Factorio Server Manager

Manage multiple isolated Factorio headless servers on one host under systemd user template units. One shared binary pool, many instances, each assembled from a single YAML file. Every game build and every mod version ever downloaded is kept forever; instances select which versions they use.

pip install factorio-server-manager     # provides the `fsm` and `fsm-deploy` commands
# or straight from source:
pip install git+https://github.com/scrothers/fsm

• Package: factorio_server_manager (pip install factorio-server-manager); commands fsm (server-side) and fsm-deploy (workstation). Stdlib only except PyYAML (one runtime dependency).
• Runs on the server (any Linux host with systemd) inside a venv at ~/venv.
• Deployed from a workstation with fsm-deploy over ssh/rsync (the factorio user is key-authenticated).

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Contents

• How it works
• Requirements
• Server layout
• One-time setup
• Deployment
• Quickstart
• Instance configuration reference
• Command reference
• Game version pool and channels
• Mod pool
• Performance
• Operating a live server
• Systemd unit
• Security notes
• Development

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How it works

• One binary, many instances. All instances run off a shared, versioned headless build. Each instance lives in its own directory and is isolated via a generated config.ini whose [path] sets read-data to the build's shared data/ and write-data to the instance directory. Saves, mods, config and player-data.json are therefore per-instance while the binary and game data are shared.
• Keep-forever pools. Game builds (server/factorio_<ver>/) and mod versions (mods-cache/<mod>/<mod>_<ver>.zip) are never deleted. Instances point at the versions they use (build symlink; mod symlinks into the cache).
• Declarative instances. instances/<name>/instance.yaml is the source of truth. fsm instance assemble <name> materializes everything derived from it (config, server settings, access lists, mod links, runtime facts, systemd drop-in) idempotently, and never clobbers an existing save.
• systemd @ template unit. systemctl --user start|enable factorio@<name>. ExecStart is fsm run <name>, which os.execvs the game binary so systemd supervises the real process.

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Requirements

• Host: any Linux distribution with systemd and Python 3.11+. Tested targets: Debian 12/13, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, and Fedora. The server needs Python with the venv and pip modules — on Debian/Ubuntu these are separate packages:

  sudo apt install python3 python3-venv python3-pip

  (On Fedora/RHEL the base python3 already includes them.)
• Workstation: Python 3.11+, ssh and rsync, key-based SSH access to factorio@server.
• Factorio account with a service token (mods and public server listing).

The tool is distro-agnostic: it only uses systemd (systemctl --user, drop-ins, user lingering), ssh/rsync, and a Python venv. It does not manage the host firewall — open each instance's UDP port (default 34197) in whatever the host uses (ufw, nftables, firewalld, cloud security group, or none). No SELinux/AppArmor changes are needed: the headless binary runs unconfined from the factorio user's home under the default policies.

Throughout this document server is the example host and factorio the example user; substitute your own.

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Server layout

Everything lives under the factorio user's home (/home/factorio):

venv/                                  python venv with factorio_server_manager + PyYAML
src/factorio-server-manager/                  synced source (pip install -e target)

server/                                GAME VERSION POOL (every build kept forever)
  current -> factorio_<ver>/           default build for game_version: current
  stable -> factorio_<ver>/            newest installed stable build
  experimental -> factorio_<ver>/      newest installed experimental build
  factorio_<ver>/factorio/bin/x64/factorio

mods-cache/                            MOD POOL (every version kept forever)
  <mod>/<mod>_<ver>.zip
  <mod>/metadata.json                  records each version's Factorio major.minor

instances/<name>/
  instance.yaml                        authored config (source of truth)
  config.ini                           generated: read-data shared, write-data local
  server-settings.json                 generated (+ credentials injected)  [chmod 600]
  server-adminlist.json                generated from server_settings.admins
  server-whitelist.json                generated when whitelist set
  server-banlist.json                  generated when banlist set
  map-gen-settings.json                generated when map_gen_settings set
  map-settings.json                    generated when map_settings set
  instance.json                        generated runtime facts for fsm run  [chmod 600]
  mods/                                mod-list.json + symlinks into mods-cache
  saves/<save>.zip
  backups/<save>_<timestamp>.zip       rotated save snapshots

secrets/credentials.json               account username + service token  [chmod 600]
worlds/world.zip                       default world seeded into new instances

~/.config/systemd/user/
  factorio@.service                    the template unit
  factorio@<name>.service.d/performance.conf   per-instance resource drop-in

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One-time setup

1. Enable lingering (as root on the host) so user units survive logout and start on boot:

   loginctl enable-linger factorio

2. Credentials. Copy secrets/credentials.json.example to secrets/credentials.json and fill in your factorio.com username and service token (find the token at https://factorio.com/profile).
3. Install the deployer on your workstation. fsm-deploy rsyncs a repo checkout to the server, so clone the repo and install it (editable, so --source auto-detects the checkout):

   git clone https://github.com/scrothers/fsm && cd fsm
   python -m venv .venv && .venv/bin/pip install -e .

