Vein Game Server - Docker Container

Docker Linux container image for running a Vein dedicated game server.

Based on the architecture patterns from ark-sa-server.

Table of Contents

• Features
• Documentation
• Quick Start
• Server/Game Configs
  • Environment Variables
  • Exposed Ports
  • Volumes
  • Backups
  • Config Files
    • Advanced Configuration via CONFIG_FILE_ Variables
    • Config File Behavior
• Deployment
• Tags
• Shout Outs
• Contributing

Features

• Simple automated installation of Vein dedicated server via SteamCMD
• Configuration via environment variables and config files
• Scheduled server restarts and updates via Cron
• Automated backups with retention policy
• Native Linux server (no Wine/Proton overhead)
• Graceful shutdown with automatic backup

Documentation

For detailed documentation, guides, and examples, visit the Wiki.

Quick Start

It is assumed you already have Docker installed on your host machine. See here for instructions on how to install Docker.

The commands below will run the latest version of the Vein Server in a Linux container. It will expose the default ports needed for the game server. It will also set the server name and password.

Note - Using docker run by itself isn't recommended to host a server in the long term. See the Deployment section for more deployment options.

# written for bash, but should work in other shells
# may require sudo depending on your docker setup
docker run -d \
  --name vein-server \
  -p 7777:7777/udp \
  -p 27015:27015/udp \
  -e VEIN_SERVER_NAME="My Vein Server" \
  -e VEIN_SERVER_PASSWORD=secretpassword \
  -v $HOME/vein-data/server:/vein-server/server \
  -v $HOME/vein-data/logs:/vein-server/logs \
  -v $HOME/vein-data/backups:/vein-server/backups \
  johnnyknighten/vein-server:latest

To view the container logs:

docker logs vein-server -f

Press CTRL+C to exit the logs output.

To stop the container:

docker stop vein-server

Server/Game Configs

Environment Variables

Environment variables are the primary way to configure the server itself. For advanced game configurations, you can use config files or the CONFIG_ environment variables.

The table below shows all the available environment variables and their default values.

Variable	Description	Default
TZ	Sets the timezone of the container. See the table here and look in the TZ identifier column. Highly recommend to set this if you will be using any of the CRON variables.	(system default)
MANUAL_CONFIG	If set to True then the container will not generate any config files. This is useful if you want to manage the config files yourself.	False
SCHEDULED_RESTART	Enable scheduled restarts of the server.	False
BACKUP_ON_SCHEDULED_RESTART	Determines if the server should backup itself before restarting.	False
RESTART_CRON	Cron expression for scheduled restarts. Default is everyday at 4am.	0 4 * * *
SCHEDULED_UPDATE	Enable scheduled updates of the server.	False
UPDATE_CRON	Cron expression for scheduled updates. Default is daily at 3am.	0 3 * * *
BACKUP_BEFORE_UPDATE	Determines if the server should backup itself before updating.	True
UPDATE_ON_BOOT	Determines if the server should update itself when it starts. If this is set to False then the server will only update if SCHEDULED_UPDATE=True, then it will update on the schedule specified by UPDATE_CRON.	True
VALIDATE_SERVER_FILES	Validate server files with SteamCMD during updates. Set to False to skip validation for faster updates.	True
EXPERIMENTAL_BUILD	If set to True, downloads the experimental beta build instead of the stable release. Uses a different Steam App ID and beta branch.	False
SCHEDULED_BACKUP	Enable scheduled backups of the server.	False
BACKUP_CRON	Cron expression for scheduled backups. Default is every day at 6am.	0 6 * * *
BACKUP_ON_STOP	Determines if the server should backup itself when the container stops.	True
ZIP_BACKUPS	If this is set to True then it will zip your backups instead of the default tar and gzip.	False
RETAIN_BACKUPS	Number of backups to keep. If not set, then an unlimited number of backs will be kept.	EMPTY
VEIN_SERVER_NAME	Name of the server that appears in the server list.	Vein Server
VEIN_SERVER_DESCRIPTION	Description of the server.	A Vein dedicated server
VEIN_SERVER_PASSWORD	Password to login to the server. Defaults to no password aka a public server.	EMPTY
VEIN_SERVER_PUBLIC	Show server in the public server browser.	True
VEIN_SERVER_PORT	Primary game port.	7777
VEIN_SERVER_QUERY_PORT	Steam query port.	27015
VEIN_SERVER_MAX_PLAYERS	Maximum number of players allowed on the server.	16
VEIN_VAC_ENABLED	Enable Steam VAC anti-cheat (0=disabled, 1=enabled).	0

Note - If you are new to CRON, check here to get help understanding the syntax: crontab guru.

Exposed Ports

The table below shows the default ports that are exposed by the container.

Port	Protocol	Description
7777	UDP	Main game port
27015	UDP	Steam query port
8080	TCP	HTTP query server (optional, for querying game data)

Make sure you have Port Forwarding configured otherwise the server will not be accessible from the internet.

Note - Always ensure that your -p port mappings if using docker run and the ports section of your docker compose match up to the ports specified via the environment variables. If they do not match up, the server will not be accessible.

Volumes

There are three volumes used by the container:

Volume	Description
/vein-server/server	Contains server files
/vein-server/logs	Contains all log files generated by the container
/vein-server/backups	Contains all automated backups

Bind Mount Permissions

The container runs as the steam user with UID/GID 1000. When using bind mounts (mapping host directories to container volumes), you must ensure the host directories have the correct permissions.

If you see permission errors like:

mkdir: cannot create directory '/vein-server/server/Vein': Permission denied

Run the following commands on your host to fix the permissions:

# Create the directories if they don't exist
sudo mkdir -p /path/to/vein-data/server
sudo mkdir -p /path/to/vein-data/logs
sudo mkdir -p /path/to/vein-data/backups

# Set ownership to match container's steam user (UID/GID 1000)
sudo chown -R 1000:1000 /path/to/vein-data

Replace /path/to/vein-data with the actual path you're using for your bind mounts.

