Instances

Overview

Instance configuration files define self-contained worlds that players can enter — the overworld zones, dungeon instances, creative hubs, and portal destinations. Each instance has a config.json that specifies the world seed, spawn point, world generation type, game mode, and a wide range of gameplay toggles (PvP, fall damage, NPC spawning, block ticking, etc.). Instances also configure their chunk storage backend, plugin settings, and an optional discovery UI that displays a title card when players enter.

Instance directories also contain a resources/ folder with runtime state files (e.g. InstanceData.json, Time.json) that track persistent world state.

File Location

Assets/Server/Instances/
  Basic/
  Challenge_Combat_1/
  CreativeHub/
    config.json
    resources/
  Default/
  Default_Flat/
  Default_Void/
  Dungeon_1/
  Dungeon_Goblin/
  Dungeon_Outlander/
  Forgotten_Temple/
    config.json
    resources/
  Movement_Gym/
    config.json
    resources/
  NPC_Faction_Gym/
  NPC_Gym/
  Persistent/
  Portals_Hedera/
  Portals_Henges/
  Portals_Jungles/
  Portals_Oasis/
  Portals_Taiga/
  ShortLived/
  TimeOut/
  Zone1_Plains1/
  Zone2_Desert1/
  Zone3_Taiga1/
  Zone4_Volcanic1/

Schema

config.json

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
Version	number	Yes	—	Config format version (currently 4).
UUID	object	Yes	—	Binary UUID identifying this instance. Contains $binary and $type fields.
DisplayName	string	No	—	Human-readable name for the instance (e.g. "the Crossroads").
Seed	number	Yes	—	World generation seed.
SpawnProvider	SpawnProvider	Yes	—	Spawn point configuration.
WorldGen	WorldGen	Yes	—	World generation settings.
WorldMap	WorldMap	No	—	World map display configuration.
ChunkStorage	ChunkStorage	Yes	—	Backend for chunk data persistence.
ChunkConfig	object	No	{}	Additional chunk-level configuration overrides.
IsTicking	boolean	No	false	Whether entity tick updates run in this instance.
IsBlockTicking	boolean	No	false	Whether block tick updates run (e.g. crop growth, fire spread).
IsPvpEnabled	boolean	No	false	Whether player-versus-player damage is enabled.
IsFallDamageEnabled	boolean	No	true	Whether fall damage is applied.
IsGameTimePaused	boolean	No	false	Whether the in-game day/night clock is frozen.
GameTime	string	No	—	Initial game time as an ISO 8601 timestamp.
ClientEffects	ClientEffects	No	—	Visual overrides for sun, bloom, and sunshaft rendering.
RequiredPlugins	object	No	{}	Map of plugin IDs required for this instance.
GameMode	string	No	—	Game mode: "Creative", "Adventure", "Survival".
IsSpawningNPC	boolean	No	true	Whether NPCs spawn naturally in this instance.
IsSpawnMarkersEnabled	boolean	No	true	Whether spawn markers in prefabs are active.
IsAllNPCFrozen	boolean	No	false	When true, all NPCs are frozen and do not move or act.
GameplayConfig	string	No	"Default"	ID of the gameplay config to use. References a file in GameplayConfigs/.
IsCompassUpdating	boolean	No	true	Whether the compass UI updates in this instance.
IsSavingPlayers	boolean	No	true	Whether player state is saved when they leave.
IsSavingChunks	boolean	No	true	Whether modified chunks are saved to storage.
SaveNewChunks	boolean	No	true	Whether newly generated chunks are saved.
IsUnloadingChunks	boolean	No	true	Whether chunks unload when no players are nearby.
IsObjectiveMarkersEnabled	boolean	No	true	Whether objective markers are visible.
DeleteOnUniverseStart	boolean	No	false	Whether this instance is deleted when the universe restarts.
DeleteOnRemove	boolean	No	false	Whether the instance data is deleted when the instance is removed.
ResourceStorage	ResourceStorage	No	—	Backend for resource data persistence.
Plugin	PluginConfig	No	—	Plugin-specific settings, including instance discovery UI.

SpawnProvider

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
Id	string	Yes	—	Spawn provider type: "Global" for a fixed world spawn.
SpawnPoint	SpawnPoint	Yes	—	World coordinates and rotation for the spawn position.

