Moonbase Alpha Dedicated Servers: A How-to Guide

[AngryPyros]

Updated Dedicated Server Guide is now available!
http://goo.gl/Q5T6e

Want to launch your own dedicated servers for Moonbase Alpha? Read on!

The Guide

1. Launch the Steam client. Tests show that the Steam client does not need a person logged in; the client only needs to be ‘active’. You can log into an account and use the following steps; however doing so will consume that particular login for the duration of the server’s lifetime.
2. Open a command window in the “<MoonBaseAlpha install directory>\Binaries\Win32” directory.
3. To start a server, run the following command in the command line:
   
   
   MoonBaseAlphaGame.exe server <Map Name>[?Game Params] [-Server Params]
   
   Example – The following file launches the dedicated server with the map that supports up to 6 players and plays the cinematic at the start of each game:
   
   "C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\moon base alpha\Binaries\Win32\MoonBaseAlphaGame.exe" server mba_5_6?cinematic=1?
   
   See below for information regarding the parameters which must be included in the launch string.
   
4. At this point the server is active and running.

Command-line parameters

1. Map Name - The map name MUST be specified or the server will not show up in the Steam server browser. The available map options are:
   a. mba_1_2
   b. mba_3_4
   c. mba_5_6
   
2. Game Parameters – There are several game specific parameters you can include in the launch string that modified how the gameplay of the map will work. One or more of these parameters may be appended to the end of the map name and delimited with a ‘?’ character.
   
   a. Freeplay=<0|1> – The Freeplay parameter specifies whether the map should be run in ‘competitive’ or ‘free play’ mode. In Competitive mode the team must restore oxygen to the settlement before time runs out, in Free play mode there is no time limit. If this option is specified with a value > 0 the map will run in free play mode; otherwise the map will default to ‘competitive’ mode if this parameter isn’t provided or the value is <= 0.
   
   Sample Usage:
   
   
   MoonBaseAlphaGame.exe server mba_1_2?freeplay=1
   
   Launches a server with the mba_1_2 level in freeplay mode.
   
   b. Cinematic=<0|1> – The Cinematic parameter specifies whether the level introduction cinematic will play when the level starts. If this option is specified with a value > 0, the introduction cinematic will play when the level starts. If the parameter isn’t provided or the value is <= 0, the cinematic will not play
   
   Sample Usage:
   
   
   MoonBaseAlphaGame.exe server mba_1_2?cinematic=1
   
   Will launch the mba_1_2 level in competitive mode, and will show the introduction cinematic when the level begins.
   
   c. GamePassword=<ServerPassword> - Use the GamePassword parameter if you wish to password protect your server to prevent unknown players from joining. The password should be alpha-numeric without any spaces in it. When players attempt to join your server, they will be presented with a password entry dialog; if they specify the correct password the server will allow them to join, otherwise their connection will be denied.
   
   NOTE: A known bug exists with password protected games. If a player has ANY spaces in their name they will be unable to join the game.
   
   Sample Usage:
   
   
   MoonBaseAlphaGame.exe server mba_3_4?GamePassword=hello
   
   This launches a server with the mba_3_4 level, and with ‘hello’ as the game server password.

1. Server Parameters – There are several parameters which affect control how the server operates. One or more of these parameters may be specified in the server launch string, separated by a space character and prefixed with a ‘-‘.
2. –Port=<port number> - This specifies the TCP and UDP port the server will listen on for new connections and handle general game communication. By default the server port is 9777 if this parameter isn’t specified. This should be used if you plan to run 2 or more servers on the same machine, each server should use a separate port to prevent conflicts.
   
   Sample Usage:
   
   
   MoonBaseAlphaGame.exe server mba_1_2 -Port=7777
   
   Launches a server running on port 7777.
   
3. –SteamAuthPort=<port number> - This specifies the UDP port the server will use for Steam authentication tasks. By default the server will use port 8766 if this parameter isn’t specified. This should be used if you plan to run 2 or more servers on the same machine, each server should use a separate port to prevent conflicts.
   Sample Usage:
   
   
   MoonBaseAlphaGame.exe server mba_1_2 -Port=7777 -SteamAuthPort= 8780
   
   Launches a server running on port 7777 and routing Steam Authentication tasks through port 8780.
   
4. –SteamMSUPort=<port number> - This specifies the UDP port the server will use to expose itself to the Steam Master Server Updater. The Steam Master Server will periodically communicate to the server through this port. By default the server will use port 27016 if this parameter isn’t specified. This should be used if you plan to run 2 or more servers on the same machine, each server should use a separate port to prevent conflicts.
   
