How to Install tShock Plugins on Your Terraria Server

MANAfuel Team

5 min readMay 27, 2026Updated May 2026

Terraria tShock plugin installation through MANAfuel dashboard

Install and configure tShock plugins on your MANAfuel Terraria server for permissions, economy, anti-cheat, and custom gameplay features.

Deploy a tShock Terraria Server
Open the MANAfuel dashboard and click Deploy. Select Terraria — all MANAfuel Terraria servers ship with tShock pre-installed. Choose your plan (Starter with 4 GB handles most Terraria servers comfortably) and pick a server name. tShock is the standard Terraria server modification — it adds permissions, groups, regions, and a plugin API without requiring client-side mods.
Open the Mod Installer
Navigate to your server panel and open the Mod Installer tab. The installer connects to the tShock plugin repository. Browse available plugins by category — popular categories include Administration (anti-cheat, region protection), Economy (shops, currency), Gameplay (custom events, boss spawners), and Utility (chat formatting, teleport systems). Each listing shows compatibility with your tShock version.
Install Your First Plugin
Search for a plugin — try "InfiniteChests" for expanded storage or "WorldEdit" for region editing. Click Install. Bob downloads the plugin DLL to the ServerPlugins directory and verifies it loads without dependency errors. Most tShock plugins work immediately without configuration. If a plugin requires a database (SQLite is built into tShock), Bob sets up the connection automatically.
Configure Plugin Settings
Plugins that need configuration create JSON or TXT config files in the tshock directory. Open the File Manager tab, navigate to tshock/, and edit any config file inline. For example, the Region protection plugin stores its data in tshock/regions.json. Economy plugins have config files for currency names, shop prices, and reward amounts. Changes to most plugin configs take effect on server restart.
Manage Plugin Permissions
tShock has a built-in permission system. Each plugin registers its own permissions (e.g., worldedit.selection, infinitechests.use). Assign permissions to groups through the REST API console or by editing the tshock/groups.json file. The default groups are guest, default, vip, and admin. Create custom groups for different player roles — builders get worldedit permissions, moderators get anti-cheat commands.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Do players need to install anything to join a tShock server?

No. tShock is server-side only. Players connect with the standard Terraria client. All plugin functionality runs on the server — players interact with plugins through in-game chat commands (prefixed with /) without any client modifications.

How many plugins can a Terraria server run?

Most servers run 10 to 20 tShock plugins without issues on the Starter plan. tShock plugins are lightweight compared to mods in other games. Performance impact is minimal unless a plugin performs heavy world modification or database operations.

What is the difference between tShock and tModLoader?

tShock is a server-side modification that adds administration features and a plugin API — clients use vanilla Terraria. tModLoader adds full mod support (new items, enemies, biomes) but requires all players to install the same mods. MANAfuel supports both as separate server types.

Troubleshooting