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Server Administration
Your first concern when hosting a multiplayer server is available bandwidth. Naturally, a 56k modem might be enough to host a 1v1; however it will be moderately laggy. If you have a (simple) DSL or Cable connection with at least 256kb upload you should be able to host a game for 3 or 4 people assuming you have no other background bandwidth usage. A full T1 (1.5Mb up and down) can typically host 12-16 Quake III clients comfortably. Servers can be run in one of two modes: Listen and Dedicated.
Listen Server
Listen Server mode allows the player to host a server from within the same instance of Quake III in which they are playing. When the listen server host player exits Quake III or returns to the main menu the server shuts down and disconnects any connected clients. To run a listen server in Quake III, choose the multiplayer menu. Click the "create" button at the bottom of the screen. You'll be shown a list of all the maps available for the gametype selected. Select the gametype you wish to play (Free For All, Team Deathmatch, CTF, 1on1 Tournament, etc) and select a map to play from the list. Click "next".
From here on, configure available server options such as timelimit, fraglimit, pure server, hostname, etc. By clicking on the listed available player slots you can select between human or ‘bot’ opponents and/or teammates. This is also the location to specify you’ll be running a listen server by making sure the dedicated option is set to No, which assures your player connects the to localhost, aka listen server you have just configured. Listen servers over the internet are notorious for higher pings, irregular lag, choppy gameplay or even "warping" players so playing over the internet via a Dedicated Server is desirable. You should probably save the use of Listen Servers to start up a quick LAN game.
Clicking the "fight" button on this screen will start the server.
Dedicated Server
Dedicated servers can be started via the same method above, but instead setting the ‘dedicated’ variable to "LAN" or “Internet”. The main difference between each option is the LAN option does not broadcast to the master servers which allow internet players to see the server via game browsers. As noted by the name, a dedicated server is meant to run as a console only and typically on a machine with the express role of being a game server. Clicking the "fight" button on this screen will start the server. Upon startup of a dedicated server, a console will be the only window running which can accept commands in the input area below the blue-background console output frame.
Note: Quake III also allows playing on the same computer as the dedicated console; simply start a full-GUI instance of Quake III and drop the console then type \connect localhost instead of the IP address (you might as well just run a listen server than go this extra step though)
The best way to run a dedicated server is to create two files - a batch file to start the server, and a config file with the server's settings. This will also work on a system without a 3d card. Do this:
Open Notepad. Type a line that resembles the following:
quake3 +set dedicated 2 +exec server.cfg
(You can name the cfg file whatever you want to)
Then save the file as a batch file. To do this - click File>Save As - and for "Save As Type" select "All Files." Name the file server.bat and save it in your quake3 directory. (again you can name it differently - q3server.bat, herb.bat or whatever)
Next open a new notepad file and type the following:
seta sv_hostname "DM Server All Maps"
seta sv_maxclients 16
seta g_motd "Welcome to our Quake3 server"
seta g_quadfactor 4
seta g_gametype 0
seta timelimit 15
seta fraglimit 25
seta g_weaponrespawn 3
seta g_inactivity 3000
seta g_forcerespawn 0
seta rconpassword "password"
set d1 "map q3dm1 ; set nextmap vstr d2"
set d2 "map q3dm2 ; set nextmap vstr d3"
set d3 "map q3dm3 ; set nextmap vstr d1"
vstr d1
What it all means -
sv_hostname "DM Server All Maps" - what players will see on the join server window.
sv_maxclients 16 - maximum number of players on the server.
g_motd "Welcome to our Quake3 server" - message players will see while joining the server.
g_quadfactor 3 - Quad Damage strength. 3 is normal, I usually change it to 1 on Tourney servers.
g_gametype 0 - Sets the type of game. 0 - Free for all, 1 - Tournament, 2 - Free for all(again), 3 - Team Deathmatch, 4 - Capture the Flag
timelimit 15 - Sets the timelimit.
fraglimit 25 - Sets the fraglimit.
g_weaponrespawn 3 - Number of seconds before weapons respawn.
g_inactivity 3000 - Number of seconds before an inactive player is kicked (I set this high on DM servers, low on Tourney servers).
g_forcerespawn 0 - Forces players to respawn. 0 is off, 1 is on.
rconpassword "password" - sets the password to allow client control of the server (more on this later).
The last few lines of this example set up a simple map rotation:
set d1 "map q3dm1 ; set nextmap vstr d2"
set d2 "map q3dm2 ; set nextmap vstr d3"
set d3 "map q3dm3 ; set nextmap vstr d1"
vstr d1
This can be modified to include more maps, for example:
set d1 "map q3dm1 ; set nextmap vstr d2"
set d2 "map q3dm2 ; set nextmap vstr d3"
set d3 "map q3dm3 ; set nextmap vstr d4"
set d4 "map q3dm4 ; set nextmap vstr d5"
set d5 "map q3dm5 ; set nextmap vstr d1"
vstr d1
Save this file as server.cfg (or whatever name as long as it matches your batch file) and save it in your baseq3 folder. To start the server - just run the batch file that you created earlier.
You'll need to have set an rconpassword in your cfg file for the server. Then set the same password on the client - for example:
seta rconpassword "password" (this should be in your config file)
Then from the console:
/rconpassword password
/rcon kick slynky
/rcon timelimit 15
Our Technology & Troubleshooting Forum is an excellent resource for further assistance.
For further detailed and more advanced information about setting up a dedicated server please visit www.gameadmins.com
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