Migrating from CGFS16

Migrating From The Original CGFS16

If your were using the original CGFS16 (Server16.exe, installed with CGFS16 Setup.exe and its updates), you don't have to start over. Server 16 Python reads the same folders and the same FSW/settings.ini, so your stadiums, scoreboards, TV logos, movies, chants and assignments carry over.

What carries over

What	Where it lives	Notes
Assignments and module switches	FSW/settings.ini	Read as-is, including the old <id>=<stadium>,<police>,<pitch>,<net> stadium lines. Section names match regardless of case ([HomeTeamScoreBoard] = [hometeamscoreboard]).
Stadiums	StadiumGBD/<stadium name>/	Same layout. .zip / .rar archives also work now, see Stadium folders & archives.
Scoreboards	ScoreBoardGBD/<pack name>/	Same layout.
TV logos	TVLogoGBD/<pack name>/	Same layout.
Movies	MoviesGBD/<pack name>/	Same bootflowoutro.vp8 / bumper.big.
Chants (if your build had them)	FSW/Chants/<folder>/	Same Support/, Complaint/ and ClubSong.mp3, see Chants audio files.
Police, nets, pitch patterns	FSW/Police, FSW/Nets, FSW/PitchMowPattern	The older FSW/Images/... folders are read too, see Expected FIFA folder layout.

Step by step

1. Back up FSW/settings.ini. Copy it (or the whole FSW folder) somewhere outside the FIFA folder, then close Server16.exe.
2. Add the antivirus exclusion for the new exe before running it for the first time — see Antivirus / Windows Defender Warnings.
3. Put Server16Python.exe in your FIFA 16 folder, next to fifa16.exe — the same place the old Server16.exe sits. Run from any other folder, it warns on startup that it isn't next to the linked FIFA exe, and launching FIFA or copying files may fail.
4. Start it and point it at fifa16.exe if it isn't auto-detected. It picks up your existing FSW, StadiumGBD, ScoreBoardGBD, TVLogoGBD and MoviesGBD folders. Your settings.ini is kept: the bundled template is only copied in when the file doesn't exist.
5. Run Setup with FSW/settings.ini unchecked, then Regen BH (Set Up tab → Run Setup, then Regen BH once it finishes).
   • The FSW/settings.ini box is checked by default and would replace your assignments with an empty template.
   • Also uncheck FSW/Nav if you replaced the default movie files in FSW/Nav with your own.
   • Run Setup never touches your StadiumGBD, ScoreBoardGBD, TVLogoGBD or MoviesGBD folders.
6. Check the Modules card on the Dashboard — see Dashboard Modules. Your old switches carry over as they were. For modules your old settings.ini didn't list:
   • Team Entrance, Tournament Entrance, Entrance Camera, Goalposts and Stadium Name are switched on for you.
   • Stadium Net, Chants, Away Chants, Away Club Song, Ball, Adboard, Referee and Wipe stay off until you turn them on.
7. Start FIFA and play a match. Your existing assignments apply as before. Press F12 in-game to open the overlay, which the old tool didn't have — see In-Game Interactive Overlay.

What's different

• App settings live in runtime/settings.json, next to the exe (FIFA path, overlay, language…). Assignments stay in FSW/settings.ini.
• Comment lines in settings.ini are dropped the first time the app saves it, e.g. the old CG Server 16 by Shawminator banner. Your assignments are not affected.
• New features add their own sections to settings.ini ([kitsid], [ball], [stadiumentrancecam]…) as you use them. There's nothing to add by hand.
• Stadium preview images are new: put them in StadiumGBD/render/thumbnail/stadium/, see Stadium Preview Images.
• On a vanilla install, run the Assets Extractor once if you want to use Kit Mixer. Skip it on a total-conversion mod like FIP.

Old files in the FIFA folder

Server16.exe, Fifa_Server_Map.dll, NAudio.dll, CG Stadium Namer 16.exe and FSW/Help/ come from the old tool, and Server 16 Python doesn't use any of them. You can keep or delete them, but never run Server16.exe and Server16Python.exe at the same time: both swap the same files under data/ and overwrite each other.

Troubleshooting

• The Dashboard shows a setup banner: something Run Setup creates is still missing. Run it again, with FSW/settings.ini unchecked.
• Chants, net values, ball, referee, etc. don't apply: their module is probably still off (step 6).
• Assets don't show up in-game at all: run Regen BH again.
• Not sure which settings.ini was loaded: on startup, runtime/server16.log logs Modules loaded from <path> followed by the value of every switch.