Does time pass when no one is present?

Question

On a Terraria dedicated server, does time pass if no one is playing?

I ask because I've started farming, and it would mean I can simply leave a dedicated server running without being connected, and still have grass spread.

Answer 1

No, time does not pass and world updates do not occur when no players are connected. You can easily verify that by issuing the time command a couple times with no players present — you'll see that the in-game time doesn't change.

You used to be able to keep a world going by just loading it with the server software, but this was changed in patch 1.0.5:

Server

• Servers now hibernate when no players are connected.