Disclaimer: this information is presented "as is" verbatim according to the FAQ file provided by Sierra/Dynamix. I've altered nothing, even in places where alternate techniques or commands may exist that aren't covered herein. To the best of my knowledge all the information is accurate, and I've had no problems running my own personal server accordingly.

How do I setup a server to run over my IPX network?

Setting up an IPX based server is pretty simple and only requires a small change to one of the server’s configuration files. Within the server folder locate the file named "rb2server.scs" and open it in a standard text editor like Notepad. Towards the top of the "rb2server.scs" file there is a configuration key labeled "protocol" and will look something like this:

protocol = "UDP";

Simply change the setting from UDP, which is the Internet connection type, to IPX. Also be sure that the "port" setting is a valid port number for the network connection type that you have chosen. Or set the "port" setting to 0, in which case, the Red Baron 3D server will select the next valid and available port for the specified network connection type. In most cases it easier to leave the port setting at 0 and let the server choose the network port that it will use. Save the changes and the next time you execute the server it will be running on an IPX network connection.

The easiest way to run multiple servers on the same machine is to make copies of the server folder onto your hard drive naming them something like "Server 1", "Server 2", etc., or some other naming convention that helps you differentiate between the different servers. After you’ve done that you can modify all the separate "rb2server.ini" settings for the different servers to your desired game setup. The key to running multiple servers on the same machine is making sure that all the servers are running on different network port numbers than all the rest. If it doesn’t matter which port number the server runs on, you can set the "port" setting in the "rb2server.scs" file to 0 for all the servers on your machine. In which case, when you run the server it will attempt to open the next valid, available port for that protocol. If you want to specify the physical port number for the server to run on, be sure to make each port number different for each server (i.e., "port = 47800;", "port = 47801;", "port = 47802;", etc.)

In order to run a server from behind a firewall, you have to tell the Red Baron 3D server to use a port that is currently open on that firewall for UDP message traffic. (Note: if you don’t know what ports may be available and/or open for UDP message traffic. Contact your system administrator about the specific details of your firewall and what ports may be open.) Once you know what ports may be available for the server to run on. Open the "rb2server.scs" file and locate the setting "port =" and change it to reflect the port that is open on your firewall.

Example:

I know that port number 47800 is open for UDP traffic through my firewall. So I’ll set my port setting to:

port = 47800;

To shut your server down while it’s running, type the command "quit()" in the server console window. This will cause your server to shutdown "gracefully" by broadcasting it’s shutdown to any meta-servers that are running.

Yes, after the server is up and running you can simply run Red Baron 3D multiplayer and connect to your server. However, depending on the configuration of your machine (CPU speed, available RAM, etc.) the performance of the server may be affected with two processes running at the same time. (Note: if you’re running RB3D in glide mode, on some computer configurations, having a console application window open in the background will cause the glide screen to appear completely black within the simulation. The work-around for that is to minimize the server console window before starting up the Red Baron 3D multiplayer client and that will resolve the problem.)

From the console application window there are several commands that you, as the server administrator, can issue to the server:

• quit() – Shuts the server down
• eject("player name") – Will eject the specified player from the game. (Note: this is case sensitive so make sure you have the case correct on all the letters in the player’s name.)
• stats() – Displays a player list and some other miscellaneous statistics about the server.
• cls() – Clears the console application window.
• dump_scores("filename.bin") – Saves the scores database in an internal format.
• csv_scores("filename.csv") – Saves the scores database in comma separated value (CSV) format, which can be read by most text editors.
• load_scores("filename.bin") – Manually loads the score database from an internal format. (Note: You can only load scores from the internal binary file format.)

For security purposes, the Red Baron server also comes with a series of files titled "Cookie*.bin;" These files tell the server which Red Baron clients can connect to it, so if a backward compatible patch is released you can determine which of the versions can join your server. This will then insure that all of the Red Baron clients on your server are using the same data and client versions. New cookie files will be made available with any patches that are released.

Towards the bottom of the "rb2server.ini" file is a section titled "[Clients]" this section stores the list of all the "cookie" files the server will use to negotiate it’s version checking for any clients that join. The format for these entries are: "Cookie=CookieXXXX.bin" (Note: the cookie filename is based off the version of the client executable.)

If, for any reason, you want to disable you server’s security checking towards the top of the "rb2server.ini" file is a setting labeled "securityEnabled" Setting this entry to 1 will enable your server’s security checking, and setting this entry equal to 0 will disable all server security checking. (Note: With this setting turned off, the server will perform no validation checking of the data any Red Baron 3D clients send to it. This means that the server will not prevent players from cheating, or using out of date or corrupted files. It is recommended that you leave this setting enabled whenever possible.)

There are actually several mechanisms for broadcasting the availability of your server to the world. The first being, you can simply give your IP address to the people you want to join your server, and they can have their Red Baron clients specifically look for your server. Or you can have your server broadcast it’s availability with a Red Baron 3D meta-server. A meta-server is a server that lists game servers. Anyone browsing for games within the game, with this meta-server in the client INI file, will be able to find your game. And lastly, WON.NET provides the ability to browse for games through its web page. If you register with WON.NET’s meta-server, people looking for games from the web will be able to see and join your game.

There is the ability to specify a custom INI file name other than "rb2server.ini". However there is a catch. The Red Baron 3D server will still look for the "[Clients]" and the "[RegisterWith]" sections out of the "rb2server.ini" file. In no such file exists, the Red Baron server will fail to find the necessary information to broadcast it’s availability to any of the Red Baron meta-servers. And all clients that join your server will fail their security validation checking, because the Red Baron server failed to load the necessary "cookie" files.

To resolve this issue you need to make sure there is an "rb2server.ini" file in the folder with the server as well as your custom INI file. Make sure that the "rb2server.ini" file contains both the "[Clients]" and "[RegisterWith]" sections and your server will function properly.