How does my server get into the public server list?

Northwood verifies every listed server, and the owner of the server asks for it. Set your contact email in the Game tab, restart, send !verify static from the console and wait for Northwood's email. Until then players join with Direct Connect.

How many players can join?

As many as the player limit you set in the Game tab, up to 60 and the slots of your plan. Every player adds to the memory the server uses, so grow the plan before you raise the limit a lot.

Can I install plugins?

Yes. The server ships with LabAPI, the plugin loader of Northwood. Upload the plugin .dll files to scpsl/LabAPI/plugins/global in the Files tab and restart; their settings appear under scpsl/LabAPI/configs.

Does anything carry over between rounds?

Only the configuration. The facility is generated again every round and nobody keeps items or roles, while config_gameplay.txt, the remote admin roles and the plugins stay on the server volume and in the panel backups.

Free SCP:SL server, in 60 seconds.

Containment breach rounds for your group on the official Linux server. No card, and the address ready for your Class-D to join.

New versions on release day
No card
Low-ping regions

SCP: Secret LaboratoryBeta

Nodes ready · start the first oneaverage start 32 s

~16 ms

SCP:SL is in beta: you can create your server already, but we are still tuning its image and it may change without notice.

Guide · SCP:SL

Host an SCP: Secret Laboratory server

SCP: Secret Laboratory is the free multiplayer horror shooter from Northwood Studios, set in an SCP Foundation facility during a containment breach. Class-D personnel, scientists, the MTF, the Chaos Insurgency and the SCPs themselves fight rounds of a few minutes. 1up runs the official Linux dedicated server through LocalAdmin, downloaded from Steam and brought to the newest build every time the server starts.

A round keeps no world: the facility is generated again at the start of every round. What lasts is the configuration: config_gameplay.txt, the remote admin roles and the LabAPI plugins live on the server volume, so they survive restarts, updates and backups.

From an empty panel to your first round

Open the panel, pick SCP: Secret Laboratory and choose a plan; it runs from the Free plan.
Name the server the way players will see it and set the player limit for your group.
Press start and follow the console: the first boot downloads about 600 MB, then the facility loads in under a minute.
Copy the address of the server from the panel.
In the game, open Play, then Direct Connect, paste the address and join. The round starts when enough players are in, or when you send forcestart from the console.

Joining from the game

Until Northwood verifies the server, it does not appear in the public server list, so players join with Direct Connect and the address on your panel. To be listed, set a contact email in the Game tab, restart, and send !verify static from the console; Northwood reviews the request and answers by email. Clients and the server must run the same build, so restart the server after a game update to pull the new one.

Rules you can change from the panel

The Game tab holds the server name, the player limit and the contact email Northwood uses for the verification. They are written into config_gameplay.txt every time the server starts; every other key of that file that you edit by hand is kept.

How much RAM SCP: Secret Laboratory needs

An empty lobby holds about 1.3 GB. The server starts at 2 GB for a small group, and 4 GB leaves room for full rounds and plugins. The install and the configuration fit in 2 GB of disk, with room for the next update.

Moderating from the console

The panel console speaks to LocalAdmin, the console of the game. players lists who is in with their user id, forcestart starts the round without waiting for more players, roundrestart starts a new round, and a message to everyone appears on screen across the facility. The console never leaves the server: players cannot reach it from outside.

If something goes wrong

If players cannot join, check that they typed the address and port from the panel in Direct Connect and that their game is on the same build; restart the server after an update. If the server says it will not be visible in the public list, that is expected until Northwood verifies it. A plugin that stops the server from starting can be taken out of the plugins folder in the Files tab.

Versions

SCP:SL versions

latestDefault

Switch versions from the panel: we back the server up first and tell you what will be left behind.

Loaders

SCP:SL loaders and templates

VanillaVersion latestThe game exactly as the studio ships it.

Pick the template when you create the server: we install it, configure it and hand it over running.

Data

SCP:SL server data

Minimum RAM	2 GB
Recommended RAM	4 GB
Disk	2 GB
Port	Assigned to each server; the panel shows it
Free plan	Yes
24/7 from	Casual · €3.00/month
Crossplay	No switch in the panel
Mods	No one-click catalogue
Templates	Vanilla

Requirements

How much RAM does your SCP:SL server need?

SCP:SL boots on 2 GB and has room to spare on 4 GB. This is the RAM each plan gives you and whether the game fits in it.

SCP:SL servers only appear in the public server list after Northwood verifies them, and the server's owner asks for it: set a contact email in the Game tab, restart, then send !verify static from the console. Until then players join by address with Direct Connect.