Single-player mode in Dune: Awakening is picked on the game’s first boot and gives you the entire game, every map, storyline and reward included, with no other players in the world and no PvP at all. It arrived in Update 1.5 alongside the console release, so it works the same on PC, Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. Below we cover starting a solo game, the presets and custom settings, the character transfer rules, PvP-free play, Game Pass, and how it differs from a private server, all verified against Funcom’s Update 1.5 patch notes. We covered the PS5 and Xbox launch itself in our console launch and single-player news story; this is the practical follow-up.
How to start a single-player game
On a fresh install the game runs through a short selection of common settings, then asks you to choose between Single or Multiplayer. Pick Single and the difficulty options appear before character creation: either one of three presets, or the full list of individual settings to tune yourself.
If you have played before, your existing multiplayer character cannot come with you yet. Funcom’s patch notes state this flatly: “you will need to create one specifically for this mode.” That changes in January 2027, when Funcom says you will be able to copy a character from multiplayer servers to single-player. On later boots the main menu shows your last-used character ready to Continue, and a Characters tab lists everyone you have made with playtime, server and location, so you choose which character to load each session.
The three difficulty presets and the custom settings
Funcom describes “three preset difficulty levels for the survival experience” but its patch notes do not publish the preset names or the values behind them, so we will not guess. What the developer does document is the manual layer underneath. The settings listed for single-player are:
- Enable or disable sandstorms
- Security zones (make Hagga Basin fully PvP or fully PvE)
- Resource harvesting rate multipliers (handy for the aluminum grind toward your first ornithopter)
- Experience points rate multipliers
- Base building piece limits
- Item durability settings
- Base decay rate
- Sandworm auto-spawn
- Coriolis storm auto-spawn
- What drops on death
- Maximum number of land claims
None of this is locked in at creation. Per the patch notes, “you can even adjust these settings at any time during gameplay,” so a hard survival run can have its harvesting multiplier raised later, or sandstorms switched off for a building session. Funcom’s list ends with “and much more,” so treat it as the documented floor, not the ceiling. Our early water guide covers the dehydration side of survival, and every guide is on our Dune: Awakening hub.
What plays differently in solo
Single-player “plays very similarly to multiplayer,” in Funcom’s words, but systems that depend on other people have been rewired:
- The Deep Desert never resets. The map is never wiped and buildings are never destroyed. The Coriolis storm still rolls through but “no longer instantaneously kills the player.”
- The Landsraad is simulated. The endgame faction conflict runs against AI-controlled guilds “with cycles especially adapted to the Single Player experience.”
- The Exchange becomes a vendor with a large selection of items, since there is no player economy.
- Both Arrakeen and Harko Village are open.
- Spice Melange is removed from the build cost of several endgame placeables, including the Advanced Survival Fabricator, to make the endgame “more approachable for Single-player.”
- Spawn areas are tighter for pacing, and the Cartographer skill now extends your Fog of War reveal radius.
Single-player does not work offline yet, but Funcom has dated it: its Blood and Ice announcement says offline mode comes to single-player in November 2026, “allowing you to play Dune: Awakening without an internet connection.”
One character, many worlds: what moves and what does not
Update 1.5 reorganised the game around characters instead of servers, and the transfer rules are strictly one-way. Verified against the patch notes:
- Single-player characters stay in single-player and cannot move to any server, for now (see below).
- Official server characters can play on any official server, and can move to a private or self-hosted server, but never back, “to ensure the integrity of official servers.”
- Private server characters can move between private servers, and to a self-hosted server, but not back.
- Self-hosted characters can move between self-hosted servers.
Bases and vehicles come along on a transfer only if you back them up first. Today, a solo character cannot reach a server and a server character cannot come home to a solo world. Funcom says character copying arrives in January 2027: you will be able to copy a character from multiplayer servers to single-player, so you can “continue your progression in a single-player environment,” and copy single-player characters to select private servers or self-hosted servers on PC, as long as the server allows copied characters. Until then, plan on two characters if you want both.
PvP-free play, Game Pass and the private server difference
Single-player has no PvP whatsoever, but you no longer need it to avoid PvP. Since Update 1.5 “every aspect of the game can now be played entirely in PvE”: the Deep Desert is offered as separate PvE and PvP instances (the PvP one pays 2.5 times the resource yield), the Landsraad is rebuilt around missions, and Hagga Basin shipwrecks are PvE only.
On Xbox, the game is on Game Pass as a Play Anywhere title with shared progression between Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC, plus Cloud Gaming and ROG Xbox Ally support; members get 20 percent off the Deluxe or Ultimate upgrade. Cross-play is not live yet, and Funcom has dated it for January 2027. It follows survival games like the RuneScape Dragonwilds 1.0 launch onto the service and joins the best Xbox games of 2026 conversation alongside the solo-friendly picks on our best PC co-op games of 2026 list.
The private server difference comes down to who is in the world and who sets the rules. Single-player and self-hosted servers expose the full settings list above; rented private servers expose only what your provider allows. Self-hosted servers are PC only, experimental, hold up to 40 players per Sietch, and are configured through .ini files. On any multiplayer server a new server settings button in the system menu previews the active rules but cannot edit them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I switch an existing multiplayer character to single-player? Not yet. Funcom’s patch notes state that multiplayer characters cannot transfer into single-player, so for now you must create one for the mode. Funcom says copying a character from multiplayer servers to single-player arrives in January 2027.
Can I change the difficulty after I start a solo game? Yes. All single-player settings can be adjusted at any time during gameplay, including multipliers, sandstorms and death drops.
Does the Deep Desert wipe in single-player? No. The map never resets and buildings are never wiped. The Coriolis storm still occurs but is less destructive and no longer kills you outright.
Is Dune: Awakening single-player on Game Pass? Yes. The full game, including single-player, is on Xbox Game Pass as a Play Anywhere title across Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, Cloud Gaming and the ROG Xbox Ally.
Does single-player work offline? Not yet. Funcom says offline mode comes to single-player in November 2026, letting you play without an internet connection.