RAT 5 Server / Windows

RAT 5 Server Installation on Windows

Install, bootstrap, configure, upgrade, and remove a Windows RAT 5 server deployment from one self-contained guide.

Package contents

The Windows server package is currently a .zip archive that contains:

The package is intended to be a clean default install bundle. It should not contain a live config.toml, database files, token secrets, TLS keys, or other development/runtime state.

Install

  1. Extract the archive to a permanent install location, for example:
C:\Program Files\RAT 5 Server
  1. Copy config.example.toml to config.toml.
  2. Update config.toml for your environment.
  3. Choose how you want RAT 5 Server to run.
Option A / Recommended

Register as a Windows service

Running RAT 5 Server as a Windows service is optional, but recommended for normal production installs because Windows can start it automatically during boot and you can manage it with the standard Services UI.

  1. Open an elevated PowerShell prompt in the extracted folder.
  2. Run:
.\install-service.ps1

This creates and starts the Windows service using rat5-agent.exe --config config.toml.

Option B

Run it manually

If you do not want RAT 5 Server registered as a Windows service yet, you can run it directly from a PowerShell or Command Prompt window:

.\rat5-agent.exe --config .\config.toml

This is useful for first-run testing, local validation, or environments where you do not want a persistent Windows service.

Note: If you have already copied config.example.toml to config.toml, started RAT 5 Server, and can launch the RAT 5 Client, you can usually stop here. In most setups, the remaining managed server and integration settings are easier to configure from the RAT 5 Client while signed in as the Owner, rather than by hand-editing config.toml.

config.toml reference

Relative paths are resolved from the folder that contains config.toml.

Core network and storage

Setting Default Purpose
http.bind 127.0.0.1:7443 HTTPS listen address for the RAT 5 server API. Change this if the server must listen on another interface or port. If you change the port, RAT clients must use that same port in their connection profile base URL to connect successfully. If clients outside your local network need to connect, you must also open and forward that port on your router/firewall to the RAT server host.
storage.data_dir data Root directory for RAT 5 runtime state, TLS material, auth state, and related local data.
storage.db_path data\rat5.db SQLite database file used by RAT 5.

TLS

Setting Default Purpose
tls.cert_file data\tls\server.crt Server certificate path.
tls.key_file data\tls\server.key Server private key path.
tls.auto_generate true Automatically generate a certificate/key pair when the configured files do not exist yet. Set this to false only if you are provisioning TLS files yourself.

Managed game-server install metadata

Setting Default Purpose
steamcmd.install_dir "" SteamCMD install path used by RAT's managed install/update workflows. Leave empty if RAT is not managing SteamCMD for you yet.
game_install.server_dir "" 7DTD dedicated server install directory used by RAT's managed install/update workflows.
game_install.channel "" Update channel for managed installs. Valid values are public or experimental. Leave empty until you want RAT to manage game-server installation/update behavior.
game_install.config_file_name rat5_serverconfig.xml Managed serverconfig filename RAT expects when working with the 7DTD server install.

RAT-managed runtime behavior

Setting Default Purpose
managed_server.keep_alive false When true, RAT monitors the managed 7DTD runtime and restarts it if it is not running, except during install/update operations.
runtime.command "" Executable path RAT should use when starting the managed game server.
runtime.args [] Command-line arguments for the managed game server process.
runtime.working_dir "" Working directory for the managed game server process.
runtime.environment [] Optional extra environment variables for the managed game server process.
runtime.stop_timeout_seconds 15 How long RAT waits for the managed game server to stop cleanly before timing out the stop operation.
runtime.log_history_limit 500 Number of runtime log lines RAT keeps in recent in-memory history.

Backup settings

Setting Default Purpose
backup_settings.enabled false Enables the server-side backup scheduler.
backup_settings.compress_backups false Compress created backups when true.
backup_settings.compression_type zip Compression format used when compression is enabled.
backup_settings.destination_dir first value from destination_dirs, otherwise primary Legacy primary backup destination field kept for compatibility.
backup_settings.destination_dirs ["primary"] Backup destination list. Configure one or more real destination paths before using scheduled backups.
backup_settings.interval_minutes 60 Minutes between scheduled backups when backups are enabled.
backup_settings.delete_backups false Enables retention pruning of older backups.
backup_settings.max_backups 8 Maximum number of retained backups when retention pruning is enabled.
backup_settings.last_backup_at unset Last completed backup timestamp. RAT updates this automatically; do not set it manually.

Runtime state (normally leave alone)

Setting Default Purpose
runtime_state.last_started_at unset Timestamp of the last managed runtime start. RAT updates this automatically.
runtime_state.last_started_process_id 0 Last observed managed runtime process ID. RAT updates this automatically.
runtime_state.start_time_approximate false Indicates whether the tracked start time is exact or approximated from an already-running observed process. RAT updates this automatically.

Notes

Upgrade

  1. Stop the existing service or manual process.
  2. Extract the newer server package into the same install root or a staged replacement directory.
  3. Preserve your existing config.toml and data directory contents.
  4. Start RAT 5 Server again.

If you installed RAT as a Windows service, use the Services console or PowerShell to restart it.

If you run RAT manually, launch it again with:

.\rat5-agent.exe --config .\config.toml

Uninstall

If you registered the Windows service, remove it from an elevated PowerShell prompt in the install folder:

.\uninstall-service.ps1

That performs a standard uninstall: it removes the RAT Windows service registration and packaged RAT server files while preserving config.toml and the RAT data directory unless you request purge cleanup.

To remove preserved RAT server state too:

.\uninstall-service.ps1 -Purge

-Purge removes RAT-owned config.toml and data from the RAT install root in addition to the standard uninstall actions.

Neither mode uninstalls, modifies, or removes the 7 Days to Die game-server installation or any of its files/data.

Source content is maintained in install-server-windows.md; this HTML file is the single-file rendered companion version.