Arma 3 is Bohemia Interactive’s military sandbox simulation: a vast open-world tactical shooter built around realistic ballistics, vehicles, and mission scripting rather than an arcade shooting gallery. A dedicated Arma 3 server keeps a persistent mission or Zeus session running around the clock, with a fixed IP your unit or community can always find, full control over server.cfg, and proper Steam Workshop mod loading, none of which you get from someone hosting a session off their own PC. This guide walks through the whole path on Loafhosts: picking a plan, deploying the server, entering the Steam credentials the install script requires, configuring the essential startup settings, understanding the panel’s Config Editor for server.cfg, loading Workshop mods, opening the right ports, and connecting. Everything below reflects how the Arma 3 egg on Loafhosts actually behaves, including its quirks.
What Arma 3 Server Hosting Gets You
Running Arma 3 from the in-game host option ties the session to your own PC and your own upload bandwidth, and it ends the moment you close the game. A dedicated server runs the same arma3server process Bohemia ships for LAN and public play, as a standalone process on hardware built for it, so missions, Zeus sessions, and headless-client AI offloading keep running whether or not you are personally online.
Tip: A dedicated server keeps missions, persistent campaigns, and Zeus sessions alive independent of any one player
Tip: You get a fixed IP and port, so your unit or community can always find the same server
Tip: Steam Workshop mods, Creator DLC, and headless clients all load properly on a dedicated install
Note: Arma 3 is a large, CPU- and mod-heavy simulation; recommended hosting starts at 8 GB RAM, and mod-heavy servers need considerably more disk than the base install
Sizing Your Custom Server
Loafhosts runs one configurable Custom server: you slide RAM from 1 to 32 GB and storage from 10 to 500 GB and pick a protection tier. A smaller build is solid value for a smaller unit running a light mission set, while more CPU and RAM headroom matters more for Arma 3 than for most games: the simulation leans on AI processing, ballistics, and scripted missions, all of which are heavy and largely single-threaded. A modded server running RHS, ACE, or CUP, or one running several headless clients, benefits directly from a bigger build with plenty of compute. Pricing starts at $13.50/mo, and longer billing cycles save up to 25%.
Tip: Size up on RAM and CPU headroom if you run large modpacks (RHS, ACE, CUP), headless clients, or big persistent missions
Tip: A smaller build is plenty for a smaller unit, a light mission rotation, and a modest modlist
Tip: Every Custom server uses AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D CPUs, DDR5 memory, and NVMe storage
Tip: The base Arma 3 dedicated server install needs at least 25 GB of disk; popular large modpacks can each add tens of gigabytes on top, so size your disk for your modlist, not just the base game
Note: The Advanced and Strict protection tiers add Terabit.io L4/L7 DDoS filtering; the Basic tier includes standard DDoS mitigation
Picking a Server Region
Arma 3’s ballistics and hit detection are sensitive to latency, so host close to where your unit actually plays. Custom servers are available in New York, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Frankfurt, covering US East, Central, West, and EU, with Montreal available for Strict protection.
- List where your players actually connect from, not where you personally live
- For a US East or Canadian unit, choose New York, or Montreal if you want Strict protection
- For a Central US unit, choose Dallas
- For a US West unit, choose Los Angeles
- For a European unit, choose Frankfurt
Tip: A closer region matters more for a tactical shooter than for a slower-paced survival or building game
Deploying Your Server
Loafhosts runs the LoafHub panel at hub.loafhosts.com. After checkout, the server provisions and you move straight into setup.
- Configure your Custom server, pick your region, and complete checkout at loafhosts.com
- Open LoafHub at hub.loafhosts.com and log in
- Select your new Arma 3 server to open the panel
- Before you start the server, go to the Startup tab and fill in the required fields covered below
- Open the Console tab so you can watch the first boot
Warning: Arma 3 will not install until you fill in the required Steam credentials below; a blank or anonymous login is rejected by the install script
Required: Steam Credentials for Install
This is the part of setting up an Arma 3 server that catches people off guard. Bohemia’s dedicated server download requires a real, non-anonymous Steam login, and the install script on Loafhosts refuses to run without one; anonymous SteamCMD login, which most Steam-based eggs allow, does not work here even though the account does not need to own Arma 3.
