Terraria: How to Change Server Difficulty

Change your Terraria server’s difficulty to Expert, Master, or Journey mode. Because Terraria locks difficulty into the world file at creation, you’ll need to generate a new world or upload one you’ve created locally.

Option 1: Generate a New World

Use this method if you’re okay starting fresh.

1. Stop your server from the Console page
2. Go to the Server Options tab in the main navigation
3. Find Difficulty (New Worlds Only) and select your desired mode:
   • 0 - Normal (Classic)
   • 1 - Expert
   • 2 - Master
   • 3 - Journey
4. Change World Name to something new (this triggers world generation)
5. Start your server

The server will create a new world with your chosen difficulty on startup.

Option 2: Upload a Locally-Created World

Use this method if you want full control over world settings (size, seed, evil biome) or want to transfer an existing single-player world.

1. Open Terraria on your computer and create a new world with your desired difficulty and settings
2. Locate the world file on your computer:
   • Windows: Documents\My Games\Terraria\Worlds\
   • macOS: ~/Library/Application Support/Terraria/Worlds\
   • Linux: ~/.local/share/Terraria/Worlds/
3. In the Game Panel, go to Management → File Manager
4. Navigate to saves/Worlds/
5. Upload your .wld file (and the matching .wld.bak if you want the backup)
6. Go to Server Options and set World Name to match your uploaded file (without the .wld extension)
7. Start your server

Why Can’t I Change Difficulty on an Existing World?

Terraria stores difficulty as part of the world file itself, not as a server setting. Once a world is generated, its difficulty is permanent - this is how the game works, not a hosting limitation. The only ways to play on a different difficulty are to create a new world or use a world that was originally created with that difficulty.