Sea of Thieves Season 20: Custom Seas private sandbox

Rare introduced Custom Seas in Season 20 of Sea of Thieves, a private sandbox that gives session hosts control over game rules and the environment. The update is available on Xbox consoles and PC, including via Xbox Game Pass.

Hosts can change the time of day, enable or disable specific enemy types, and restrict weapons and player loadouts. They can spawn enemies, treasure and items on demand, teleport players and ships to selected locations, and manually assign up to 24 players across crews.

Sessions can be shared with invited players using unique Join Codes. Hosts may grant other players permission to use the same commands and creative tools to assist with setup or to delegate control.

Custom Seas includes a Silver scoring system and dedicated Scoreboards for crews and individual players. Hosts choose which actions add or subtract Silver. Actions that can affect scores include turning in treasure, striking a ship’s mast and allowing a ship to sink. Matches can finish when a score limit is reached or when a time limit expires, enabling custom competitive or cooperative formats.

A Free Camera is available during sessions to capture action from cinematic angles. The camera offers field-of-view adjustments and limited access to certain Legendary Locations that are not open in standard play. Rare says the tools support staged events and casual gatherings.

Season 20 also brings a redesigned Season Pass that awards items as players earn Seasonal Renown, including cosmetics and Voyages. The season will include recurring events such as a Community Weekend and a Bilge Rats Weekender.

Separate digital editions, including a 2026 Edition, offer bonus content such as the original soundtrack, an audiobook and an eBook. A Sea of Thieves website account is required to redeem those digital bonuses.

Sea of Thieves is developed by Rare and published by Microsoft. The Custom Seas update expands options for private sessions and player-created content while Season 20 continues the game’s existing schedule of events and rewards.