What Deskrawl Online Mode actually does today (leaderboard, server-managed data), why new characters default to it, and the offline-sync request.
Deskrawl Online Mode: Leaderboard Only, and Can Offline Sync?
Deskrawl Online Mode is not multiplayer. There is no co-op and no party system — the leaderboard is the only online feature First Day Games has ever announced. Since the 2026-09-28 hot fix, every new character you create is an online character by default. Offline characters cannot be converted to online, and the developers have never answered the request.
Official source: Steam news — "[0.1.13] New Talents, Online Mode, Leaderboard and Anti-cheat!", 27 June 2026
Deskrawl is a single-player game, and the store page proves it
The reason "deskrawl multiplayer" returns nothing useful is that the game is not one. The Steam store page lists exactly 12 categories, and the only network-related ones are Single-player and Steam Leaderboards:
| Steam category | Present |
|---|---|
| Single-player, Steam Leaderboards, Steam Achievements, Steam Cloud, Family Sharing | Yes |
| Adjustable Difficulty, Save Anytime, Playable without Timed Input, Camera Comfort, Custom Volume Controls, Mouse Only Option, Playable at your own pace | Yes |
| Multiplayer, Online Co-Op, Shared/Split Screen Co-op, PvP, LAN | None of them |
What Online Mode actually gives you
The 0.1.13 announcement is unusually direct about scope, and it is the sentence the rest of the game's marketing never repeats:
"In Online mode, the character can participate in additional social features and important data is managed by server. Currently the only online feature added is Leaderboard, and we will add more features in the future. In addition this new architecture paves the foundation to build future social and trading systems. We highly encourage everyone to try Online mode to help us test and improve."
The same post describes the board itself: "currently it's a rank of fastest Treant Boss map clear time. The goal of this is mostly for us to test, but hope you can still have some fun with it!" That was the launch state. Eight hot fixes later, nothing has announced a second online feature.
Two records disagree, and the honest answer needs both. The 0.1.13 post names the leaderboard as the only online feature added. The 1.0 launch build says more. Its interface table carries UI.OnlineCharacterTooltip, which in full reads: "Online characters can participate in leaderboard, trading and other social features. Stable network is required for the best experience. Violating online policy could result in ban." And 157 of the 553 item assets in the build carry a non-zero Steam inventory definition ID. So the build clearly anticipates trading and has already marked items for it. What no announcement has ever done is declare trading live. Which items are marked, and whether the market is reachable in game, is the separate question answered in Steam Market and Auction House.
Why every new character is now an online character
Two decisions did this, pointing opposite ways. In 0.1.13 the option was opt-in and existing characters went the other way: "Your existing character is now auto converted to an offline character." Then, on launch day, the default flipped.
Official source: Steam news — "[Hot Fix] Steam connection fix and minor improvement", 28 September 2026
"Fixed online mode can't connect to Steam when player has very old Steam client. (Still recommend update Steam to latest version though). Default character creation to Online Mode. Added more detail to connection error message."
If you played the demo or the beta, your character is offline and stayed offline; see Demo vs 1.0. The full dated record is in Patch Notes. These are the eight entries that touched Online Mode:
| Date | Build | What it says about Online Mode |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-27 | 0.1.13 | Online Mode, leaderboard and client-side anti-cheat introduced |
| 2026-06-27 | 0.1.13a | "We fixed some cases of disconnections (definitely far from perfect...)" |
| 2026-06-27 | 0.1.13b | Login errors reduced; treasure chests caused disconnections and lost saves; lost talent points now auto-recovered |
| 2026-06-28 | 0.1.13c | "Players from more regions should be able to connect to the server without using a proxy"; blinking yellow dot added while talking to the server |
| 2026-06-29 | 0.1.13d | "Greatly reduced data package sizes" |
| 2026-06-30 | 0.1.13e | Auto-save in town; fewer redundant saves; revive-in-town save loss fixed |
| 2026-09-28 | Hot Fix | Old Steam client connection fixed; online becomes the default |
| 2026-09-29 | 1.0.0g | "Fixed a few cases where cheat detection handed false bans"; "Fixed pirated game could access Online Mode" |
Five consecutive hot fixes in four days is a developer saying the mode was not ready. It was made the default anyway.
