Arma 2: Server Config File

This page is for games before Arma 3. For a dedicated Arma 3 page, see Arma 3: Server Config File.

This article deals with the server.cfg, a configuration file which you can use to configure various game server settings such as the difficulty level, how many votes are needed, welcome messages, etc.

The name server.cfg is only a standard as the file can be called anything. The real name is determined by the -config command line option when launching the dedicated server. There is no default name - when no filename is specified, no server configuration file is loaded.

Server Options

Parameter	Description
passwordAdmin = "xyzxyz";	Password to protect admin access.
password = "xyz";	Password required to connect to server.
serverCommandPassword = "xyzxyz";	Password required by alternate syntax of serverCommand server-side scripting.
hostname = "My Server";	Servername visible in the game browser.
maxPlayers = 10;	The maximum number of players that can connect to server. The final number will be lesser between number given here and number of mission slots (default value is 64 for dedicated server).
motd[] = { "Welcome to my server.", "Hosted in the net." };	Two lines welcome message. Comma is the 'new line' separator.
admins[] = { "<UID>" };	e.g. admins[] = { "1234", "5678" }; whitelisted client can use #login w/o password (since Arma 2:OA). See Logged In Admin
headlessClients[] = { "<IP>" };	see Headless Client Settings
localClient[] = { "<IP>" };

Server Behaviour

Server Behaviour	Description
voteThreshold = 0.33;	Percentage of votes needed to confirm a vote. 33% in this example.
voteMissionPlayers = 3;	Start mission-voting when X numberOfPlayers connect. 3 players in this example.
allowedVoteCmds[] = { { "kick", false, false, 0.75 } };	see Mission voting
allowedVotedAdminCmds[] = { { "mission", true, true } };
kickDuplicate = 1;	Do not allow duplicate game IDs. Second player with an existing ID will be kicked automatically. 1 means active, 0 disabled.
loopback = true;	Adding this option will force server into LAN mode. This will allow multiple local instances of the game to connect to the server for testing purposes. At the same time it will prevent all non-local instances from connecting.
checkfiles[] = { "dta\bin.pbo", "a10\config.bin" };	Outdated - replaced by verifySignatures! Only use if you really understand what it does. List of files to check for integrity with crc check. Possible to check pbo files or files inside pbos. Beware checking large files, which takes serious processing on the server and can cause various issues.
equalModRequired = 1;	Outdated - replaced by verifySignatures! Only use if you really understand what it does. Clients require the exact same modfolder naming, order and amount as the server. 1 means active, 0 disabled.
upnp = true;	Default: false. Automatically creates port mapping on UPNP/IGD enabled router. This option allows you to create a server behind NAT (your router must have public IP and support UPNP/IGD protocol). Read more Internet Gateway Device (IGD) Standardized Device Control Protocol . Warning: When enabled then this setting may delay server start-up by 600s (standard UDP timeout of 10 minutes) if blocked on firewall or bad routing etc. Thus in such case is recommended to disable it.
allowedHTMLLoadURIs[] = { "http://arma2.com" };	Only allow files from listed URIs and URLs to be loaded via htmlLoad command. Comment out if not used. Can use += to add to the existing list.
filePatchingExceptions[] = { "123456789", "987654321" };	Whitelisted Steam IDs allowed filePatching
enablePlayerDiag = 1:	Logs players' bandwidth and desync info every 60 seconds, as well as "network message is pending" owner identity.
callExtReportLimit = 1000.0;	If server initiated callExtension takes longer than specified limit in milliseconds, the warning will be logged into server .rpt file as well as reflected in the extension return result. Default: 1000.0
missionsToServerRestart = 8;	Number of times missionEnd happens before server initiate process restart (uses actual session startup command-line parameters, not possible to combine with `missionsToShutdown` )
missionsToShutdown = 8;	Number of times missionEnd happens before server initiate process shutdown (has same behavior as setting named `missionsToHardRestart`)
autoSelectMission = true;	When enabled, the server auto-starts next mission in mission cycle and waits for players in the role selection. This allows full mission information in server browser and then results in proper filtering of the servers. This is lesser-variant (trimmed) of server startup command-line parameter `-autoInit` Might collide with campaign linked missions / need mission cycle etc.
randomMissionOrder = true;	When enabled, the server random start / next selection with one of missions from mission rotation list. ( setting goes outside(before) Mission class {}; )
disableChannels[] = { { 0, false, true } };	disableChannels[] = { { channelID, text, voice }, ... }; ChannelID : Number - use single digit of (0 to 6) to define channelID. Default: No restriction to any channels, with text/von chat set to false. text : Boolean - use true to disable usage of text-chat for defined channelID. Default: false voice : Boolean - use true to disable usage of voice-chat (VON) for defined channelID. Default: false List of channels ID: 0 = Global 1 = Side 2 = Command 3 = Group 4 = Vehicle 5 = Direct 6 = System ⓘ A mission which uses disableChannels will override any setting of disableChannels[] in the server.cfg.

