Dedicated Server

Dedicated Server

Q3Rally ships with a dedicated server binary and ready-made configs for every game mode.

Starting a server

Platform	Command
Windows	q3rally-server.x86_64.exe +exec q3r_racing.cfg
Linux	./q3rally-server.x86_64 +exec q3r_racing.cfg

You can also start the normal game binary as a server with +set dedicated 1 (LAN) or +set dedicated 2 (internet, announced to the master server).

The default port is 27960/UDP. Use +set net_port <port> to run several servers on one machine.

⚠️ Single Player (g_gametype 2) is local only and can't be run on a dedicated server.

Ready-made configs

These configs are in the baseq3r folder. Use one as is, or copy it and adjust it.

Config	Mode
q3r_racing.cfg	Racing, 8-track rotation
q3r_racing_dm.cfg	Racing DM
q3r_elimination.cfg	Elimination
q3r_ghost.cfg	Ghost Race 🧪
q3r_derby.cfg	Demolition Derby
q3r_lcs.cfg	Last Car Standing
q3r_dm.cfg	Deathmatch
q3r_team_dm.cfg	Team Deathmatch
q3r_team_racing.cfg	Team Racing
q3r_team_racing_dm.cfg	Team Racing DM
q3r_ctf.cfg	Capture the Flag
q3r_ctf4.cfg	Four-team CTF
q3r_dom.cfg	Domination
q3r_autoball.cfg	Autoball 🧪
server_racing_modes_rotation.cfg	Mixed rotation of race modes
server_mixed_combat_rotation.cfg	Mixed rotation of combat modes
server_ctf_rotation.cfg	CTF rotation
q3r_team_comp_rotation.cfg	Team competition rotation
q3r_team_objectives_rotation.cfg	Team objectives rotation
server_example.cfg	Fully commented example of the general server settings

Minimal racing config

g_gametype 0              // Racing
laplimit 3
timelimit 10

sv_hostname "My Q3Rally Server"
g_motd "Happy Racing!"
sv_maxClients 16

bot_enable 1
bot_minplayers 8          // fill up with bots

g_rallyReadyCheck 1       // wait until all humans are ready
g_forceEngineStart 60     // ...but start after 60 s anyway

set d1 "map q3r_country01 ; set nextmap vstr d2"
set d2 "map q3r_downtown  ; set nextmap vstr d3"
set d3 "map q3r_valley    ; set nextmap vstr d1"
vstr d1

💡 The lap count cvar is laplimit. If laplimit is 0, the map's own lap count is used.

Minimal deathmatch config

g_gametype 6              // Deathmatch
fraglimit 30
timelimit 20
sv_hostname "My Q3Rally DM Server"
sv_maxClients 16

set d1 "map q3r_battlecanyon ; set nextmap vstr d2"
set d2 "map q3r_demobowl     ; set nextmap vstr d3"
set d3 "map q3r_mk           ; set nextmap vstr d1"
vstr d1

Map rotations

Rotations use the classic Quake III vstr chain shown above. Each entry loads a map and points nextmap to the next entry. The last entry points back to the first.

To change the game mode between maps, put g_gametype into the entry:

set d1 "g_gametype 0 ; map q3r_country01 ; set nextmap vstr d2"
set d2 "g_gametype 3 ; map q3r_dm02      ; set nextmap vstr d1"

To race a specific track variant, set it the same way:

set d1 "g_trackLength 2 ; g_trackReversed 1 ; map q3r_dirtyfun ; set nextmap vstr d2"

Only use maps that support the mode. The Maps page and each map's arena file list the supported modes.

Important general settings

Cvar	Description
sv_hostname	Server name in the browser
g_motd	Message of the day
sv_maxClients	Maximum number of players (spectators count too)
rconPassword	Password for remote admin (\rcon <password> <command>)
sv_privateClients / sv_privatePassword	Reserved slots with a password
sv_pure	1 forces clients to use the server's .pk3 files
sv_allowdownload / sv_dlURL	Let clients download missing maps (via HTTP with sv_dlURL)
bot_enable / bot_minplayers	Enable bots and fill the server up to this many players
g_allowvote	Allow votes for map, restart, kick and gametype
g_quadfactor	Damage multiplier for Quad Damage

All game-specific settings are listed in Server Configuration.

Master server

Servers started with dedicated 2 announce themselves to dpmaster.deathmask.net and show up in the in-game server browser. Make sure your firewall forwards UDP 27960 (or your net_port).

Docker

A community Docker image runs a server without installing anything else:

docker pull registry.gitlab.com/manalejandro/q3rally-docker/q3rally-docker:latest

docker run --rm -it -p 27960:27960/udp \
  registry.gitlab.com/manalejandro/q3rally-docker/q3rally-docker:latest \
  +set dedicated 1 +exec server.cfg

Ladder

To have your matches appear on ladder.q3rally.com, see Ladder Server Setup.

Gametype numbers changed in v0.7c

In v0.7c every gametype got a fixed number. Non-team modes kept their old numbers (0–6). Team modes moved to 16 and up. If you upgrade a server from an older version, check your configs:

Mode	v0.6c	v0.7b	v0.7c and later
Racing	0	0	0
Racing DM	1	1	1
Single Player	2	3	2
Derby	3	4	3
Last Car Standing	4	5	4
Elimination	5	6	5
Deathmatch	6	7	6
Sprint	—	2	7
Ghost Race 🧪	—	—	8
Team DM	7	8	16
Team Racing	8	9	17
Team Racing DM	9	10	18
CTF	10	11	19
CTF4	11	12	20
Domination	12	13	21
King of the Hill	—	14	22
Autoball 🧪	—	—	23