On the Startup tab, before your first install, set:
| Field | What it’s for |
|---|---|
| Steam Username | A real Steam account used only to authenticate the SteamCMD download |
| Steam Password | That account’s password, used the same way |
Warning: This password is stored in plain text on the server, and it is not advisable to use a personal Steam account. Create a disposable, dummy Steam account for this purpose instead
Warning: Steam Guard must be fully disabled on that account, or the install will hang or fail partway through
Note: The account does not need to own Arma 3; SteamCMD can pull the dedicated server files (app id 233780) without game ownership
Startup Settings You Should Know
Once the credentials are in and the server has installed, the Startup tab exposes the settings that matter for day-to-day operation. The most important ones:
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Server Binary | 32-bit (arma3server) or 64-bit (arma3server_x64, the default). 64-bit is recommended, especially for large modpacks or headless clients |
| Extra Startup Parameters | Raw launch flags appended to the start command; -noLogs ships as the default to cut down on console rate-limit warnings |
| Max Players | Maximum concurrent player slots |
| Server Password | Join password; leave blank for a public server |
| Automatic Updates | Checks for server and mod updates on every startup and applies them if found |
| Download Creator DLCs | Pulls the files for any Creator DLC (CDLC) you reference by mod-folder codename during the next Automatic Update, for example vn for S.O.G. Prairie Fire |
| Headless Clients (HC) | How many headless client worker processes (0 to 5) launch alongside the server to offload AI and mission processing |
Note: Loafhosts writes your Server Password and Max Players values directly into
server.cfgon every boot. Hand edits to those two specific lines in the file get overwritten on the next start; change them from the Startup tab, not the fileTip: If you are running a large modpack or several headless clients, 64-bit is the safer choice for both stability and memory headroom
Configuring server.cfg with the Config Editor
Beyond the Startup tab, Arma 3’s real gameplay and security behavior lives in server.cfg. Loafhosts includes a Config Editor (currently in BETA) built specifically for Arma 3 that turns that file into a grouped form instead of hand-edited SQF-style syntax, covering server identity, voting rules, addon signature verification, BattlEye, and voice chat. It also opens a raw view of the BattlEye RCON config file. For the full breakdown of every field, what is locked and why, and how presets work, see the companion Arma 3 Config Editor guide.
Tip: Open the Config Editor from the server sidebar’s Game section once your server has started at least once, since
server.cfgis populated at install time
Ports: What Actually Needs to Be Open
Loafhosts allocates one primary port to your server through the panel, used for the actual game connection (the -port= flag). Arma 3 itself expects a small range of ports around that primary one for other traffic: the Steam server query listing sits at primary+1, the Steam master-server heartbeat at primary+2, and BattlEye traffic at primary+4. For a server on the default port 2302, that is query on 2303, the master heartbeat on 2304, and BattlEye on 2306.
The game connection itself works off the single allocated port. If your server is not showing up in the in-game browser, or BattlEye RCON is not responding, that is very often this range, not a config problem. Reach out to Loafhosts support and reference the primary+1 through primary+4 range if you hit that.
Note: Steam query, the master-server heartbeat, and BattlEye all live on ports offset from your primary port, not the primary port itself
Loading Steam Workshop Mods
Arma 3 mods come from the Steam Workshop, and the egg’s mod system is built around three fields on the Startup tab, all of which take a semicolon-separated list of mod folder names:
- Additional Mods: client-and-server mods, loaded with
-mod=. This is where most of your modlist goes - Server-Side Only Mods: mods that run server-side only and are not required on the client if addon signature verification is on, loaded with
-serverMod= - Optional Client-Side Mods: mods loaded into the keys folder but not required to connect, so clients can join with or without them
For any mod entered as @<workshop id>, Automatic Updates will pull it (and keep it updated) from the Workshop for you. You can also upload an exported modlist from the Arma 3 Launcher (modlist.html) to the server root and point the Modlist File setting at it, and the install script parses it directly.
There is one rule you cannot skip: mod folder names must be lowercase, contain no spaces, and cannot start with a digit. Mods copied over from a Windows machine routinely violate this, since Windows itself is not case-sensitive about folder names. If a mod you added is silently failing to load, turn on the Make Mod Files Lowercase repair toggle for one boot; it renames every mod folder and its files to lowercase.