Arma server only

ⓘ

the following settings do not apply to Operation Flashpoint.

Arma Only Parameters	Description
verifySignatures = 2;	Enables or disables the signature verification for addons. Default = 2. Verification disabled = 0.
disableVoN = 1;	Enables or disables the Voice over Net. Default = 0.
vonCodecQuality = 10;	Defines VoN codec quality. Value range is from 1 to 20. Default = 3. Since Arma 2:OA 1.62.95417 supports range 1-20 Since Arma 2:OA 1.63.x will support range 1-30 8kHz is 0-10, 16kHz is 11-20, for 21-30 it is 32kHz for SPEEX codec and 48kHz for OPUS codec.
vonCodec = 1;	Defines VoN codec type. Value range is from 0 to 1. Default = 0. Value 0 uses older SPEEX codec, while 1 switches to new IETF standard OPUS codec.
skipLobby = true;	If true, joining player will skip role selection. This is only used if no Mission, Campaign or Config setting skipLobby is defined (See Description.ext#skipLobby). Default: false;
logFile = "server_console.log";	Enables output of dedicated server console into textfile. Default location of log is same as crash dumps and other logs. (Local settings) Note that this does not change the location of the "net.log" file, which you enable with the -netlog command line option.
doubleIdDetected = "command";	see Server Side Scripting
onUserConnected = "command";
onUserDisconnected = "command";
onHackedData = "command";
onDifferentData = "command";
onUnsignedData = "command";
onUserKicked = "command";
regularCheck = "command";
BattlEye = 1;	Enables or disables the BattlEye anti-cheat engine. Default 0. Requires installed battleye on server and clients joining the server
timeStampFormat = "short";	Set the timestamp format used on each report line in server-side RPT file. Possible values are "none" (default), "short", "full".
forceRotorLibSimulation = 0;	Enforces the Advanced Flight Model on the server. Default = 0 (up to the player). 1 - forced AFM, 2 - forced SFM.
persistent = 1;	Mission keeps running when all clients disconnect.. Default = 0. See note below.
requiredBuild = xxxxx;	Minimum required client version. Clients with version lower than requiredBuild will not be able to connect. If requiredBuild is set to a large number, like requiredBuild = 999999999; for example, it will automatically be lowered to the current server version.

Comments

Enabling the persistence option will make missions that have either base or instant respawn keep on running after all players have disconnected. The other respawn types will not make a mission persistent. The kind of respawn a certain mission uses is set in its Description.ext.

If you do not include the regularCheck option or set regularCheck = ""; it will be activated automatically. The server checks the files from time to time by hashing them and comparing the hash to the hash values of the clients. {{Feature|important|It is strongly recommended to not disable regularCheck as this will make the server prone to cheating.

Server Administration

If you are not using BattlEye RCon, there could only be 1 server admin at any given time. There are two ways of becoming admin, through a vote or through login with authenticated credentials.

Voted In Admin

It is possible to become a server administrator through player voting process. Such admin has less abilities than logged in admin.
For example, voted in admin would be able to kick a player, but only logged in admin would be able to ban a player.
For more information on voting and voting configuration see page Server Voting.