   (If you pip install factorio-server-manager without a checkout, pass fsm-deploy --source /path/to/clone.)

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Deployment

The deployer runs on your workstation and drives ssh/rsync:

fsm-deploy --host server [options]

Option	Effect
--host HOST	Target host (required).
--user USER	SSH user (default factorio).
--source DIR	Local repo root (default: auto-detected).
(default)	rsync source, create/refresh ~/venv, install the systemd unit, daemon-reload.
--secrets	Push secrets/credentials.json (mode 600).
--instance NAME	Push instances/NAME/instance.yaml.
--world	Push worlds/world.zip (the default seed world).
--pull-saves [DEST]	Pull every instance's saves/ and backups/ down to DEST (default ./saves-pull).
--no-code	Skip the source/venv/unit sync (do only the flagged actions).

The default (unflagged) run always syncs code and the unit; combine with --no-code for a pure operation, e.g. a backup pull:

fsm-deploy --host server --no-code --pull-saves ./backups

---

Quickstart

# 1. push source, build the venv, install the systemd unit
fsm-deploy --host server

# 2. push credentials and the default world
fsm-deploy --host server --secrets --world

# 3. install a game build and make it the default
ssh factorio@server '~/venv/bin/fsm binary install --make-current'

# 4. author instances/main/instance.yaml locally, push it, assemble it
fsm-deploy --host server --instance main
ssh factorio@server '~/venv/bin/fsm instance assemble main'

# 5. enable + start, then watch the log
ssh factorio@server '~/venv/bin/fsm enable main && ~/venv/bin/fsm start main'
ssh factorio@server '~/venv/bin/fsm logs main -f'

Connect a client to server:<port>. To generate a fresh world instead of using the seeded world.zip, run fsm instance create-map main after step 4.

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Instance configuration reference

An instance is defined entirely by instances/<name>/instance.yaml. The directory name is authoritative; a name: in the file is ignored. A starter lives at src/factorio_server_manager/templates/instance.yaml.example.

instances/*/instance.yaml is git-ignored because it carries the game and RCON passwords. Only instance.yaml.example is tracked. Keep real configs local or in a private store.

Full example

name: main                      # ignored; the directory name wins
game_version: current           # channel (current/stable/experimental/latest) or 2.1.9
port: 34197                     # UDP port (unique per instance)
save: world.zip                 # save file inside saves/

server_settings:                # merged over the defaults below
  name: "Server Main"
  description: "Factorio multiplayer server"
  tags: []
  visibility: { public: true, lan: true }
  game_password: ""
  max_players: 0
  admins:                       # -> server-adminlist.json (not part of settings)
    - your-factorio-username
  autosave_interval: 10
  autosave_slots: 5
  autosave_only_on_server: true
  afk_autokick_interval: 0
  max_heartbeats_per_second: 60
  max_upload_in_kilobytes_per_second: 0
  max_upload_slots: 5
  minimum_latency_in_ticks: 0
  allow_commands: admins-only
  auto_pause: true
  only_admins_can_pause_the_game: true
  require_user_verification: true

mods:
  - name: even-distribution     # no version -> track latest for the game build
  - name: FNEI
    version: 0.4.1              # pinned -> frozen; never auto-updated

rcon:
  port: 27015
  password: "change-me"

whitelist:                      # non-empty -> only these users may connect
  - alice
  - bob
banlist:
  - griefer123

extra_args:                     # any other factorio flags, appended verbatim
  - "--bind"
  - "0.0.0.0"

performance:
  non_blocking_saving: true     # config.ini [other]; default on
  cpu_affinity: "2-7"           # systemd CPUAffinity
  nice: 5                       # systemd Nice
  cpu_weight: 200               # systemd CPUWeight
  io_weight: 200                # systemd IOWeight
  memory_high: "6G"             # systemd MemoryHigh
  memory_max: "8G"              # systemd MemoryMax

seed: 123456789                 # map generation seed (create-map)
map_gen_settings:               # -> map-gen-settings.json (create-map)
  width: 0                      # 0 = infinite
map_settings:                   # -> map-settings.json (create-map)
  pollution: { enabled: true }

