TrackMania Dedicated Server

(PATH)\TrackManiaServer.exe 
                        [/dedicated_cfg=config_file] 
                        [/game_settings=settings_file] 
                        [/internet] 

1.INSTALLATION:

Decompress the zip file in a directory to install TrackMania Dedicated Server.
It can be installed either in the same directory of TMUnited game, or in another directory.

Note: In order to run, you need,
- the server exe
- the GameData/DedicatedTrackMania.TrackMania.gbx file
- any challenges / matchsettings you want to play in the GameData/Tracks directory
- a dedicated_cfg.txt file to set some parameters.

2.LAUNCH:

The dedicated server can be run from a windows shortcut or from a command line prompt.

The format of the command line is:

"{PATH}\TrackManiaServer.exe" [/dedicated_cfg=config_file] [/game_settings=settings_file] [/internet]

If you use a windows shortcut, you can modify its properties to configure the launch of the server on the same way.
The target of the shortcut properties (first field) shares the same format of the command line.
So it will eventually have to look like this:

TrackManiaServer.exe /internet /dedicated_cfg=dedicated_cfg.txt /game_settings=MatchSettings/settings.txt 

The working directory of the shortcut must also be set to the right directory.
It must correspond to the directory where TrackManiaServer.exe has been installed.

The dedicated server can be launched with or without a configuration file.
To pass the name of the configuration file to the dedicated server, the parameter '/dedicated_cfg=' must be specified followed by the name of the file.
This filename can be defined either by an absolute path or by a relative path to the '(PATH)\GameData\Config' directory.
The configuration file is an xml file which defines some basic parameters for the dedicated server.
See below for further details on configuration file.

A file containing game settings can also be specified to the dedicated server.
To do that the parameter '/game_settings=' must be defined followed by the name of the file.
This filename can be defined either by an absolute path or by a relative path to the '(PATH)\GameData\Tracks' directory.
The game settings file is an xml file which defines the match settings and a playlist of challenge that will be loaded.
See below for further details on game settings file.

If the server has been launched with a valid configuration file and a valid game settings file, it will directly start a new server on lan,
or on Internet if the option '/internet' is specified.

TrackManiaServer can be launched at the same time that the retail version of TMUnited, but they cannot share TCP and UDP ports.
That's why it is recommended to launch the dedicated server before the game, so the dedicated server can use the default ports.

Other options that can be specified to the dedicated server, are:

3.CONTROL:

After being launched (with or without configuration files), the server can be also configured and controlled by rpc calls. (rpc= remote procedure call)
An external application can use any xmlrpc library to communicate with the dedicated server.

Some calls are only permitted to certain authorization level. There are three authorization levels (User, Admin and SuperAdmin),
each one having an associated password (by default the same as the level name).
The 'Authenticate' method can be used to switch to a specified level.

The list of methods that can be called by xmlrpc can be found in the ListMethods.html file.

Some samples are available in the RemoteControlExamples/ directory:

Please note that the examples provided are rather outdated.
More up to date and actually useful applications to control the TrackMania Server, can be found on http://www.tm-forum.com/ .

- In RemoteControlExamples/PhpRemote/
there is a basic.php script file that allows basic control of the dedicated server.
To use it, a web server must be installed on the same computer as the Trackmania server.
Any web server supporting PHP can be used, as the free web server Apache (www.apache.org) or EasyPHP a software package including Apache, PHP and MySQL (www.easyphp.org).

- In RemoteControlExamples/GameController.Net/
This is aimed at developers. It contains a slightly modified version (that supports connecting to TrackMania) of the Xml-RPC.Net library, from http://www.xml-rpc.net

- In RemoteControlExamples/c/xmlrpc-c
This is aimed at developers, it is the XmlRPC-c v1.03.11 library modified to support connecting to TrackMania. (from http://xmlrpc-c.sourceforge.net/ )
It also includes examples/xmlrpc_sample_trackmania.c : a small example of how to use the library, including a simple version and a more complete example with callbacks from the game.

4.CONFIGURATION FILE:

The configuration file is an xml file which defines some parameters like the system configuration of server (IP address, ports...), passwords for the three authorization levels,
The master server account parameters that can be used for the launch of the dedicated server on Internet, and other server parameters (name, comment, password, max players/spectators...).