Warning: Mod folder names must be lowercase with no spaces and no leading digit, or the mod fails to load without a clear error
Tip: Popular large modpacks like RHS, CUP, and ACE can each add tens of gigabytes; make sure your disk allocation has room before adding several at once
Note: Downloads for very large mods can time out mid-transfer; the SteamCMD Retry Attempts setting (default 3) automatically retries a failed download rather than leaving you with a partial install
RCON: What’s Available Today
Arma 3 supports BattlEye RCON as a protocol, but it is not wired up out of the box the way it is on some other games: there is no RCON password or port field on the Startup tab, and the install script does not create the BattlEye configuration file for you. To turn it on:
- Use the panel’s File Manager to create a
beserver_x64.cfg(for the 64-bit binary) inside abattleye/folder at your server root, with your ownRConPasswordandRConPortvalues - In the Config Editor, turn on BattlEye anti-cheat under the Security group in
server.cfg, since RCON only functions while BattlEye is enabled - Connect with a BattlEye-compatible RCON client, using your server’s IP and the RCon port you set
There is no built-in RCON console on the Arma 3 server page yet; BattlEye RCON access is a manual, file-based setup on this game today.
Note: The primary+4 offset from your allocated port is the conventional BattlEye RCon port; confirm with Loafhosts support that it is reachable if you plan to use it
Backups, Schedules, and Auto-Restart
Loafhosts includes the same operational tools on Arma 3 as every other server type. Backups snapshot your server files, including server.cfg, mission files, and any Workshop mods you have installed, so you can roll back before a risky change. Schedules let you automate recurring tasks like a nightly restart or a backup before a mission rotation. Auto-Restart brings the server back up on its own if the process crashes, which matters more on Arma 3 than most games given how heavy modded missions can get on memory over a long session.
Tip: Take a backup before adding new mods, changing your modlist, or editing
server.cfgTip: Schedule a restart during a quiet hour if you run long mission rotations or headless clients, to clear memory
Tip: Auto-Restart is worth enabling on any modded server, since a bad mod update can occasionally crash the process
Connecting and Going Live
Once the server boots cleanly with your mission and mods loaded, it appears in the in-game server browser under the name you set in the Config Editor.
- Confirm the console shows the server reaching a ready, waiting-for-players state
- Copy the server IP and port from the panel
- In Arma 3, search for your server name in the multiplayer browser, or connect directly with the IP and port
- Join with one player first and confirm any mods you added download and load correctly
- Share the IP, port, and any server password with your unit or community
Tip: If your server does not appear in the browser, a direct connect with the IP and port bypasses browser filtering entirely
Note: Loafhosts offers a 3-day money-back guarantee on game servers if Arma 3 hosting is not the right fit
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the install fail with a Steam login error?
Arma 3’s dedicated server download requires a real, non-anonymous Steam account in the Steam Username and Steam Password fields. An empty value or the word “anonymous” is rejected by the install script. Use a disposable dummy account with Steam Guard fully disabled.
How much does Arma 3 server hosting cost on Loafhosts?
The Custom server starts at $13.50/mo, and you scale the price by sliding RAM and storage to fit your server. Longer billing cycles save up to 25%, and there are no setup fees.
How much RAM and disk does Arma 3 need?
The recommended minimum is 8 GB of RAM, with 3 GB as a hard floor for a light unmodded server. Disk needs at least 25 GB for the base dedicated server install, and popular large modpacks like RHS, CUP, or ACE can each add tens of gigabytes on top, so size your plan around your modlist.
Why did my server password or max player count revert after I edited server.cfg directly?
Loafhosts writes those two values into server.cfg from the Startup tab’s Server Password and Max Players fields on every boot, so any hand edit to those specific lines in the file is overwritten the next time the server starts. Change them from the Startup tab instead.
Does Loafhosts support Arma 3 mods?
Yes, through the Steam Workshop. List mod folder names in the Additional Mods, Server-Side Only Mods, and Optional Client-Side Mods fields on the Startup tab, or upload an exported Arma 3 Launcher modlist. Mods referenced as @<workshop id> are kept updated automatically. Mod folder names must be lowercase with no spaces and no leading digit.
Can I use RCON on my Arma 3 server?
Arma 3 supports BattlEye RCON, but it is not configured automatically. You need to manually create a beserver_x64.cfg file in a battleye/ folder at your server root with your own RCon password and port, then enable BattlEye anti-cheat in the Config Editor, and connect with a third-party BattlEye-compatible RCON client. There is no built-in RCON console on the server page for Arma 3 yet.
What are headless clients, and should I use them?
Headless clients are extra worker processes (up to 5) that run alongside your main server and offload AI and mission processing so the main server thread has more headroom. They add real value for large Conflict-style or AI-heavy missions, but each one uses additional server resources, so they are best run on a larger build with plenty of CPU headroom.
Can I get a refund if Arma 3 hosting isn’t right for me?
Yes. Loafhosts offers a 3-day money-back guarantee on game servers, so you can try Arma 3 hosting and request a refund within that window if it does not work out.