   Sample Usage:
   
   
   MoonBaseAlphaGame.exe server mba_1_2 -Port=7777 -SteamAuthPort= 8780 -SteamMSUPort=8781
   
   
   Launches a server running on port 7777, routing Steam Authentication tasks through port 8780 and Steam master server update tasks through port 8781.

----

Here is a sample batch script of this in action:

"C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\moon base alpha\Binaries\Win32\MoonBaseAlphaGame.exe" server mba_5_6?cinematic=1?

For he batch script, which can be put into Wordpad and saved initially as a .txt file...

1. You need to change the path of the MoonBaseAlphaGame.exe to wherever the game is installed.
2. Needs to be saved as a “.bat” extension in order to work correctly
3. To change the NAME of the dedicated server you need to modify the DefaultGame.ini and MoonBaseAlphaGame.ini. These are located in the following:
4. …\Steam\steamapps\common\moon base alpha\MoonBaseAlphaGame\Config\

[VirtualHeroes]

Nice work! Going to "sticky" this post...

[arramus]

Works great, thx.

http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/v...d/moonbase.jpg

I only needed to change the Server Name in the \moon base alpha\MoonBaseAlphaGame\Config\DefaultGame.ini

I tried using the -ini= server param for multiple instances with different server names on one file set but it wouldn't take. If anyone gets this running please post.

Can you remove the requirement of having Steam running?
This would help a lot for dedicated servers that run servers as a service.

[lauris3722]

And how to make someone admin?
BTW. Is this a bug? How it comes that server got 10/6 players?
http://bildites.lv/images/3ixr9ncujpud13isvbnh.png

[VirtualHeroes]

Patch 1.0.1.0 has been tested and is now live again. There were problems with dedicated servers and the update process so a couple steps have to be taken so there are no conflicts:

On systems in which a dedicated server is set up additional steps will be needed for the patch to be applied.

1. Close all instances of Moonbase Alpha or Moonbase Alpha dedicated servers
2. Open task manager to be sure that there are no ghost instances of Moonbase Alpha running
3. Close any instances you see in task manager
4. Update Moonbase Alpha game on Steam
5. Re-launch Dedicated Servers

If an update has occurred before servers have been shut down:

1. Close all instances of Moonbase Alpha or Moonbase Alpha dedicated servers
2. Open task manager to be sure that there are no ghost instances of Moonbase Alpha running
3. Close any instances you see in task manager
4. Delete Moonbase Alpha Local Content
5. Reinstall Moonbase Alpha game from Steam
6. Re-launch Dedicated Servers

[NeatNit]

Originally Posted by NeatNit

Wouldn't verifying game cache be faster than completely reinstalling the game?

5char

[lauris3722]

Originally Posted by lauris3722

And how to make someone admin?
BTW. Is this a bug? How it comes that server got 10/6 players?
http://bildites.lv/images/3ixr9ncujpud13isvbnh.png

anyone?

[VirtualHeroes]

I believe it is a bug that is being investigated.

Any chance of removing the requirement of having steam running on dedicated servers?

[VirtualHeroes]

No sure, will check.

Also, the "stuck on cinematic" bug is verified and we are looking into it. More info soon.

Short term solution is just to reboot once a day.

[VirtualHeroes]

Originally Posted by KevinJ

Any chance of removing the requirement of having steam running on dedicated servers?

Unfortunately it is currently required. The game was not originally created to have dedicated server hosting.

[Mister Sponge]

Okay I have something to ask. I hope someone will still answer because the topic is already old.

So, first of all, The server always has 6 slots no matter what map I choose. How can I fix that, or change the slots? I would want a two player slotted server.

Second, when I put a password on the server, and type in the password to join, it says "You need a password to enter the server" or something like that.

And one more thing, how can I change the server's name?

[VirtualHeroes]

Reportedly, the command line option "cinematic=0" should prevent the opening cinematic for dedicated servers.

[shibko]

Originally Posted by Mister Sponge

Okay I have something to ask. I hope someone will still answer because the topic is already old.

So, first of all, The server always has 6 slots no matter what map I choose. How can I fix that, or change the slots? I would want a two player slotted server.

Second, when I put a password on the server, and type in the password to join, it says "You need a password to enter the server" or something like that.

And one more thing, how can I change the server's name?

Edit two config files
DefaultGame.ini & MoonBaseAlphaGame.ini
in steamapps\common\moon base alpha\MoonBaseAlphaGame\Config folder
replace ServerName=MoonBaseAlpha with your one.