You can find an example of configuration file (dedicated_cfg.txt) in the TrackManiaServer root directory.
Here is what it contains by default:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<dedicated>
    <authorization_levels>
        <level>
            <name>SuperAdmin</name>
            <password>SuperAdmin</password>
        </level>
        <level>
            <name>Admin</name>
            <password>Admin</password>
        </level>
        <level>
            <name>User</name>
            <password>User</password>
        </level>
    </authorization_levels>
 
    <masterserver_account>
        <login></login>
        <password></password>
    </masterserver_account>
 
    <server_options>
        <name></name>
        <comment></comment>
 
        <max_players>32</max_players>
        <password></password>
 
        <max_spectators>32</max_spectators>
        <password_spectator></password_spectator>
 
        <ladder_mode>forced</ladder_mode>     <!-- value between 'inactive', 'forced' (or '0', '1') -->
 
        <enable_p2p_upload>True</enable_p2p_upload>
        <enable_p2p_download>True</enable_p2p_download>
 
        <callvote_timeout>60000</callvote_timeout>
        <callvote_ratio>0.5</callvote_ratio>
 
        <allow_challenge_download>True</allow_challenge_download>
        <autosave_replays>False</autosave_replays>
    </server_options>
 
    <system_config>
        <connection_uploadrate>512</connection_uploadrate>	<!-- KBps -->
        <connection_donwloadrate>8192</connection_donwloadrate>	<!-- KBps -->

        <force_ip_address></force_ip_address>
        <server_port>2350</server_port>
        <server_p2p_port>3450</server_p2p_port>
        <client_port>0</client_port>
        <bind_ip_address></bind_ip_address>
        <use_nat_upnp></use_nat_upnp>
 
        <xmlrpc_port>5000</xmlrpc_port>
        <xmlrpc_allowremote>False</xmlrpc_allowremote>	<!-- If you specify an ip adress here, it'll be the only accepted adress. this will improve security. -->
 
        <blacklist_url></blacklist_url>
        <guestlist_filename></guestlist_filename>
        <blacklist_filename></blacklist_filename>
 
        <use_proxy>False</use_proxy>
        <proxy_login></proxy_login>
        <proxy_password></proxy_password>
    </system_config>
</dedicated>

The first block of parameters (<authorization_levels>...</authorization_levels>) allows to define passwords for the three authorization levels.

• SuperAdmin has all rights on the dedicated server. It can call any request, start and stop server, quit the application.
  It is recommended to change this password, and to not give it to any other person.

• Admin can be used to manage a launched server, but cannot neither stop or start server, nor quit the application. Admin password can be given to a group of users to facilitate the remote management of a dedicated server.

• User can only access to 'get' requests, so it is not necessary to change this password.

The second block of parameters (<masterserver_account>...</masterserver_account>) is used for the connection to master server of the dedicated server.
To allow the server to connect to master server, a login and password, that identify the dedicated server, must be specified.

This account has to be created beforehand.
To do that, visit: https://www.trackmania.com/tmu-dedicated/

There you must enter your multiplayer key to connect to the account creation site.

After that, you can create/modify accounts for dedicated server.

Game player accounts and dedicated server accounts are distinct.

The login and password of a game player account can also be used in the 'masterserver_account' block, instead of parameters from a dedicated server account.
But in this case the player cannot connect to Internet with his game, because his account is already used by the dedicated server.

The third block of parameters (<server_options>...</server_options>) defines the main parameters that will be used by the dedicated server.
The settings are :

The fourth block of parameters (<system_config>...</system_config>) defines the system configuration of the server.
For example it allows to define the type of network connection used, the different ports used by the dedicated server, or an IP that will be published on the master server.
The settings are :

5.GAME SETTINGS FILE:

A game settings file is an xml file which defines the match settings like chat time, game mode, mode parameters, and a playlist of challenges that will be loaded.

You can find examples of game settings files in the (PATH)\GameData\Tracks\MatchSettings\ directory, and you can save one from within the game, “save settings” button.

Here is what it contains:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<playlist>
    <gameinfos>
        <game_mode>1</game_mode>
        <chat_time>10000</chat_time>
        <finishtimeout>1</finishtimeout>
        <rounds_pointslimit>50</rounds_pointslimit>
        <rounds_usenewrules>0</rounds_usenewrules>
        <rounds_forcedlaps>0</rounds_forcedlaps>
        <timeattack_limit>300000</timeattack_limit>
        <timeattack_synchstartperiod>0</timeattack_synchstartperiod>
        <team_pointslimit>5</team_pointslimit>
        <team_maxpoints>6</team_maxpoints>
        <team_usenewrules>0</team_usenewrules>
        <laps_nblaps>5</laps_nblaps>
        <laps_timelimit>0</laps_timelimit>
    </gameinfos>
    <filter> 
        <random_map_order>0</random_map_order> 
    </filter>

    <challenge>
        <file>Campaigns\Nadeo\Sunrise\Race\Holidays\CarPark.Challenge.Gbx</file>
    </challenge>
    <challenge>
        <file>Campaigns\Nadeo\Sunrise\Race\Holidays\GoodMorning.Challenge.Gbx</file>
    </challenge>
      .
      .
      .
    <challenge>
        <file>Campaigns\Nadeo\Sunrise\Race\Pointbreak\HappyBay.Challenge.Gbx</file>
    </challenge>
</playlist>

The first block of parameters (<gameinfos>...</gameinfos>) defines the match settings that will be used by the dedicated server.
The settings are :

<random_map_order>..</random_map_order> : shuffle the list of challenges when the playlist is loaded. if not set, keep the playlist in the specified order.

