Old School Ops

Game Clients

Which game client each RF Online server speaks to, how to identify the exact build, and how to point it at a server.

updated 2026-09-11

Every RF Online server here is built against one client build and speaks to that build alone. The client is a program we do not control and cannot patch, so the server conforms to it byte for byte.

Which Client Each Server Needs

ServerClient buildHow to identify it
RF Online: DragonbornRF Online Taiwan, built 2025-07-16RF_Online.bin, 8,430,808 bytes
RF Online 4.15, Age of PatronRedFox Games 4.15 final, built 2023-01-02RF_Online.bin, 8,685,880 bytes
RF Online 2.2.3.2, Golden AgeEpisode 2.2.3.2 retailthe version the client reports
RF Online 2.1.6, Secret of HolystoneEpisode 2.1.6 retailthe version the client reports
RF Online 2.1.5, Red ArmyEpisode 2.1.5 retailthe version the client reports
RF Online Giga 4 Part 2Giga 4 Part 2 retailthe version the client reports
RF Online 1.5GamesCampus 1.5b, built 2013-03-13RF_Online.bin, 10,153,352 bytes

Four of these are identified by a file rather than by a version number, because for those four the version number does not name a single program. Their exact fingerprints are below.

Exact Builds

Compare the file you have. A size that matches and a hash that matches is the client the server was written against; anything else is a different program.

4.55

FileRF_Online.bin
Size8,430,808 bytes
Built2025-07-16
SHA-25646528aac20499e3b3928d58658d7e0cefe26feba7cd193796d5cfbf7a2bbc558

The newest RF Online client that exists, from the Taiwan service, signed by CCR.

This client expires. It checks its own build date against your clock, and past its shelf life it greys out Start Game and writes "This Client Version has Expired!" to its log with nothing on screen to explain. Credits and Exit keep working, which makes it look like a broken install. The check never touches the network, so no server can satisfy it for you. The bundle ships tools/clientpatcher.ps1, which names the build you have and prints what to switch off.

4.15

FileRF_Online.bin
Size8,685,880 bytes
Built2023-01-02
SHA-256f9af7e8d367a54eab61ba37c68cd45b46ca065d4a415efa54eaa76e7f1923811
InstallerRFOnline_Setup.exe, 6,616,024 bytes, SHA-256 8f0dbab512f011aef790faa5262b3b5a790783bdcdaa85048a73e294c7bd08f6

The last 4.15 RedFox Games ever shipped, and the only 4.15 that has connected to our server.

The installer's signature verifies, but what it installs is the 2018 build, not this one. To get the 2023-01-02 binary, run the client's own RF.exe once after installing and let it patch. Expect it to fail at the end: RedFox closed the game in February 2023 and its download servers are gone, so the patcher finishes its file downloads and then errors when it cannot reach them. The files still arrive. Ignore the error and check the hash.

1.5

FileRF_Online.bin
Size10,153,352 bytes
Built2013-03-13
MD504f83be3a212582224d379dad655352f

The retail GamesCampus 1.5b client.

Three separate programs call themselves RF Online 1.5: this one, a Korean build from January 2012, and an English build from November 2012. They disagree about what to send on the wire, and only this one is supported. The other two are not expected to work.

The build date above is the one the file itself carries, which survives copying and installing where a timestamp on disk does not.

We Do Not Ship a Client

No RF Online release here contains a game client, a patched executable, a loader or a replacement binary. The client is the one you already own; the server is the part we wrote. Gate to Heavens works the other way round and ships its client inside the release, because that one is ours to give away.

Versions Are Not Interchangeable

A client from one version cannot talk to a server from another. There is no partial result and no login screen you get past first: the two disagree on the shape of the first message they exchange.

Across versions the message numbering changes, the record layouts change, the data tables change, and in some cases the encryption on the wire changes method rather than keys. That is why these are separate servers with separate downloads rather than one server with a setting.

Pointing Your Client at a Server

There is nothing inside the client to edit and nothing to patch. Every RF release ships rflauncher.exe: copy it into your client folder, run it instead of the game executable, and it writes what the client needs and starts it already signed in.

The launcher covers the settings file beside it. Choosing a version covers which server to run, and installing a server covers the other end.

Something here wrong?

Out of date, incomplete, or assuming something it should not. Documentation errors are bugs, and this one arrives tagged and pointed at this page.

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