What You Need
The hardware, software and files required to run one of our servers, and the one rule about matching a client to a server.
The Short Version
A computer, the release archive for the game you want, and the matching game client. That is it. There is nothing to install first, no database to set up, and no runtime to download.
The Game Client
Each server here plays one version of one game, and speaks to that version’s client and nothing else. Match the two and it works. Get them out of step and it fails at the login screen rather than half-working, because the two disagree on the very first message they exchange.
So the rule is the whole rule: the version of the server has to match the version of the game its
client came from. Our own release number, the v0.5.1 on the download, is a separate thing and
has nothing to do with it.
Where the client comes from depends on the game. Gate to Heavens ships its client inside the release, so there is nothing to find and nothing to match. The RF Online servers use the client you already own, and each version needs its own.
Which client a given server wants, and the one case where a version number does not identify a single file, is in that game’s own documentation. Open documentation, pick the version you are running, and its own pages say.
Hardware
Modest. These are servers for games built when a machine had a gigabyte or two of memory.
| For Yourself and Some Friends | For a Public Server | |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | any 2 cores | 4 cores |
| Memory | 1 GB free | 4 GB |
| Disk | 2 GB | 10 GB, on an SSD |
| Network | a home connection | anything with a static address |
The disk figure is mostly the game’s own content data. A running server with a handful of players sits well under a gigabyte of memory.
Operating System
Every release ships binaries for both:
- Windows 10 or later, 64-bit. Nothing to install.
- Linux x86-64, any distribution from the last few years. Statically linked, so there is no glibc version to match and no packages to add.
macOS is not built. The server would run under a Linux VM, but the client will not, so it has not been worth the release slot.
Software
Nothing, for the default setup.
The server uses an embedded database that creates itself on first run, so a freshly extracted archive starts and keeps working with no separate database process anywhere. If you would rather run MySQL 8 or MariaDB 10.6+, the schema for it ships in the same archive and you switch with one line of config. See the database page.
Network
For a server only you and people in your house connect to, nothing. For anyone outside it, you need one TCP or UDP port open, depending on the game, and a way for people to reach your address. The configuration page lists which port each game uses.