Automatic restarts for a 7 Days to Die server
Memory on a 7 Days to Die server follows how much of the map players have explored and built on, and neither number ever falls. A daily restart keeps things snappy across a long playthrough — above all on horde nights, which is when everybody turns up.
When should it restart?
Put {{minutes}} wherever the number of minutes left should appear.
What happens, in order
- Job startsWarn
say "Server restarting in 15 min" - 10 min beforeWarn
say "Server restarting in 10 min" - 5 min beforeWarn
say "Server restarting in 5 min" - 1 min beforeWarn
say "Server restarting in 1 min" - Restart timeSave
saveworld - Restart timeStop
shutdown
The console here is telnet rather than RCON. Reach it over an SSH tunnel or from the machine itself — the telnet port must not be forwarded, because it authenticates with a password in clear text.
The crontab line
Moved 15 minutes ahead of the time you picked, so the restart happens at that time instead of 15 minutes later.
45 3 * * * /opt/restart-seven_days_to_die.sh
The script it runs
Save it as /opt/restart-seven_days_to_die.sh and mark it executable. It expects rcon-cli on the path and takes the password from an environment variable instead of storing it in the file.
#!/usr/bin/env bash
set -euo pipefail
# Scheduled restart for 7 Days to Die.
# Generated by spawnbench.com/restart-scheduler
# The password stays out of this file. Put it in the environment, or in a
# file only root can read, and export it before this script runs.
RCON_HOST="${RCON_HOST:-127.0.0.1}"
RCON_PORT="${RCON_PORT:-8081}"
: "${RCON_PASSWORD:?set RCON_PASSWORD before running}"
send() {
rcon-cli --host "$RCON_HOST" --port "$RCON_PORT" --password "$RCON_PASSWORD" "$1"
}
# 15 minute warning
send 'say "Server restarting in 15 min"'
sleep 300
# 10 minute warning
send 'say "Server restarting in 10 min"'
sleep 300
# 5 minute warning
send 'say "Server restarting in 5 min"'
sleep 240
# 1 minute warning
send 'say "Server restarting in 1 min"'
sleep 60
# Flush the world to disk
send 'saveworld'
sleep 10
# Shut down cleanly
send 'shutdown'
# Give the process time to finish writing before anything restarts it.
sleep 30
systemctl start seven_days_to_die 2>/dev/null || trueHeads up: cron follows the server clock, not your local time. Check with timedatectl first. A container set to UTC and an admin living in Europe differ by two hours in summer and by one in winter, so 04:00 may not be the 04:00 you had in mind.
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What is different about 7 Days to Die
This game's console is telnet rather than RCON, and telnet transmits its password unencrypted. Run the script on the server machine, or reach the port through an SSH tunnel; never forward it. And keep restarts clear of day seven and every multiple of it: a restart in the middle of a blood moon is the worst timing there is, and the schedule has no way of knowing unless you plan around it.
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