Dedicated Server – Arma 3

Latest revision as of 19:43, 8 October 2024

For Arma 2/Arma 2:OA, see Arma 2: Dedicated Server.

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This page contains useful information on how to install and configure an Arma 3 server and includes step by step guides of the install process. Also information on how to configure and run a server. The majority of directories and paths are customisable, however those defined are all consistent with the tutorial instructions.

Much of the tutorial here was created using this forum guide.

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About steamCMD utility: if you are using it on a dedicated host to install and update Arma 3 dedicated server, it is a good practice to create a separate steam account for that. Arma 3 Dedicated server package is available for free (does not require regular Arma 3 to be purchased).

1.24

Simple Setup

The introduction of the Arma 3 Launcher with Arma 3 v1.24 made it easier to use the game's exe as a server with a simplified server mods configuration.

Start the Arma 3 Launcher from Steam
Go to the PARAMETERS > All Parameters > Host section and tick Server
In the MODS tab, select the server's wanted mods
Press "Play"

This starts a dedicated server with the selected mods. This is adapted for a small casual dedicated server.

Installation

Requirements

Steam Account
Supported Operating System:
- Windows Server 2008 or later
- A modern Linux distribution
Minimum Hardware:

source
Part	Minimum	Recommended
CPU	2.4 GHz Dual-Core	3.5 GHz Quad-Core
RAM	2GB	4GB
Storage	32 GB HDD	32 GB SSD

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Arma 3 server does not support IPv6 or DSlite IPv4 via IPv6 tunnel. You must have a real IPv4 connection.
If you are in doubt, contact your Internet Service Provider.

Instructions (Windows o/s)

The following instructions will guide you through setting up one Arma 3 server on 1 box, however they will also set the foundations for installing multiple servers on that same box:

Install the latest version of DirectX
Create the following empty directories
- D:\Apps\Steam
- D:\Games\Arma3\A3Master
- D:\Games\Arma3\A3Files
Download steamcmd.exe and save it to your targetted Steam install directory (E.g D:\Apps\Steam)
Run the steamcmd.exe. (This will download and install the required steam files to your custom steam directory)
Create an Arma3server_steamcmd_example.cmd file and save it to D:\Games\Arma3\A3Files
Run the Arma3server_steamcmd_example.cmd file
Just after logging into Steam, the console window will hang and ask for a validation key
- Steam will have automatically sent you an email with this validation code, which you then need to input at the command prompt
- The Update console window should then continue to run and install Arma 3 ((DEV or STABLE) version to the target directory as defined in the .cmd file) eg (D:\Games\Arma3\A3Master)
Create a shortcut for the Arma3Server.exe on the server desktop
Add the following parameters to the Target Line in the shortcut tab of the newly created desktop shortcut
- -port=2302 (Required if running multiple server instances including any previous Arma 2 instances)
- "-profiles=D:\Games\Arma3\A3Master"
- -config=CONFIG_server.cfg
- -world=empty
  - so it looks something similar to the following
  - "D:\Games\Arma3\A3Master\arma3server.exe" "-profiles=D:\Games\Arma3\A3Master" -port=2302 -config=CONFIG_server.cfg -world=empty
Setup the Port Forwarding in your firewall and/or router accordingly, also doesn't seems like implemented in some routers Port Trigger feature works with Arma 3 Server (tested with ASUS RT-N66U)
Make sure you have:
- Network Discovery enabled for your network type (the setting can be found in [Control Panel\Network and Internet\Network and Sharing Center\Advanced sharing settings]. If you have problem with its state reset on the interface reopen, check if all of the required for this feature services are running: DNS Client, Function Discovery Resource Publication, SSDP Discovery, UPnP Device Host; this makes the server accessible from internet
- Windows Media Player Network Sharing Service enabled (makes server joinable) ;

If you cannot connect to server through server browser try to use "direct connect": this is a client side issue (doesn't mean other clients will have it too), reason for the issue for now unknown, I can say it is not related to: Windows services, Windows network settings, network routers, firewalls...

