---
title: "Enshrouded: your enshrouded_server.json settings have no effect, the three causes"
description: "Preset not “Custom”, durations in nanoseconds, file edited on a running server: the three causes of an enshrouded_server.json with no effect."
url: https://tickserv.com/guides/enshrouded-settings-not-applying
site: "TickServ (https://tickserv.com)"
lang: en
published: 2026-10-17
games: [enshrouded]
---
# Enshrouded: your enshrouded_server.json settings have no effect, the three causes

> **The short answer.** A valid `enshrouded_server.json` that changes nothing almost always comes from one of three causes: the preset is not `Custom` (the game then ignores `gameSettings`), a duration is written in minutes while the file expects **nanoseconds**, or the file was edited while the server was running. Paste your file into the [free validator](https://tickserv.com/enshrouded-server-config): it catches the first two in seconds.

Would rather not edit a file? On a [TickServ Enshrouded server](https://tickserv.com/games/enshrouded), settings are changed from the panel and the server restarts with them on its next start. What follows explains why a hand-written file can seem deaf.

## Cause 1: the preset is not “Custom”

The fine-grained `gameSettings` (player health, enemy damage, day length…) only apply when `gameSettingsPreset` is set to `"Custom"`. With `Default`, `Relaxed`, `Hard` or `Survival`, the game applies its preset and ignores your values. That is what the documentation of the `mornedhels/enshrouded-server` image says: the other settings only work with the Custom preset.

The file is still perfectly valid, and nothing in the logs warns you. It is the most confusing failure: you change `enemyHealthFactor`, restart, and the enemies have not changed.

**The fix**: `"gameSettingsPreset": "Custom"`. The validator flags it when it sees `gameSettings` under another preset.

## Cause 2: durations are in nanoseconds

Day length, night length and the delay before starvation are not written in minutes. The file counts in nanoseconds: one minute is `60000000000`.

| What you want             | What you write  |
| ------------------------- | --------------- |
| 30-minute day (default)   | `1800000000000` |
| 12-minute night (default) | `720000000000`  |
| 40-minute day             | `2400000000000` |

Writing `40` or `2400` gives a value outside the bounds (2 to 60 minutes for both day and night). The validator recognises a value that looks like minutes and gives you the right spelling; the configurator lets you type minutes and converts for you.

## Cause 3: the file, its location, the running server

- The file sits at the root of the server's install folder, next to its executable; the server creates it on first launch.
- **Stop the server before replacing the file**, then restart it: that is the documented procedure for this file.
- A misspelled key is ignored by the server. The validator flags unknown keys.
- The password at the root of the file is no longer read: the groups in `userGroups` carry the passwords (see [roles and reserved slots](https://tickserv.com/guides/enshrouded-roles-reserved-slots)).

## And on TickServ?

A TickServ Enshrouded server's panel exposes part of these settings. As soon as a fine setting leaves its default, the difficulty preset switches to Custom automatically, so cause 1 cannot happen. Durations are entered in seconds and converted for you. The new setting applies on the next start. Your world is kept between sessions.

> [Generate or validate your enshrouded_server.json](https://tickserv.com/enshrouded-server-config) · [Create your Enshrouded server](https://tickserv.com/games/enshrouded)