Setting up a Pixel Lobby and setting a MOTD

Overview

A Guide that will help you to properly set up a Pixel Lobby on your Computer so that others in your Region can join you without having a bad Ping.(Please only follow this Guide if you have a stable Internet Connection. Laggy Servers are a Pain.)

Setting up your own Server

Originally posted by CamTSB (Mane6 QA):

Step One: Port-forwarding
Most of the time, in order for people to join your server, you will need to port forward. There’s lots of port forwarding guides out there. You can search for them in google. Here’s wikihow’s: How to Set Up Port Forwarding on a Router[www.wikihow.com] and there’s also this How To Forward a Port[portforward.com] because there’s a lot of different routers so the first link may not suffice.
Also, don’t use DMZ Host unless you really understand it. The standard “Forwarding” or “Port Forwarding” options for your router should work just fine.

The ports you want to forward for the pixel lobby are as follows: 27018, 7777

Step Two: Install server files​
1. Download and install SteamCMD onto the computer that’s going to be hosting.
2. Create a folder to house the TFH Server files.
3. Run SteamCMD, and type these commands in:

login anonymous force_install_dir “type here the directory of where you want it installed, btw you also need these quotes” app_update 643090 validate

4. The files should now be downloading. You may have to wait a little bit. When it’s done type this in:

exit

5. Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the server files.

6. Make sure you are logged into steam, and run “LobbyServer.bat”. After a couple of seconds, your server should be ready!

(Also, if you want to UPDATE your server at any time, repeat steps 3 to 5)

Making your Server Private

Note: If you do not have a server.cfg file please Skip to the Troubleshooting section of the Guide
Also, skip this Section Completely if you want the Server to be Publicly available.

Originally posted by CamTSB (Mane6 QA):

Set your server’s passcode in the server.cfg file. Passcodes are entered by players as directional inputs (Up, Down, Left, or Right) from the server browser menu.

Both letter and numpad notation is allowed. Diagonals are not allowed. Passcodes may be anywhere from 1-8 inputs long.

In the server.cfg file, the command looks something like this:

passcode=”uuddlrlr”

or

passcode=”88224646″

You may set a temporary passcode (or temporarily remove the passcode) from within the server via a chat command. This is the command:

/passcode udlr

You may temporarily clear passcode-protection on your server with an empty command, like this:

/passcode

Setting temporary passcodes and temporarily clearing passcodes via chat does not persist if the server is restarted. When the server comes back up it defaults to whatever is in the server.cfg file.

The chat will send you a message in reply if the temporary server passcode was changed or cleared successfully.

Admins/mods of the server (set in configmods.cfg) bypass that server’s passcode. They will still receive a passcode prompt, but any input will allow them to successfully connect.

NOTICE: Mane6 staff members may always join a pixel lobby server, regardless if it has a passcode set, even if the server is at maximum capacity.

Setting up a Message of the Day

What is a MOTD?

A Message that is displayed at the start to every player that joins your Lobby. (Message of the Day)
You will have to set this every time you restart the Server.

How to set it up

1. Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the server files.
2. Open the config folder
3. If it doesn’t exist yet create a textfile and name it mods.cfg (Make sure filename extension are activated and delete .txt)
4. Open up mods.cfg in an Editor
5. Add your Steam ID[pastebin.com] into the file like this:

6. Restart your server
7. Join your Server and type /motd Your MOTD here
8. Now rejoin your server to test if it worked

Important Notice:
The Steam ID’s you add in this List will become Moderators in your Pixel Lobby, making them able to kick/ban people for example. I haven’t fully discovered the possibilitys with those permissions yet, but they could be used to cause trouble. So give them out with caution.

(Thank you again beta#2780 (A TFH Dev) from Discord for looking up on how to do this)

Troubleshooting

If the Console says there was an error creating the file server.cfg do the Following:

1. Navigate to the folder where you downloaded the server files.
2. Open the config folder
3. If it doesn’t exist yet create a textfile and name it server.cfg (Make sure filename extension are activated and delete .txt)
4. Open up the newly created file in an editor
5. Type in the Server Settings of your Choise. Here is a little guide to help you out:

(You can also find this Guide in the file in the config Folder called server_template.cfg)
6. Safe your server.cfg file after setting everything up.
7. Now jump back to 5. in the “Install server files” list to launch your server.

Usefull tip to whoever read till the end of the Guide: You can add the line “maxPlayers=(Number here)” to the server.cfg file to manage the max Playercount. 25 is the stable Limit but it caps at 28.