How to set up a dedicated server for red faction

I have been asked by several people how to set up a server. So many people have asked that I cannot remember who to email now and what all there emails were. So tonight I am going to post how here complete with screen shots and all. My brother has agreed to do one on port forwarding as well so his post will be here also.

If you dont want to bother with port forwarding and you can connect directly to your modem then that would be the easiest way to set up the server without having to forward your ports.

Here are the links to both of these Programs:

Pure Faction 3 http://purefaction.org/

RF Server Assist 4 http://redfaction.levels4you.com/downloads.l4y?file=9528

Burner

Bunyip oOo ^._.^ oOo FAQ

OK to start off I am going to show you how to set up a server in Pure Faction 3.

Pros = anti ghosting, More options for the server and its rcon holders, and a you can play on the same computer that you are running the server from.

Cons = It is still new and has a bug or two still in it but if you see a bug then please Post the issue at Purefaction.org in the forums section so that they all know about it and can get it resolved.

I use this set up myself for the Rotting Flesh Factory server.

OK to get you started with setting up your server you bring up you pure faction launcher, and select the tab that says server setup. As seen below circled in yellow.



Next you will select the type of game you are going to set up, In this case I am setting up a DM game. After selecting the type of game you want to set up yo need to select Configure Server.



Ok now time to make it how you want it. this screen will give you alot of options to choose from, What your Rcon password will be, What maps you want, and a lot more. OK look at Server Name in the box next to it type the name you want your server to be. Next look just below that at Max Players you can coose how many people can join the server I use 16 for mine but you can have an number you want for yours. Now just below that you see max time that is for you to be able to set the total time for each map. I prefer 15 minutes it isnt that long and isnt to short a time either. Just below that you see Max Kills there is where you set the maximum number of kills Per map after some one gets the max number of kills the map will change. (For capture the flag setup you will see Max Captures this is where you set the maximum number of flag captures per map) Next below that you will see Geo Mod Limit this is set to 128 by default I dont recommend raising that limit above that but you can if you do set it above 128 you can run the risk of crashing the server or getting connections errors. But you can also lower that amount as well for maps that use a lot of geo. OK now below that you see Password this is for Private servers where only the password holders can join the server you can make your password anything you want. Next below that you will see Rcon Password This is for you to put a password on the server so you can kick out or ban a player as well as change the map and so on. You can make your password anything you want. Ok now you see MOD below that with a drop down menu this is for adding proper mods to the server that everyone can use like the run homer run mod and several others. OK now your gonna see alot of options that say Team Damage, Fall Damage, and a few others you can choose from these and select the ones you want. the Ghosting Protection is a new feature with Pure Faction and it is a nice feature to have selected if you want to keep modders out and catch them faster. Also another Mask IP's this will allow you to mask everyone's IP address. Now look at the top middle you will see Game Type and there are three types just select the type of game you want to set up. Below that you see Server Mode you can select Public to allow anyone to join, Pure Only to only allow pure faction players to join the server, and Match, I have not used this option myself so I am not sure as to what it does yet. Next you see map rotation this is where you can select your maps and change the rotation. For this you will need to learn the .RFL names for the maps, For example DM-RFU2-RoseCity its .RFL name is DM-RFU-RoseCity and that is what you type into the box then click add and you will see it pop up in your map rotation box. to remove a map select the map in the map rotation box and then click the button that says remove selected maps. Now the last item is the Configure Pickups option click on that now.



OK now you are going to see alot of options here you can change any of these items lets say you dont like the Sniper Rifle you can change it to the Assualt rifle and the same with the ammo without changing the map at all. There is also a button to change any map to a all rail map so that your server Is all rails only. You can play around with this and get it how you want it. then click Save Settings And Exit.



OK now the last item You need to Save all of your settings and then launch your server to do this you need to select Save and exit, Then select Launch Dedicated Server. and you should see this come up.



OK you are now set your server is up and running now you can go play in the server. NOTE: do not close the server screen in the picture above it will close the server.

There are some bacic comands to use in the server screen I will post on here also for you guys and girls in my next post.

OK This post is for RF Server Assist 4. You can find this download at L4Y.com.

Pros = Easy to add maps no need to learn the .RFL names, Automated messaging, and server vote utility.

Cons = Fewer options for the server and rcon holders, It tends to crash from time to time, You cannot change the weapons pickups, You may get a error out of pack file space this means you have to many maps and you need to remove some of them from your multi folder, when using RF Server assist to run your server you will need to change the port you play on in order to join the server.

I have used this one in the past I learned how to set up a server using this Program and it is a good starting point to learn from.


OK first you need to bring up the RF server assist then look at your screen you will see many of the same options as in my previous post with PF3. So those are going to stay pretty much the same. You just need to select the options you want and then click on save at the top of the screen. Now one thing that this program has it auto messaging you can have the server say HI my forum is at wwwmyforum.com every so often if you wanted it is a nice option to use and you can have it say anything you want.



Now to add the maps you want select the button that says add at the bottom of the box for the maps. then you will see a list of the maps that you have on the left and the maps for the server on the right. to add a map you select the map then you select the button add selected. if you want to add all of your maps just select the button that says Add All Maps. Now select OK and your done with that part.



Now to start your server you click on save at the top and then select Launch. Now your server is up and running.



OK now you can add the server vote utility to allow the players to vote to kick, ban, or change the map without having to ask you. This is done by looking at the Server assist box in the top right and going to the options drop down menu then selecting RFSAU (Vote Utility) and then select Run RFSAU.



