Running a server

How to run the server on your own machine and log in with your own client. Today it takes the client from the login screen to character select and character creation; entering the world comes with the next stage.

What you'll have

A server on your machine that your WildStar 16042 client logs in to, where you can create and delete characters. Everything listens on 127.0.0.1 unless you configure otherwise.

How it works, briefly

The server is one process. Your client signs on, logs in and reaches character select through it, and everything is saved to PostgreSQL. Character creation reads two of your client's own tables, so you extract them first with MapGenerator. Host has what happens at start-up and shutdown, and the server core design has the rest.

Before you start

• A WildStar 16042 client. The repository holds no client files.
• PostgreSQL 18. Earlier versions won't do: names and emails rely on a case-insensitive match that version 18 added.
• The .NET 10 SDK, the version global.json names.

Procedure

1. Create the database. In PostgreSQL 18, create a database and a role that owns it.

2. Set two environment variables, and keep both out of any file in the repository:

   $env:Persistence__ConnectionString = "Host=localhost;Database=nexustomorrow;Username=nexustomorrow;Password=<password>"
   $env:Gateway__UnknownAccountSecret = [Convert]::ToBase64String([Security.Cryptography.RandomNumberGenerator]::GetBytes(32))

   Keep the secret the same across restarts.

3. Create the schemas:

   dotnet run --project Source/NexusTomorrow.Server -- migrate

   It exits 0, or 1 with the error. The server won't start while a migration is pending, so run it again after an update.

4. Extract your client's tables with MapGenerator, then point the server at the folder holding tbl:

   $env:Content__ClientDataPath = "<the folder MapGenerator wrote>"

   Without it, character creation offers nothing.

5. Start the server:

   dotnet run --project Source/NexusTomorrow.Server

6. Create an account at the server's console:

   account create <email> <password>
   

   Quote a password that has spaces. help lists the commands, and Command layer commands has every one.

7. Start your client with ClientConnector, pointed at 127.0.0.1, and log in with that account. Copy ClientConnector into your client's Client64 folder, beside the client; you can start it from there or from a shortcut. On its first run it asks for the host and language and saves them beside itself, and after that it starts the client straight away.

Settings

Settings come from appsettings.json, then the environment (with __ for :), then the command line. The ones you're most likely to change:

Setting	Default	For
Persistence:ConnectionString	none	The database
Gateway:UnknownAccountSecret	none	Unknown accounts' stand-in credentials
Content:ClientDataPath	none	Your extracted tables
Gateway:WorldPublicAddress	127.0.0.1	The address your client reaches the world on
Realm:Name, Realm:Id	NexusTomorrow, 1	How the realm presents itself
Realm:MaxCharactersPerAccount	12	Characters per account

Each system's full list is on its own page: Gateway, Owners, Persistence, Host.

What to expect

• Logging in takes you to character select.
• A character you create appears in the list. The client then selects it by itself and plays its opening cinematic, and after that it waits, because there's no world to enter yet.

Troubleshooting

You see	Do
The server won't start, naming a setting	Fix that setting; the message names it, never its value
"run NexusTomorrow.Server migrate first"	Run step 3 again
The server won't start, waiting on its first character ids	Check the database is up and the connection string reaches it
Creation offers no options	Set Content:ClientDataPath to the folder holding tbl, and restart
The original launcher opens instead of the game	Start the client with ClientConnector: the client only connects to a server when its command line begins with /auth
Logins are refused	The database is unreachable; server status at the console says so
ClientConnector says it can't find the client	Copy it into your client's Client64 folder, beside the client
You want to see what the client and server exchange	Set Logging__LogLevel__NexusTomorrow.Gateway to Debug and restart: every message in and out is logged by opcode and name, never its values

Quick reference

Command	Does
dotnet run --project Source/NexusTomorrow.Server -- migrate	Applies every schema's migrations
dotnet run --project Source/NexusTomorrow.Server	Runs the server
account create <email> <password>	Creates an account, at the console
server status	Accounts online, owner queues, the save backlog, the database
help	Lists the commands

Every console command, with its permission, is on Command layer commands.

Where the code lives

Piece	Path
The server	Source/NexusTomorrow.Server/
Default settings	Source/NexusTomorrow.Server/appsettings.json
The table extractor	Source/NexusTomorrow.MapGenerator/
The client launcher	Source/NexusTomorrow.ClientConnector/
The running steps, as the repository keeps them	README.md