Provided by: freeciv-server_2.5.3-1_amd64 
NAME
freeciv-server - The server for the Freeciv game
SYNOPSIS
freeciv-server [ -A|--Announce protocol ] [ -b|--bind address ] [ -B|--Bind-meta address ] [ -d|--debug
level_number ] [ -e|--exit-on-end ] [ -F|--Fatal [ signal_number ] ] [ -f|--file filename ] [ -h|--help ]
[ -i|--identity address ] [ -l|--log filename ] [ -M|--Metaserver address ] [ -m|--meta ] [ -p|--port
port ] [ -q|--quitidle time ] [ -R|--Ranklog filename ] [ -r|--read filename ] [ -S|--Serverid id ] [
-s|--saves directory ] [ --scenarios directory ] [ -v|--version ]
Auth aware servers have additional parameters: [ -a|--auth ] [ -D|--Database file ] [ -G|--Guests ] [
-N|--Newusers ]
Servers with AI module support have an additional parameter: [ -L|--LoadAI module ]
DESCRIPTION
Freeciv is a free turn-based multiplayer strategy game, in which each player becomes the leader of a
civilization, fighting to obtain the ultimate goal: To become the greatest civilization.
Players of Civilization II® by Microprose® should feel at home, since one aim of Freeciv is to have
compatible rules.
Freeciv is maintained by an international team of coders and enthusiasts, and is easily one of the most
fun and addictive network games out there!
This is the server program used to establish a Freeciv server - see also freeciv-client(6) .
This manual page only lists the command line arguments. For details of the directives necessary to
configure freeciv-server see the Server Manual which can be found at the Freeciv website as well as the
documentation which is part of the Freeciv distribution.
OPTIONS
The following options are accepted on the command line of the server. They may not be combined; that is,
"freeciv-server -fp savegame.sav 5557" will not work, instead you would need to enter "freeciv-server -f
savegame.sav -p 5557". Most options have a short form (single hyphen and single letter) and a long form
(double hyphen and a complete word); their effects are identical.
-A protocol, --Announce protocol
Uses protocol when announcing game in LAN. Possible values for protocol are:
IPv4
IPv6
none
-a, --auth
Enables server authentication and allows access to registered players only. Requires the
--Database option to be specified.
-b address, --bind address
Sets the address on which the server will listen for clients.
-B address, --Bind-meta address
Sets the address which request to metaserver are sent from. Defaults to address given by -b
option.
-d level_number, --debug level_number
Sets the amount of debugging information to be logged in the file named by the -l option.
Acceptable values for the level_number are:
0 for fatal messages only.
1 for fatal and error messages.
2 for fatal, error and normal messages (default).
3 for fatal, error, normal, and verbose messages.
-D filename, --Database filename
Specifies a database configuration file for authentication. This file specifies the details of the
database. See README.fcdb in the Freeciv distribution for details of its format.
-e, --exit-on-end
When a game ends, exit instead of restarting.
-F [ signal_number ], --Fatal [ signal_number ]
Raise a custom signal on failed assertion. If signal_number is not specified, then the ABRT
signal will be used.
-f filename, --file filename
Loads a saved game (filename) into the server before initialization, instead of starting a new
game. This is for reloading saved games, or for loading scenarios. See ENVIRONMENT for where the
server looks for these files.
The distribution comes with several scenarios, typically stored in
/usr/local/share/freeciv/scenarios, for example:
• british-isles-85x80-v2.80.sav
• earth-160x90-v2.sav
• earth-80x50-v3.sav
• europe-200x100-v2.sav
• hagworld-120x60-v1.2.sav
• iberian-peninsula-136x100-v1.0.sav
-G, --Guests
Allow guests to login as 'guest' when authentication is enabled.
-h, --help
Prints out a description of the command line options and exits.
-i address, --identity address
Reports the address to the metaserver. Then, the metaserver will use this address to redirect the
users.
-L module, --LoadAI module
Loads AI module. This option can appear multiple times to load different modules.
-l filename, --log filename
Defines a log file, filename, to be produced during processing. Use the -d option to set how much
is logged. By default, fatal, error, and normal messages are printed to standard output. With a
log file, such messages go to the log instead.
-M address, --Metaserver address
Specifies the address of the metaserver to send your server's information to. By default, the
standard metaserver run by the Freeciv maintainers will be used.
-m, --meta
Directs the server to communicate with a metaserver, a place where Freeciv servers can publish
their presence. Freeciv clients consult the metaserver to offer users a selection of games to
join. By default the standard Freeciv metaserver is used. You may specify an alternate metaserver
with the -M option.
-N, --Newusers
Allow new users to login and be registered in the players base if authentication is enabled.
-p port, --port port
Specifies the TCP port number to which clients will connect; players must know this number to be
able to connect if they are not to use the default of 5556 decimal. You may need to use this if
5556 is not available for your use on your system, or if you would like to run multiple servers on
the same system.
-q time, --quitidle time
Quits if no players are present for the specified time, in seconds, and restarts a new server.
-R filename, --Ranklog filename
Defines a log file, filename, to be produced during processing. This log contains information for
player ranking.
-r filename, --read filename
Specifies a file, filename, of server commands which the server will automatically read and
process, as if you had typed them in at the server's prompt. The distribution comes with a few
examples, including files that set options to be similar to Civilization I® and Civilization II® .
The files are named civ1.serv and civ2.serv, and are typically found at /usr/local/share/freeciv/.
-S id, --Serverid id
Sets the server id. This is used to identify a particular running game.
-s directory, --saves directory
Specifies the directory to place save game files created by the server. This is especially useful
when you're running more than one server on the same system, as it inhibits your servers from
clobbering other's save game files.
