Listen Vs Dedicated Servers?

[SAM WARS]

What is the difference between the two kinds of servers?

[GunsForBucks]

Dedicated you start and it runs on your computer. A Listen server is a server you start and play in. The difference is that when you leave a listen server as host, the game ends and server shuts down.

[SAM WARS]

Thanks.

[Mutant]

Most Internet servers are dedicated servers. Listen is mostly used for LAN play.
I recommend to always host a dedicated one as the gameplay is different for some reasons (different headhitboxes, FPs deal more damage).

[Mec]

It's called a listen server because you have to listen to the host firing in your ear the whole time.

[Berq]

A listen server needs to load textures, calculate physics, and display graphics - standard running-a-game stuff - on top of its server duties. Those things can lead to choppy performance for other players.
A "dedicated" server (started by clicking the button in KF's "Host Game" screen), is appreciably less resource intensive.
The most effecient server option, however, a PROPER dedicated server[wiki.tripwireinteractive.com], does not require purchasing KF to run, needs minimal system resources, and provides the smoothest experience for players.

For example, a listen server on my desktop (Core i7-3770 w/ 12 GB RAM) used around 600 MB RAM, 14% CPU, and at times accessed the HDD at 1 MB/s when running KF-Doom2-HiRes11. On the same map, the "dedicated" server only used 298 MB RAM, with 0% CPU or HDD activity. In contrast, my old laptop with a Core2 T7200 CPU and 4 GB RAM does nothing but run a "proper" dedicated server. The server's memory footprint is a mere 140 MB on KF-Doom2-HiRes11, with no CPU load, and HDD access only when switching maps. Additionally, it's configured to redirect players to download maps and mutators from my website, circumventing my ISP's 1 Mbps upload cap. That way I could concievably play KF on my desktop while doing an anti-virus scan, join the server on my laptop, and not hurt the experience of other players on the server.

Did that make sense?

[SAM WARS]

Thanks all.