[GUIDE] How to host your own dedicated server!

[yeswecamp_DEV]

If you want to play on your own dedicated server instead of hosting a session in-game, here is a quick guide on how to setup a dedicated server on Linux!

There also is a community-created docker image that should make things easier: https://github.com/murzart/PerfectHeist2

Add the following to a StartServer.sh file:

echo Updating game...
login anonymous
steamcmd +force_install_dir /home/dev1/ph2sv +app_update 1964150 +quit
echo Starting server...
cd /home/dev1/ph2sv/PerfectHeist2/Binaries/Linux
/home/dev1/ph2sv/PerfectHeist2/Binaries/Linux/PerfectHeist2Server NewYorkCity -Port=7777 -QueryPort=27017

If you host multiple server instances on the same machine, make sure every instance has its own port and queryPort!

You can replace "NewYorkCity" with "HugeBank", "Classic_Heist_Big", "CasinoHeist", and "Bank4" !

In /home/dev1/ph2sv/PerfectHeist2/Saved/Config/LinuxServer you also find a Game.ini file where you can configure the server, here you can see all settings:

[Server]
name="Server Name"

; how many bots will play against a single player if no other human players are online
bots=2

; password settings
pw = false
pws = "TOPSECRET"

[Advanced]

; class selection time
picktime=20

; if spectators are allowed
spectators=false

infiniteCopRespawns = false

; minimum amount of money robbers have to steal
minimumStolenAmount = 30000

; percentage of players forced into the cop team as long as "ignoreTeamLimits" is false
copPercentage = 30

; if true, players can join any team they want no matter how many players are already in there
ignoreTeamLimits = false

; if true, cops cant be fired if they hit NPCs while in a firefight against a robber
combatfireProtected = false

; if true, cops are only allowed to kill robbers that already performed suspicous actions
noRandomKills = false

; if true, cops only die and no longer get fired after killing NPCs
copRespawnAfterNpcKill = false

; amount of saved money robbers gain when a cop kills an NPC
CopNpcsKillReward = 0

; overtime settings, duration in secs
overtime = false
overtimeduration = 60

; roundtime in seconds
roundtime = 300

; robber respawns per round
RobberRespawns = 0

; if true, cops can kill NPCs without consequences
copsCantBeFired = false

; if true, steam users with bans are blocked, but it might lead to connection issues of innocent players if Steam servers are down
SteamTickets = false

; allow third person
allowTP = false

; if true, sprinting costs stamina
sprintingStamina = false

; if true, noone can sprint
noSprinting = false

; if true, prevent team damage from bullets
NoTeamDamage = false

; use your SteamID64 to kick players without a vote in-game
ServerOwnerID = 123456789

MaxPlayers = 16

; path of a downloaded custom map
; map in the .sh file needs to be changed to CustomMap
WorkshopFolderFullPath="C:/map/1234567"

; needs to be set to the SteamID of the used custom map
WorkshopMapID=1234567

[HustleMan]

Does the dedicated server need a GPU? Everytime I start it says it needs vulkan drivers

[HustleMan]

Also, what ports does the server need open? I need a range to setup port forwarding

[yeswecamp_DEV]

Originally posted by HustleMan:

Does the dedicated server need a GPU? Everytime I start it says it needs vulkan drivers

Are you using the start.sh I posted here? the "PerfectHeist2Server" doesnt need a GPU

[yeswecamp_DEV]

Originally posted by HustleMan:

Also, what ports does the server need open? I need a range to setup port forwarding

make sure your server allows connections through those ports:
UDP 27017 Query port for Steam's server browser (= -QueryPort)
UDP 7777 Game client port (= -Port)
UDP 7778 Raw UDP socket port (always Game client port +1)

Try forwarding those for UDP+TCP, and the ports next to them as well since Steam sometimes uses them as well

[HustleMan]

Thanks for the response!

There are a couple of things I wanna update/add in the guide above:

- Make sure you're using a server with about 4GB of RAM (1GB doesn't work). Also, this guide is for Ubuntu

- Install steamcmd using the instructions in the following link: https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamCMD

- Use this command to install PH2 server. You can also use this same command to update the PH2 server.

steamcmd +force_install_dir ~/ph2sv +login anonymous +app_update 1964150 +quit

- After you install PH2 server, you may need to copy steamclient.so to your ~/.steam folder if your server complains that it cannot connect to the Steam API. Otherwise, you will not be able to find your server in the Server Browser menu:

# Run this you're using a x64 OS
mkdir ~/.steam/sdk64
cp ~/ph2sv/linux64/steamclient.so ~/.steam/sdk64/.

# I don't know how to install for 32-bit OS. 
# ~/ph2sv/steamclient.so is the 32-bit steam client, 
# but I'm not sure which folder to copy it to
mkdir ~/.steam/sdk
cp ~/ph2sv/steamclient.so ~/.steam/sdk/.

