Installing

Download the archive, unzip it, run the server. A release arrives configured for a server on your own machine, so there is nothing to fill in before it will start. On Windows that is one double-click, because the archive ships the program that starts everything for you.

Download and Unzip

Take the archive for your game from its own page and unzip it anywhere you have write access.

Do not use Program Files on Windows. The server writes its database and logs next to itself, and Windows redirects those writes somewhere else.

An RF Online release gives you this:

<game>-v<version>/
  GoMMO_Manager.exe        Windows: the thing you run
  README.md                the short version of this page
  settings/
    settings.cfg           settings, already filled in for a local server
    settings.cfg.example   the same file with the password blanked
    manager.ini            which game the manager is sitting in
  server/
    start-server.bat       Windows, without the manager
    start-server.sh        Linux
    windows/               the server binaries
    linux/                 the same binaries, built for Linux, plus systemd unit templates
  tools/                   GoMMO Client Patcher, which prepares the official game client
  client/                  what your players copy into their game folder
  database-mysql/          the schema, for MySQL instead of the default
  db/                      the default database, created on first run
  logs/

The top of the archive is still the folder every server runs from: db/, logs/ and scripts/ are found there, and only the files you edit live in settings/. The other games keep settings.cfg and the start scripts at the top of their server folder (inside server/ on Gate to Heavens).

Services and tools covers what each program is and when to run it.

Run It on Windows

Double-click GoMMO_Manager.exe at the top of the archive and press Start.

That is the whole procedure. The manager is a small window with one row per server: a Start button, the live log, and the figures that server is reporting. It runs each one from the right folder, which is the part that goes wrong when people start them by hand, and closing it stops whatever it started. Services and tools is the full tour.

If your archive has no GoMMO_Manager.exe yet, run start-server.bat instead (server\start-server.bat on RF Online). It starts the gameserver from the right folder and everything below is the same.

Run It on Linux

chmod +x server/start-server.sh
./server/start-server.sh

On the games without a settings/ folder the script sits at the top of the server folder: ./start-server.sh.

The First Run

The first run takes longer than later ones: the server creates its database, applies the schema and imports the game's content data.

It worked if the log says the server is listening on its port and reports how many maps and monsters it loaded. If it reports zero monsters the content data did not import, which troubleshooting covers.

Connect to It

The client/ folder is what a player needs. Copy its contents into their game client's folder, run the launcher, and sign in.

Accounts are created by registering in the launcher, or on the server's own website. There is no approval step. On RF Online, GoMMO Manager's Accounts window can also create and manage them.

Keeping It Running

A release does not install a service.

On Windows, leave GoMMO Manager open. It restarts a server that exits on its own if you switch Auto on for it, and closing the window stops everything it started rather than leaving a server holding its port.

On Linux, use a systemd unit pointing at server/linux/gameserver with the archive directory as its working directory. An RF release ships two ready templates in server/linux/ (<game>-gameserver.service and <game>-webserver.service); edit the paths and user in them and copy them to /etc/systemd/system/. The working directory matters more than the path to the binary: the server finds its database and its content data relative to where it runs from.

Changing Settings

To open the server to other people, move to MySQL, run more than one game on one machine, or change a port, see configuration.

Updating

Copy the new server/ folder over your existing one and restart. The server upgrades its own schema on start, and your settings.cfg (in settings/ on RF Online) and databases are not touched. Updates and versions covers the version numbers, release candidates, and the cases where an update needs more than that copy.