factorio-headless

A small, straightforward containerized Factorio server that supports both interactive and non-interactive server commands. Ideal for local and hosted servers, it is simple, low-configuration, and highly customizable.

Docker image: Docker Hub

❗IMPORTANT❗ this is a fork from 6davids image

This fork is designed to address errors found in the main project:

1. The URL being used doesn't download the latest Factorio server build; instead, it oddly downloads version 1.1.57
2. The README doesn't mention that you need to prepend ./saves/ to your save name in the last-game text file.
3. It doesn't explain how to run the container through Docker Compose if you use more advanced tools like Portainer

Start the server

· Run With Custom Saved Games :

By default the container creates a new game and then uses it from then on. If you'd like to use your own games, create two binds when running the container:

• /app/factorio/saves/
• /app/factorio/last-game.txt

Drop your save files in the saves/ directory, and then enter the name of the save file you'd to use into last-game.txt.

⚠️ it must be prefixed by ./saves/ ⚠️

Example:

cp my-cool-saved-game.zip ~/factorio-stuffs/saved-games/ 
echo "./saves/my-cool-saved-game.zip" > ~/factorio-stuffs/last-game.txt 

Running:

Start the container detached, with ports mounted, and the two binds mentioned above via docker-compose if you're cool :

services:
  factorio-headless:
    image: mehdis/factorio-headless:1.1
    container_name: factorio-headless
    environment:
      - PUID=1000
      - PGID=1000
      - TZ=Etc/UTC
    volumes:
      - type: bind
        source: /docker/factorio-headless/saves
        target: /app/saves
      - type: bind
        source: /docker/factorio-headless/last-game.txt
        target: /app/last-game.txt
    ports:
      - 34197:34197/udp
    restart: unless-stopped

Or via docker run ... 😒

docker run --name factorio-headless -it \
-d \
-p 34197:34197/udp \
--mount type=bind,source=~/factorio-stuffs/saved-games,target=/app/factorio/saves \
--mount type=bind,source=~/factorio-stuffs/last-game.txt,target=/app/factorio/last-game.txt \
mehdis/factorio-headless

· Custom Settings

Settings can be managed the same way that saved games are. Mount files in the default locations to populate the server configs.

Commands

· Server Commands

Interactive:

Hop into the container

docker exec -it factorio-headless bash

Start Interactive Script

./interact.sh

 250.157 Info ServerMultiplayerManager.cpp:943: updateTick(15117) received stateChanged peerID(1) oldState(ConnectedDownloadingMap) newState(ConnectedLoadingMap)
 250.341 Info ServerMultiplayerManager.cpp:943: updateTick(15127) received stateChanged peerID(1) oldState(ConnectedLoadingMap) newState(TryingToCatchUp)
 250.342 Info ServerMultiplayerManager.cpp:943: updateTick(15127) received stateChanged peerID(1) oldState(TryingToCatchUp) newState(WaitingForCommandToStartSendingTickClosures)
 250.355 Info GameActionHandler.cpp:4996: UpdateTick (15127) processed PlayerJoinGame peerID(1) playerIndex(0) mode(connect) 
 250.407 Info ServerMultiplayerManager.cpp:943: updateTick(15131) received stateChanged peerID(1) oldState(WaitingForCommandToStartSendingTickClosures) newState(InGame)
2024-04-09 06:08:43 [JOIN] bardella joined the game
sup
2024-04-09 06:08:51 [CHAT] <server>: sup
2024-04-09 06:09:46 [CHAT] bardella: lol
/kick bardella reason

Non-Interactive (for scripts or one-offs):

Hop into the container

docker exec -it factorio-headless bash

Send commands to the server

root@factorio-headless:/app ./run-command.sh "sup"
2024-04-09 17:03:11 [CHAT] <server>: sup
root@factorio-headless:/app ./run-command.sh "/kick bardella reason"
2022-04-09 17:03:24 [KICK] bardella was kicked by <server>. Reason: reason.
1352.490 Info ServerMultiplayerManager.cpp:1061: Disconnect notification for peer (1)

Or, if you don't need to see the command output:

Hop into the container

docker exec -it factorio-headless bash

Send commands to the server

root@factorio-headless:/app echo "sup" > ./factorio-server-fifo
root@factorio-headless:/app echo "/kick bardella reason" > ./factorio-server-fifo

· Starting, Stopping, Restarting the Server

The image comes with a few scripts to help managing server execution.

Hop into the container

docker exec -it factorio-headless bash

Stop the factorio server

root@factorio-headless:/app ./stop-server.sh 
Stopping Factorio Server...
Done!

Start server again after stopping it.

root@factorio-headless:/app ./start-server.sh 
Starting Factorio Server...
Done!

Cycle the server. Useful after config changes.

root@factorio-headless:/app ./restart-server.sh 
Stopping Factorio Server...
Done!
Starting Factorio Server...
Done!

Testing

· Building the image:

docker build -t factorio-headless .

· Test Running:

prefer docker-compose, those docker run command are just for testing purposes

On x86 machines:

docker run --name factorio-headless -itp 34197:34197/udp mehdis/factorio-headless

ctrl-c kill the server

docker run --name factorio-headless -itdp 34197:34197/udp mehdis/factorio-headless

runs detached

On m1 Macs:

docker run --name factorio-headless -itp 34197:34197/udp --platform linux/amd64 mehdis/factorio-headless

ctrl-c kill the server

docker run --name factorio-headless -itdp 34197:34197/udp --platform linux/amd64 mehdis/factorio-headless

runs detached

Credits

Thank you once again, 6davids, for providing these useful yet incomplete resources, which have now been improved.