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VEIN Dedicated Server Docker Image

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Run a VEIN dedicated server with Docker Compose — with optional automatic updates, HTTP API, and scheduled backups (local rsync or S3 via rclone).

✅ Fast setup (copy/paste compose)
✅ Persistent saves/config via volumes
✅ Backups (local or S3)
✅ Optional Helm chart for Kubernetes

This project is unofficial and not affiliated with the VEIN developers or Valve.

Table of contents

QuickStart (Docker Compose)

Below is an example setup using Docker compose and local backups. Local backups will rsync your save and configuration files to the ./backup directory mounted to the sidecar container. See the backups section for more details.

services:
  vein:
    image: ghcr.io/radical-egg/vein-dedicated-server:latest
    container_name: vein-dedicated-server
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "27015:27015/udp" # Steam Query Port
      - "7777:7777/udp" # Game Port
      - "8080:8080/tcp" # HTTP API Port
    volumes:
      - ./data:/home/vein/server # game data and configs like Game.ini Engine.ini
      - ./config:/home/vein/.config/Epic/Vein # Experimental branches store save files here
    environment:
      TZ: America/Los_Angeles
      PUID: 1000 # replace with your users UID
      PGID: 1000 # replace with your users GID
      VEIN_SERVER_AUTO_UPDATE: true
      VEIN_SERVER_NAME: "Vein2Docker"
      VEIN_SERVER_DESCRIPTION: '"Vein Dedicated Server using docker"'
      VEIN_SERVER_PASSWORD: "secret"
      VEIN_SERVER_ENABLE_HTTP_API: true
#      VEIN_SERVER_USE_BETA: true
#      VEIN_SERVER_ADMIN_STEAM_IDS: "12345,12345,12345562312"
#      VEIN_SERVER_SUPER_ADMIN_STEAM_IDS: "12345"
  vein-backup-sidecar:
    image: ghcr.io/radical-egg/vein-dedicated-backup:latest
    container_name: vein-dedicated-backup
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data/vein-data:ro
      - ./config:/data/vein-config:ro
      - ./backup:/backup:rw
    environment:
      PUID: 1000 # replace with your users UID
      PGID: 1000 # replace with your users GID
      VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_INTERVAL_SECONDS: 7200
      VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_RETENTION: 10 # set to 0 to keep all backups

Backups

Local Backups (Rsync)

You can use this sidecar container to backup your game saves (Server.vns) and configuration files to a directory mount that you specify in the compose config. It is important to note that the backup container will look for files in /data so I recommend using /data/vein-data and /data/vein-config like the example below.

services:
  vein-backup-sidecar:
    image: ghcr.io/radical-egg/vein-dedicated-backup:latest
    container_name: vein-dedicated-backup
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data/vein-data:ro
      - ./config:/data/vein-config:ro
      - ./backup:/backup:rw
    environment:
      PUID: 1000 # replace with your users UID
      PGID: 1000 # replace with your users GID
      VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_INTERVAL_SECONDS: 7200
      VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_RETENTION: 10 # set to 0 to keep all backups

S3 Backups (Rclone)

The backup container has Rclone installed and can be used to send a backup of your Server.vns and Game.ini to and S3 bucket. The example configurations below are what I use for my self hosted Garage S3 instance.

services:
  vein-backup-sidecar:
    image: ghcr.io/radical-egg/vein-dedicated-backup:latest
    container_name: vein-dedicated-backup
    volumes:
      - ./data:/data/vein-data:ro
      - ./config:/data/vein-config:ro
      - ./backup:/backup:rw
    environment:
      PUID: 1000 # replace with your users UID
      PGID: 1000 # replace with your users GID
      VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_INTERVAL_SECONDS: 7200
      VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_MODE: s3
      VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_S3_BUCKET: backups
      VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_S3_ENDPOINT: http://garage.localdomain:3900 # Your S3 endpoint url
      VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_S3_PROVIDER: Other # Optional if your provider is not Other
      VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_S3_REGION: garage # Optional, some providers care about this
      VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_S3_KEY_ID: <key id> # required, key id
      VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_S3_ACCESS_KEY: <secret key> # required secret key

Kubernetes (Helm)

helm repo add radical-egg https://radical-egg.github.io/pineapple-bun/
helm repo update
helm install vein radical-egg/vein-k8s \
	--set VEIN_SERVER_NAME="Eggs Strange World" \
    --set VEIN_SERVER_DESCRIPTION="nollie 360 flips" \
    --set VEIN_SERVER_PASSWORD="secretpass"

The developers have some documentation on what configurations are available here.

