Help starting a server in Q3

[Rase]

I would greatly appreciate some help in this area as I know that I’m entering a l33t group of knowledgeable ppl here. ( wow was that thick enough to boost an ego or two)
Anyways Heres the poop:
I’m running a home network of 4 comps. All are P3’s and have from 80 – 128 mb ram. All are run to the net through a Linksys Ethernet Cable/dsl router. I run a cable modem for internet access. Everything is run on cat 5.
Three systems runs win98se and one win2k Professional . I would like to set my win2k sys as a server for internet play that ppl can drop into or friends may meet at. I have tried to follow some directions from PlanetQuake : The Q3A Guide – Setting up a Server but to no avail. I seem to get to the launch screen (blue saying sending info to ID Software and an IP and port but cannot get others to connect to my sys. Yes I must be a dork So please if you could Essplanetome a simple server setup so I may join the lower ranks of your L33T server admins ( note the blatant ego plug)
We have Q3A installed on each sys and are running both version 1.17 and though another install and Directory ; version 1.25 DOOH! We can play against each other in Mplayer , on the net and in a lan party ( small Party but what the h*%$) .
I need help!

[Barry White's Pants]

Hi,

I think the other Admin Central guys will be playing on the Elite Force servers testing out the Linux code. Unfortunately, I'm still at work so I can't make it - therefore I will try my best to give you a few tips while I'm "working", lol (just a small break).

Firstly, I'd recommend you read our own server guides by Deckard and Slacker, although they may be the same ones on PlanetQuake. I actually started with these guides, in the beginning, and I think I got them from PlanetQuake - anyway, check them out, they are pretty good:
http://www.zeroping.com/admincentral/sp_serverguides.cfm#quake3

Next, I would recommend trying to get the server running without the router i.e. directly connected to the cable modem to begin with, just to make sure it works properly. The reason I'm suggest this is because there are some known problems related with these types of router, that can sometimes prevent you from running a Q3 server. If you begin without the added complexity of the router, any problems will be easier to trace.

Once you have the server running, then try it behind the router - this is where the fun starts http://63.167.10.249/admincentral/ubb/wink.gif ... The fundamental thing that must be done is to "open" the port used by the server, so that it can be seen from outside your home LAN. The default port is 27960, so you will need to open this using the "port forwarding" option in the Linksys setup i.e. set port forwarding for port 27960, for the IP address used by the Q3 server PC. The IP address for this PC will be the local LAN address, and will be something like 192.168.0.x, or 192.168.1.x or whatever (this range of IPs is defined for local use - this is explained in the Linksys manual). Also, you must use the command line option "dedicated 2" to make it a public server - this will instruct the server to send a "heartbeat" to the id Master server so that it appears in the Internet menu, for people to see.

Those are the basic requirements for running a server, and making it accessible to the "outside world". Any other problems that may arise could be due to any number of things such as insufficient BW, system resources, poorly configured config etc.

I'd suggest you try the simple stuff that I've mentioned, using a standard dedicated server config that you can get from the server setup guide. If you have further problems, just come back here and ask some more questions...


Hope that helps.

Barry (MAD)

[Rase]

Thanks Barry
I really dont want to sit one sys outside of the wirewall. I would like to have a server for friends and the public but to allow another (note the another) sys hack to screw my comp again isnt worth it to me.
I went to the sever guide here and followed the instructions although the result is that the startup menu stops at could not start server.cfg . Why ? Don't know. I did what the instructions asked but no luck. Ive gotten to the point where the server is sending a heartbeat to ID and then the message saying "resolved to 192.168.x.x and thats it. Still cant see it on the internet from other comps.Maybe it is the firewall?
Anyways I'll just keep plugin away and thanx for your help.

Rase

[Barry White's Pants]

Hi,

I only suggested that you run it outside of the firewall as a temporary thing just to see if it works. Then once you have it working, put behind the router, and try again.

The only reason I suggested this is because the router adds a lot more complexity in terms of how to setup the server. The basic setup guide doesn't cover any of those things specific to the router - such as port forwarding etc..

When I originally setup my Q3 server, I followed Dekard's server guide to get the server working with it connected directly to the cable modem (i.e. without the router). I then needed to seek help on the Quake3world forum (Admin Central didn't exist then) to get it working with a router - there are certain things you won't find in the server guide.

Also - the fact that you don't see your server in list is most likely because of the router again. You should see it in the "local" menu only to begin with - to be able to see it in the "internet" list, you need to play around with the "port forwarding" options on the router (this is normal). However, when it's connected directly to the cable modem, you will see it in the Internet list.

I'd suggest you get it working outside the router first (as a temporary thing), then come back here and we can help you get the router setup properly. I have plenty of experience with these routers, and there are several others on here who can help too.

Hope that clarifies what I was going on about. I just think it makes more sense to do it one step at a time, rather than starting from scratch with the server behind the router/firewall...

Barry.


[This message has been edited by Barry White's Pants (edited 10-24-2000).]