Deploy Factorio

Factorio — Headless Server on Railway

> Factorio is a paid game. Each player who joins your server needs their own > Factorio license. This template only runs the headless server binary — players > connect from their own desktop client.

This template deploys the official factoriotools/factorio:2.0.77 headless container on Railway, with a persistent volume for save files, mods, and config. Optimized for low-RAM 24/7 sticky hosting.

Deploy and Host

Deploy with one click. On first boot the container:

1. Mounts the persistent Railway volume at /factorio (saves, config, mods survive redeploys).
2. Generates a random RCON password and writes it to /factorio/config/rconpw.
3. Copies the default server-settings.json, map-gen-settings.json, and map-settings.json from the image.
4. Creates a new save if GENERATE_NEW_SAVE=true (otherwise loads the most recent save in /factorio/saves, or refuses to start if LOAD_LATEST_SAVE=false).
5. Starts the game on UDP 8080 (game traffic) and TCP 27015 (RCON admin). UDP 8080 is shared with the HTTP health server (socat listens on TCP 8080 — the two protocols coexist because they don't collide).

Players connect from Factorio's Multiplayer → Connect to address screen using your Railway service's public address. The RCON port lets you run admin commands from any RCON client (e.g. rcon-cli).

About Hosting

• Single service, official factoriotools/factorio:2.0.77 image — no source build, 132 MB cold start plus ~700 KB for socat (used for the HTTP health server).
• Persistent Railway volume at /factorio (saves, mods, config, RCON password, logs).
• Game port UDP 8080 + RCON port TCP 27015. UDP 8080 is reachable directly at .up.railway.app:8080/udp; RCON is on the same host on TCP 27015 (use the Railway TCP proxy or run rcon-cli from a sidecar — see Connecting).
• Default resource: 1 vCPU / 1 GB RAM. Factorio headless with 8–10 players runs fine in 512 MB; 1 GB is comfortable headroom.
• HTTP healthcheck endpoint at GET / (returns 200 ok) so Railway's HTTP-only healthcheck can verify the container is up. Implemented as a tiny socat listener on the Railway-injected PORT (default 8080) — see health.sh.
• Runs as root so the upstream entrypoint can chown the Railway-managed volume to the factorio user, then drops to that user before exec.

Why Deploy

Self-hosting a Factorio server means your factory keeps running between sessions — your conveyor belts keep churning, your trains keep rolling, your research queue keeps advancing. Railway's sticky deployment means no surprise reboots when traffic is low: the container stays warm and your world stays live.

Dependencies for factorio

This template is self-contained — no external database or companion service is required.

Deployment Dependencies

Common Use Cases

• 24/7 factory — the world keeps simulating between sessions: research, trains, and belts keep moving while you're away.
• Persistent multiplayer worlds — saves survive redeploys; friends join at <address>:8080 from the vanilla client.
• Modded servers — drop mod zips into /factorio/mods, optionally auto-update on every boot.
• RCON automation — script whitelists, bans, saves, and chat over TCP 27015.

Configuration

Most configuration is via the upstream image's env vars. See .env.example for the full list. The most useful:

Server identity, password, max players, visible-in-browser, etc. are all in /factorio/config/server-settings.json, which the image copies from its default on first boot. Edit that file directly via the volume after first deploy, or rebuild the image with a baked-in server-settings.json.

The RCON password lives at /factorio/config/rconpw (auto-generated on first boot). Read it back from the volume to use it; the upstream entrypoint won't overwrite it on subsequent boots.

Connecting

Once the service is up:

1. Get your address from the Railway service panel (e.g. factorio-production-xxxx.up.railway.app).
2. In Factorio, click Multiplayer → Connect to address and paste :8080. Factorio auto-appends :34197 if you leave it off — edit the port to 8080 before clicking Connect. The transport is UDP (default).
3. If your server-settings.json has a password field, enter it when prompted.
4. For RCON admin commands: RCON runs on TCP 27015 inside the container. Railway does not auto-proxy arbitrary TCP ports. The simplest access path is to add a TCP proxy service to the same project pointing at the Factorio service's RCON port, then point your RCON client (e.g. rcon-cli) at the TCP proxy's hostname:port with the password from /factorio/config/rconpw (read it from the volume). Alternatively, exec into the running container via the Railway shell and use nc locally.

> The Railway HTTP domain (e.g. https://.up.railway.app/) returns 200 ok — that's the healthcheck responder. There's no web UI; the game port is what players connect to.

Custom Maps / Saves

To upload a custom save:

1. Use the Railway dashboard's volume access (or shell) to drop a *.zip file into /factorio/saves/.
2. Set SAVE_NAME=your-save (no extension) and redeploy.

The upstream entrypoint loads the save whose name matches SAVE_NAME, or, if that's empty, the most recently modified save in the directory.

Mods

Drop .zip mod files into /factorio/mods/ (via the volume or shell). Optionally create a mod-list.json and set UPDATE_MODS_ON_START=true to auto-download mod versions on every boot.

Common Operations

Cost

A 1 GB / 1 vCPU Factorio server running 24/7 on Railway's Hobby plan costs roughly $5–8/month (Railway charges by usage, and a 24/7 game server can't idle). This template is sized to the 1 GB tier because Factorio's "minimum" is 1 GB and most players want headroom — drop to 512 MB in the service settings if you want to optimize.

License

Factorio itself is proprietary software by Wube Software. This template only runs the headless server binary distributed in the official factoriotools/factorio Docker image; you must own a Factorio license to use it.