Environment Variables

Dedicated Server

Variable Default Description
PUID 1000 User ID to run the server as
PGID 1000 Group ID to run the server as
VEIN_SERVER_NAME "Vein Dedicated Server Docker" Name of the game server
VEIN_SERVER_PASSWORD "changeme" Password for game server
VEIN_SERVER_DESCRIPTION "Vein Dedicated server in docker" Game server description
VEIN_SERVER_AUTO_UPDATE true Update server on startup
VEIN_QUERY_PORT 27015 Steam query port (UDP)
VEIN_GAME_PORT 7777 Game port (UDP)
VEIN_SERVER_PUBLIC true Specify if the gameserver is public
VEIN_SERVER_HEARTBEAT_INTERVAL "5.0" Game server heartbeat interval
VEIN_SERVER_MAX_PLAYERS "16" Max Players for dedicated server
VEIN_SERVER_ADMIN_STEAM_IDS False A comma delimited list of AdminSteamIDs
VEIN_SERVER_SUPER_ADMIN_STEAM_IDS False A comma delimited list of SuperAdminSteamIDs
VEIN_SERVER_WHITELISTED_PLAYERS False a comma delimited list of WhitelistedPlayers
VEIN_SERVER_VAC_ENABLED 0 Set bVACEnabled in Game.ini
VEIN_SERVER_USE_BETA false Set true to use -beta argument
VEIN_SERVER_BETA_BRANCH experimental The default branch to use with -beta arugment
VEIN_SERVER_VALIDATE_INSTALL false Set to true to provide the validate steamcmd argument on server install/update
VEIN_SERVER_HTTP_BIND_ADDRESS 0.0.0.0 Set the bind address for the HTTP API listener
VEIN_SERVER_HTTPPORT 8080 Set the HTTPPort value for Game.ini. Requires VEIN_SERVER_ENABLE_HTTP_API is set to true
VEIN_SERVER_ENABLE_HTTP_API False Set to true to enable HTTP API on VEIN_SERVER_HTTPPORT. By default this is False
VEIN_EXTRA_ARGS "" Extra flags passed to the server

Dedicated Server Backups

Variable Default Description
VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_MODE rsync Possible options are rsync or s3
VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_S3_BUCKET "" Name of s3 bucket
VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_S3_ENDPOINT "" s3 endpoint for backups
VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_S3_PROVIDER Other name of s3 provider (ex. garage, aws, minio)
VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_S3_REGION garage s3 region for rclone configurations, some providers want this
VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_S3_KEY_ID "" The access key ID for your s3 bucket
VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_S3_ACCESS_KEY "" The s3 access key for your s3 bucket
VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_SRC_DIR /data The source directory (in the container) of the dedicated server data
VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_DIR /backup The source directory (in the container) of the backup directory
VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_RETENTION 5 How many backups to keep (e.x if 10 is specified the 10 most recents will be kept and everything else deleted)
VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_INTERVAL_SECONDS 3600 How often to run backups (in seconds)

FAQ & Troubleshooting

This is a list of a frequently asked questions and troubleshooting. This list usually will be applicable for docker and non-docker users, so if you are running your server on a Linux or Windows server with steamcmd these solutions generally apply. If they don't, I will be sure to annotate that in the anwsers below.

Error! App '2131400' state is 0x6 after update job

You may see logs like:

Public...OK
Waiting for client config...OK
Waiting for user info...OK
Error! App '2131400' state is 0x6 after update job.
...

This usually means SteamCMD failed to install or update the server files. The most common causes are:

  • Networking (container can’t reach Steam over HTTPS)
  • Disk space (not enough free space for download + extraction)
  • Permissions (SteamCMD can’t write to the install directory)

1) Check networking (inside the container)

SteamCMD needs outbound access to Steam endpoints over TCP/443.

Verify HTTPS + DNS from inside the server container:

docker exec -it vein-dedicated-server curl -I https://api.steampowered.com

If this fails, check your DNS settings, firewall rules, proxy, VPN, or restrictive outbound policies.

2) Check free disk space

Downloads can temporarily require extra space during unpacking.

df -h

If you’re using bind mounts / volumes, check the filesystem where your server install actually lives.

3) Check permissions on the install directory

Ensure the user inside the container can read/write the install path:

ls -lah /path/to/gameserver
touch /path/to/gameserver/.perm_test && rm /path/to/gameserver/.perm_test

If you’re running rootless or using PUID/PGID, make sure the mounted directories on the host are owned by that UID/GID (or are writable).

4) Force SteamCMD to re-download by removing the app manifest (.acf)

SteamCMD tracks install state using an app manifest file at:

/path/to/gameserver/steamapps/appmanifest_*.acf

If the manifest is corrupt or the install state is stuck, you can remove it to force a fresh install on the next update cycle:

rm -f /path/to/gameserver/steamapps/appmanifest_*.acf

On the next start/update, SteamCMD should treat the app as not installed and re-download it.

Note: Only remove the appmanifest_*.acf file(s). Don’t delete your saved data/config unless you intend to reset everything.

5) Last resort: install to a new location, then restore from backup

If you’ve confirmed networking/space/permissions and it still fails, the install directory may be in a bad state. The cleanest fix is:

  1. Deploy to a new empty install path/volume
  2. Let SteamCMD install fresh
  3. Restore saves/config from your backups

How can I restore from a backup?