Device Host: (note: Changes to the above 2 settings require Arma relaunch to be applied, as for server same for client machines;) Create a simple Notepad document called "CONFIG_server.cfg" and save it to the root folder of your Arma 3 install on the server D:\Games\Arma3\A3Master

Start up your shortcut, check the server runs. (You will see a console pop up in your desktop after a few seconds)
Close the console window down, then you will need to edit the following files which will have been automatically created
- D:\Games\Arma3\A3Master\Users\Adminstrator\Administrator.Arma3Profile
- D:\Games\Arma3\A3Master\Users\Administrator\Arma3.cfg
Restart the server
Start up your client Arma3.exe (Running the same branch as the server, (eg Stable or DEV) and you should then be able to see your server in the server browser (Filters are available to reduce the server list)
Login to your server using the password you defined in CONFIG_server.cfg by pressing / to open the chat window and then type #login ADMINPASSWORD followed by Enter ↵.
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Make sure to never forget the '#' in front of any server command!
Once logged in you will be presented with a mission list, select one of the missions to start the game
Prove the stability of your server by running BI missions initially before you start adding user made content

Instructions (Linux o/s)

Installation

As a security best practice, create a user to run steam instead of running as root or an administrator. This way, if your Arma 3 server is compromised the attacker will find it more difficult to access the rest of the operating system.

useradd -m -s /bin/bash steam

Switch to the newly created steam user.

sudo -i -u steam

Create a new directory for SteamCMD to avoid cluttering the home directory.

mkdir ~/steamcmd && cd ~/steamcmd

Download the SteamCMD for Linux tarball from the link at the Valve Developer Community page. Use a command line download tool such as wget or curl.

Extract the tarball.

tar xf steamcmd_linux.tar.gz

Execute steamcmd.sh. It will install the rest of the Steam client and start the Steam client shell. If this step fails on a 64-bit OS, you likely need to install 32-bit libraries.

./steamcmd.sh

Change the directory SteamCMD will install the server in.

force_install_dir ./arma3/

At the Steam client shell, login with a valid Steam username and password. The Valve Developer Community Wiki recommends that you create a new Steam account for this. SteamCMD will cache the login credentials and anyone who gains access to your server will be able to log into the account used here. In addition, you cannot log into a single Steam account from two places at once. You do not need to have Arma 3 purchased on the Steam account used here to download the server. Therefore, you should create a new Steam account with no purchases only for use on this server.

login myusername

Install the Arma 3 Linux dedicated server. The validate option will check for corruption.

app_update 233780 validate

Exit SteamCMD.

exit

Create the directories used to store the profile files and Arma3.cfg file.

mkdir -p ~/".local/share/Arma 3" && mkdir -p ~/".local/share/Arma 3 - Other Profiles"

Updating

You will have to update the server whenever a patch is released on Steam.

If the server is running, stop it by pressing Ctrl+C in the terminal (or screen/tmux instance) that the server is attached to. Otherwise, switch to the steam user.

sudo -u steam -i

Launch steamcmd.

cd /home/steam/steamcmd
./steamcmd.sh

Set the Arma 3 installation directory to the same directory used above.

force_install_dir ./arma3/

Login to the Steam account used in the installation section above.

login myusername

Update the Arma 3 Linux dedicated server. The validate option will check for corruption.

app_update 233780 validate

Exit SteamCMD.

exit

Configuration

You will most likely want to customise your server's name, password, security settings, and so on with a server.cfg file. Change to the arma3 directory and create and edit your server.cfg file.

cd ~/steamcmd/arma3
vim server.cfg

If you don't know how to use vim, use nano instead.

nano server.cfg

See server config for documentation and examples.

The first time you run the server it will auto-create a profile file at ~/.local/share/Arma 3 - Other Profiles/server/server.Arma3Profile. Edit this file to customise difficulty settings.

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The -profiles= parameter is broken on Linux - you must place your profiles in this directory.

Launching

A Linux executable is provided to launch the server. Make sure that you are running it under the steam user and not root or another administrator!

cd /home/steam/steamcmd/arma3
./arma3server_x64 -name=server -config=server.cfg

NB: If you are using the -mod= parameter, you must specify relative paths within or below the Arma 3 directory. Symlinks will work.

The arma3server_x64 process will attach to the current terminal. If you are connected to the server over SSH, the server will stop when you disconnect. You can keep the server running using a terminal multiplexeer like GNU Screen or tmux. There are many tutorials online on how to use these programs to detach and reattach processes from and to a terminal.

You can safely stop the server by pressing Ctrl+C in the terminal (or screen/tmux instance) that the server is attached to.

