tModLoader Docker Image

This docker image downloads and runs a tModLoader server in a docker image.

Features configurable auto-save functionality, and graceful saving (including docker stop).

To install mods, put them in the /data/tModLoader/Mods folder. Mods can be downloaded from the Steam Workshop. Downloaded mods will be placed in the $STEAM_DIR/steamapps/workshop/content/1281930 directory. From there, mod files (*.tmod) can be copied over.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to the unstable nature of Mods in both multiplayer and Linux, some mods may not function properly. As an alternative, use Steam multiplayer instead.

Features

Version Select

Can easily swap between versions by changing the TMLSERVER_VERSION env variable. See below for examples.

Autosaving

Auto saves the game. By default, this occurs every 10 minutes and can be customized by providing a custom cron expression to the TMLSERVER_AUTOSAVE_INTERVAL environment variable. The default value is */10 * * * *.

Easy log access

In 1.3, tModLoader did not like to print its logs to stdout for some reason, where this image fixed that issue. It is less of a problem in 1.4.

Basic docker run use case

To run a specified tModLoader version, use the TMODLOADER_VERSION environment variable.

Example to run a 2022.09.47.1 tModLoader server:

docker run -it --rm --name tmlserver \
           -p 7777:7777 \
           -e TMLSERVER_VERSION=2022.09.47.1 \
           -v $(pwd)/data:/data \
       gedasfx/tmodloader-server

This will create a new server with TTY enabled which allows us to manually configure the server.

To detach from the console while keeping the server running, press Ctrl-P, followed by Ctrl-Q. To reattach, run docker attach tmlserver.

Running in daemon mode

While tModLoader 1.4 has made daemon mode mostly obsolete, it is still relevant, as it supports the ability to run commands externally and autosaving.

To run in daemon mode, first, edit or mount the configuration located in /data/server/serverconfig.txt. If the world file location is specified (see serverconfig.txt for PATH example), the server will start automatically. For other values, see the configuration example provided by the development team.

An example of how to run the server in daemon mode while mounting the serverconfig.txt can be seen below.

docker run --rm -d --name tmlserver \
           -p 7777:7777 \
           -e TMLSERVER_VERSION=2022.09.47.1 \
           -v $(pwd)/data:/data \
           -v $(pwd)/serverconfig.txt:/data/server/serverconfig.txt \
       gedasfx/tmodloader-server daemon

Executing commands

The containers running in headless (daemon) do not accept user input. To run commands, the following alternative could be used:

docker exec tmlserver run "say Hello World!"

The logs (and command output) will appear in the standard output, and can be seen via:

docker logs tmlserver --tail 100 -f

Legacy tModLoader 1.3

To enable support for v1.3 of tModLoader, use major version 1 of the image. Old documentation can be found on the v1.3 branch.

docker run --rm -d --name tmlserver \
           -p 7777:7777 \
           -e TMLSERVER_VERSION=0.11.8.5 \
           -v $(pwd)/tModLoader_data:/data \
           -v $(pwd)/tModLoader_server:/server \
           -v $(pwd)/serverconfig.txt:/server/serverconfig.txt \
       gedasfx/tmodloader-server:1

With docker-compose

See the docker-compose.yml file for an example.