Logged In Admin

To log in as admin, one is required to type in#login command followed by server password, which matches password defined in passwordAdmin param.
Since Arma2OA it is possible to add one or several user ids UIDs into admins[] server config parameter, which would allow listed users to log in as admin by simply typing #login without a password.
This presents several advantages for managing the servers. The server owner can have multiple admins selected from the community and doesn't have to provide each one with server admin password.
The adding and removing of UIDs is done on the server side which makes it easy to add and to remove admins if necessary. On the server, admins are handled on first come first served basis.
Here are the rules:

• If there is already a logged in admin on the server, the new admin will not be able to log in until previously logged in admin logs out
• If there is a voted in admin on the server, the logged in admin will override voted in admin and take admin role
• There is no difference between logged in admin that used admin password or logged in admin that was whitelisted with admins[] param

The logged in and voted in admins have different set of Multiplayer Server Commands available to them. See serverCommandAvailable for more information.

Server Security

See Arma 3: Server Config File - Server Security for security settings.

Example Configuration File

//
// server.cfg
//
// comments are written with "//" in front of them.


// GLOBAL SETTINGS
hostname = "Fun and Test Server";		// The name of the server that shall be displayed in the public server list
password = "";							// Password for joining, eg connecting to the server
passwordAdmin = "xyz";					// Password to become server admin. When you're in Arma MP and connected to the server, type '#login xyz'
serverCommandPassword = "xyzxyz";		// Password required by alternate syntax of [[serverCommand]] server-side scripting.

//reportingIP = "armedass.master.gamespy.com";	// For {{arma1}} publicly list your server on GameSpy. Leave empty for private servers
//reportingIP = "arma2pc.master.gamespy.com";	// For {{arma2}} publicly list your server on GameSpy. Leave empty for private servers
//reportingIP = "arma2oapc.master.gamespy.com";	// For {{arma2oa}} - deprecated since {{arma2oa}} version 1.63

logFile = "server_console.log";			// Tells ArmA-server where the logfile should go and what it should be called


// WELCOME MESSAGE ("message of the day")
// It can be several lines, separated by comma
// Empty messages "" will not be displayed at all but are only for increasing the interval
motd[] = {
	"", "",
	"Two empty lines above for increasing interval",
	"Welcome to our server",
	"", "",
	"We are looking for fun - Join us Now !",
	"http://www.example.com",
	"One more empty line below for increasing interval",
	""
};
motdInterval = 5;					// Time interval (in seconds) between each message


// JOINING RULES
//checkfiles[] = {};				// Outdated.
maxPlayers = 64;					// Maximum amount of players. Civilians and watchers, beholder, bystanders and so on also count as player.
kickDuplicate = 1;					// Each ArmA version has its own ID. If kickDuplicate is set to 1, a player will be kicked when he joins a server where another player with the same ID is playing.
verifySignatures = 2;				// Verifies .pbos against .bisign files. Valid values 0 (disabled), 1 (prefer v2 sigs but accept v1 too) and 2 (only v2 sigs are allowed).
equalModRequired = 0;				// Outdated. If set to 1, player has to use exactly the same -mod= startup parameter as the server.
filePatchingExceptions[] = {"123456789","987654321"}; // Whitelisted Steam IDs allowed to join with -filePatching enabled
//requiredBuild = 12345;			// Require clients joining to have at least build 12345 of game, preventing obsolete clients to connect


// VOTING
voteMissionPlayers = 1;				// Tells the server how many people must connect so that it displays the mission selection screen.
voteThreshold = 0.33;				// 33% or more players need to vote for something, for example an admin or a new map, to become effective


// INGAME SETTINGS
disableVoN = 0;					// If set to 1, Voice over Net will not be available
vonCodecQuality = 30;			// since 1.62.95417 supports range 1-20 //since 1.63.x will supports range 1-30 //8kHz is 0-10, 16kHz is 11-20, 32kHz(48kHz) is 21-30
persistent = 1;					// If 1, missions still run on even after the last player disconnected.
timeStampFormat = "short";		// Set the timestamp format used on each report line in server-side RPT file. Possible values are "none" (default),"short","full".
BattlEye = 1;					// Server to use BattlEye system
//allowedHTMLLoadURIs[] = {}; // Leave commented to let missions/campaigns/addons decide what URIs are supported. Uncomment to define server-level restrictions for URIs