Now you can configure this in the options on the box that comes up if you dont want people to vote to kick someone then remove it same for ban and map change. This box also give you the ease or being about to kick or ban someone without typing it out in the server screen.

Thats it your all done now. Enjoy.

Here are some of the commands that you can use in the server screen. these were posted on l4y but most are for PF3 some will work in RF Server Assist. Also a tip for setting the rate for your server.

say (type say then what you want to say to the players in the server)

kick playername

ban playername

ban_ip IPaddress

--Bans the named player by adding his/her IP address to "banlist.txt".
The "banlist.txt" file is preserved between server sessions.
Wildcards are also supported to ban multiple IP's on the same subnet.
Examples:
63.123.86.41
65.123.86.*

rate (allows you to change the rate)

map_ext - Extend round by 5 minutes

map_info - Get statistics about a level

map_next - Load the next map from the rotation

map_prev - Load the previous map from the rotation

map_rest - Restart the current level

sv_capture_limit - Sets the CTF capture limit

sv_geo_limit - Sets the multiplayer geomod limit

sv_info - Show server settings and statistics

sv_kill_limit - Sets the multiplayer kill limit

sv_time_limit - Sets the multiplayer time limit

silence - Do not log kills to server console

r_maxfps - Sets maximum framerate to be rendered (30-150).

r_vli - Toggles volumetric lighting (clutter object glares). Can improve performance.


Ok here is a tip for you to use if you need to. Using the rate command to change the rate in your server is good if you have connection error a lot when more people and more people join for example I run my server to allow 16 players and i have a fast internet connection but with 16 players at 15000 rate i get connection errors the red computers you see when playing. If you raise the rate by typing ( rate 17500 ) it will raise the rate and you will notice that you loose the connection error now you may need to go higher or lower depending on a few things but you can tweak it and adjust it a little at a time to get it just right for your server. I recommend using the default rate until you see a issue then go from there.

port fowarding is sometimes helpful when noone can see a room

that you have created. its a way of connecting red faction to

the router you are using so that other people can see the rooms

you create.

Here is the info on RF ports
http://findports.com/document.php?id=514

read this first
http://portforward.com/help/portforwarding.htm

the look up your equipment here
http://portforward.com/

Check your port to see if it is open with this
http://www.portforward.com/help/portcheck.htm

when fowarding a port so that you can create a dedi with pure

faction 3 the port is number 7756 you can also change the port it uses if you need to --server setup -- configure server -- server port

Digi i beleive has made a tool for testing if your PC is ported corectly for running & playing RF.
I have never tried it, I never had a need for it but I'm sure it must be a handy tool as most all the RF tools Digi has made have been a great help.
Sad thing is the Nebula Mods site is still down hopefully it will be back up soon.
I think I have a copy of the tool somewhere if someone would like to try it.
I save most everything I just don't recall what the name of it was.

Also when you do this port forwarding from the site Tasty has listed, You will notice that red faction is not listen in the games to do this for but you can try a alternate like halo or another game that is much like red faction.

it should be open a Udp and Tcp port !!

missed this info in all ur blabla
loool burner wassup


ill catch ya later !!!! hehehe

Here is a additional site that give more info on port forwarding and is specific to red factions types of ports. hits more on what tino was saying.

http://findports.com/document.php?id=514

Alright Now here are some things to remember after your server is running. This is what has helped me with my server and it becoming a popular server.

1. I use a lot of custom maps this is really more for DM as most people seem to stick with the same 3 maps in CTF however I think that a new server with some good custom CTF maps would do well. Try to stay away from HUGE maps in DM and CTF they get boring fast and are in some cases so big with few people you may only wind up with 5-7 kills for a 15 minute time.

2. Make sure your rules are clear and to the point. And make sure you are fair as well as your Rcon holders. Try to pick Rcon holders that are a lot like yourself and that you can trust to enforce the rules and not just grudge ban and things like that.

3. If you are going to run a server try to stay away from the same rotation as another server. If you copy the rotation of another server you may not get many people to join since there is already a server running that same rotation. Try to Change your maps on a regular basis not every day or week but try changing them say 1 or 2 maps at a time replace 1-2 of the old maps with the new ones you have chosen.

4. People are lazy and dont want to go download the maps from a web site they like it when the maps are available on the Pure Faction auto down loader. So try to stick with maps that are available on the auto down loader. If you really want to add a map that is not available on the auto downloaded you can go to this web site and request it to be added. NebulaMods

If you do this you should have a pretty good server and you should have quite a few players join.

Thanks for this detailed tutorial , solves a few issues for me

This is how i get to host and play in the same machine , also my daughter and wife can join in the other machines in my network , I posted this elsewhere so i figure bring it here also , not as detail as burner but that is because im lazy



If you are trying to host a server and play on the same network using a router or even on the same computer that you are hosting you need to run your server on a different port than the one you play on , find out what the internal ip is for each of your machines this way
start > run> type 'cmd' then enter
when the window loads type 'ipconfig' and press enter
you will get something like 192.168.**.1 the last digit represents which computer you are on


Go ahead and forward the ports you want to use both for your server and for purefaction
for more info on your specific router visit http://portforward.com/
You can check to see if the ports are open with this tool http://www.canyouseeme.org/

Once you got your ports open , you can enter them here

and here


Once you got your server running you wont be able to see it in any machine in your network , you will have to manually add the server in this manner


The first first numbers are you local ip for the machine that is hosting , then following the ":" is the port that you opened for the server

If all is correct you should be able to see your server good luck

Ok, i have had a few people trying to set up a dedicated server, and still having issues getting them to show up. So i have gone back in and re-opened this thread for those having problems to read and hopefully find their answers.