Server Settings

The in-game menus only offer a few settings: singleplayer lets you change rounds per map and bot skill, and LAN adds tickets, friendly fire and team ratio. But you can change far more, like respawn time, man-down time or the number of players needed to start, in singleplayer and LAN alike.

There are two ways to do it. Pick the one that suits you.

	Option 1: ServerSettings.con	Option 2: GameLogicInit.con
Applies to	Every mod	One mod
In-game menu settings	Always overridden by the file	Still work, unless you override them
Best for	Set-and-forget changes	Most people, recommended

Option 1: Edit ServerSettings.con

Everything in this file overrides the in-game menu. For example, if the file says tickets 100 but you set 300 in the menu, the game uses 100.

1. Open Documents\Battlefield 2142\Profiles\Default\ServerSettings.con with a text editor.

2. Change the values you want. Only edit existing lines and don’t add new ones. Note that GameServerSettings... lines aren’t the same as sv... settings.

3. Save the file.

4. Right-click the file → Properties, tick Read-only and click OK.

   This step matters: otherwise BF2142 often overwrites your changes when it starts. (More background.)

Option 2: Edit GameLogicInit.con

Add only the settings you want to override, usually the ones the menu doesn’t offer, and leave everything else to the menu.

1. Open mods\<MOD>\GameLogicInit.con in your game folder with a text editor.¹

2. Add the settings you want at the end of the file, one per line. See the list below.

3. Save the file.

   Can’t save? Copy the file to your desktop, edit it there, then copy it back.

Tip

It’s easy to forget what you’ve added. To switch a setting off, put rem at the start of its line. To switch off a whole block, wrap it in beginrem and endrem.

List of server settings

Commonly used settings

A handy starting point:

rem ↓ show your server in the online server browser
sv.internet 1
rem ↓ welcome message on the loading screen
sv.welcomeMessage "Welcome!"
rem ↓ remove "The game will start when 1 more player join" in LAN games
sv.numPlayersNeededToStart 1
rem ↓ seconds to wait before respawning
sv.spawnTime 10
rem ↓ seconds you can be revived by a medic
sv.manDownTime 10
rem ↓ 100% tickets (overrides singleplayer's 200%)
sv.ticketRatio 100
sv.teamRatioPercent 100
sv.autoBalanceTeam 0
sv.roundsPerMap 1
sv.useGlobalRank 1
sv.useGlobalUnlocks 1
sv.minUnlockLevel 5
sv.botSkill 0.2
rem ↓ no friendly fire from mines
sv.friendlyFireWithMines 0