What the server actually holds
"Important data is managed by server" is checkable in the shipped build. AuthoritativeState is the server payload, and it has exactly six fields: long gold, int level, long xp, string difficulty, string[] completedMaps and CloudClient.ParagonState paragon. That is your money, your level, your experience, your difficulty, your map history, and your paragon standing — ParagonState being unlocked, level, xp.
| Question | Answer, from the 1.0 launch build |
|---|---|
| Which services are involved | CloudClient.ProdAuthBaseUrl = https://auth-worker-prod.deskrawl.com/ and CloudClient.ProdGameBaseUrl = https://deskrawl-game-prod.deskrawl.com/, each with a .firstdayentertainment.net backup hostname |
| The distinct failure states | UI.OnlineStart ships three errors: "No internet.", "Can't connect to Steam.", "Can't connect to server." |
| Is offline earnings computed locally for online characters | No. CloudClient.OfflineRewardPayload returns minutes, capMinutes, mapId, gold, xp, levelBefore/After, paragonBefore/After — the server decides the cap, so the 8-hour cap and the nodes that raise it are enforced there |
| Can you buy from the Merchant on an online character | No. UI.NoChestBuyOnline = "Chests can't be bought on online characters"; UI.NoGearBuyOnline = "Gear can't be bought on online characters" |
| What the Steam sync returns | SteamSyncResponse carries ok, enabled, throttled, revoked[], sold[], mailNew, mailUnclaimed, hasUnclaimedAuctionItems |
Resources/data/TERMS-AND-PRIVACY.txt in the 1.0 launch build is a 22-section document headed "Online Mode Terms of Service and Privacy Policy", last updated August 10, 2026. It states the trade-offs plainly: "This Agreement applies only to Online Mode; playing the Game offline is not governed by it." On collection: "Online Mode knows you only as a Steam ID with an inventory." On permanence: "If we permanently shut down Online Mode, we will give at least 60 days' advance notice... online characters, items, and other online data may be deleted, and we owe no compensation for them except where required by law." On deletion: request it by email and "deletion is irreversible." Servers run on Cloudflare; governing law is California. Bans carry a 14-day appeal window to [email protected] — the same route as Anti-Cheat and Ban Appeal.
The three questions with no official answer
| Your question | Official status | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Can I convert an offline character to online? | No mechanism, no answer. "Please Allow Offline Characters to Sync to Online Mode" was opened 29 June 2026 and still has five posts, the last dated 4 July 2026. No First Day reply anywhere in the thread | Thread 568164456893532754 |
| Why will my online character not create? | Unanswered. A 43-helpful-vote Chinese-language review posted on launch day says it flatly: the online character cannot be created, and two different network accelerators did not help. A title-only thread asking whether an online character can be created at all has one post and no reply | Review dated 2026-09-28; thread 568164991158545658 |
| How do I get more boss challenge attempts? | Community answer only. One reply: "Got to do the silver bosses, you get skulls" | Thread 570418160339145447 |
Update your Steam client first. The 2026-09-28 hot fix was specifically about a very old client failing to connect, and "Can't connect to Steam." is a separate error from "Can't connect to server." — a VPN is not a fix for the second one.
What the leaderboard is made of
The 0.1.13 post only says "fastest Treant Boss map clear time". The build says more, and it is per-map, per-difficulty and per-class:
LeaderboardDefinitionis a pair ofMapData MapandWorldDifficulty Difficulty, so boards are scoped to a zone and a difficulty tier (WorldDifficultyisNormal,Nightmare,Inferno1).LeaderboardManagerimportsSteamworksdirectly, drivesFindOrCreateLeaderboard,DownloadScoresandUploadScore, and registers aPersonaStateChangecallback — that is how friend boards refresh.LeaderboardManager.dqc(LeaderboardDefinition, HeroClass)builds the board name, so each class has its own board inside a given map and difficulty.- The upload is not a single number.