For older 32-bit executable use ./arma3server instead of ./arma3server_x64.

Case sensitivity & Mods

Some mods such as CUP Terrains and @ALiVE will not function if there are capital letters in any of their file names. If you do not update your mods on a regular basis, you can just use the command

find . -depth -exec rename 's/(.*)\/([^\/]*)/$1\/\L$2/' {} \;

in the directory where your mods are located. This will recursively search the directory tree and make all the filenames lowercase.

If you regularly update your mods using, e.g. Arma3Sync, you will find that this will redownload any files/folders that have changed case every time you run it. The solution to this is to use a package called "ciopfs" - Case Insensitive On Purpose Filesystem. You should first run the "find . -depth..." command mentioned above on your mod folder. Then, make an empty directory outside of the mods directory, e.g. mods_caseinsensitive. You then mount the directory with:

ciopfs mods mods_caseinsensitive

and tell Arma3Sync to synchronise in the mods_caseinsensitive directory. Once it has finished, you can unmount the directory with:

fusermount -u mods_caseinsensitive

You should find that all of the files in the original mods directory are lowercase.

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Additional Info

Useful Links

File Locations

Some files are automatically created when you use certain commandline parameters Some files have to be created manually. If you have followed the instructions accurately, you will now have the following files and directories in addition to the clean install

D:\Games\Arma3\A3Master\Users\Administrator\Administrator.Arma3Profile (Difficulty settings)
D:\Games\Arma3\A3Master\Users\Administrator\Administrator.vars.Arma3Profile (Some binarised content which you cannot edit)
D:\Games\Arma3\A3Master\Users\Administrator\Arma3.cfg (Bandwidth settings)
D:\Games\Arma3\A3Master\MPMissions\ (This is where custom made mission.pbo's need to be placed)
D:\Games\Arma3\A3Master\arma3.rpt (Debug Log, automatically created every time the arma3server.exe is started)
D:\Games\Arma3\A3Master\CONFIG_server.cfg (Manually created)
D:\Games\Arma3\A3Files\Arma3server_steamcmd_example.cmd (Manually created)
D:\Apps\Steam\

Port Forwarding

Arma 3 uses the same default ports as Arma 2 with the addition of several ports. So if you intend running Arma 2 and Arma 3 servers on the same machine, you need to edit the ports used. Default ports are all UDP and as follows:

Incoming

2302 (default Arma 3 Game port) + (VON is now part of main gameport due to NAT issues)
2303 (STEAM query, +1)
2304 (Steam port, +2)
2305 (VON port, +3 - not used atm. but allocated)
2306 (BattlEye traffic, +4)

Outgoing

DST Port	Protocol	Destination	Comment
2344	TCP + UDP	81.0.236.111	BattlEye - arma31.battleye.com
2345	TCP	81.0.236.111	BattlEye - arma31.battleye.com
2302-2306	UDP	any	Arma Server to Client Traffic
2303	UDP	any	Arma Server STEAM query port
2304	UDP	any	Arma Server to STEAM master traffic

To define the Arma 3 Game port used, state -port= **** in your command line arguments (Where **** is the new initial Arma 3 Game, e.g 2302)

and to define your Steam ports add the following lines to your CONFIG_server.cfg (editing the actual port numbers as required)

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Steam ports are now linked to game-port as +1 for query and +2 to-master.

If you are running multiple servers, i would suggest the following format

SERVER 1

2302 UDP (gameport + VON)
2303 UDP (STEAM query port)
2304 UDP (STEAM master port)
2305 UDP (VON reserved port but not used atm.)
2306 UDP (BattlEye traffic port)
so open ports 2302-2306
... and leave at least 100 ports between the next 2^nd server set

SERVER 2

2402 UDP (gameport + VON)
2403 UDP (STEAM query port)
2404 UDP (STEAM master port)
2405 UDP (VON reserved port but not used atm.)
2406 UDP (BattlEye traffic port)
so open ports 2402-2406
and leave at least 100 ports between the next 3^rd server set, etc.

NAT traversal

UPnP allows you to automatically create port forwarding on your router to bypass NAT (UPnP enabled routers are required). The functionality can be easily enabled in server config as described in the server.cfg page.

