survival Mode.

Hosting a Game

Before you open up a game for multiplayer, check the world settings and consider whether you want to impose block limits or player limits to stabilize sim speed. Also decide what you want the server's optimal spawn distance to be -- if you play PvE, you may want your friends close by, but in PvP you may prefer respectful distance.

Opening up a game for multiplayer means it will be a peer-to-peer networked game where one of the players is the host. The pros are that it's free and it uses Steam / PSplus / Xbox Game Pass Ultimate / Xbox Live Gold matchmaking. The downsides are that, while the host is offline, the game cannot be reached by other players. Also, the game's performance strongly depends on the host's performance and internet bandwidth.

If you are to be the host:

1. Go to the main screen.
2. Click Load Game, and select the local game that you want to turn into a multiplayer game.
3. Click Edit Settings.
4. Under Online Mode, choose a Mode:
   • Private - Only players knowing your IP address can join
   • Friends - Uses Steam match making.
   • Public - Anyone can join — Not recommended, will attract griefers.
   • Offline - Singleplayer, select this option to switch multipayer off.

Alternatives: For longer running games, consider Setting up a Dedicated Server.

Joining a Game

If you are not the host, wait for the host to tell you the server is ready.

1. Go to the Main Screen.
2. Click Join Game to open the Join Game screen where available multiplayer games are listed:
   • The Servers tab lists public dedicated server games. These include official vanilla "Keen" servers for various regions.
     • Click the Steam/E toggle to choose between games via either Steam (PC-only games using Steam accounts) or EOS (PC and console crossplay hosted by Epic Online Services).
     • Select an entry and then click Server Details to view World Settings, mods, online players, and their uptime.
   • The Games tab contains public player-hosted games in your geographic region.
   • The LAN tab contains available local area network games (e.g. in your household).
   • The Friends tab makes it easier to find games that your friends have joined.
   • If you have been given the IP address of a private game, press the Direct Connect button to paste it in and connect to it.

If the world has mods installed, it will automatically download all required mods when you join; the first time round, this can take a long while.

Tip: If you use Steam matchmaking, it's often possible to right-click the host in your Steam friends list to join them in game! You can also click a Steam friend to invite them.

What do the icons mean?

• Lock Symbol: Multiplayer games can be password protected and can use Steam group whitelisting.
• Warning Symbol: If the hosted game uses experimental mode, you must also enable experimental mode to be able to join.

(Somebody please add what this means for console players?)

How can I find the right kind of server?

Use the Advanced button to filter by various criteria such as:

• Game mode: Creative or Survival. Creative games can also be open for multiplayer, but they are filtered out by default!
• Steam group whitelisting supported
• min/max ping, min/max number of mods, min/max number of players, min/max view distance, degree of environment hostility (this means Meteors)
• compatible version
• World Settings such as production multipliers or inventory size
• Steam/PC-only or crossplay -- use the Steam/E toggle!

For example, if you have a lower-end PC, you might prefer servers with low ping, zero or few mods, and a lower view distance.

Favorites and Recently visited

Right-click a server entry to add it to your Favorites tab. After you have joined a server it will also show up in the History tab. If the server does not show up under History/Favorites, check whether you have am unexpected filter on (for example, EOS/Steam toggle). Click "defaults" to reset these screens to their standard view.

After Joining a Game

As a newly joined player, open the Multiplayer Screen to see who is online and have a look at the factions. The host can also kick or promote players on this screen.

In Multiplayer games, you can:

• Chat and use Emotes with other players.
• Found or join player factions and declare war or peace on each other.
• Press (G key) and check your free/available PCU, then start Building cool things!
• Trade with other players that you meet, or trade in your absence through a Store, or offer each other contracts.

In crossplay games, the players' platforms are indicated by icons: PC, PlayStation, or Xbox.

Is Space Engineers PvP or PvE?

Space Engineers is a sandbox game. Sandbox games do not prescribe or enforce whether they are to be played "player versus player" (PvP) or "player versus environment" (PvE). On public servers, be prepared for either.

Factions can declare war or peace on each other, but this influences only in which colour their antenna signals appear and how AI controlled turrets or Automata react to them. An enemy could choose to wave at you and let you go along your day -- just as any neutral or allied player could choose to shoot you. A sandbox game does not enforce one or the other.

Related tips:

• Voxel changes on planets, such as mining holes, are visible from far away, do not expect to conceal an underground base on public servers.
• Make sure your respawn points are owned by your faction and your faction does not auto-accept everyone.
• There used to be a bug that kept (potentially enemy) players respawning too close to another player, so griefers could triangulate another player's position.

Tip regarding Pausing and Logging Off

Before you log out or take a break in multiplayer, remember to visit a Cryo Chamber to save your engineer’s inventory and keep them alive!

Lacking a cryo chamber, store your inventory in an owned cargo container and sit the engineer down in a bed or cockpit in a room that is pressurised and powered.

Depending how the server is configured, you may need to prevent your Drop Pod/Survival Kit from despawning after you log out.

When you press the 'Escape' key in multiplayer, you are just afk, an online game does not pause! The game keeps running and your engineer could be attacked or have a crash. After a while, your engineer will run out of oxygen or power and die. When you die while afk and don't pick up your backpack, you will also lose your inventory.