Once Human Starts Permanent Server Merges on September 16

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Once Human will begin merging permanent scenario servers during version maintenance on September 16, 2026, PT. Starry Studio says the move is meant to address low-population permanent servers and situations where friends or players in the same region and scenario ended up split across different servers.

The first wave covers all permanent servers for The Way of Winter and Deviation: Survive, Capture, Preserve. Manibus permanent servers will also start merging in South America, Japan, Korea, and HK, MO, and TW. Endless Dream and Manibus servers in other regions will be handled in later updates, with timing to be announced ahead of time.

  • Permanent servers in the same region and scenario will be merged into one new permanent server.
  • Character level, supplies, tech level, hive relationships, and other core data will carry over.
  • Scenario task progress will be reset to the new permanent server’s current challenge tasks and rewards.
  • Territories will be placed in the same coordinates where possible, and existing neighbors should stay together where the system can manage it.
  • If a territory can’t keep its spot because of overlap, capacity, or rule changes, it may be packed up. Compensation will be sent by in-game mail.
  • Facilities placed by other players in your territory will be refunded, also through mail.

Players are being told to clear enough mailbox space before the update, since rewards and returned facilities will be delivered there. Older mail can be cleared if the mailbox hits its limit.

The Way of Winter has one extra wrinkle. Its older 1.0 permanent servers, W_Winter-Y0001 and W_Winter-Y0002, are being folded into the newer setup. After the merge, tech points and tech level will be reset temporarily, then restored through mail within three business days. Thermal Tower tech will also be unlocked again within that same window.

The merged servers will have multiple worlds, but there will be caps on world population, active modes, and territory placement. If a world is full, players may need to switch to another one, though players whose territory is already in a capped world can still enter it.

Once the merge system is underway, the server merge reservation feature will be closed, since players in the same permanent scenario should no longer need to reserve a move just to meet up with friends.

Further reading: Official Once Human Dev Blog