Configuring for stable or Dev branch

Edit the Arma3server_steamcmd_example.cmd as defined below then run it

To select Development version

SET A3BRANCH=107410 -beta development

To select stable build (Dedicated server package)

SET A3BRANCH=233780 -beta

To select stable build (Full client\server package)

SET A3BRANCH=107410

Important Feature

Since 12^th March 2013 the development branch and the stable branch versions are no longer compatible. This means:

Only DEV clients can connect to a DEV server
Only Stable clients can connect to stable servers

Advanced Configuration

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Bandwidth Optimisation

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Multiple Server configuration

There are various methods available to run multiple Dedicated Arma 3 servers on the same box. Each server instance requires:

Its own unique set of ports
Its own profile
Its own config

This post explains it more in depth.

Each method has some pro's and cons To select the preferred methodology that suits your requirements you need to have considered the following

The useage of the "Keys" folder
The useage of the "MpMissions" folder
Available Hard drive space
Update management

Method 1

see THIS POST for more detailed information This is copy of the master install into a different directory As may times as you have space for

Pros

Most robust
Unique MpMissions folder
Unique "keys" folder
Allows ability to run separate instances of different branches of the game, (E.g Dev or Stable)

Cons

Uses more drive space
Requires more effort to create and automate the updating process

Method 2

This uses 1 master install folder and has renamed arma3server.exe's in sub folders of the master see THIS POST for more detailed information

Pros (Compared to Method 1)

Uses less space than Method 1
Updating will be easier

Cons (Compared to Method 1)

Not very robust
Shares MPMissions folders with all the other exe's (Will create a very cluttered MpMissions folder and allows admins to select addon required missions for a mod this server instance isn't running
Shares "keys" folder with all other exe's (This can cause an issue when running various differing -mod servers)
Will not allow you to run separate instances of different branches of the game

Method 3

This is a hybrid of method 1, in that it is essentially a "Virtual" copy of the master install in a different directory the difference being that many folders are symlinked to the initial Master directory symlink GUI:

Pros (Compared to Method 1)

Uses less drive space (As you wont have multiple copies of the addons folder)
Allows for unique MpMissions folder if desired
Allows for unique "keys" folder if desired
Updating will be easier

Cons (Compared to Method 1)

Requires more effort to initially create the symlinks and directories
Will not allow you to run separate instances of different branches of the game at the same time, (E.g Dev or Stable)

For example, on Linux, if you initially have the following folder layout:

~/game_servers/

arma3server/ ... mods # folder where you keep your mods arma3server ...

Instead of copying the folders as directed in (Compared to Method 1), run the following commands:

cd ~/game_servers/
mkdir arma3server_2/
ln -sr arma3server/* arma3server_2
cd arma3server_2
rm keys mpmissions mods
mkdir keys
mkdir mpmissions
mkdir mods

Then proceed with the rest of the instructions in METHOD 1.

Method 4

You can of course mix and match all 3 previous methods to suit your specific requirements.

Dedicated Server & Client configuration

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In order for the Arma 3 server to be able to connect to the Steam servers, the Arma 3 server has to be ping-able (ICMP 8 - Echo Reply) as well as opened TCP/UDP ports.

The only known issue, is to make sure you start the server up before you start the steam client Failing to do this causes steam port issues and your client will not be able to connect to the server

Headless Client

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See Arma 3: Headless Client for changes in headless clients.

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A Headless Client can be used by missions to offload AI processing to a dedicated client, freeing up the dedicated server process from most AI processing. Thus more AI units can be spawned and the server process will be able to dedicate most of it is processing towards communication with the clients. For a Headless Client/Dedicated Server to function together efficiently, they both need to be connected to each other via extremely low latency and high bandwidth. Effectively, they need to be on the same LAN at least, but preferably running on the same computer.

Setup and Execution

Headless Client for Arma 3 requires a valid active Steam account logged in to function (see Dwarden's post)
A Headless Client is simply Arma3.exe run from the command line with parameters, for example:

arma3.exe -connect=localhost -port=2444 -client -nosound -password=some_server_password -name=HC -profile=HC -mod=@CBA_A3;@blah;@blah;@blah

In the example above, the headless client is running on the same host as the dedicated server. It uses a profile called HC and connects to the server with a password as required by the server (the password is for password protected servers, optional). The server in this example is running on port 2444, alter this to the port of your server.

