How to Change the Seed for Your Factorio Server World

Every Factorio world is built from a seed, which is a number that tells the game how to generate the map, ore patches, terrain, and starting area. If you want to try a different layout, start over with a fresh world, or share a specific seed with friends, you can do all of this from the RiverHosting panel without editing any files by hand.

This guide will walk you through how to set a new seed using the Map Generation page, and how to apply it cleanly so your server starts fresh.

Before you start

• You need an active Factorio server on RiverHosting. If you do not have one yet, visit riverhosting.com to get started.
• Changing the seed will generate a brand new world. Your current map and progress will no longer be used once the server regenerates.
• If you want to keep your current world, go to the Saves page and download a copy before continuing.
• Log in to the RiverHosting panel at panel.riverhosting.com and open your Factorio server.

1. Open the Map Generation page

1. Log in to the RiverHosting panel.
2. Click on your Factorio server to open its management page.
3. In the left-hand menu, click Map Generation.

The Map Generation page is where you control how your Factorio world is created. You can set a specific seed here, along with other generation options such as resource density and terrain settings.

2. Set your new seed

1. On the Map Generation page, find the Seed field.
2. Clear the existing value and type in the seed number you want to use.
3. If you want the game to pick a random seed for you, leave the field blank or enter 0. Factorio will generate a random seed automatically when the world is created.
4. Adjust any other generation settings you want to change at the same time, such as starting area size, resource frequency, or terrain type.
5. Click Save to apply your changes.

3. Delete the existing save and generate the new world

Saving your generation settings does not automatically create a new world. You need to remove the current save so Factorio generates a fresh map using your new seed when the server next starts.

1. In the left-hand menu, click Saves.
2. You will see your current save files listed here.
3. Delete the existing save file or files that you no longer need. If you want to keep a copy, download it first using the download button next to the file.

4. Restart the server to generate the new world

1. Go back to the main server page by clicking Console in the left-hand menu, or use the server controls at the top of the page.
2. Click Restart to start the server.
3. Factorio will detect that there is no existing save and will automatically generate a new world using the seed and settings you configured on the Map Generation page.
4. Once the server has finished starting up, the console will show the world generation messages followed by the server becoming ready for connections.

Troubleshooting

• The server is still loading the old world. Make sure you deleted the old save file from the Saves page. If a save file still exists, Factorio will load it instead of generating a new world. Remove the old file and restart again.
• The seed does not seem to match what I expected. Double-check that the seed number was saved correctly on the Map Generation page. Go back to Map Generation and confirm the value is still set to what you entered before restarting.
• The server crashes on startup after changing the seed. This can sometimes happen if generation settings are set to extreme values. Try resetting the Map Generation settings to their defaults and using only the seed change, then restart again.
• I cannot find the Map Generation page. Make sure you are on your Factorio server in the panel. The Map Generation page is specific to Factorio and will appear in the left-hand menu when you are managing a Factorio server.
• I want to go back to my old world. If you downloaded your old save before deleting it, you can re-upload it using the File Manager or the Saves page. Contact support if you need help with this step.

Need help?

If you run into any issues changing your Factorio map seed or generating a new world, the RiverHosting support team is ready to help.