Other blocks (<challenge>...</challenge>) describe all the challenges that will be loaded by the dedicated server.
Each block specifies the filename of a challenge.
Filenames can be defined either by an absolute path or by a relative path to the '(PATH)\GameData\Tracks' directory.

Any other elements in the file are ignored by the dedicated server.

Game settings file can be saved by the game with the 'save match settings' button in the server creation menu, after having selected the maps.
The files saved by the game are in the '(PATH)\GameData\Tracks\MatchSettings' directory.
So the relative designation for a such file is 'MatchSettings/settings_file.txt', where 'settings_file.txt' is the name of the saved file.

As a general rule, the challenges and matchsettings must always be in the directory "GameData/Tracks", and any relative name is interpreted using the "GameData/Tracks" as root.

6.GUESTLIST FILE:

A guestlist file "guestlist.txt" can be created in the GameData repertory, and will be automatically loaded by the game or server.
A player on the guest list is allowed to enter into the server in any case, even if there is no player slot left, and without needing to specify the password.

The guestlist file is an xml file as follows :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<guestlist>
    <player>
        <login>Login1</login> 
    </player>
    .
    .
    .
    <player>
        <login>LoginN</login>
    </player>
</guestlist>

7.BLACKLIST FILE:

A blacklist file "blacklist.txt" can be created in the GameData repertory, and will be automatically loaded by the game or server.
A player on the black list will never be able to enter onto the server.

The blacklist file is an xml file as follows :

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" ?>
<blacklist>
    <player>
        <login>Login1</login>
    </player>
    .
    .
    .
    <player>
        <login>LoginN</login>
    </player>
</blacklist>

8. KNOWN ISSUES

- On the command you can't use names with ' ' in them, since the options are separated on whitespace, and no escaping (neither '\ ' nor '"') is supported...
- (linux only) the server expects the file names to be utf-8 encoded. So pay attention if you're using non-ascii characters.

9.CHANGELOG

2007-02-23:
- bugfix: no longer autoban players in timeattack with multilaps...
- bugfix: repaired the stunts mode scores.
- bugfix: the replays produced by the server are no longer broken.

2007-02-20:
- The server now reattemps to connect to the master server when the connection is broken. (should fix the problem where the server was runnning and wasn't in the list for the players.)
- Detection of incoherence in the players time and race -> automatic ban of the player.
- New callback TrackMania.PlayerIncoherence(PlayerUid, PlayerLogin) for this event
- Modification of ForceScores(): new parameter SilentMode (only available for SuperAdmin), allowing an external controller to do it's custom score counting.

2007-01-09:
- GetVersion() now returns "TmUnited" instead of "TmUnited."
- GetSystemInfo() call, returns IP, ports, and server login
- fixed a crash
- AllowChallengeDownload() is now applied during the game.
- faster launchtime (the "loading..." step was doing useless work)
- When removing a challenge and inserting it back again, it is now read afresh from disk.
- When saving a matchsetting, the filter::random_map_order is remembered.

2006-12-21:
- setting, in order to save all replays occuring on the server. (albeit in low quality.)
- GetCoppers() call
- bugfixes (crash, Pay() return code, ...)

2006-12-07:
- Billing system, to make copper transactions with players. (=> SendBill(), Pay(), GetBillState() )
- ChatSendToLanguage(), ChatSendServerMessageToLanguage()
- ForceSpectator(), ForceSpectatorId()
- ForcePlayerTeam(), ForcePlayerTeamId()
- BlackListId(), AddGuestId(), RemoveGuestId()
- DisplayManialinkPage: you can now add a parent <ManiaLinks> element in order to have several <ManiaLink> with their positions.
- Sending Chat to a player also displayed the chat to the spectators looking at him.
- GetManialinkPageAnswers() no longer crashes.
- You can now display ManialinkPages to each players, and get all the answers..
- Sometimes the name of the challenge was incorrect.
- the server can now act as a P2P relay, if the peers don't accept incomming connections.