The Headless Client profile needs to be created like any other profile in Arma 3 (Note: It is best if you name this profile HC)

No configuration of the profile is necessary, but after creation, edit HC.Arma3Profile located in C:\Users\yourusername\Documents\Arma 3 - Other Profiles\HC and add this line:

battleyeLicense=1;

Alternatively, you can use the full Arma 3 client to connect to any multiplayer server with BattlEye enabled and accept the BattlEye License Agreement, which will do the same thing as manually editing HC.Arma3Profile.

Once the profile is ready, copy the profile directory to C:\Users\yourusername\Documents\Arma 3 - Other Profiles on the server (if the profile was not created on the server). If the profile was created on the server or is not going to run on the server and is already on the computer it is going to run on, then it is ready to go.

If the Headless Client is on the server, the server's cfg must have the local loopback address as seen below (e.g. A3Server.cfg):

localClient[]={ "127.0.0.1" };
headlessClients[]={ "127.0.0.1" };
battleyeLicense=1;

Dwarden suggests that battleyeLicense=1; be in the server's config, but it is unclear whether this is actually necessary. (Dwarden's post).

If the Headless Client is running in the same network or the same computer, the server's config has to have the address in localClient[]=x.x.x.x.

This will allow the server to communicate with the Headless Client using unrestricted bandwidth. It is also required to add the adress to headlessClients[]={ "x.x.x.x" };. Multiple headless clients at different addresses can be added:

localClient[]={ "127.0.0.1", "192.168.1.10", "192.168.1.210" };
headlessClients[]={ "127.0.0.1", "192.168.1.10", "192.168.1.210" };
battleyeLicense=1;

Headless Client on a Dedicated Server Notes

If the Arma 3: Headless Client and a Dedicated Server are running on the same Windows computer (VM or physical), it may be beneficial to set processor affinity to prevent execution intensive threads from being scheduled across the same (v)CPUs.

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Do not use this if you do not know what you are doing, as performance may be strongly impacted.

The operating system will generally schedule threads efficiently, but manual CPU allocation is possible. This can be achieved by right-clicking on the process (e.g. Arma3Server.exe(*32)) in the processes tab of the Windows Task Manager and selecting Set Affinity.... Be aware that on a physical intel CPU, the odd numbered CPUs are Hyper-thread cores.

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You can use automated solution for affinity assign via batch file with commandline CMD /AFFINITY HEXvalue e.g. CMD /C START /AFFINITY 0xF3 arma3server.exe.

It has been observed that although the Arma server and client processes will kick off multiple threads, the bulk of processing is used up by only one or two threads. For example, spawning 50 AI units does not generate 50 threads. There is one thread in the process that handles all of the AI units, irrespective of how many have been spawned. In this way, the ARMA server and client processes do not make maximal use of the processing capability found in modern processors and so AI counts do not scale easily. As such, faster CPU core speed is king and offloading the AI to multiple headless clients on the same computer will probably produce the best possible results for complex missions involving many AI units (albeit an expensive way to get the results).

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Read the complete and detailed HOW-TO guide on Headless Client: Arma 3: Headless Client.

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Example Files

Arma3server_steamcmd_example.cmd

Standalone Server Package (no need for game ownership on STEAM account)
Note: you might be asked to authorise your STEAM account due to STEAMguard (check email)
Note: it needs to be ran two or three times (1st authorise, 2nd STEAMcmd update itself, (when done, quit), 3rd update the Arma 3 Server data package)
Note: STEAMcmd needs to be in separate folder from STEAMclient (so always use unique folder like "STEAMcmd") to avoid file conflicts
Note: Arma 3 server data package needs to be in separate folder from Arma 3 client (so always use unique folder like "A3server" or "Arma3server") to avoid file conflicts

Code:

@echo off
rem http://media.steampowered.com/installer/steamcmd.zip
SETLOCAL ENABLEDELAYEDEXPANSION

	:: DEFINE the following variables where applicable to your install

	SET STEAMLOGIN=mylogin mypassword
	SET A3serverBRANCH=233780 -beta public
		:: For stable use 233780 -beta public
		:: For Dev use 233780 -beta development
				:: Note: quotation marks need to be wrapped around the entire "+app_data......"
				:: There is no DEV branch data yet for Arma 3 Dedicated Server package!

