raven-shield-2020/SERVERS.md

Instructions for playing Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield in 2020 and beyond.

Hosting a Server

Method 1 (easy): VPS

This section will cover hosting a Raven Shield server with MarkMods.com. MarkMods is one of the few vendors to still offer Raven Shield gameservers.

From the Raven Shield page, choose a number of player slots, a server location, and a billing frequency. Smaller servers will cost around $1/slot, while larger servers can be more efficient (around $0.50/slot). Finish the signup process.

Basic Setup

1. Open your server in the control panel.
2. Under Control Panel, Stop the server.
3. Under Configuration, make sure Use FTP config is enabled. Save at the bottom.
4. Under File Manager, click Open In Fullscreen to start a minimal FTP client connected to your server. This will be the primary way you interact with the server's content and configuration. To open a file, click it in the UI. Save it to disk if you plan to make changes. To update a file, click Upload Files in the bottom left and choose the file to upload. It will replace the server's copy.
5. Install OpenRVS by uploading its files according to the instructions.
6. Replace R6GameService.dll with the copy from this repo.
7. Replace RavenShield.mod with the copy from this repo.
8. Start the server again when finished. It should now be using the config files from the file manager.

Adjusting Configs

The two primary files for server configuration are system\RavenShield.ini and system\Server.ini. Here are some common settings you may want to change:

• In RavenShield.ini
  • If necessary, change the values of the server ports.
    • Port: Default value is 6777, but set this to the value you are assigned. If connecting to your assigned port takes you to someone else's server, they have used your port. If this happens, add 10000 to every port number and try again.
    • ServerBeaconPort: Set to Port plus 1000
    • BeaconPort: Set to Port plus 2000
    • m_iRegSvrPort: Set to Port minus 1000
    • m_iRSCDKeyPort: Set to Port minus 2000
    • m_iModCDKeyPort: Set to Port plus 3000
  • If hosting custom content, you will need to also purchase web hosting in order to avoid slow download speeds for players. Configure a file server with the content your players will need to download, and set RedirectToURL to its URL.
• In Server.ini
  • Under [Engine.R6ServerInfo]
    • ServerName should contain the name of your server
    • MOTD will be shown to players when they connect
    • DedicatedServer and Internet Server should be set to True
    • MaxPlayers should be set to the number of player slots
    • RoundTime is the length of each round in seconds
    • BetweenRoundTime is how long players have to select their gear
    • RoundsPerMatch sets the number of rounds before the map rotates
    • UsePassword should be set to False for public servers
    • AdminPassword should be set and UseAdminPassword should be set to True
    • FriendlyFire may be set to False if desired
    • ForceFPersonWeapon should be set to True
    • CamThirdPerson, CamFreeThirdPerson, and CamGhost can be disabled for adversarial mode
    • CamTeamOnly should be set to False in co-op mode
    • NbTerro is the number of opponents in co-op mode
    • DiffLevel sets the NPC difficulty. Default is 2
    • AIBkp may be set to false to disable AI followers in co-op mode
  • Under [Engine.R6MapList]
    • There is room for up to 32 maps in the map list. Each position in the list has an index (0-31) and two values to set:
      • GameType should be R6Game.R6TeamDeathMatchGame for PVP or R6Game.R6TerroristHuntCoopGame for PVE. See game documentation for more mode names.
      • Maps should be set to the name of the map you want in the rotation

Publishing Your Server

Once the server is ready to go, you will need to visit the SMClan forums and make a post requesting that Tony add your server (and port) to the OpenRVS server list.

Method 2 (medium): Windows

This section will cover hosting a Raven Shield server with Microsoft Azure. You can also use these steps with your own Windows hardware for self-hosted servers.

Method 3 (hard): Linux

This section will cover hosting a Raven Shield server with DigitalOcean Droplets. You can also use these steps with your own Linux hardware for self-hosted servers.