Top-level keys

Key	Type	Default	Purpose
game_version	string	current	Build to run: a channel (current/stable/experimental/latest) or a concrete version like 2.1.9. Resolved to a concrete build at assemble time.
port	int	34197	UDP listen port. Must be unique per instance (assemble warns on conflicts).
save	string	world.zip	Save file loaded from saves/.
mods	list	[]	Mods to enable (see below).
server_settings	mapping	see defaults	Overlaid onto the multiplayer defaults; written to server-settings.json.
rcon	mapping	—	{ port, password }; enables remote console.
whitelist	list of str	—	Allowed usernames. Non-empty enforces a whitelist.
banlist	list of str	—	Banned usernames.
extra_args	list of str	—	Extra Factorio flags, appended verbatim (each token a list item).
performance	mapping	—	Non-blocking saving and systemd resource controls (see Performance).
config_ini	mapping	—	Extra config.ini settings as section -> {key: value}, merged over the generated [path]/[other].
seed	int	—	Map generation seed for create-map.
map_gen_settings	mapping	—	Map generation settings for create-map.
map_settings	mapping	—	Map settings for create-map.

mods entries

Each entry is a mapping with a name and an optional version:

mods:
  - name: even-distribution     # tracks the latest release for the game build
  - name: FNEI
    version: 0.4.1              # pinned exactly; never touched by mods update

Required dependencies of listed mods are resolved and installed automatically. Built-ins (base, space-age, elevated-rails, quality) are recognized and never fetched from the portal.

server_settings defaults

The block is deep-merged over these defaults; username/token are injected from secrets/credentials.json (needed for a public listing), and admins is split out into server-adminlist.json.

Key	Default
name	Factorio
description	""
tags	[]
max_players	0 (unlimited)
visibility	{ public: false, lan: true }
game_password	""
require_user_verification	true
max_upload_in_kilobytes_per_second	0 (unlimited)
max_upload_slots	5
allow_commands	admins-only
autosave_interval	10 (minutes)
autosave_slots	5
afk_autokick_interval	0 (disabled)
auto_pause	true
only_admins_can_pause_the_game	true
autosave_only_on_server	true

Access control and extra flags

• whitelist: — when non-empty, assembly writes server-whitelist.json and fsm run passes --server-whitelist <file> --use-server-whitelist.
• banlist: — writes server-banlist.json, passed via --server-banlist.
• admins: (under server_settings) — writes server-adminlist.json, passed via --server-adminlist.
• extra_args: — appended verbatim to the command line as separate argv tokens (no shell), the escape hatch for any flag without first-class support.

After editing any of these, re-run fsm instance assemble <name> and restart the instance.

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Command reference

fsm runs on the server (~/venv/bin/fsm). Every command exits non-zero with a one-line error: message on failure.

Game builds (binary)

Command	Purpose
binary install [--version V] [--make-current]	Download and extract a build into the pool. --version is stable (default), experimental (alias latest), or a concrete version like 2.1.9. --make-current points current at it.
binary update	Refresh every opted-in channel (a channel whose symlink exists) to its latest published build; download only when new.
binary current <version>	Point the current symlink at an installed build.
binary list	List installed builds, tagged with the channels pointing at each.

Instances (instance)

Command	Purpose
instance new <name> [--port N]	Scaffold a starter instance.yaml (auto-assigns the next free port).
instance assemble <name>	Materialize the instance directory from its YAML (config, settings, access lists, mods, runtime facts, performance drop-in). Idempotent; never clobbers an existing save.
instance create-map <name> [--force] [--seed N]	Generate saves/<save> from the instance's map settings. --force overwrites; --seed overrides the YAML seed.
instance remove <name> --force	Stop, disable and delete the instance and its saves (--force required).
instance list	List configured instances.

Mods (mods)

Command	Purpose
mods update --instance <name>	Refresh the instance's unpinned mods to the latest compatible release (also the systemd pre-run step).
mods download <name> [--version V] [--game-version GV]	Cache a mod and its dependencies without any instance.
mods refresh [--game-version GV]	Cache the latest compatible version of every known mod (cache + all instance-configured mods).
mods info <name> [--game-version GV]	Show a mod's latest release, the pick per game version, dependencies, and cache state.
mods list	List cached mods and versions, tagged with their game version.