	SET A3serverPath=D:\Games\Arma3\A3Master
		SET STEAMPATH=D:\Apps\Steam

:: 

echo.
echo You are about to update Arma 3 server
echo 	Dir: %A3serverPath%
echo 	Branch: %A3serverBRANCH%
echo.
echo Key "ENTER" to proceed
pause
%STEAMPATH%\steamcmd.exe +force_install_dir %A3serverPath% +login %STEAMLOGIN% +"app_update %A3serverBRANCH%" validate +quit
echo.
echo Your Arma 3 server is now up to date
echo Press "ENTER" to exit
pause

CONFIG_server.cfg

//
// server.cfg
//

// NOTE: More parameters and details are available at http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/server.cfg

// STEAM PORTS (not needed anymore, it is +1 +2 to gameport)
// steamPort		= 8766;		// default 8766, needs to be unique if multiple servers are on the same box
// steamQueryPort	= 27016;	// default 27016, needs to be unique if multiple servers are on the same box

// GENERAL SETTINGS
hostname		= "My Arma 3 Server";	// Name of the server displayed in the public server list
//password		= "ServerPassword";		// Password required to join the server (remove // at start of line to enable)
passwordAdmin	= "AdminPassword";		// Password to login as admin. Open the chat and type: #login password
maxPlayers		= 40;	// Maximum amount of players, including headless clients. Anybody who joins the server is considered a player, regardless of their role or team.
persistent		= 1;	// If set to 1, missions will continue to run after all players have disconnected; required if you want to use the -autoInit startup parameter

// VOICE CHAT
disableVoN		= 0;	// If set to 1, voice chat will be disabled
vonCodecQuality	= 10;	// Supports range 1-30, the higher the better sound quality, the more bandwidth consumption:
						// 1-10 is 8kHz (narrowband)
						// 11-20 is 16kHz (wideband)
						// 21-30 is 32kHz (ultrawideband)

// VOTING
voteMissionPlayers	= 1;		// Minimum number of players required before displaying the mission selection screen, if you have not already selected a mission in this config
voteThreshold		= 0.33;		// Percentage (0.00 to 1.00) of players needed to vote something into effect, for example an admin or a new mission. Set to 9999 to disable voting.
allowedVoteCmds[] =				// Voting commands allowed to players
{
	// { command, preinit, postinit, threshold } - specifying a threshold value will override "voteThreshold" for that command
	{ "admin", false, false},		// vote admin
	{ "kick", false, true, 0.51},	// vote kick
	{ "missions", false, false},		// mission change
	{ "mission", false, false},		// mission selection
	{ "restart", false, false},		// mission restart
	{ "reassign", false, false}		// mission restart with roles unassigned
};

// WELCOME MESSAGE ("message of the day")
// It can be several lines, separated by comma
// Empty messages "" will not be displayed, but can be used to increase the delay before other messages
motd[] =
{
	"Welcome to My Arma 3 Server",
	"Discord: discord.somewhere.com",
	"TeamSpeak: ts.somewhere.com",
	"Website: www.example.com"
};
motdInterval = 5;	// Number of seconds between each message

// MISSIONS CYCLE
class Missions
{
	class Mission1
	{
		template	= "MyMission.Altis";	// Filename of pbo in MPMissions folder
		difficulty	= "Regular";			// "Recruit", "Regular", "Veteran", "Custom"
	};
};

// LOGGING
timeStampFormat	= "short";				// Timestamp format used in the server RPT logs. Possible values are "none" (default), "short", "full"
logFile			= "server_console.log";	// Server console output filename

// SECURITY
BattlEye				= 1;	// If set to 1, BattlEye Anti-Cheat will be enabled on the server (default: 1, recommended: 1)
verifySignatures		= 2;	// If set to 2, players with unknown or unsigned mods won't be allowed join (default: 0, recommended: 2)
kickDuplicate			= 1;	// If set to 1, players with an ID that is identical to another player will be kicked (recommended: 1)
allowedFilePatching		= 1;	// Prevents clients with filePatching enabled from joining the server
								// (0 = block filePatching, 1 = allow headless clients, 2 = allow all) (default: 0, recommended: 1)

// FILE EXTENSIONS

// only allow files with those extensions to be loaded via loadFile command (since Arma 3 v1.20)
allowedLoadFileExtensions[] =		{ "hpp", "sqs", "sqf", "fsm", "cpp", "paa", "txt", "xml", "inc", "ext", "sqm", "ods", "fxy", "lip", "csv", "kb", "bik", "bikb", "html", "htm", "biedi" };

