Free service to run your server: Factorio Zone

[matlater]

It works great! Thanks so much <3
edit:cant wait for mods

[WhiteFang34]

I have added support for mods.

[Kylerh15]

hey i been trying to find a way to host a server for a few friends and i came across your service and it looks great but im not to sure how it works i cant click on any of the buttons on the site and it says
"connected
not authorized, invalid user token"

[WhiteFang34]

hey i been trying to find a way to host a server for a few friends and i came across your service and it looks great but im not to sure how it works i cant click on any of the buttons on the site and it says
"connected
not authorized, invalid user token"

This has been fixed, please try again.

[Kylerh15]

thanks it works!

[matlater]

Hi! Mods option works great but i can't upload Alien Biomes mod, I know there is 64 MB limit. Can you incrase this limit to 100 MB or make something like "gateway" for this mod?

[WhiteFang34]

Hi! Mods option works great but i can't upload Alien Biomes mod, I know there is 64 MB limit. Can you incrase this limit to 100 MB or make something like "gateway" for this mod?

You can get around that by removing the graphics from the mod. The server doesn't need them and it reduces the size to under 1 MB. I'll see about having my service remove the graphics at upload time so they don't count toward the limit.

[WhiteFang34]

Hi! Mods option works great but i can't upload Alien Biomes mod, I know there is 64 MB limit. Can you incrase this limit to 100 MB or make something like "gateway" for this mod?

You can get around that by removing the graphics from the mod. The server doesn't need them and it reduces the size to under 1 MB. I'll see about having my service remove the graphics at upload time so they don't count toward the limit.

I've updated the service to remove graphics and sounds from mods. The upload limit for mods has been increased to 128 MB. A few rare bugs have been fixed as well.

[matlater]

It works! Thanks a lot <3

[Erythion]

Hi, how about uploading mod settings?

[Therax]

Holy crap, you added mod support!

Here’s a suggestion: have people upload “mod-list.json” and “mod-settings.dat,” and have your service download the active mods from the mod portal automatically.

[Annelo]

When the 0.15 releases started rolling out, I noticed that I was repeating the same steps to upgrade my headless server. Much like the spirit of the game, I started to automate those steps. Two weeks ago, I decided to go even further and make it into a service for others to use. It’s experimental at this point, however it’s ready to use now.

Simply go to https://factorio.zone and click the start button. In seconds you'll have a headless server. It's that easy.

I would appreciate any feedback. If there is sufficient interest, I will continue to add functionality.

Hi,it is possible to load saving?

[GrumpyJoe]

Hi,it is possible to load saving?

select empty save slot, upload save, start server

[MnHebi]

Fantastic, but one thing: the mod list doesn't allow scrolling. I have over 30 mods on my save and I can't see half the mods list.
Made a little mistake on uploading, and missed one mod. Couldn't figure out which it was...

[Pulz]

Hello,
I literally only signed up to this forum because of your service.

Me and my friends were pleasantly surprised to see such a good free service with minimalist setup requirements. Not even a login!
Thank you very much for your kind contribution to the community!

I do have a quick question though:
How long does a server run? (Curious as to whether or not I need to arrange with my mates to upload the world save to our group chat when any of us decides to play our world alone)


Been having lots of fun thanks to you- so thanks again

[WhiteFang34]

Hello,
I literally only signed up to this forum because of your service.

Me and my friends were pleasantly surprised to see such a good free service with minimalist setup requirements. Not even a login!
Thank you very much for your kind contribution to the community!

I do have a quick question though:
How long does a server run? (Curious as to whether or not I need to arrange with my mates to upload the world save to our group chat when any of us decides to play our world alone)


Been having lots of fun thanks to you- so thanks again

That's good to hear!

The server will run as long as an active player is connected to it. Inactive players are kicked after 30 minutes and the game will be paused if no one is left. The server will be shutdown after 60 minutes with no players on it. The game will be saved at shutdown, even if you're not connected to the website to see it. The next time you return to the website with the same browser, you'll be able to start that save game where it left off.

[webtroter]

I seem to have found a bug.

I wanted to upload Todo-List_17.0.0 and it didn't want it. It was because of a missing Readme.md. Can you look into the info.json instead?


Also, I worry about privacy while using your service. What does your data retention looks like? (Logs, saves, etc...) Is it purely cookie based? For how long? Thank you.

PS : if you can share the source (or just me, i'm a curious guy), that would be awesome.

[icon256]

I seem to have found a bug.

I wanted to upload Todo-List_17.0.0 and it didn't want it. It was because of a missing Readme.md. Can you look into the info.json instead?


Also, I worry about privacy while using your service. What does your data retention looks like? (Logs, saves, etc...) Is it purely cookie based? For how long? Thank you.

PS : if you can share the source (or just me, i'm a curious guy), that would be awesome.

I second this above, if you could share your source code for both backend and front end web. Would be awesome to create and participate in the free Factorio Zone community. Thanks ahead of time.

[WhiteFang34]

I seem to have found a bug.

I wanted to upload Todo-List_17.0.0 and it didn't want it. It was because of a missing Readme.md. Can you look into the info.json instead?


Also, I worry about privacy while using your service. What does your data retention looks like? (Logs, saves, etc...) Is it purely cookie based? For how long? Thank you.

PS : if you can share the source (or just me, i'm a curious guy), that would be awesome.

The service evaluates info.json in mods for the name, version and title. There's something about Todo-List_17.0.0.zip on the mod portal that is unsupported by ZipInputStream in Java 11. I suspect that you created a new zip with Readme.md in it and that worked fine? That file isn't necessary, but the re-zip probably solved it. I've created a workaround and deployed it, so that zip directly from the mod portal works now.

Regarding privacy, I'll see about posting a privacy policy on the website. Did you have any particular concerns? For now, let me give you a summary. The service remembers you by storing a randomly generated token in your browser with LocalStorage (which doesn't expire). This of course is necessary to remember your mods, saves and current game state. The virtual machines that are launched to run Factorio are all temporary. The service copies the save file from it for storage in your slots. It also keeps temporary logs for diagnostic purposes.

As for sharing the source, let me think about that. I would need to add a copyright notice, pick an appropriate license and verify things are suitable to share. It's also not specific to Factorio and I might use it for other projects, so I need to take that into consideration too.

[WhiteFang34]

I seem to have found a bug.

I wanted to upload Todo-List_17.0.0 and it didn't want it. It was because of a missing Readme.md. Can you look into the info.json instead?


Also, I worry about privacy while using your service. What does your data retention looks like? (Logs, saves, etc...) Is it purely cookie based? For how long? Thank you.

PS : if you can share the source (or just me, i'm a curious guy), that would be awesome.

I second this above, if you could share your source code for both backend and front end web. Would be awesome to create and participate in the free Factorio Zone community. Thanks ahead of time.

It's good to see there's interest in this. See my other reply and let me get back to you both.