The gamestate is saved to a file called Server.vns in the SaveGames directory of your gamefiles. The backup “sidecar” container will do an rsync from your gameserver mount -> the backup mount specified in the compose file. The VEIN_SERVER_BACKUP_RETENTION environment variable specifies how many backups to keep. The process of restoring a backup should be relatively straightforward:

  1. Stop your server

    docker compose down

  2. Find your Server.vns backup file and place it in your SavedGames directory. Note the below command will overwrite your current Server.vns file, make sure you back it up if you want to keep it

    cp /path/to/backup/Server.vns /path/to/Save/SavedGames/Server.vns

  3. Start your server back up

    docker compose up -d

Warning: Failed to heartbeat (no connection string)

This warning almost always means the dedicated server can’t be reached from the public internet, so it fails to complete the heartbeat/registration flow.

The most common causes are:

  • Missing/incorrect port forwarding on your router (UDP)
    • Game port: 7777/udp (default)
    • Steam query port: 27015/udp (default)
  • Firewall/security rules blocking inbound UDP to the host (router firewall, host firewall, VPS security group)
  • NAT issues (CGNAT / double NAT) where inbound connections can’t reach your network at all

Important Note

Make sure you’re forwarding UDP, not TCP, and that the forwarding target is the actual host running the server.
Before you test: ensure the server is running
UDP “port checks” can be misleading if the server isn’t running.
Start the container and confirm it’s listening, then test.

Verify reachability from the outside world

The most reliable test is from a different network (phone hotspot, friend’s network, a cheap VPS, etc.). Testing from inside your own LAN often won’t prove public reachability.

Option A: Nmap (best quick signal)

nmap -sU -p 7777 <your.public.ip>
nmap -sU -p 27015 <your.public.ip>

Notes:

  • UDP scans often show open|filtered even when things are fine (because UDP has no handshake).
  • If you see closed, something is definitely wrong (port not forwarded, firewall, or server not listening).

Option B: Netcat (UDP probe)

echo "hello" | nc -u -w2 <your.public.ip> 7777
echo "hello" | nc -u -w2 <your.public.ip> 27015

Notes:

  • UDP netcat probes don’t always give a clear success/failure signal.
  • If it hangs or times out, treat that as “likely not reachable” and continue debugging.

If it’s not reachable: quick checklist

  1. Docker is exposing the ports

    • In your compose file, you should have something like:
      • 27015:27015/udp
      • 7777:7777/udp

  2. Router port forward is correct

    • External port → internal host IP → same port (UDP)
    • The internal host IP should be static/reserved via DHCP

  3. Host firewall allows UDP

    • Linux ufw / firewalld rules must allow inbound UDP on both ports

  4. CGNAT / double NAT

    • If your “WAN IP” on your router doesn’t match what websites show as your public IP, you’re likely behind CGNAT.
    • In that case, public hosting may be impossible without a real public IP, a VPN/tunnel solution, or hosting on a VPS.

Unable to connect to server - LogHttp: Warning: Request ... waited in queue ...

If you see warnings like this and your server shows up in the server list but players can’t join (connection fails/timeouts), a very common cause is CGNAT (Carrier-Grade NAT) from your ISP.

What this means:
Some internet providers don’t give your home network its own true public IP address. Instead, you share one with other customers. When that happens, normal port forwarding often can’t work, even if you set it up correctly in your router.

Why the server list can still work:
Your server can usually register itself with Steam / matchmaking because it makes the first outbound connection. But when a player tries to connect back in, there may be no direct route to your server—so the join fails.

How to confirm:

  • Check your router’s “WAN / Internet IP”. If it differs from what sites like “what is my IP” show, you’re likely behind CGNAT.
  • Another hint: your router WAN IP is in ranges like 100.64.x.x – 100.127.x.x.

Fix options:

  • Some ISPs will allow you to purchase a dedicated IP address, this would solve your issue.
  • Host the server on a VPS / cloud provider (DigitalOcean, AWS, etc.) where you get a public IP by default.
  • Use a tunneling / relay solution (example: Cloudflare Tunnel, Tailscale, ZeroTier). These can work around CGNAT, but setup varies by provider and game.

If you’re unsure, your best bet may be to ask your ISP provider directly if you are behind CGNAT.

Related resources

Here are some references that may be helpful for configuring VEIN with or without docker.

Licensing

This repository and container image include only orchestration code and do NOT distribute any game binaries or assets. Game files are downloaded by the user via SteamCMD under the Steam Subscriber Agreement.

You are responsible for complying with all licenses, terms of service, and EULAs associated with the game.

This project is not affiliated with the game developers or Valve.

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Unofficial Docker dedicated server for VEIN

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dedicated-server survival-game gameserver vein steamcmd-servers steamcmd-docker vein-linux vein-game

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