--game-version accepts a concrete version, a major.minor, or all (both the current stable and experimental channels); it defaults to the current build.

Control and live ops

Command	Purpose
start / stop / enable / disable / status <name>	systemctl --user wrappers for the instance's unit.
logs <name> [-f]	Show the instance's journal; -f follows.
run <name>	Launch the instance (used as systemd ExecStart; os.execvs the binary).
rcon <name> <command...>	Run a console command against the live server over RCON.
backup <name> [--keep N]	Snapshot the newest save into a rotated backups/ (default keep 10).

Reporting and setup

Command	Purpose
show versions [--available]	Installed builds (with channels), cached mod versions, per-instance mod links. --available also queries the portals for the newest published versions.
doctor [--online]	Run preflight health checks (see below).
systemd install	Install the user template unit and daemon-reload.
systemd install-timers	Install and enable the scheduled-maintenance timers.
--version	Print the fsm version.

Health checks (doctor)

fsm doctor reports readiness as a status list (ok / WARN / FAIL): lingering enabled, systemd user manager reachable, credentials present, a current build installed, free disk on the pool filesystem, and which cgroup controllers (cpu/io/memory) are delegated — so you know before setting performance.memory_max whether the limit will actually take effect. --online also checks factorio.com connectivity. Exits non-zero only if a check fails.

Scheduled maintenance (systemd install-timers)

Installs and enables two --user timers that keep the pools fresh unattended: fsm-mods-refresh.timer (daily → fsm mods refresh --game-version all) and fsm-binary-update.timer (weekly → fsm binary update). Both keep-forever, so they only ever add builds and mod versions.

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Game version pool and channels

Every build is kept in server/ forever. Three symlinks track defaults:

• current — the default build for game_version: current.
• stable / experimental — the newest build installed for each channel.

Installing with a channel token maintains that channel's symlink; installing a concrete version does not touch any channel symlink. --make-current (or the first-ever install) also sets current.

fsm binary update fetches the latest published build for every channel whose symlink exists (your opt-in signal), downloads it if new, and repoints the symlink. Channels you never installed are left alone.

game_version: is resolved to a concrete build at assemble time and recorded in instance.json, so a save never silently jumps versions. A moved channel does not affect a running instance until you re-run fsm instance assemble <name>; a plain restart keeps the frozen version.

You can run stable and experimental instances side by side off one deployment, each pinning a different game_version.

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Mod pool

mods-cache/<mod>/<mod>_<ver>.zip holds every mod version ever downloaded and is never pruned. An instance's mods/ directory holds symlinks into the cache for exactly the versions it uses; downloads are SHA-1 verified against the portal.

Resolution: an unpinned mod tracks the newest release whose factorio_version matches the game build's major.minor; a pinned mod resolves to that exact version. Required dependencies are pulled in automatically.

Direct cache management (no instance required):

• mods download <name> — fetch a mod and its dependencies (pin with --version).
• mods refresh — cache the latest compatible version of every known mod: everything already cached plus every mod configured in any instance (including ones not yet downloaded). Mods with no release for the target game version are skipped, not errored. mods refresh --game-version all is the one-shot "download all mod updates for both the current stable and experimental game versions" and is the natural command to run on a schedule.
• mods info <name> — inspect releases and cache state.

--game-version all targets both game channels, so a mod is cached once per channel (e.g. the 2.0 and 2.1 builds, often different mod versions). Each cached zip records the Factorio major.minor it was fetched for in a mods-cache/<mod>/metadata.json sidecar, so mods list and mods info tag every version with its game version (e.g. 2.1.0 (2.1), 1.0.10 (2.0)).

The systemd pre-run (ExecStartPre=fsm mods update) refreshes an instance's unpinned mods before each start; it is non-fatal, so a mod-portal hiccup never blocks the server.

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Performance

Tuning fans out across the surfaces the manager generates.

Background / threaded / non-blocking saves — non_blocking_saving (default on). These are the same Factorio feature: a forked child writes the save while the parent keeps simulating, so autosaves never freeze the game. It is the biggest smoothness win on a busy server. The one key performance.non_blocking_saving is written to both config.ini ([other] non-blocking-saving) and server-settings.json (non_blocking_saving) so it is honored regardless of which the engine reads. Disable with performance.non_blocking_saving: false.

Multi-threading. Factorio auto-multithreads entity updates across cores and exposes no thread-count setting; cpu_affinity (below) is how you steer which cores an instance uses. Any other engine setting can be set through the config_ini passthrough, e.g.:

config_ini:
  other:
    enable-new-mod-download: false

systemd resource drop-in. The remaining performance: keys render to ~/.config/systemd/user/factorio@<name>.service.d/performance.conf and daemon-reload on assemble. Removing the keys clears the drop-in.