Settings	Description
sv.serverName “BF2142”	This is the name your server will be listed by in the Internet or LAN server browser.
sv.password “1234”	If you set a password, players will need to enter it before connecting to your server.
sv.internet 0	Set this to report your server to the Internet server browser list. 1 for Internet, 0 for LAN.
sv.bandwidthChoke 0	This setting controls how much bandwidth (in Kbps) the server can use, so it doesn’t need to constantly poll for bandwidth. It also helps save bandwidth for non-gaming LAN users who want to check email or browse the web. If you set it to 0, there’s no bandwidth limit.
sv.maxPlayers 16	The maximum number of players allowed on your server at once. This setting also determines whether the 16, 32 or 64 player configuration of maps is used.
sv.allowFreeCam 0	Allow players to use a free-roaming camera while waiting to spawn. Players can activate this camera using the JUMP key. 1 to enable, 0 to disable.
sv.allowExternalViews 1	Use this to enable or disable the use of 3rd person cameras in vehicles. 1 to enable, 0 to disable.
sv.allowNoseCam 1	Use this to enable or disable the use of nose-cam in certain vehicles. 1 to enable, 0 to disable.
sv.startDelay 2	This is the amount of time in seconds players are kept waiting for the game to start, once the minimum number of players has been reached.
sv.endDelay 10	This is the amount of time in seconds between when a round ends and a new round begins.
sv.spawnTime 15	This is the amount of time in seconds that players will wait to spawn in the game again after being killed.
sv.manDownTime 15	This is the amount of time players will wait to spawn in the game again after being incapacitated and able to be revived by a medic.
sv.ticketRatio 100	You can set the percentage of the normal number of tickets you wish to use.
sv.roundsPerMap 1	Set the number of rounds to complete before the map automatically changes to the next on the list.
sv.timeLimit 0	After this amount of time is reached, the round will end.
sv.soldierFriendlyFire 100	This is the percentage of direct damage that soldiers will receive from other players on the same team.
sv.vehicleFriendlyFire 100	This is the percentage of direct damage that vehicles will receive from other players on the same team.
sv.soldierSplashFriendlyFire 100	This is the percentage of splash damage that soldiers will receive from other players on the same team.
sv.vehicleSplashFriendlyFire 100	This is the percentage of splash damage that vehicles will receive from other players on the same team.
sv.voteTime 60	This is the amount of time that a poll such as a kick vote or map vote stays open.
sv.minPlayersForVoting 2	This is the minimum number of votes needed for a poll to be successful.
sv.autoRecord 0	Enable or disable automatic demo recording. Turning on this feature will seriously impact your server’s performance. 1 to enable, 0 to disable.
sv.demoDownloadURL “”	If demo recording is enabled, this should be set to the publicly accessible URL where the demo files can be downloaded.
sv.autoDemoHook “”	This is the application or script that is called on to manage demo recordings at the end of rounds.
sv.adminScript “”	Set the path to a custom admin script to run.
sv.hitIndicator 1	Toggles whether or not players receive crosshair feedback indicating they have hit a target. 1 to enable, 0 to disable.
sv.numPlayersNeededToStart 1	The minimum number of players needed for a round to begin. Until this number of players have joined, the server stays in a pre-game state and neither team loses any tickets.
sv.tkPunishEnabled 1	Enable the system through which players can punish teamkillers in an attempt to kick them from the server. 1 to enable, 0 to disable.
sv.tkNumPunishToKick 3	When punishing is enabled, this sets the number of punished teamkills required to be kicked from the server.
sv.tkPunishByDefault 1	This sets whether or not a player is automatically punished for a teamkill. 1 to enable, 0 to disable.
sv.voipEnabled 1	Enable the use of VOIP for squad communication. 1 to enable, 0 to disable.
sv.voipServerRemote 0	Enable the use of an external BF2142 VOIP Server, thereby disabling the integrated VOIP server.
sv.voipServerRemoteIP “127.0.0.1”	When using an external VOIP server, this should be set with its IP address.
sv.voipServerPort 55125	The VOIP server uses this port to receive BF2142 server data. When using an external VOIP server, this should be set to the port associated with the shared password from the VOIP server’s configuration.
sv.voipBFClientPort 55123	This is the port the BF2142 client uses for communication with the voip server.
sv.voipBFServerPort 55124	The BF2142 server uses this port to communicate with the VOIP server.
sv.voipSharedPassword “”	When using an external VOIP server, this should be set to the password associated with the VOIP Server port from the VOIP server’s configuration.
sv.voipQuality 5	Use this to adjust the quality of VOIP audio. Raising the quality level will increase the amount of bandwidth your server uses. Recommended settings are 5 for LAN and 3 for Internet.
sv.gameSpyPort 29900	Your server sends information about settings and status through this port. You only need to change this if it is in conflict with another port being used on your system. For best results, this value should stay between 29900 and 29950.
sv.allowNATNegotiation 0	Allow Network Address Translation negotiation. Try this if you use a router or gateway device and are having problems hosting a server. 1 to enable, 0 to disable.
sv.autoBalanceTeam 1	Enabling this will automatically move players to the team with less players when they die, and will prevent players from switching teams if it would cause them to be too unbalanced. 1 to enable, 0 to disable.
sv.teamRatioPercent 100	This ratio represents how autoBalanceTeam considers the desired ratio between team 1 and team 2. The percent represents what percent of team 1’s current players is considered ‘even’ for team 2. Team 1 is usually PAC, Team 2 is EU.
sv.sponsorLogoURL “”	Enter a URL to an image, and it will be displayed in the server browser when the server is highlighted. The image must be in PNG or JPG format, and should have a 4:1 aspect ratio for best results.
sv.punkBuster 0	Enable PunkBuster automatic cheat protection. 1 to enable, 0 to disable.
sv.useGlobalRank 1	This setting toggles whether or not players can use and show their official rank they have earned by playing on ranked servers. 1 to enable, 0 to disable.
sv.useGlobalUnlocks 1	This setting toggles whether or not players can use the unlocks they have earned by playing on ranked servers. 1 to enable, 0 to disable.
sv.welcomeMessage “”	This text is displayed on the map load screen when connecting to the server.
sv.serverIP “”	This setting allows you to set the network IP address for your server. This setting needs to match the interface IP setting.
sv.serverPort 17567	This setting allows you to customize the port used for gameplay network traffic.
sv.votingEnabled 1	Enable or disable voting. 1 to enable, 0 to disable.
sv.communityLogoURL “”	Enter a URL to an image, and it will be displayed in the loading screen when connecting to the server. The image must be in PNG or JPG format, and should have a 4:1 aspect ratio for best results.
sv.customMapURL “”	This setting only applies when running custom maps. The user is redirected to this URL when they try to join a map that the user doesn’t have. When this field is empty, they are redirected to bfeditor.org where the game tries to find the map name.
sv.demoQuality 1	Set the quality of demo recording, if enabled, on the server.
sv.endOfRoundDelay 15	This is the amount of time in seconds that the message stating which team won is displayed at the end of the round.
sv.notEnoughPlayersRestartDelay 5	When the number of players on the server drops below the number of players needed to start, the server will wait for this number of seconds for more players to join. If no players join within this time, the round will end.
sv.interfaceIP “”	This setting allows you to set the network interface IP address for your server. This setting needs to match the “serverIP” setting.
sv.numReservedSlots 0	Set the number of player slots that will be reserved for the player names defined in ReservedSlots.con.
sv.friendlyFireWithMines 0	Turn this setting off to prevent friendly mines and claymores from detonating when teammates go over them. This setting only works on unranked servers, it’s always off on ranked servers. 1 to enable, 0 to disable.
sv.TeamVoteOnly	This option will restrict all voting queries and responses to members of the same team.
sv.botSkill 0.5	Sets the bot skill level for coop.
sv.maxRank 0	Enables/disables the rank restriction on a ranked server.
sv.minUnlockLevel 0	Grants every player unlocks up to this level.
sv.maxUnlockLevel -1	Restricts players so that they can’t use unlocks above this level.
sv.allowSpectators 0	Allows/disallows spectators on unranked servers. 1 to enable, 0 to disable.
sv.allowTitanMovement 1	Allows/disallows the commander’s ability to move the titan around the battlefield. 1 to enable, 0 to disable.

This list leaves out settings that are deprecated, only work on ranked servers, or aren’t useful for normal play.

Credits

• ANTniquiler for the server settings details @ Installing a BF2142 dedicated server on Linux

Footnotes

1. <MOD> is bf2142 for vanilla, or your mod’s folder name. Your game folder is usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\Battlefield 2142. ↩