Dedicated server FAQ

[Docastillo]

g8 posted this on http://www.cebf.ws
If it helped you, go here: http://pub30.ezboard.com/fceandbfcom...D=1293.top ic , and show him your grattitude :)


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Since there seems to be a lot of questions regarding setting up and running a BF1942 Demo server, I have created a FAQ. Enjoy!

Version 2002081901

*The majority of this info is already in the readme (RTFM) but I have condensed it into a specific Server FAQ (with some more detailed info where necessary). Hope this helps :)


1. How do I run a dedicated server without having to enter my info into the DedicatedServer.exe every time?

You need to enter the server config parameters into its config file. The file is called ServerSettings.con, located in Settings folder for the application (usually C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942 Multiplayer Demo\Settings). The DedicatedServer.exe can be used when first setting up the server, then you can manually edit the ServerSettings.con after the first time it is run. See this post from Saracen (thanks!), pub30.ezboard.com/fceandbfcommunityfrm3.showMessage?topicID=1235.top ic for a full descrption of the server config file options.

DO NOT USE DedicatedServer.exe MORE THAN ONCE if you do not want to enter your info every time you start the server. You must start the server from a shortcut which starts the game as a server, or start the server as a service (more below), or write a batch file to start the server (FAQ-todo). The simplest method is to modify the shortcut file on your desktop to include the following switches:

+restart 1 +hostServer 1 +dedicated 1

So the Target for the shortcut would look like:

"C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942 Multiplayer Demo\BF1942Demo.exe" +restart 1 +hostServer 1 +dedicated 1

Rename that shortcut to something apropriate like 'BF1942 MP Demo Server' and double click it. The server should launch with the settings you entered into the ServerSettings.com file.


2. How do I set the admin password and use remote commands?

You must first set the server admin password at the server console. Get in front of the server/black window and hit the ` key to bring up the console (also called the ~ key). This will take the console out of status display mode (where it shows you FPS) and into entry mode where you can enter console commands. When you get the > prompt, type:
admin.enableremoteadmin <password>
where <password> is any password of your choice that is all numbers OR letters, BUT NOT BOTH AND NO SPACES!

After you have set the password on the server console, you can use the same command from your client when you connect to the server. So, fire up your game and connect to your server. Now open the console ingame with the ` key and issue the following command:
admin.enableremoteadmin <password>
where <password> is the password you set before at the server console.

You should now be authed as an admin and able to issue remote commands. To issue a remote command, use the following command:

admin.execremotecommand "command"
where command is any command you would normally run from the server console. For example, to kick a user number 15 you would issue this:

admin.execremotecommand "admin.kickplayer 15" or to ban player 15:
admin.execremotecommand "admin.banplayer 15"


3. How do I kick/ban people from my server?

Read #2 again if you are not sitting in front of the server/console. If you are sitting in front of your server/console (i.e. NOT remote), then you just issue the admin command right into the console (i.e. game.listplayers and admin.kickplayer <number>)


4. How many users can I have on my server? How big of a connection do I need?

These are extremely rough estimates, err on the high side, and aim for best performance (sure you could get more on less but that's when you get laggy/crummy servers):

'How big' primarily depends on bandwidth. A *good* DSL connection (1.5/768) can handle about 8-10 players MAX. Slower DSL (such as residential 1.5/256) would only be able to support about 4 players at best (same for cable as that is usually 256 to 384 on the upload). If you have a 1 Mb SDSL connection (or 1 Mb on your cable upload) you should be able to support a 12 player server

As a rough rule of thumb, each player requires anywhere from 50 to 80 Kb/sec. You need a *minimum* of a T1 to support a 16 player server, dual T1 (3 Mb) for a 32 player server, and just over 6 Mb for a 64 player server (although that can hit up to 7 or 8 Mb/sec depending on how many people are connecting and downloading maps). Basically you need some serious bandwidth for anything over a 16 player server and it should be dedicated hardware (i.e. it's only a server, no GUI or other apps running on it).

As far as the hardware, here is a rough estimate/guide*:

16 Players = 1 Ghz/128 Mb RAM
32 Players = 1 Ghz/128+ (256 is best)
48+ Players = 1 Ghz/256+ (512 is best)

*thanks to Saracen for these estimates

THE SERVER WILL CONSUME 85 TO 100% OF YOUR CPU. This means YOU CANNOT RUN A SERVER ON AND PLAY FROM THE SAME MACHINE. SERVERS MUST BE DEDICATED FOR OPTIMAL AND PROPER PERFORMANCE.


