Updated 28 Aug 2026 Describes manager 5.3.0 and SSA Bridge 2.4.0

SSA Bridge without the manager#

The SSA Bridge is the in-game control mod: a UE4SS mod that runs inside the SCUM dedicated server process and gives you 43 modules that read and change the running game — admin commands, spawns, teleports, chat, live player and world state, kills and raids as they happen.

It arrives two ways. If you run SCUM Server Automation, the manager carries the bridge, deploys it and configures it from the panel — this page is not for you, see Plugins instead. If you have no manager — a rented host, somebody else's box, your own minimal setup — you can download the bridge on its own and install it by hand. That is what this page is about.

It is free and it is complete. Every module, every command and every read works with the files alone. There is nothing to unlock, nothing that expires and nothing held back for a paid tier. What a licence changes is one line of chat, and nothing else.

What you need#

Nothing else. No account, no manager, no database, no open ports — the bridge listens on 127.0.0.1 and, out of the box, talks to nobody.

Install#

1. Stop the server. Copying over a running game's files either fails or leaves you half installed.

1. Extract the archive into SCUM/Binaries/Win64/. The paths inside it are already relative to that folder. There is no installer, and nothing is written outside this directory.

`` <server>/SCUM/Binaries/Win64/ ├── dwmapi.dll the loader the game picks up (UE4SS) ├── UE4SS.dll the runtime (UE4SS) ├── UE4SS-settings.ini (UE4SS) └── Mods/ └── SSABridge/ ├── dlls/main.dll the bridge itself ├── SSABridge.config.example.json a copy to read — see below └── enabled.txt presence = UE4SS starts the mod ``

There is no SSABridge.config.json in the archive, and that is deliberate. The bridge writes a complete one the first time it starts, so extracting a new archive over an old install cannot reset the port, the bind host, the remote-control token or the rate limits you set — there is nothing in it to overwrite them with. The .example.json beside it is a copy to read; nothing loads it, and editing it changes nothing.

The three files marked (UE4SS) come from the runtime. If the build you downloaded does not include them, get UE4SS from docs.ue4ss.com and put those three in place first — the bridge is a mod for UE4SS and cannot load without it.

1. Start the server. The bridge writes Mods/SSABridge/SSABridge.log immediately and SSABridge.status.json once it is up. If neither file appears, UE4SS did not load the mod, and UE4SS.log in Win64/ says why — usually in a single line.

1. Turn on what you want. Every module is off by default: installing the bridge does not change anything about your server on its own.

Configuring it by hand#

The first start writes two files next to the mod, and between them they are the whole configuration surface:

Both are generated from the modules' own definitions, so they can never describe a build other than the one you have. The reference is rewritten on every start (after an update it must describe the new build); modules.json is only ever created — your edits are never overwritten.

Change modules.json, restart the server, done.

Free, licensed, and what the difference is#

Without a licence the bridge introduces itself. A couple of seconds after each player joins, it sends that player one line in chat naming the bridge and scumsa.com.

With a licence, that line is not sent. That is the entire difference. No feature is gated behind it, no limit lifts, no timer runs out. A server with no licence file has all 43 modules and every command available to it.

If a licence lapses, nothing stops working. An expired file, a deleted file, a week with no internet — in every case the only thing that happens is that the line comes back.

Getting one#

A licence is bound to one machine, and comes from your scumsa account on a server your plan covers:

1. Start the server once with the bridge installed. It writes Mods/SSABridge/SSABridge.status.json, which contains a machineId — a value shaped like 00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000.
2. On your account page, open Running the bridge without the manager? under that server's card, paste the machineId, and download SSABridge.license.
3. Put that file next to the mod, in Mods/SSABridge/. The bridge picks it up on its own — no restart needed.

It is valid for 30 days and only on that machine, so come back for a new one when it runs out. If you forget, see above: the line simply reappears.

One thing a licence does not cover#

A bridge whose DLL was modified after it was signed refuses commands outright — licence or no licence, free or paid. That check is not about subscriptions: it means the file is not the one we shipped. The download page publishes the SHA-256 of main.dll itself, not only of the archive, precisely so you can check the file that is actually on your server. If it does not match, replace it with a fresh download rather than hunting for a licence problem.

Good to know#

• Everything is off by default. The bridge installed and running changes nothing until you turn a module on. That includes every module that can write to the game.
• It is local by default. SSABridge.config.json binds 127.0.0.1. You can set "host": "0.0.0.0" and a strong "token" to drive it from your own tooling over the network — read Domain & HTTPS first, because that is a plain TCP port with a shared secret and it belongs behind a firewall.
• Updating is the same four steps. Stop the server, extract the new archive over the old one, start it. modules.json is left alone; modules-reference.txt is rewritten to describe the new build.
• If you install the manager later, delete the hand-installed copy first and let the manager deploy its own. enabled.txt starts the mod regardless of what the panel's switch says, so the two would disagree — and the panel is the half that would look broken.
• Verify what you downloaded. The download page shows the SHA-256 of the archive and of main.dll, both computed on our server from the file it hands out, plus a VirusTotal verdict for the archive.

Where to next#

• SSA Bridge reference — what every module can and cannot do, in detail
• UE4SS plugins — the runtime it loads inside, and running your own mods
• Plugins — how the manager deploys the bridge for you instead
• Premium — what is paid, and what is not