// TIMEOUTS
disconnectTimeout = 5;			// Time to wait before disconnecting a user which temporarly lost connection. Range is 5 to 90 seconds.
maxDesync = 150;				// Max desync value until server kick the user
maxPing= 200;					// Max ping value until server kick the user
maxPacketLoss= 50;				// Max packetloss value until server kick the user
kickClientsOnSlowNetwork[] = { 0, 0, 0, 0 }; // Defines if {<MaxPing>, <MaxPacketLoss>, <MaxDesync>, <DisconnectTimeout>} will be logged (0) or kicked (1)
kickTimeout[] = { {0, -1}, {1, 180}, {2, 180}, {3, 180} };
votingTimeOut[] = {60, 90};		// Kicks users from server if they spend too much time in mission voting
roleTimeOut[] = {90, 120};		// Kicks users from server if they spend too much time in role selection
briefingTimeOut[] = {60, 90};	// Kicks users from server if they spend too much time in briefing (map) screen
debriefingTimeOut[] = {45, 60};	// Kicks users from server if they spend too much time in debriefing screen
lobbyIdleTimeout = 300;			// The amount of time the server will wait before force-starting a mission without a logged-in Admin.


// SCRIPTING ISSUES
onUserConnected = "";
onUserDisconnected = "";
doubleIdDetected = "";
//regularCheck = "{}";				// Server checks files from time to time by hashing them and comparing the hash to the hash values of the clients. //deprecated

// SIGNATURE VERIFICATION
onUnsignedData = "kick (_this select 0)";	// unsigned data detected
onHackedData = "kick (_this select 0)";		// tampering of the signature detected
onDifferentData = "";				// data with a valid signature, but different version than the one present on server detected


// MISSIONS CYCLE (see below)
randomMissionOrder = true;	// Randomly iterate through Missions list
autoSelectMission = true;	// Server auto selects next mission in cycle

class Missions {};			// An empty Missions class means there will be no mission rotation

missionWhitelist[] = {};	// An empty whitelist means there is no restriction on what missions' available

Mission rotation

One can set an automatic mission rotation. Without an admin, the server will automatically select a mission when at least one player is connected. Once the mission is done and if there are still players on the server, it will automatically switch to the next in the cycle.

Example:

ⓘ

When difficulty is set to difficulty = "Custom"; the server will look into USERNAME.ArmaXProfile file for the definition of custom difficulty, which should look like this: click to see example

class Missions
{
	class TestMission01
	{
		template = "MP_Marksmen_01.Altis";
		difficulty = "veteran";
		class Params {};
	};

	class TestMission02
	{
		template = "MP_End_Game_01.Altis";
		difficulty = "veteran";
		class Params {};
	};

	class TestMission03
	{
		template = "MP_End_Game_02.Altis";
		difficulty = "veteran";
		class Params {};
	};

	class TestMission04
	{
		template = "MP_End_Game_03.Altis";
		difficulty = "veteran";
		class Params {};
	};
};

Dedicated client in Headless Client mode

Parameter	Description
localClient[]={"127.0.0.1", ...};	to indicate clients with unlimited bandwidth and nearly no latency (-dead link-), Available since Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead build 99184
headlessClients[]={"127.0.0.1", ...};	The server doesn't allow arbitrary connections from headless clients if you do not define the headless clients IPs. Multiple Connections and Addresses are allowed in the case of more than one Headless Client.

ⓘ

See Arma 3: Headless Client for more information.

Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead - STEAM ports configuration

Parameter	Description
steamPort = <number>;	default 2303, defines port for communication with STEAM services, needs to be unique for each dedicated server within one OS instance / network interface
steamQueryPort = <number>;	default 2304, defines port for server's STEAM query, needs to be unique for each dedicated server within one OS instance / network interface

Overriding mission params

On dedicated server unless you are an admin you cannot set mission options provided by mission maker via class Params. However as a server owner you can override default setting with your own. See Mission Parameters for more info

See Also

• Server Configuration
• Server Basic Config file
• Arma 2: Startup Parameters
• Arma 3: Startup Parameters
• Arma Dedicated Server
• Arma 3: Dedicated Server
• ArmA: Armed Assault: Server Side Scripting
• Operation Flashpoint:Dedicated Server
• Arma 3: Headless Client
• Arma 3: Server Security
• Arma 3: Mission voting
• Arma: Mission rotation
• Arma 2 Mission Rotation
• Arma 2 OA: Multiple Mission Parameters Configuration