How to Restart Your Arma Reforger Server

To restart your Arma Reforger server, press Restart in the LPV5 Console tab after you sign in at hub.loafhosts.com. A restart is the standard way to apply config.json or mod changes, clear memory, and reload a scenario, and it usually completes in under a minute. This guide covers manual restarts, automatic crash recovery via the LPV5 Auto-Restart watchdog, when a restart is required, and how LoafHosts handles crashes.

Manual Restart from the LPV5 Console

The LPV5 Console tab is the canonical place to start, stop, and restart a Reforger server. The Restart button stops the server, waits for the process to release its handles, and starts it back up while you watch the live log.

1. Sign in at hub.loafhosts.com
2. Open your Arma Reforger server in the LPV5 panel
3. Open the Console tab
4. Click Restart
5. Watch the live log as the server stops and starts again
6. Wait for the scenario load lines and the ready state

Tip: Announce restarts in your community chat a few minutes in advance

Tip: A clean Reforger restart usually finishes in under a minute on a small modlist

Automatic Crash Recovery with LPV5 Auto-Restart

Reforger servers can crash from a bad mod, a Workshop update, or memory exhaustion on a heavy modlist. The LPV5 Auto-Restart watchdog brings the server back automatically when one of these happens. It does not run on a clock: instead it scans new console output for the egg’s known crash signatures and restarts the server when one matches, with a cooldown and an hourly rate limit so a crash loop does not thrash the box.

1. Open the Auto-Restart tab in your server’s Settings (Reforger servers only)
2. Enable the master switch
3. Start in Test mode to confirm the crash patterns match your server before going Live
4. Set the cooldown, the delay before restart, and the max restarts per hour
5. Switch to Live mode and save

Tip: Run Auto-Restart in Test mode for a day or two first; it logs what it would have done so you can confirm the patterns match before it acts

Tip: Keep the max-restarts-per-hour rate limit high enough that a normal crash recovers, but low enough that a crash loop pauses the watchdog instead of restarting endlessly

Note: Auto-Restart only fires on a detected crash signature; if the egg has no crash patterns configured, nothing happens. There is no fixed-time daily scheduler.

Note: Arma Reforger workshop mods auto-update on startup, so any restart, including an Auto-Restart recovery or a manual restart, also pulls fresh mod versions

When a Restart Is Required

Most Reforger admin tasks need a restart to take effect because the server only reads config.json on boot. The short list of must-restart actions is worth memorising so you do not edit a setting and wonder why nothing changed.

Tip: After any edit to config.json, including name, password, maxPlayers, scenarioId, or admins

Tip: After any change to your modlist; the server downloads the diff on the next start

Tip: After a Reforger update so server and client stay on the same build

Tip: After a scenario swap so the new scenario boots cleanly

Warning: Config changes do not take effect while the server is running; without a restart your edits are simply ignored

Warning: If you suspect a memory or AI issue mid-session, a restart almost always clears it

Crash Recovery and Auto-Restart

LPV5 Auto-Restart watches the console for the egg’s known crash signatures and restarts the server when one matches. This means an unattended crash at 3am is recovered before most of your players notice, instead of leaving the server offline until you wake up. It does not monitor the OS process directly, so a crash that never prints a matching log line will not necessarily trigger it.

Tip: Enable Auto-Restart, but validate it in Test mode first so you know the crash patterns match before it acts in Live mode

Tip: If the server crashes repeatedly in a short window, stop and investigate the log rather than relying on auto-recovery; the hourly rate limit will pause the watchdog after too many restarts anyway

Warning: Auto-restart cannot fix a config.json error; a server that crashes on a JSON typo will keep crashing until you fix the file

Warning: If a bad mod is causing a crash loop, remove it from the modlist before re-enabling auto-restart

Note: Investigate the console log first when a crash repeats; the most common causes are invalid JSON, a broken mod after a Workshop update, or memory exhaustion on a heavy modlist

Stop, Start, Restart: Picking the Right Action

All three actions live in the LPV5 Console tab and they look similar, but they have different uses. Stop is for cold maintenance, Start is for bringing a stopped server back up, and Restart is the everyday action for applying changes.

1. Use Restart for config or mod changes; it is faster and cleaner than Stop then Start
2. Use Stop before restoring a backup or doing heavy file manager work
3. Use Start to bring the server back up after a Stop

Tip: If a Restart hangs, Stop and Start manually to force a clean cycle

Verifying a Restart Worked

A restart is only successful when the boot log reaches the scenario-ready state with no errors. Always watch the first 30 seconds of console output so a silent failure does not leave you with an offline server you think is running.

1. Watch the Console tab during the restart
2. Confirm the boot log shows mod downloads complete cleanly
3. Confirm the scenario load lines print
4. Confirm the server reaches a ready state
5. Optionally join in-game to confirm the connect path works end-to-end

Warning: If the log shows a JSON parse error, fix config.json before another restart attempt; another restart will just hit the same error

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I restart my Arma Reforger server?

Open the LPV5 Console tab in LoafPanel after you sign in at hub.loafhosts.com, click Restart, and watch the live boot log. A clean restart usually takes under a minute on a small modlist.

Do I need to restart after editing config.json?

Yes. Arma Reforger only reads config.json at startup, so any edit to fields like game.name, game.password, game.maxPlayers, or game.scenarioId requires a restart to take effect.

Can I schedule automatic restarts on Loafhosts?

LPV5 Auto-Restart does not currently run on a fixed daily schedule. Instead, it automatically restarts your Reforger server when it detects a known crash signature in the console, with a cooldown and an hourly rate limit. For a planned daily restart, run a manual Restart from the Console tab at a quiet hour.

Will the server come back up automatically if it crashes?

Yes, with LPV5 Auto-Restart enabled. It watches the console for the egg’s known crash signatures (managed per egg by admins) and restarts the server when one matches, so unattended outages recover quickly without admin intervention. If the egg has no crash patterns configured, nothing happens, and a crash that never prints a matching log line will not necessarily trigger it.

How long does a Reforger restart take?

Usually under a minute for a vanilla or lightly modded server. Larger modlists take longer because the server validates mods and pulls any Workshop updates on each boot.

Why is auto-restart not fixing my crash loop?

Auto-restart cannot resolve a config error or a bad mod; it just retries. If the server keeps crashing, check the console log, fix invalid JSON in config.json, or remove the broken mod, then let the auto-restarter take over again.

Should I use Restart or Stop and Start?

Use Restart for everyday changes; it is faster and cleaner. Use Stop before restoring a backup or doing heavy file manager work, then Start to bring it back up.