5. How do I setup NT/2K/XP to start the Battlefield 1942 Server as a service?

WARNING! This procedure involves installing some software and manualy editing the registry. NOT for the faint of heart. I take no responsibility if you fubar your computer while mucking in the registry :) Also, I have only done this on XP, the paths and programs are probably different on NT/2000 so please do not ask me how to set it up on those systems.

First, you will need the two small Microsoft programs in order to set up your service. Instsrv.exe is the program used to create a Windows service, and Srvany.exe is a program that allows almost any other program to run as a service. These files are available in Microsoft's Windows Resource Kit, at various internet sites, or you can just download them both here: http://www.pcisys.net/~pijo/service.zip
Step 1.
Put Instsrv.exe and Srvany.exe in your BF1942 directory.

Step 2.
From the Start button, go to Run, then type cmd. This will open a command window, where you'll need to change to your BF1942 directory by typing cd C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942 Multiplayer Demo , then pressing ENTER
(your path may be different, substitute your local path for this and all following steps).

Step 3.
Type instsrv BFserver C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942 Multiplayer Demo\srvany.exe and press ENTER. This will create a service called "BFserver". You can substitute a different service name if you wish. If the process is successful, you'll see the following message:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
CreateService SUCCESS at creating:

BFserver

You must now go to the Registry and the Services applet in the
Control Panel and edit them as per the instructions.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Step 4.
Open Regedit by clicking Start->Run, then typing regedit and pressing ENTER.

Step 5.
Navigate to the following registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Servic es\BFserver

Step 6.
In the left pane of the registry window, click on the BFserver key. Then, in the right pane, right-click and choose NEW -> KEY. Name the key Parameters

Step 7.
In the newly-created Parameters key, right-click and choose NEW -> STRING VALUE. Name the value AppDirectory

Step 8.
Repeat Step 7 to create a second new string value. Name it AppParameters

Step 9.
Repeat Step 7 to create a third new string value. Name it Application

Step 10.
Double-click on the String Value "AppDirectory". This will bring up the Modify dialog box. Set the value for AppDirectory to
C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942 Multiplayer Demo\

Step 10.
Double-click on the String Value "AppParameters". This will bring up the Modify dialog box. Set the value for AppParameters to
+restart 1 +hostServer 1 +dedicated 1

Step 11.
Double-click on the String Value "Application" Set the value for Application to C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942 Multiplayer Demo\BF1942Demo.exe

Step 12.
Close Regedit

Step 13.
Open the Services application to modify the service settings (in XP, Start->Settings->Control Panel, Double click Administrative Tools, Double click Services). In Services you should see BFserver, double click on it to open its properties. Set 'Startup type' to Automatic then click on the Log On tab. In Log On, check the box that says "Allow service to interact with desktop". You can now click back on the 'General' tab to test the startup of your server. Click the 'start' button and the server should start up.

If it does not, you probably entered something wrong in the registry (path, executable location, etc). Go back through steps 4-12 and make sure eveything is set correctly.

14 If you are using XP, I highly recommend disabling crash notifications. Right click on 'My Computer' and select Properties. Click on the 'Advanced' tab then click the 'Error Reporting' button at the bottom. Select the 'Disable error reporting' option and make sure 'But notify me when critical errors occur' is still checked. Click 'OK' then 'OK' again and that's it!

The newly-created BFserver service should now function as any other system service. If you set it to Automatic, it should always start when the system is booted (and before anyone logs into the system with the rest of the services).

If for any reason you should decide you want to remove the BFserver service, go to Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Services. Right-click on the BFserver service and choose STOP. After the service is stopped, open a command-prompt window, navigate to your BF1942 directory, and type instsrv BFserver remove. This will completely remove the service from your system. You can still run your BF1942 server as you did before, as a normal application via the shortcut.


All comments, changes, suggestions, and additions are welcome! Please contact me at the address below or on the CE and BF Community forums - cebf.ws

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COPYRIGHT 2002 g8@the.whole.net
Restecp to the CE and BF Community - http://cebf.ws Permission is granted to reproduce/repost this FAQ as long as the entire contents and copyright are retained. Please give credit where it's due :)
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Excellent tutorial. I was wondering is there a list of server commands available or do you have a list of generally used commands? Thanks ahead of time.

