Change Dragonwilds Difficulty and World Settings

Difficulty, Creative mode and the Custom world sliders are not settings on your RuneScape: Dragonwilds server. They are chosen in the game when a world is made, so the way the wiki documents to get them onto a server is to bring that world's save file with you. This guide shows how to build a world with the rules you want on your PC and put it on your server.

Checked against RuneScape: Dragonwilds 1.0.1, October 2026.

Why there is no difficulty box in Startup

The Startup tab holds the server's own settings: Owner ID, World Name, Server Name, Join Password, Admin Password and Auto Update. The settings file behind them, DedicatedServer.ini, has no difficulty or world rules in it either, so editing it in the File Manager can't change them. RuneScape: Dragonwilds server settings explains what each one does.

The official wiki documents the way to host a world with custom rules: create the world in the game, then copy its save file to the server. Jagex's 1.0.0.5 notes also mention dedicated server owners editing their worlds on consoles, but they don't say what can be changed, so this guide uses the save file method.

Pick the rules

When you create a world in the game you choose its type:

• Standard is the default, with a Normal or Hard difficulty. The wiki says a Standard world's basic settings and difficulty can't be adjusted after the world is created.
• Creative removes survival limits. How to use a Creative world covers it.
• Custom opens the Advanced button in the upper left of the world screen. Jagex's notes say over 40 settings are exposed there, from damage, thirst and hunger to XP rates and processing.

Jagex's 0.9 notes add that you need a new Custom World character to enter a Custom world, and a Creative Mode character to enter a Creative one. Tell your party before they join, so nobody is surprised at the character screen.

Build the world on your PC

1. Start RuneScape: Dragonwilds on your PC and create a new world with the type, difficulty and settings you want.
2. Enter the world and wait about a minute or two for the ground around you to load, as the wiki advises.
3. Press Esc and choose Exit Game, so the game writes the save.
4. On your PC, open %LOCALAPPDATA%\RSDragonwilds\Saved\SaveGames and find the world's .sav file. The file is named after the world. Don't rename it.

Put it on your server

1. Take a backup first on the Backups tab. Back up and restore a RuneScape: Dragonwilds world has the steps.
2. Stop the server. The import refuses while it is running.
3. Open the World Import tab, drop the .sav file on it, pick it in the list and click Import. World Name is set to the world's name for you.
4. Press Start, then join the world.

Your server keeps its old world as a save file, and a world of the same name is kept under a new name rather than overwritten. RuneScape: Dragonwilds worlds and saves covers switching between worlds and the 16 character limit on a world's name.

Jagex's 1.0.0.5 notes describe a fault where restoring saves reset worlds to default settings, so Custom or Creative worlds became Normal ones. After the import, join and check the world plays by your rules before your party settles in.

Change the rules later

Make a new world with the new rules on your PC and import it the same way. Your old world stays on the server, so you can switch back by setting World Name to the old name and restarting.

If the world looks wrong

1. It loads as a plain Normal world - the server may have started a new world instead of yours. Check World Name in Startup matches the imported world's name exactly, then restart.
2. Import refuses - stop the server first.
3. Players can't find it - the Public search is case sensitive. Fix: Dragonwilds server missing from the public list has the checks.