LeaderboardCodex.Snapshotpacks a build signature into bit widths —EquipmentBits 8,GemBits 6,RuneBits 7,AbilityBits 6,SlaveBits 7— and the same asset lists the displayable roster: 4 heroes, 209 of the 486 rows in the game'sEquipmentstable, 36 gems, 119 runes, 56 abilities, 68 slaves. A leaderboard entry is effectively "my build fingerprint, this time".
How the ranking is sorted beyond the score, what LeaderboardPrefix and DefaultTopCount are set to, how many boards exist, whether any board pays out, and how a submitted time is validated are all unannounced. No values for the prefix or the top count appear in any shipped data table. Any site claiming otherwise is guessing.
None of the 37 official Steam achievements is gated behind Online Mode either — the full list with real unlock rates is all combat, gear and minion milestones.
Which mode should you pick
| Offline character | Online character | |
|---|---|---|
| Server required | No | Yes, every session |
| Progress storage | Local save plus Steam Cloud | Server, with local recovery copies |
| Leaderboard | No | Yes |
| Shop purchases | Full merchant access | Chests and gear cannot be bought, per the UI strings above |
| Risk of loss on outage | Local file | The terms say outages "may cause loss of characters, items, or other progress" and that they are "not obligated to restore lost progress" |
| Anti-cheat exposure | Client-side only | Client-side plus "an additional layer of data protection from the server" |
Take offline if you never want to think about a server. Take online if the leaderboard and future features matter to you, and update Steam first.
FAQ
Is Deskrawl online multiplayer? No. It has no multiplayer, co-op or PvP category on Steam, and the 0.1.13 announcement names the leaderboard as the only online feature. No later announcement has added a second one as of patch 1.0.0g, released 2026-09-29.
Can I switch an offline character to Online Mode later? No way to do it has been published, and the request thread has sat unanswered since 29 June 2026. Assume the answer is no when you create the character.
Do I lose anything by choosing offline? The leaderboard is the only online feature ever announced, and going offline puts you outside the Online Mode terms document entirely. You also give up whatever the server-side architecture is being built toward, which so far amounts to the leaderboard plus the item definitions described above.
Why does the game ask me to update Steam? Because a very old Steam client could not connect at all, which was fixed on 2026-09-28. The build distinguishes "Can't connect to Steam." from "Can't connect to server." — the first is your client, the second is First Day's.
Does Online Mode cost anything? No separate charge exists. Online Mode is a mode of the same $6.99 list-price game, currently at $4.89 on the 30% launch discount. Pricing detail is in Is Deskrawl Worth It.
Related Guides
- Deskrawl Anti-Cheat and Ban Appeal — the server-side layer Online Mode adds, and the 14-day appeal window in the terms.
- Deskrawl Steam Market and Auction House — which 157 items carry a Steam inventory definition, and what the store page promises that the build does not.
- Deskrawl Offline Earnings — the cap the server computes for online characters.
- Deskrawl Save File and Cloud Saves — what stays on disk in each mode.
- Deskrawl Patch Notes — the full archive, to check whether a second online feature has shipped.
More Deskrawl: Idle ARPG Guides
Demon Skulls are the only entry currency, and the rule is odd: entry only checks your balance, and the skull is deducted after you clear the stage.
Deskrawl has exactly three difficulties. Inferno multiplies enemy HP sixfold and is the only tier that drops Divine gear, rune sets and Mythic content.
The real Deskrawl loot table from the 1.0 build — 87-95% no-drop rolls on trash mobs, chest contents, and what patch 1.0.0g actually changed.
The verified Deskrawl +10 upgrade table: four guaranteed levels, then 75%, 50%, 40%, 30%, 20% and 10% — plus the material each slot needs.
The 68 official Deskrawl stat affixes and the per-slot roll pools, plus the 11-vs-12 equipment slot puzzle solved: rings occupy two slots.
Exact Deskrawl socket costs from the 1.0 build: 100 ore plus 400 gold per item level, level 30 to unlock, and the five slots that cannot be socketed.
There is no gold map in Deskrawl. Gold comes from offline mob rolls scaled by difficulty bonus, Life Skills gold find, and the lucky wheel.
Deskrawl has six rarity tiers ending in Divine, not Epic. The Divine drop chance, its Inferno-only gate, and why you should never salvage one.