How to Configure Rich Text Tags on a Factorio Server

Last modified on Aug 10, 2023 in factorio

By Dalton Whalen

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Overview

As you host a Factorio server, gathering new players is often a goal to keep the server thriving and build a community. In order to achieve this, information must be provided to potential players to let them know what kind of server you are running. With the tag system, server owners can set tags to be listed alongside the server. This is beneficial to inform players of the server categories or allow players to easily locate the server using the search bar. From marking it as vanilla to modded to anything else you desire, adding tags is beneficial to any Factorio server. With Apex Hosting, adjusting tags is easily achieved through our FTP File Access, so we have written this tutorial to ease you through the setup steps.
 

Adding Tags

1. Navigate to the Apex Server Panel, then stop the server.
2. On the left-hand side, enter the FTP File Access and log in.
3. Here, open the Data folder, then locate the server-settings.json file.
   
4. Press the Edit button to the far right to open the file editor.
5. By default at the top, you will see:

  "tags": [
    "game",
    "tags"
  ],

6. Replace game and tags with whichever tag you wish to add to your server.
7. To add more tags, add an additional line with the same formatting.

  "tags": [
    "Apex",
    "Tutorial",
    "Custom",
    "Modded"
  ],

8. Press Save at the top of the screen, then restart the server.

 
Your server will now start using the desired tags and can be found in the public server browser in-game.
 

In-Game Functionality

1. Launch Factorio until you are on the main menu.
2. Select Multiplayer, followed by Browse Public Games.
3. Here, press the icon in the top-right to open the search bar.
   
4. Search for one of the tags you set in the text field.
5. Now all servers that have the word in its name, description, or tags can be found.
   

 
This will work for any tags you have set, including less common words. Whether you use this to allow players to know what kind of server you are running or make it easier to find, both of these options are available to use at any time.
 

Common Issues

Tags are not appearing in-game:
Most often, this means that the adjustments to the file did not save or had broken formatting. Return to the server-settings.json file, then ensure the chances are present. Additionally, ensure the formatting matches the examples seen above. Each tag should be in quotation marks, as well as having a comma at the end of each one except the last tag. Once you confirm that the changes and formatting is correct, save the file once more, then restart the server to ensure the changes appear publicly.

My server does not appear in the public list:
If the server does not appear anywhere in the server browser, the server may not be configured to appear publicly. To solve this, visit the Factorio Profile page, then log in. Press the Reveal button to copy the full token from the page. In the Apex panel, open the Customization tab on the left, then paste in the token into the matching field. Similarly, add your Factorio username to its own field, as well as changing the public server setting to enabled. Once this has been done, return to the panel page, then restart the server once more.
 

Helpful Links

Factorio Profile Page
Factorio Guides