Campaign vs Sandbox on Return to Moria Servers

Return to Moria offers two world types. You choose between them with the World Type Startup variable on AleForge.

Quick comparison

	Campaign	Sandbox
Story	Linear narrative path through Moria	Free-form; story is present but less structured
World size	Standard procedural layout	Larger worlds with more resources
Difficulty feel	Enemies scale with story progress	Harder survival focus; tough enemies can appear early
Biome order	Narrative order (Doors of Durin → Dimrill Gate)	Randomized biomes (except spawn and Doors of Durin)
Best for	First playthrough, story-focused groups	Long-term builds, survival-focused communities

Many players recommend completing Campaign first. Sandbox is often considered more challenging because it emphasizes survival over guided story progression.

Set world type on AleForge

1. Open the Blacksmith’s Portal
2. Stop your server
3. Go to Startup
4. Set World Type to Campaign or Sandbox
5. Enter a new World Name, changing world type requires a new world
6. Start your server

World seeds work in both modes, but layouts differ because Campaign and Sandbox use different world generation rules.

For custom difficulty tuning, see Create a Custom World or Change world difficulty.