SpawnPoint

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
X	number	Yes	—	X coordinate in blocks.
Y	number	Yes	—	Y coordinate (vertical) in blocks.
Z	number	Yes	—	Z coordinate in blocks.
Pitch	number	No	0	Camera pitch angle in degrees.
Yaw	number	No	0	Camera yaw angle in degrees.
Roll	number	No	0	Camera roll angle in degrees.

WorldGen

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
Type	string	Yes	—	Generator type: "Hytale" (legacy), "HytaleGenerator" (node-graph).
Name	string	No	—	World generation profile name (used with "Hytale" type).
Environment	string	No	—	Environment ID for this world (used with "Hytale" type).
WorldStructure	string	No	—	World structure name (used with "HytaleGenerator" type).

WorldMap

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
Type	string	Yes	—	"WorldGen" (shows biome map), "Disabled" (no map).

ClientEffects

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
SunHeightPercent	number	No	—	Sun height override as a percentage.
SunAngleDegrees	number	No	—	Sun angle override in degrees.
BloomIntensity	number	No	—	Post-process bloom intensity.
BloomPower	number	No	—	Bloom power exponent.
SunIntensity	number	No	—	Sun light intensity multiplier.
SunshaftIntensity	number	No	—	God-ray intensity.
SunshaftScaleFactor	number	No	—	God-ray scale factor.

Discovery (Plugin.Instance.Discovery)

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
TitleKey	string	Yes	—	Localisation key for the title shown when entering.
SubtitleKey	string	No	—	Localisation key for the subtitle.
Display	boolean	No	true	Whether the discovery card is shown.
AlwaysDisplay	boolean	No	false	Show the card every time, not just on first entry.
Icon	string	No	—	Icon image filename for the discovery card.
Major	boolean	No	false	Whether this is a major discovery (larger UI treatment).
Duration	number	No	—	Seconds the discovery card is displayed.
FadeInDuration	number	No	—	Seconds for the card fade-in transition.
FadeOutDuration	number	No	—	Seconds for the card fade-out transition.

Instance Plugin Config

Field	Type	Required	Default	Description
RemovalConditions	array	No	[]	Conditions under which this instance is automatically removed.
PreventReconnection	boolean	No	false	When true, players cannot reconnect to this instance after disconnecting.
Discovery	Discovery	No	—	Discovery UI configuration.

Examples

Creative Hub (Assets/Server/Instances/CreativeHub/config.json, condensed):

{
  "Version": 4,
  "DisplayName": "the Crossroads",
  "Seed": 1618917989368,
  "SpawnProvider": {
    "Id": "Global",
    "SpawnPoint": { "X": 5103.5, "Y": 168.0, "Z": 4982.5, "Yaw": 90.0 }
  },
  "WorldGen": {
    "Type": "Hytale",
    "Name": "Instance_Creative_Hub",
    "Environment": "Env_Creative_Hub"
  },
  "WorldMap": { "Type": "Disabled" },
  "GameMode": "Creative",
  "IsSpawningNPC": false,
  "IsAllNPCFrozen": true,
  "IsGameTimePaused": true,
  "GameplayConfig": "CreativeHub",
  "IsSavingPlayers": false,
  "Plugin": {
    "Instance": {
      "PreventReconnection": true,
      "Discovery": {
        "TitleKey": "server.instances.creative_hub.title",
        "SubtitleKey": "server.instances.creative_hub.subtitle",
        "Display": true,
        "Icon": "Forgotten_Temple.png",
        "Major": true,
        "Duration": 4.0,
        "FadeInDuration": 1.5,
        "FadeOutDuration": 1.5
      }
    }
  }
}

Movement Gym with visual overrides (Assets/Server/Instances/Movement_Gym/config.json, condensed):

{
  "Version": 4,
  "WorldGen": {
    "Type": "HytaleGenerator",
    "WorldStructure": "Default_Flat"
  },
  "WorldMap": { "Type": "WorldGen" },
  "ClientEffects": {
    "SunHeightPercent": 100.0,
    "BloomIntensity": 0.3,
    "BloomPower": 8.0,
    "SunIntensity": 0.25,
    "SunshaftIntensity": 0.3,
    "SunshaftScaleFactor": 4.0
  },
  "GameMode": "Creative",
  "IsGameTimePaused": true,
  "IsObjectiveMarkersEnabled": true
}

Related Pages

• Gameplay Configs — gameplay rules applied within instances
• Portal Types — portal definitions that connect to instance IDs
• World Generation — generator pipeline selected by WorldGen.Type
• Environments — environment files referenced by WorldGen.Environment