- Optional: If you're using the .sh script in the original post, replace

steamcmd +force_install_dir /home/dev1/ph2sv +app_update 1964150 +quit

with

steamcmd +force_install_dir ~/ph2sv +login anonymous +app_update 1964150 +quit

[yeswecamp_DEV]

Originally posted by HustleMan:

Thanks for the response!

There are a couple of things I wanna update/add in the guide above:

- Make sure you're using a server with about 4GB of RAM (1GB doesn't work)

- Install steamcmd using the instructions in the following link: https://developer.valvesoftware.com/wiki/SteamCMD

- Use this command to install PH2 server. You can also use this same command to update the PH2 server.

# replace /home/usernamehere/ with your own user's home folder (/home/ubuntu)
# you can try using the path ~/ph2sv instead
steamcmd +force_install_dir /home/usernamehere/ph2sv +login anonymous +app_update 1964150 +quit

- After you install PH2 server, you may need to copy steamclient.so to your ~/.steam folder if your server complains that it cannot connect to the Steam API. Otherwise, you will not be able to find your server in the Server Browser menu:

mkdir ~/.steam/sdk64

# Run this you're using a x64 OS
cp ~/ph2sv/linux64/steamclient.so ~/.steam/sdk64/.

# Run this if you're using a 32-bit OS
cp ~/ph2sv/steamclient.so ~/.steam/sdk64/.

Thank you so much for compiling the guide, will work on integrating it into mine!

[HustleMan]

Also, one more question: can you run commands on the server like /kick /ban /changemap? Is there a way to run these commands in-game remotely, like if I were playing on my server?

[yeswecamp_DEV]

Originally posted by HustleMan:

Also, one more question: can you run commands on the server like /kick /ban /changemap? Is there a way to run these commands in-game remotely, like if I were playing on my server?

No, currently not, unfortunately!

[HustleMan]

Thank you so much for answering my questions!

Just one more though haha: does the roundtime parameter in Game.ini actually work? I've set it to 220 seconds and in-game the round timer is actually 5 minutes. Here's my Game.ini file

[Server]
Name=~ Best Server NA ~
bots=0

[Advanced]
minimumStolenAmount=50000
copPercentage=30
combatfireProtected=true
overtime=true
overtimeduration=60
roundtime=220

When hosting a game thru the actual game itself (self-hosted), I can set the timer to 220 in the Advanced Options menu itself and it works fine, but I can't seem to change this value on the dedicated server

[yeswecamp_DEV]

Originally posted by HustleMan:

Thank you so much for answering my questions!

Just one more though haha: does the roundtime parameter in Game.ini actually work? I've set it to 220 seconds and in-game the round timer is actually 5 minutes. Here's my Game.ini file

[Server]
Name=~ Best Server NA ~
bots=0

[Advanced]
minimumStolenAmount=50000
copPercentage=30
combatfireProtected=true
overtime=true
overtimeduration=60
roundtime=220

When hosting a game thru the actual game itself (self-hosted), I can set the timer to 220 in the Advanced Options menu itself and it works fine, but I can't seem to change this value on the dedicated server

Hi, thank for letting me know there is indeed a bug related to loading the server settings that I will fix in the next update, some settings might not be applied correctly when setting the "overtime" parameter. Since it is enabled by default, I would advise you to just use

[Server]
Name=~ Best Server NA ~
bots=0

[Advanced]
minimumStolenAmount=50000
copPercentage=30
combatfireProtected=true
overtimeduration=60
roundtime=220

which in theory should prevent the bug and set the round time to your desired length!

[daddy O]

How can I set the maximum player number on the dedi?

[yeswecamp_DEV]

Originally posted by daddy O:

How can I set the maximum player number on the dedi?

Currently there is no setting for it, but I will add one in the next updates!

[daddy O]

Thanks, that would be great. What are the names of the other maps (for the server command line parameter)? And can we host Workshop maps on a dedi?

[yeswecamp_DEV]

Originally posted by daddy O:

Thanks, that would be great. What are the names of the other maps (for the server command line parameter)? And can we host Workshop maps on a dedi?

Workshop maps are currently not available on dedicated servers but I am working on it, the internal map names are "HugeBank", "Classic_Heist_Big", and "CasinoHeist"

[NebelRebell | Max]

Hello,
maybe I found here help? I want to install a "Perfect Heist 2 Dedicated Server" on Ubuntu.

- SteamCMD is correct installed
- User is ph2ds
- Change in User
- Install he Server and found it in /home/ph2ds

But there isn't an folder named "LinuxServer" and I didn't found the "Game.ini", what I did wrong pls.