Stoner
SHoP
http://www.stone-keep.com
*************************
If you ain't got TS, you ain't...
Version 2 of TS released on 08/26
TS server 209.163.146.143

[Jakal]

Taken from the readme:

================================================== ================
SERVER ADMIN COMMANDS
================================================== ================

GENERAL COMMANDS:

- Game.listplayers
Every player has an ID number, which is used for kicking/voting
off the player. This command lists those numbers.

- Game.enablefreecamera *
This enables free look mode on clients who are waiting to spawn.
For *, 1 turns free look on, 0 turns it off. Note that this
command can only be run from the server, or by a user that has
remote server access.

- Game.killplayer *
* is equal to the player id number. Note that this command can
only be run from the server, or by a user that has remote server
access.


ADMIN COMMANDS:

- Admin.kickplayer *
* is equal to the player id number. Note that this command can
only be run from the server, or by a user that has remote server
access.

- Admin.banplayer *
* is equal to the player id number. Note that this command can
only be run from the server, or by a user that has remote server
access.

- Admin.removeaddressfrombanlist *
* is equal to the IP of a banned player. Note that this command
can only be run from the server, or by a user that has remote
server access.

- Admin.addaddresstobanlist *
* is equal to the IP address to the client that is to be banned.
Note that this command can only be run from the server, or by a
user that has remote server access.

- Admin.clearbanlist
This allows all users that were previously banned to once again
connect to the server. Note that this command can only be run
from the server, or by a user that has remote server access.

- Admin.externalviews *
This command enables/disables external camera views on clients
connected to the server. For *, 1 turns external views on, 0
turns it off. Note that this also disables the nose cam. Also,
note that this command can only be run from the server, or by a
user that has remote server access.

- Admin.listbannedaddresses
Lists the IP addresses that are banned from connecting to the
server. Note that this command can only be run from the server,
or by a user that has remote server access.

- Admin.allownosecam *
This command enables/disables the ability for clients to turn
off the airplane HUD. (Allows easier flying.) For *, 1 turns
nose cam on, 0 turns it off. Also note that if external views
are turned off, nose cam cannot be used. Note that this command
can only be run from the server, or by a user that has remote
server access.


VOTING COMMANDS:

- Game.votekickplayer *
This command will initiate/cast a vote to kick a player. Players
on both teams can participate in this vote. * is equal to the
player id number.

- Game.votekickteamplayer *
This command will initiate/cast a vote to kick a player. Voting
is restricted to the team of the player who initiated the vote.
* is equal to the player id number.

- Admin.votingtime *
This command sets the amount of time clients have to cast a vote
after it has been initiated. * is equal to the number of seconds
clients will have to vote. Note that this command can only be run
from the server, or by a user that has remote server access.


REMOTE CONSOLE ACCESS:

- Admin.enableremoteadmin password
The SERVER needs to have this command executed every map. The
password can include numbers OR letters, but not a combination
of the two. NOTE: DO NOT INCLUDE ANY SPACES IN YOUR PASSWORD.

The CLIENT that is to have remote admin access is to execute
this command. The password must be the same as the one set on
the server


- Admin.execremotecommand "command"
To execute a command from a client, one would type the
admin.execremotecommand, followed by the desired admin command
in quotation marks. For example, to kick someone with the player
id of 7 from a client machine, one would type the following
(after going through the first two steps of this section.)

Admin.execremotecommand "admin.kickplayer 7"


OTHER HELPFUL COMMANDS:

- Console.showfps *
This toggles the FPS display on and off. For *, 1 turns FPS on
and 0 turns it off.

- Console.showstats *
This toggles the debug stats display on and off. For *, 1 turns
the debug stats display on and 0 turns it off.

- Game.disconnect
This disconnects the player from the current game.

- Game.changeplayername *
This allows a user to quickly change his name. * is equal to the
player name.

My console window has 2 lines flickering in the upper left corner, one of the lines says fps not sure what the other says. When I hit the ~ key it changes to about 15 lines of errors and it appears to be looping, I try to type in the command but it takes about a minute for each letter to display. Is this a common problem or do I have a configuration problem?

