How to use the Skulltag Server
When you start a new Skulltag Server, you will see the Skulltag Server window. In this window, you can be able to easily manage your server on your host computer.
If you are new to the server surroundings, it may take a few moments to get the hang of it; however this tutorial should help you understand how things work, and how to manage your server with ease.
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Understanding the Server layout
When you first start your server, you will have a new window that will look like this:
On this window, this will list all of the players that are on your server, along with some basic information on your connection status.
I’ll explain a little about the window.
- My Skulltag Server – This is my Skulltag server name, you can use what ever name you wish.
- Scoreboard – On this area, this will list all of the players that are on your server, along with a list of their pings, kills that they have, and how long the player has been on a map.
- Console – The Server Console is just like a normal client console, so you will see player chats, kill messages, and server commands. On the console, this is where you will type your server commands.
- Server Visibility – This generally means how the server will be seen.
- Public: The server can be seen by other players on the Internet.
- Private: The server can only be seen locally from the computer.
- LAN: The server can be seen on your Local Area Network.
- IP: This will show your IP along with the port address.
- Map: This will show the current map level and name that the server is on.
- Skulltag Build Version: This will show the Skulltag version that the server is using.
Now lets start making a few customizations!
Server Settings
Server Settings is where you will make general changes to your server.
General Settings
In general settings, this is where you will make changes like game mode, how many players can connect to your server, change your server name, and much more!
I’ll explain in details what option does what.
Server
- Server Name – This is the name of your server.
- WAD URL – A download URL to the custom PWAD file.
- E-Mail Address – An E-Mail address where other players can contact you.
- Broadcast to the Master Server – If this is checked, your server will be visible to the public.
- Broadcast on LAN – If this is checked, your server will be visible on your Local Area Network.
- Show launcher queries – If this is checked, this will show users that are receiving information from your server.
- Master Server IP – It is not recommended to change the Master Server IP address, unless the Master Server IP DNS has changed.
- Message of the day – A message that players will see when they enter in your server.
Gameplay
- Fraglimit – How many frags a player will need to win in a match. (DM, Duel)
- Pointlimit – How many points a team will need to win in a match. (CTF, ST, and other Team Games)
- Winlimit – How many wins a player or team will need to win in a match. (Team games)
- Timelimit – How much time the players have on each map.
- Duellimit – How many duels can be played on each map. (Duel)
- Maxlives – How many lives a player has in Survival. (Survival/Invasion)
- Gameplay mode - Change the Gameplay mode on the server.
- Skill – The game play skill level.
- Botskill – The skill level of the bots.
Access
- Connect Password - Players must have the correct password to connect to your server.
- Join Password – Players must have the correct password to join in the games. If they don’t have the right password, they will be forced to spectate.
- Remote Control (RCON) Password – This will allow players to manage a server remotely; that is, if the player has the correct password.
- Max Clients – How many clients can connect to your server.
- Max Players – How many players can play on the server.
Configure DMFlags
DMFlags is where you can control the game environment; like having monster respawn when they die, or changing the server environment to classical Doom settings (OS “Old School”).
When you open select “Configure DMFlags” from the Settings Menu; you will see options, functions, and a few taps.
Click here, for details upon each DMFlag.
- Advanced: If you know exactly what DMFlags you want to use, you can enter them in, and the server will be updated.
The first tap being the general stuff; Do I want to have Falling Damage on? Should the skulls return when dropped on Skulltag game mode?
The second tap primarily for the players. Here you can enforce a settings from the players; for example: disabling the ability to use Crosshair, or enforcing a specific light range for players that are using OpenGL.
The Third tap for Cooperative game play settings. Here you can change a few things, like having the monsters respawn, or having players lose all of there inventory when they die.
The fourth tap for Deathmatch game play settings. Here you can change things like; when a player dies, he loses a frag count, or never spawn health on the map.
The fifth tap being for compatibility. Here you can change the game play environment or how things work. For example; changing the game play to Old School settings, or changing how radius damage works.
More information about each DMFlags
Map Rotation
Map Rotation is very useful, if a WAD has more than 32 maps or has customized map names that are not defined on the MAPINFO. You can also make the maps rotate randomly, besides using a normal rotation. For example: MAP01, MAP20, MAP25, MAP23, etc
LMS Settings
This is where you can customize the LMSFlags in the Last Man Standing gamemode.
Messages
You can be able to log your server of all messages.
This will show player chats, server messages, and everything else that can be shown from the server console.
- Timestamp
- This will show the timestamps of all of the events that happened. The timestamp will be displayed by [Hour.Minute.Second].
- Incoming Text
- Strip colour codes – This will remove the colour codes that were used in players names and chat messages.
- Do not strip colour codes – This will log all of the colour codes used on players names, and messages.
- Leave in “\c<x>” format – This will log all of the \cx format used.
- Logging
- You will have to place a logfile name, once you have created a log file name; select “Enable Logging”. Once you have done this, the server will start logging.
Server
On this section, this shows information upon your server, from connection, to advanced server information.
General Information
General Information, is where you can collect advanced information about your server.
From CPU status, to Server Status.
Statistics
This will show your servers connection bandwidth usage, also this will show how long your server has been running.
Admin
On here, you can administrate your server.
Add bot
Just as the name implies, this is where you can add bots into the server.
- [NOTICE: Skulltag bots ONLY work in competitive modes! (DM, Duels, LMS)]
You select any bots from the Addbot menu, and the bots will be added to your server!
Remove bot
On this window, you can remove the bots from your server.
- Remove – Remove the selected bot from your server.
- Remove All – This will remove all of the bots from your server.
Kick or ban player
This is pretty much easy to handle. Mainly highlight a player that is causing problems on your server, type your reason on kicking the player from your server, and than select either to kick the player, or kick and ban the player from your server.
Select Begone to make the actions.
View Banlist
On this window, you can be able to manage the ban file; either edit a ban, remove a ban, or even removing all of the bans from your server.
This picture shows a clean banlist file, but if you have players banned from your server, you will see IP Addresses listed on (Ban List:).
Add IP ban
On this window, is where you can add a new IP to your banlist.
- Address: IP Address of the player you are banning from your server(s).
- Comment: Reason why you banned that player from your server(s).
Change Map
You can be able to change the map on your server; however be sure you have the correct map name.
- Map Name – The map name of the map. (For example: MAP01)
- Intermission? – This will show the intermission screen. If this is disabled, players are forced to reconnect back to the server automatically.
Some neat quick tricks
Listed below, is some quick and neat tricks you can perform on your server.
Right clicking on bots
When you right click on a bot from the main server window, you will see several options:
- Clone – Add a twin bot to your server.
- Remove – Remove this bot from your server.
- Remove All – Remove all bots from your server.
Right clicking on players
When you right click on a player from the main server window, you will see several options:
- Kick – Kick the player from your server.
- Kick (Why) – Kick the player from your server with a reason.
- Ban and Kick – Ban and kick the player from your server.
- Ban and Kick (Why) – Ban and kick the player from your server with a reason.
- Get IP Address – Get the IP Address of the selected player.
Commands
When you start broadcasting your servers, it might come a time where you might need to use commands on your server. Commands can be very useful for when you need to manage your server with advanced settings like how long should a player hold the hellstone inorder to score a point, etc.
When you input commands on the server, you must first place a slash ( / ) on the server console, than the initial command. For example:
/sv_coopspawnvoodoodolls true