// only allow files with those extensions to be loaded via preprocessFile / preprocessFileLineNumbers commands (since Arma 3 v1.20)
allowedPreprocessFileExtensions[] =	{ "hpp", "sqs", "sqf", "fsm", "cpp", "paa", "txt", "xml", "inc", "ext", "sqm", "ods", "fxy", "lip", "csv", "kb", "bik", "bikb", "html", "htm", "biedi" };

// only allow files and URLs with those extensions to be loaded via htmlLoad command (since Arma 3 v1.28)
allowedHTMLLoadExtensions[] =		{ "htm", "html", "php", "xml", "txt" };

// EVENT SCRIPTS - see http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Arma_3:_Server_Side_Scripting
onUserConnected		= "";	// command to run when a player connects
onUserDisconnected	= "";	// command to run when a player disconnects
doubleIdDetected	= "";	// command to run if a player has the same ID as another player in the server
onUnsignedData		= "kick (_this select 0)";	// command to run if a player has unsigned files
onHackedData		= "kick (_this select 0)";	// command to run if a player has tampered files

// HEADLESS CLIENT
headlessClients[]	= { "127.0.0.1" };	// list of IP addresses allowed to connect using headless clients; example: { "127.0.0.1", "192.168.1.100" };
localClient[]		= { "127.0.0.1" };	// list of IP addresses to which are granted unlimited bandwidth; example: { "127.0.0.1", "192.168.1.100" };

server.Arma3Profile

See server.armaprofile.

Arma3.cfg

ⓘ

See basic.cfg for more information.

language="English";
adapter=-1;
MinBandwidth=800000;
MaxBandwidth=25000000;
MaxMsgSend=384;
MaxSizeGuaranteed=512;
MaxSizeNonguaranteed=256;
MinErrorToSend=0.003;
MaxCustomFileSize=100000;
Windowed=0;
serverLongitude=0;
serverLatitude=52;
serverLongitudeAuto=0;
serverLatitudeAuto=52;

Support & Troubleshooting

Known Issues

My server has 2500ms ping in server browser (This is caused by running the steam client as Non Administrator) see http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=9374
MaxMsgSend default is 128, higher values can create Desync problems if the server's available processing and/or bandwidth can not support the higher value
if you run Arma 3 Dedicated server data package on system where is also installed client there is possibility the server will load the full client data instead server data package, this is caused by precedence check in registry.
The solution/workaround to this issue is to use arma3server.exe -mod= (where empty modline ensure it loads data from where server is placed)
upnp=1; // in server.cfg may result into server not starting for 600 seconds on server with active firewalls / anti-ddos measures ,
it's not recommended setting for dedicated-servers where server process related ports are open/forwarded by default
using multiple server instances with too narrow ranges in between each (e.g. first 2302, second 2314) may cause problems with query where second server reports at first range, use of minimum +100 ports for next instance next to 2302 thus 2402 then 2502 etc. for utmost safety use +200 or +1000
engine has legacy automated port increment system for occupied sockets (used for client-listen servers, upnp) where first is tried 2302, then +12 up to 15 times (so 2314, 2326 ... 2482)

Live Help

For live assistance, join the official Arma Discord server! Especially these channels:

#server_admins
#server_linux
#server_windows
#server_tools

F.A.Q

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Dedicated Server – Arma 3

Latest revision as of 19:43, 8 October 2024

Simple Setup

Installation

Requirements

Instructions (Windows o/s)

Instructions (Linux o/s)

Installation

Updating

Configuration

Launching

Case sensitivity & Mods

Additional Info

Useful Links

Further Reading

File Locations

Port Forwarding

NAT traversal

Configuring for stable or Dev branch

Advanced Configuration

Bandwidth Optimisation

Multiple Server configuration

Method 1

Method 2

Method 3

Method 4

Dedicated Server & Client configuration

Headless Client

Setup and Execution

Headless Client on a Dedicated Server Notes

Example Files

Arma3server_steamcmd_example.cmd

CONFIG_server.cfg

server.Arma3Profile

Arma3.cfg

Support & Troubleshooting

Known Issues

Live Help

F.A.Q

See Also

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