Note: If you use named Docker volumes instead of bind mounts, Docker handles permissions automatically and this issue does not occur. See the deployment examples for configurations using named volumes.

Backups

Backups can be performed automatically if configured. Backups are performed by making a copy of the /vein-server/server/Vein/Saved directory to the /vein-server/backups volume. The backups are named using the following format: vein-server-{datetime}. They are compressed as tar.gz files by default (can be set to zip via ZIP_BACKUPS=True) and are stored in the /vein-server/backups volume. You can configure the number of backups to keep using RETAIN_BACKUPS, otherwise you will need to manually delete old backups.

Backup Automation Options:

• BACKUP_ON_SCHEDULED_RESTART - Backup the server before a scheduled restart
• BACKUP_BEFORE_UPDATE - Backup the server before an update
• BACKUP_ON_STOP - Backup the server when the container stops
• SCHEDULED_BACKUP - Backup the server on a schedule

If you are using BACKUP_ON_STOP=True, it is highly recommended you adjust the timeout settings of your docker run/stop/compose command to allow the backup process enough time to complete its backup. Without doing this, it is likely your backup will be unfinished and corrupt.

If desired, you can also manually trigger a backup:

docker exec vein-server supervisorctl start vein-backup

Config Files

Configuration files are located in the /vein-server/server/Vein/Saved/Config/LinuxServer directory inside the container and the primary file is Game.ini.

This container has two primary ways to manage config files:

• Environment Variables - Recommended
• Manually

You should not mix and match these methods. If you wish to manage the config files manually, you must set MANUAL_CONFIG=True to prevent the container from generating/overwriting any config files.

Advanced Configuration via CONFIG_FILE_ Variables

For settings not covered by simple environment variables, use CONFIG_FILE_ variables to directly control Game.ini:

Format: CONFIG_FILE_<filename>_SECTION_<section>_VAR_<variable>=<value>

Delimiters:

• _SECTION_ separates filename from section name
• _VAR_ separates section name from variable name

Special character replacements (for section and variable names):

• Use SLASH for /
• Use DOT for .

Examples:

# Console variables (use DOT for . in variable names)
CONFIG_FILE_Engine_SECTION_ConsoleVariables_VAR_vein_DOT_PvP: "True"
CONFIG_FILE_Engine_SECTION_ConsoleVariables_VAR_vein_DOT_AISpawner_DOT_Enabled: "True"
CONFIG_FILE_Engine_SECTION_ConsoleVariables_VAR_vein_DOT_TimeMultiplier: "16"

# Admin configuration (use SLASH and DOT in section names)
CONFIG_FILE_Game_SECTION_SLASH_Script_SLASH_Vein_DOT_VeinGameSession_VAR_AdminSteamIDs: "12345678901234567"
CONFIG_FILE_Game_SECTION_SLASH_Script_SLASH_Vein_DOT_VeinGameSession_VAR_SuperAdminSteamIDs: "98765432109876543"

This produces the following:

Engine.ini:

[ConsoleVariables]
vein.PvP=True
vein.AISpawner.Enabled=True
vein.TimeMultiplier=16

Game.ini:

[/Script/Vein.VeinGameSession]
AdminSteamIDs=12345678901234567
SuperAdminSteamIDs=98765432109876543

Config File Behavior

The container uses a smart merge system for configuration files that preserves your changes while applying environment variable settings:

How it works:

• On each startup, the container reads the existing config file (if present)
• Only the specific settings controlled by environment variables are updated
• All other content is preserved, including:
  • In-game configuration changes
  • Server auto-generated content (paths, metadata, etc.)
  • Settings not controlled by environment variables

Backups:

• A backup is created only when the config file has changed since the last backup
• Backups are stored as .backup, .backup1, .backup2, etc. in the config directory
• This prevents unnecessary backup accumulation on repeated restarts

Important behaviors to understand:

1. Environment variables always win: If you set a value via environment variable and also change it in-game, the environment variable value will be applied on each container restart.

2. Removed environment variables persist: If you set a config value via environment variable, then later remove that environment variable, the value will remain in the config file. The container only adds or updates values - it never removes them. To reset a value, you must either:

   • Set the environment variable to the desired new value
   • Manually edit the config file (with MANUAL_CONFIG=True)
   • Delete the config file to start fresh

3. In-game changes are preserved: Any settings you change in-game that are NOT controlled by environment variables will persist across restarts.

Example scenario:

# Day 1: Set PvP mode via env var
CONFIG_FILE_Engine_SECTION_ConsoleVariables_VAR_vein_DOT_PvP="True"
# Result: Engine.ini contains vein.PvP=True

# Day 2: Remove the env var from your docker-compose
# Result: Engine.ini still contains vein.PvP=True (the value persists)

# Day 3: Want to disable PvP? Two options:
# Option A: Set the env var to the new value
CONFIG_FILE_Engine_SECTION_ConsoleVariables_VAR_vein_DOT_PvP="False"
# Option B: Edit the file in game or manually.

Deployment

See the deployment-examples/ directory for docker-compose examples:

• basic-docker-compose.yml - Minimal setup
• advanced-docker-compose.yml - All features configured

Tags

Tags used in this project are focused on the version of the GitHub release. It is not based on the game/server version.

Tag	Description	Examples
latest	Latest build from main branch	latest
major.minor.fix	Semantic versioned releases	1.0.0

There are also pre-release tags that are built from the next branch. These are used for testing and are not recommended for production use.

Contributing

See CONTRIBUTING.md for details on how to contribute to this project.