[spspt]

Hi,

Thanks for the great info although I'm having having performance problems with my server. It's a dual 1 GHz PIII/1GB RAM.
If I keep looking at the fps readout in the console window, the framerate sometimes goes up to 150 but also as low as 20 fps's. Is this normal?
Are there any settings/commands that can be used to make performance tweaks?
For instance, in MOHAA there is the ability to display a lagometer, is this possible in BF42?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.


Regards

[John_Pain BW]

Also it would be nice if you could lock/unlock the server with a PW on the fly from the remote.

Thx for the info tho !

According to the readme, entering the password in the console will only have that password in effect for the duration of that map cycle. So when it finishes the number of rounds the server is set to before the map cycles (regardless of whether it is going to the same map or not), the password will go away.

Where do we put this command line so that it will execute each time a new map cycle is started? I realize it can be put in the file 'ServerSetting.con', but I wonder how secure it would be there since the data in that file is shared with things like gamespy to get information about that server.

Any thoughts?

Tash

I have the follwing setup as a Service on my W2K server

"CProgram Files\EA GAMES\Battlefield 1942 Multiplayer Demo\BF1942Demo.exe" +restart 1 +hostServer 1 +dedicated 1


BUT I cant enable the following

admin.enableremoteadmin <password>


The only way I can enable the remote admin is to run the server manuall and I dont want to do this. Can anyone help?

Thanks!

BTW if you just get FireDaemon you can use this very nice program to install the BF1942 (or any exe for that matter) as a service.

FireDaemon

http://www.firedaemon.com/


[What Is It] FireDaemon is a utility that allows you to install and run virtually any application as a Windows NT/2K/XP service. FireDaemon features easy configuration, a low memory/CPU overhead, subprocess prioritisation and CPU binding and scheduling plus monitoring and logging to the NT/2K/XP event log.

[Zodiac]

Thanks for posting up the FAQ, good to know stuff. There's got to be an easier way to Rcon the server. In the middle of a battle, who has the time to type all that stuff out? Using the arrow keys to repeat the last command line is good, but having to enter the admin pass on every map change is a pain.

How about editing the server config file so it remembers the server name and settings. I've tried the command line option, and using a bat file with no success. Anyone have any luck? How did you make it happen? TIA

BTW, Cheers to the developers

[Hustler]

For those of you running a firewall and need to forward ports here ya go. Straight off the EA site.

allow udp port 14567
allow udp 22000 (THIS IS ONLY FOR LAN GAMES. If you don't want that accessible from the net, don't open it)
allow udp range 23000 23009
# Gamespy Master Server UDP Heartbeat allow udp port 27900
# Gamespy Master Server List Request allow tcp port 28900

Ok I tried this out but it seems that I either mistyped my path or it doesnt work this way.

I followed these directions word for word except this.

In the first comand line that actually installs the service i didnt put the path to srvany.exe. mine looked like this

instsrv BFserver srvany.exe

then i edited the imagepath string of the BFserver service key and did the above mentioned regedits that Docastillo has up there.



hope this help some out a few but hten again i might have just misstyped my path the first time But if that command doesnt take and it just gives you the ussage settings try this out.

I am running Windows 2000 advanced server, and I cannot get a dedicated server to run as soon as I hit run server, dedicatedserver.exe closes. I do not get a error or anything like that. Please help

Install DirectX 8.1. Had the same problem myself, and win2kAS does not come with it installed.

The game has to actually "play".

~GOND

When trying to run a server from a dual xeon machine I get the following log (Error)

Version BF1942 (Ver:26171/2002-08-30, 17:09)
Log created 2002/10/19:15.02d
--------------------------

SystemInfo:
-----------

Cpu:
Running on Pentium(R) 4 at 2392 MHz
Supports MMX
Supports SSE
Supports SSE2

Renderer:
Debug asertion failed!

Module:
File:
Line: 0

Text: InputDeviceBase error other error -2147467259

Anyone got any idea's what might cause it???

I assume that you can run a dedicated server with the same CD key as you play with!?

[Helstrm]

Clients keep getting disconnected from my server?????
Any ideas,. they can play for about 5 or 6 minutes and then half the players or more get dosconnected?

No asking for illegal stuff here.

SO BUG OFF MR. UNREGISTERED!

-Doc

I keep getting this error ebug asertion failed and failed to creat 3d
device. any help?