Lantern

Lantern gives Grounded 2 IP/port multiplayer: players join through the Lantern desktop app, hosts run a Lantern server package next to Grounded 2, and worlds stay on the server with snapshots, admin tools, server query, and a mod kit. No friend-code lobby, no peer-to-peer handoff, no host-must-be-online requirement.

Every player must install Lantern to join a Lantern server. Stock Grounded 2 cannot connect to Lantern servers directly.

Features

🏮 Join by IP and port

Add a server address once and connect straight into the hosted world.

🌐 Stock UE networking

Lantern joins through plain Unreal IpNetDriver UDP — no Xbox sign-in, no platform party, no friend codes.

💾 Server-side worlds

The world lives on the host machine. The server keeps running after a player leaves, and snapshots give admins a recovery point before major changes.

🔁 Snapshots and rollback

The server snapshots the world on every auto-save and on demand. Admins can list snapshots, roll the world back to one, or upload and restore a world from Lantern's world tools.

🛠 Admin console

LanternServer exposes Source RCON on the server's RCON port for commands like help, status, players, save snapshot, and save list.

📡 Server query

LanternServer answers Source A2S query so server lists, monitoring tools, and bots can read status and player counts.

🧩 Mods + ModKit

Lantern loads Lua and C++ mods through UE4SS on both the client and the host. See docs/MODS.md.

Install

Managed hosting

The shortest path is SurvivalServers.com Grounded 2 hosting. Lantern is already installed, ports are handled, and the panel shows a one-click Lantern setup link for players.

Players

1. Download LanternSetup-<version>.exe from the latest release.
2. Run the installer. Windows SmartScreen may warn because the installer is not code-signed yet; choose More info then Run anyway.
3. Open Lantern, add the server address, and click Connect.

Lantern checks for launcher updates automatically on launch and while it is running.

Self-hosted servers

1. Download LanternServer-v<version>.zip from the latest LanternServer release. The server package is published there, not on this repo's release page.
2. Extract it on the Windows host.
3. Edit LanternServer\appsettings.json.
4. Forward/open the gameplay UDP port, query UDP port, RCON TCP port, and admin HTTP TCP port.
5. Run LanternServer\LanternServer.exe. The server runs headless — no GPU is required.

Full server setup, settings, source query examples, RCON commands, and build instructions live in HumanGenome/LanternServer.

FAQ

How do I join a server?

Open Lantern, click Add Server, and enter a name, the server's IP or hostname, and its gameplay port. Add the join key if the server uses one. Lantern derives the query, RCON, and admin ports from the gameplay port, so you only enter the one port. Select the server and click Connect.

Can I run the server on the same machine I play on?

No. The Lantern server runs its own copy of Grounded 2 in the background and your game client runs a second copy, and Steam only allows one running instance of a game per account. Run the server on a separate host and connect to it from your gaming PC.

Can I import an existing save?

Yes, from the server's world tools. The server takes a backup before importing and restarts on the imported world.

Is Linux supported?

No. Lantern is Windows-only, for both the player app and the server (Windows 10/11/Server, 64-bit). The server launches the Windows build of Grounded 2 and uses Windows process management.

Releases

This release page carries the player-side downloads:

• LanternSetup-<version>.exe — installer for players
• LanternSetup-latest.exe — the same installer at a stable, version-independent URL
• Lantern-Launcher-Windows-x64-v<version>.zip — portable player app, no installer
• checksums-launcher.txt — hashes for the launcher assets

The server package (LanternServer-v<version>.zip) is published on the LanternServer release page. If you only want to play on someone else's server, you need the installer, not the server zip.

Development

The Lantern app, server, runtime plugin, installer, and release automation live in the build repo.

• src/launcher/Lantern.Launcher — Avalonia desktop app
• src/server/LanternServer — host supervisor, RCON, query, HTTP admin API
• src/native/Lantern.Plugin — UE4SS runtime plugin
• installer — NSIS installer
• dist/ue4ss-client and dist/ue4ss-server — runtime UE4SS layouts; the host mods live under dist/ue4ss-server/Mods, the client join mod under dist/ue4ss-client/Mods

Source

LanternServer source is mirrored publicly at HumanGenome/LanternServer.

The public Lantern repo at HumanGenome/Lantern is the download and documentation hub for released builds.

Community Note

Lantern is a community project and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the developers of Grounded 2.

License

See LICENSE.

Credits

• UE4SS — Unreal Engine scripting and modding framework
• Avalonia — .NET UI framework used by Lantern