(This does not influence where the server looks when loading save game files; see
FREECIV_SAVE_PATH for that.)
--scenarios directory
Specifies the directory to place scenarios saved by the server (for instance, those created with
the in-game editor).
(This does not influence where the server looks when loading scenario files; see
FREECIV_SCENARIO_PATH for that.)
-v, --version
Causes the server to display its version number and exit.
EXAMPLES
freeciv-server --file oldgame.sav --port 2244
Starts a server on port 2244, loading the save game file oldgame.sav.
freeciv-server -R ranklog -l logfile -r script -f oldgame.sav.gz -p 2244
Starts a server on port 2244, loading the save game file oldgame.sav.gz. Ranking related events
are written to ranklog, other logging information is written to logfile. When the server starts,
it immediately executes the commands contained in script.
freeciv-server -m -a -D fc_auth.conf -q 60 -p 2244 -d 2 -l logfile -r script -s ~/saves
Starts a server on port 2244 with authentication enabled and communicates its existence to the
standard Freeciv metaserver. Fatal, error, and normal messages are written to logfile. When the
server starts it immediately executes the commands contained in script. Save game files are stored
in the ~/saves directory. When there are no users on the server for 60 seconds, the server will
restart.
COMMANDS
You may enter commands into the server at any time, either before or during the running of a game.
Type "help" or "help help" for starters.
FILES
The Freeciv server requires the following files in the Freeciv data directory, which is
/usr/local/share/freeciv by default:
• default/buildings.ruleset
• default/cities.ruleset
• default/effects.ruleset
• default/game.ruleset
• default/governments.ruleset
• default/nations.ruleset
• default/techs.ruleset
• default/terrain.ruleset
• default/units.ruleset
• default/default.lua
• default/script.lua
These are the default rule sets used for the game. Alternate sets of rules can be used by placing them in
a separate directory and using the rulesetdir command to change your server's ruleset directory.
Type help rulesetdir for more information.
ENVIRONMENT
The Freeciv server accepts these environment variables:
FREECIV_CAPS
A string containing a list of "capabilities" provided by the server. The compiled-in default
should be correct for most purposes, but if you are familiar with the capability facility in the
source you may use it to enforce some constraints between clients and server.
FREECIV_COMPRESSION_LEVEL
Sets the compression level for network traffic.
FREECIV_DATA_ENCODING
Sets the character encoding used for data files, savegames, and network strings). This should not
normally be changed from the default of UTF-8, since that is the format of the supplied rulesets
and the standard network protocol.
FREECIV_INTERNAL_ENCODING
Sets the character encoding used internally by freeciv-server; this encoding should not be visible
at any interface. Defaults to UTF-8.
FREECIV_LOCAL_ENCODING
Sets the local character encoding (used for the command line and terminal output). The default is
inferred from other aspects of the environment.
FREECIV_MULTICAST_GROUP
Sets the multicast group (for the LAN tab).
FREECIV_DATA_PATH
A colon separated list of directories pointing to the freeciv data directories. By default Freeciv
looks in the following directories, in order, for any data files: the current directory; the
"data" subdirectory of the current directory; the subdirectory ".freeciv/2.5" in the user's home
directory; and the directory where the files are placed by running "make install". If not set,
FREECIV_PATH is checked before these defaults are used.
FREECIV_SAVE_PATH
A colon separated list of directories pointing to the freeciv save directories. By default Freeciv
looks in the following directories, in order, for save files: the current directory; and the
subdirectory ".freeciv/saves" in the user's home directory. If not set, FREECIV_PATH is checked
before these defaults are used; in this case Freeciv also looks in "saves" potential
subdirectories.
(This does not affect where the server creates save game files; see the --saves option for that.)
FREECIV_SCENARIO_PATH
A colon separated list of directories pointing to the freeciv scenario directories. By default
Freeciv looks in the following directories, in order, for scenario files: the current directory;
the "data/scenarios" subdirectory of the current directory; the subdirectories
".freeciv/2.5/scenarios" and then ".freeciv/scenarios" in the user's home directory; and the
directory where the files are placed by running "make install". If not set, FREECIV_PATH is
checked before these defaults are used; in this case Freeciv also looks in "scenario" and
"scenarios" potential subdirectories.
(This does not affect where the server creates scenario files; see the --scenarios option for
that.)
FREECIV_PATH
A colon separated list of directories to look for various files. This variable has no effect if
FREECIV_DATA_PATH, FREECIV_SAVE_PATH and FREECIV_SCENARIO_PATH are defined together; those
variables are the recommended way to override paths, with FREECIV_PATH provided for backward
compatibility with older versions of Freeciv. The precise search path depends on the type of file
being searched for.
HOME Specifies the user's home directory.
http_proxy
Set this variable accordingly when using a proxy.
LANG or LANGUAGE
Sets the language and locale on some platforms.
LC_ALL or LC_CTYPE
Similar to LANG (see documentation for your system).
USER Specifies the username of the current user.
BUGS
Please report bugs to the Freeciv bug tracker .
MORE INFO
See the Freeciv homepage .
Updates and new info is first posted there.
AUTHORS
The Freeciv Team <freeciv-dev AT gna.org>.
This manpage was originally put together by Florian Ernst <florian_ernst AT gmx.net> using the Server
Manual and the comments in the sourcecode. It was updated by Ben Bettin <bwbettin AT gmail.com> to add
new features, integrate information from the website's online documentation, and for slight formatting
adjustments. Feel free to use it as you wish.
SEE ALSO
freeciv-client(6) and the Server Manual on the Freeciv homepage.
December 10th 2011 FREECIV(6)