YAML key	systemd directive	Notes
cpu_affinity	CPUAffinity	Pin cores (e.g. "2-7"). Unprivileged; keeps instances off each other's cores.
nice	Nice	Positive is unprivileged; negative needs privilege.
cpu_weight	CPUWeight	cgroup weight; needs the cpu controller delegated to the user manager.
io_weight	IOWeight	cgroup weight; needs the io controller delegated.
memory_high	MemoryHigh	Soft limit (e.g. "6G").
memory_max	MemoryMax	Hard limit (e.g. "8G").

CPUAffinity and positive Nice work out of the box. The cgroup directives (CPUWeight/IOWeight/MemoryHigh/MemoryMax) and negative Nice require controller delegation or privilege for the --user manager; without it systemd ignores or rejects them. Run fsm doctor to see which controllers are delegated before relying on a limit.

server_settings: — network and autosave knobs. autosave_interval, autosave_slots, autosave_only_on_server (default true), max_heartbeats_per_second, max_upload_in_kilobytes_per_second, max_upload_slots, minimum_latency_in_ticks, afk_autokick_interval.

extra_args: covers any other flag.

Re-run fsm instance assemble <name> and restart after changing any of these.

---

Operating a live server

• RCON — fsm rcon <name> "/players" runs any console command against the running server (players, /save, /promote, /ban, broadcasts). It reads the port and password from instance.json and connects over loopback.
• Map creation — fsm instance create-map <name> generates saves/<save> from the instance's map_gen_settings / map_settings / seed (assemble first). --force overwrites an existing save; --seed overrides the YAML seed. Mods are loaded during generation if present. Use this instead of supplying a prebuilt world.zip.
• Backups — fsm backup <name> copies the newest save (including autosaves) into a rotated instances/<name>/backups/, keeping --keep (default 10). Pull them to your workstation with fsm-deploy --host server --no-code --pull-saves DEST. Both are good on a timer.

---

Systemd unit

factorio@.service is a user template unit:

• ExecStartPre=-fsm mods update --instance %i — refresh unpinned mods (non-fatal; a portal hiccup does not block start).
• ExecStart=fsm run %i — os.execvs the game binary, so systemd supervises the real process and a stop delivers a clean SIGINT save.
• Type=exec, Restart=on-failure with a start-rate limit, KillSignal=SIGINT and a stop timeout for clean saves.

Per-instance resource controls come from the generated performance.conf drop-in. loginctl enable-linger factorio (one-time, root) makes user units survive logout and start on boot.

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Security notes

• Secrets at rest. credentials.json, server-settings.json (account token, game password) and instance.json (RCON password) are written mode 600. Real instance YAML is git-ignored.
• RCON password. Factorio has no password-file flag, so fsm run passes --rcon-password on the command line, where it is visible in ps and systemctl --user status. Acceptable on a single-operator host; keep RCON bound to localhost and do not expose its port.
• Downloads are SHA-1 verified (mods) and fetched over HTTPS from first-party hosts with an explicit User-Agent.

To report a vulnerability, see SECURITY.md.

---

Development

python -m venv .venv && .venv/bin/pip install -e '.[dev]'
.venv/bin/python -m pyflakes src/factorio_server_manager tests
.venv/bin/python -m pytest -q

The suite is hermetic: FACTORIO_HOME (and XDG_CONFIG_HOME) are redirected to a temp directory and all network/systemd/subprocess calls are stubbed, so no test touches the real host, portal, or your systemd units. CI runs the full suite on real containers for the current and previous release of each distro — Debian 13/12, Ubuntu 26.04/24.04 LTS, and Fedora 44/43 — each doing a from-scratch system-Python venv install, so cross-distro packaging and behavior are exercised for real. See CONTRIBUTING.md for conventions and CHANGELOG.md for release notes. Licensed under MIT.

Releasing

Publishing to PyPI is automated via Trusted Publishing (OIDC — no stored token): bump version in pyproject.toml, update CHANGELOG.md, then push a matching tag and let CI build and publish:

git tag v0.1.0 && git push origin v0.1.0

The .github/workflows/release.yml job builds the sdist + wheel and uploads them. Configure the publisher once at the project's PyPI Publishing settings (owner scrothers, repo fsm, workflow release.yml, environment pypi).