The server software is used to host multiplayer games.
Command Line Options
These are the arguments passed to the server via the command line.
- --help: show help message
- --port arg: listening port of the server Default: 27000
- --max-players arg: maximum number of online players Default: 10
- --save-interval arg: timestep between savings Default: 300
- --server-name arg: server name, will be displayed when queried - added in 0.10.1
- --galaxy-name arg: galaxy name, appended to datapath, final path will be [datapath]/[galaxyname] - added in 0.10.1
- --datapath arg: folder the galaxies will be stored in, will be prepended to galaxy name
- --admin arg: steam id(s) of the administrator(s) of the server
- --seed arg: seed of the server
- --difficulty arg: difficulty of the server, allowed values are: -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3 Default: 0
- --infinite-resources arg: enable infinite resources for all players
- --collision-damage arg: amount of damage done to an object on collision, from 0 to 1. 0: no damage, 1: full damage. default: 1
- --same-start-sector arg: indicate if all players should start in the same sector
- --threads arg: specify the number of threads used to update the sectors
- -t [ --trace ] arg: tracing options. Can be more than one. Allowed values are: network scripting threading io database input error warning exception user game system debug sound gl all
- --exit-on-last-admin-logout: shut down when last administrator logs out
- --stderr-to-log: redirect std error output from console to log file
- --stdout-to-log: redirect std console output from console to log file
- --public arg: indicate if the server should allow other players to join
- --listed arg: indicate if the server should show up on public server lists
- --use-steam-networking arg: use steam networking and authentication for users
Server Configuration Options
These are the server options which can be found in the server.ini file located at AppData\Roaming\Avorion\galaxies\<galaxy name> (or .avorion/galaxies/<galaxy name> on Linux systems).
| Option | Effect | Default |
|---|---|---|
| [Game Options] | ||
| BigWreckageDespawnTime | Time in seconds it takes for new (as in: not created by the generator but during gameplay, such as combat) large wreckages (more than 15 blocks) to disappear. | 1800 |
| CollisionDamage | A multiplier for damage to colliding objects. Accepts floating-point numbers, e.g. 0.5 is 50% collision damage. | 1 |
| Difficulity | Note the typo. The difficulty of the server. Accepts an integer between -3 and 3. [Needs testing] | 0 |
| InfiniteResources | Toggles infinite resources (or "creative mode") server wide | false |
| SafePlayerInput | [Experimental] If enabled, updates sent from players to server are double checked and only control input is accepted to avoid cheating/hacking.
Disabling this will result in much smoother performance at the time of this writing. Enabling this may result in very bad performance over slow networks. |
false |
| Seed | The random seed used for galaxy generation. Accepts upper and lower case letters and numbers. | [random] |
| SmallWreckageDespawnTime | Time in seconds it takes for new (as in: not created by the generator but during gameplay, such as combat) small wreckages (15 blocks or less) to disappear. | 900 |
| sameStartSector | Indicates if all players should start in the same sector. If false, a random empty sector on the outer rim is populated and used as the home sector for each new player. | true |
| startUpScript | Specifies a Lua script to run on server startup. | data/scripts/server/server.lua |
| startSectorScript | Specifies a Lua script to run when generating a start sector for a player. | startsector[.lua] |
| ColorDropChanceFromCraft | [Currently unused] The chance that a color will drop from a space craft when the craft is destroyed | 0.05 |
| ColorDropChanceFromBlock | [Currently unused] The chance that a color will drop from a block of wreckage when it is destroyed | 0.0025 |
| ResourceDropChance | [Currently unused] Chance of resources dropping from destroyed blocks | 0.4 |
| LootDiminishingFactor | [Currently unused] Multiplier that's applied to the value of a block/wreckage/ship to determine the dropped money and resources. | 0.005 |
| SystemDropChanceFromBlock | [Currently unused] The chance that a ship system will drop from a block of wreckage when it is destroyed | 0.005 |
| SystemDropChanceFromCraft | [Currently unused] The chance that a ship system will drop from an NPC space craft when the craft is destroyed | 0.2 |
| TurretDropChanceFromBlock | [Currently unused] The chance that a turret will drop from a block of wreckage when it is destroyed | 0.005 |
| TurretDropChanceFromCraft | [Currently unused] The chance that a turret will drop from an NPC space craft when the craft is destroyed | 0.25 |
| TurretDropChanceFromTurret | [Currently unused] The chance that a turret will drop from an NPC space craft when the turret is destroyed | 0.025 |
| [System Options] | ||
| emptySectorUpdateInterval | The time between update steps of sectors without players. | 0.5 |
| saveInterval | The time between server saves, in seconds. | 600 |
| sectorUpdateTimeLimit | The time that sectors which don't qualify for out-of-sector-simulation are kept within memory. | 300 |
| workerThreads | Number of concurrent threads that are used to update sectors. (Identical to the "Threads" setting ingame.) | 1 |
| generatorThreads | Number of concurrent threads that are used to generate new sectors while players are calculating nav routes. | Hardware Concurrency |
| aliveSectorsPerPlayer | Number of sectors kept alive for each player and alliance on the server, provided that there are player or alliance ships in that sector. | Multiplayer: 5
Singleplayer: 500 |
| weakUpdate | Indicates if the sectors without players should be simulated with a "weak" update, which is less accurate but a lot faster than the normal update step. | true |
| profiling | Toggles performance and memory profiling. Server performance may suffer slightly, but /status command will print a lot more detailed output. | false |
| immediateWriteout | [Deprecated in v0.12 and above] Controls whether ships and sector files are to be written to disk immediately after a player changes sectors. | true |
| [Networking] | ||
| broadcastInterval | The time between server mass update broadcasts in seconds. | 5 |
| isPublic | Privacy setting. If enabled, only one administrator is allowed on the server and the server will not show up on the LAN menu. (Same as the command line parameter -public) | true |
| isListed | Privacy setting. If enabled together with useSteam, the server will show up in public server lists. (Same as the ingame setting "List Publicly") | true |
| isAuthenticated | Privacy setting. Toggles Steam user authentication. (Identical to the ingame setting "Authenticate Users") | true |
| port | The default port to access the server on. Does not affect the TCP/UDP game traffic port or the query ports. | 27000 |
| useSteam | Determines whether the server is using Steam networking and can be joined via Steam, using options like "join game". | true |
| [Administration] | ||
| accessListMode | Determines whether the server uses a blacklist or a whitelist to restrict access. | Blacklist |
| description | A description for the server, shown in the server list. | An Avorion Server |
| maxPlayers | The max number of players allowed on the server at one time | 10 |
| name | The name of the server, shown in the server list. | Avorion Server |
Setting up your own server
A guide to setting up your own server can be found here Setting up a server.
Server log
The server creates a logfile that is located in %appdata%\Avorion\serverlog.txt.
Known issues
The server software only supports ASCII characters. The server can thus only operate on paths that contain ASCII characters. This includes the log file.