Set up an Arma 3 server, from first start to first join

A new Arma 3 server on Loafhosts is ready to play as soon as it starts. It has your name, a random join password and two Zeus sample missions (Zeus is a game-master mode where one player runs the mission live). Start it, copy the address from the Players page, and join from the Arma 3 Launcher. The rest of this page covers the first week: passwords, a mission of your own, and mods.

You never enter a Steam account. Loafhosts downloads the server and the Workshop mods for you. Your players still need to own Arma 3.

1. Start the server

1. Open your server and choose Start at the top of the page.
2. Open the Console tab. The game prints its log there.
3. Wait for the line Host identity created. That line means the server is ready.

Many lines read BattlEye Server: RCon admin #0 (...) logged in. That is the panel reading who is online. It is normal. Other lines, such as SteamAPI initialization failed or a long list of .pbo files, are normal too. What the first start sets up is in what to expect at the first start.

2. Copy the address

1. Open the Players page.
2. Find the Joining band at the top. It shows the address in a box, with a Copy button (1).
3. Choose Copy and send the address to your players.

The address is the server’s IP and its game port, for example 203.0.113.24:2700. Under it the band tells players what to do (2).

The band also says whether the server has a join password. It reads “It has a join password, changed under Passwords on Config.” (the Config Editor tab) or “It has no join password.” That line shows only while the server is running and answering. See find your server address.

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3. Set your passwords

A new store server gets three random passwords. You change them in one place.

1. Open the Config Editor tab.
2. Choose the Passwords file (1).
3. Set Server Password (2), what players type to join (leave it empty for a public server), Admin Password (3), typed in game with #login, and RCon Password (4), used by the Players page.
4. Choose Save, then restart the server. A restart disconnects everyone who is on. Choose a quiet moment, and warn players first with the A message to everyone box and Send on the Players page.

The Rename Server card on Settings changes only the panel’s own name for the server. The name players see in the game’s browser is Server name in the Config Editor, in server.cfg.

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If you change the RCon Password while the server runs, the Players page says BattlEye refused the password. Restart the server and it works again.

4. Upload a mission

The two Zeus sample missions work out of the box. To play your own, upload a mission file.

1. Name the file name.world.pbo (a PBO is a packed mission or mod file), for example MyMission.Altis.pbo. The part before .pbo is the mission name, then a dot, then the world: the map the mission is built for. The panel reads the world’s class name, such as altis, stratis, tanoa, malden, enoch (Livonia) or vr (Virtual Reality). Many downloaded missions already have it in the name.
2. Open Files and go into the mpmissions folder.
3. Choose New, then File from Upload (1), and pick your .pbo. A mission folder works too: choose Directory from Upload (2).
4. Open the Missions page. Your mission is listed under “On the server” with the chip PBO file.
5. Choose Add to put it in the rotation (the list of missions the server plays), then Save.

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The panel says “Saved. The server plays this rotation from its next restart.” for a running server. To play it right now, use Play another mission on the Players page. That ends the mission playing now for everyone, and it does not change the rotation.

Some worlds need an expansion or Creator DLC, and every player must own it. The Missions page shows “needs (what)” on such a mission.

5. Add mods

1. Open the Mods page.
2. Open the Workshop tab. Paste a Workshop link or ID into Add by link or ID and choose Look up, or search the Workshop.
3. Choose Add. If the row says “Needs (name), which is not on the list.”, choose Add (name) on it.
4. Choose Apply. If the server is running, the button reads Apply and restart.

Apply downloads the mods, makes their file names lower case (the server runs on Linux and needs that), and copies each mod’s keys into the keys folder. A mod that fails to download stays on the list, waiting.

The load order is the order of the list: each mod loads after the ones above it. A mod set to Players too is sent to players, and a mod set to Server only is not. A mod that ships its extension only as a Windows .dll cannot run on this Linux server.

6. Join

1. Start the Arma 3 Launcher on the same version of the game as the server, with the same mods. Read the server’s version as Game version on the Crashes tab. See update your server.
2. Go to Servers, then Direct Connect, and type the address. Or find the server by its name.
3. Type the join password if there is one.

The full player steps are in how to join your server. More about hosting Arma 3 here: Arma 3 servers.

If it does not work

• The Joining band shows no join password line. The server is stopped or still starting. The line shows while the server answers.
• The server is not in the browser. Use Direct Connect with the address. The server browser needs the Steam query port, which is the game port plus one.
• Players are refused for wrong signatures. Signatures are the checks that a player’s mod files match the server’s. Their mod versions differ from the server’s. Update the mods on the server and ask players to update theirs.
• The Players page says BattlEye (the game’s anti-cheat) is not answering. The server is still starting. Wait for Host identity created. and look again.
• Your own mission is not listed. Check the file name ends in .pbo, has a world name before it, and sits in mpmissions.

Sources: Bohemia wiki: Dedicated Server, Bohemia wiki: Server Config File

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