Creating a Soulmask server: the 2 methods, from terminal to turnkey

In Soulmask, you are a survivor hidden behind an ancestral mask, the sole survivor of your tribe deep in a hostile jungle. Quickly, you capture Barbarians to turn them into servants that you train in crafting, hunting and guarding. To live this adventure with others, you need a server, and two paths lie ahead of you: build it yourself with SteamCMD, or hand it over to a host. This guide compares the two in detail.

What a dedicated Soulmask server really is

Unlike a simple co-op session, a dedicated server runs continuously, independently of your character. Studios distribute an official server application through SteamCMD, Steam's command-line tool. Good news: the base game doesn't need to be installed on the machine that hosts it.

Path 1: manual setup with SteamCMD

Fetching and launching the server application

You first install SteamCMD, then download the Soulmask server app via its identifier. On its first launch, the server generates its file tree, including the decisive GameSetting.ini that will later drive difficulty and the number of slots.

The real obstacle: network connectivity

This is where 80% of beginners give up. For your friends to connect from the outside, you have to set up port forwarding (NAT) on your router and share your public IP. A dynamic IP that changes, the Windows firewall, and above all the CGNAT of many fibre providers sometimes make the operation simply impossible without intervention.

The factor we underestimate: Soulmask's appetite

Soulmask doesn't just display a world: it simulates every servant of your tribe, their tasks, the wildlife and a vast terrain. This simulation is extremely demanding on RAM and CPU. In concrete terms, the host machine is monopolised: you won't be able to play comfortably on it at the same time, and it will have to stay on day and night for the server to stay alive.

The tipping point is technical, not economic: the moment your provider's CGNAT or a changing IP blocks you, self-hosting is no longer "free but tedious", it becomes flat-out impossible.

Path 2: the host, or how to skip every tedious step

A host removes SteamCMD, port forwarding and exposing your IP all at once. At Fly-Serv, the server is delivered instantly and the FlyPanel control panel lets you start it, edit the configuration and manage files from your browser. Everything runs on Ryzen 9 7950X3D machines with Anti-DDoS included. Browse Fly-Serv's Soulmask hosting offer, available from €11.99/month.

So, which path should you choose?

For a quick two-player test on a network that allows it, SteamCMD can do the job for an evening. For a tribe that's here to stay, you're better off launching a ready-to-use Soulmask server and going straight to the fine-tuning, detailed in our guide to configuring GameSetting.ini.