For more information on running a Quake 2 server, see http://templars.digiweb.com/q2s-faq/index.html or Dogma's Server Guide.
NOTE: The following instructions assume that you're running a Win9x or WinNT system. If you're running Linux or Solaris, I trust your ability to adjust accordingly.

1. Get the right equipment
   You'll need at least a Pentium or K6 based machine with at least 16MB of RAM, and a WIDE net connection. The power of your machine and the bandwidth of your connection will determine the maximum number of players you can host.

   NOTE: ChaosDM takes a bit more server CPU and bandwidth than a normal Quake 2 server, so keep this in mind if you've been running a different Quake 2 server in the past

2. Get the neccessary software
   All you need is regular install of the latest version of Quake 2 and the ChaosDM. You don't need any special server packs to run a Chaos server.
3. Set up your Settings.cfg
   The settings.cfg is where you set up all your game settings variables, such as start-up weapons, banned weapons, and settings for items like turret ammo and poison grenade time. Most of the variables in settings.cfg are easy to figure out and set up to your liking.
   NOTE: The variable "dntg" stands for "Dynamic Node Table Generation". It is strongly recommended that you set this variable to 0. Otherwise, your server will probably suffer significant slowdown. NOTE: The Tech powerups(autodoc, strength, disruptor and haste) can only be configured by the dmflags tag in the server.cfg
4. Set up your Server.cfg

   The server.cfg should be where you set up all your important server variables. The most important vars are maxclients, fraglimit, and timelimit. The dmflags are also useful (see http://templars.digiweb.com/q2s-faq/index.html for more info on dmflags)

   Here's a good starter server.cfg file for a public deathmatch server... just copy, paste, and edit to your liking. This server setup will send a heartbeat directly to Planetquake, so it will appear in Gamespy about 5 minutes after the first player logs in. With new server, you'll probably want to "jump-start" this process by logging into your server from another
   -------------------------
   
   exec settings.cfg
   set deathmatch 1
   set maxclients 12
   set rcon_password "my_rcon_password"
   set hostname "Homeboy's ChaosDM Server - Proxies in Da Hood"
   set ctf 0
   set dmflags 279060
   set fraglimit 40
   set timelimit 30
   map q2dm1
   sv ml mix
   sv ml 1
   
   setmaster q2master.planetquake.com
   

5. Start it up!
   Use the following command line to start

   quake2.exe +set public 1 +set dedicated 1 +set game CHAOS +exec server.cfg

   You'll probably want to create a desktop shortcut icon for this command line so that you can start your server with a simple double-click.

Gibstats is an excellent statistics program that will let you run powerful, detailed analysis on your server. You can get all the info(and the latest version) at www.planetquake.com/gibstats. All that Gibstats requires from your ChaosDM server is a standard log file which Chaos is now equipped to produce.

To enable standard Gibstats logging on your server, add the following lines to your server.cfg, just before the "map... " command


set logfile 1
set stdlogname logname.log
set stdlogfile 1

Custom maps, models and skins should be installed on the server exactly as they would be on a client.

To add client download support for maps, models and skins, just add the following lines to your server.cfg:



allow_download 1

allow_download_players 1

allow_download_models 1

allow_download_maps 1

allow_download_sounds 1



NOTE: Q2PMP has an excellent plug-in player model pack for servers.

Once you have your server up and running with a bunch of players on it, these will be helpful for administration and server control.
You can get a complete list of console commands at The Console.

• status -   This gives you a report of the current map and the stats of each player, including the "playernumber" which you can use to execute other commands.  Very useful.

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• dumpuser <playernumber> -   gives you detailed info on that player, including their model/skin choice.

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• kick <playernumber> -   Kicks a player off the server.  

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• say ""  -   This command allows you to speak as "console".  For example  

  say hi quakers

  will appear to all players on the server as

  console: hi quakers

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• set lightsoff <X> -   Setting X determines the lights - 0 is day, 1 is dusk, 2 is night. 

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• sv ml -   Returns the current map rotation list