Jester's Tech Blog

Making your game server popular

So you have your game server set up and running. Good for you! Now it's time to make it popular....
Making a popular game server will require some time and patience. But if you stick to your guns you can make it happen. The first thing you'll want to do is establish a gaming clan (this method will also work if you are already in a clan).

So first things first. You will need to make sure that your server is reporting to all the master servers. You can do this via your server config file by inserting a few extra lines of code. For this example I'll use Call of Duty 4.

set sv_master1 "cod4master.activision.com"
set sv_master2 "cod4authorize.activision.com"
set sv_master3 "cod4master.infinityward.com"
set sv_master3 "cod4update.activision.com"
set sv_master4 "master.gamespy.com:28960"
set sv_master5 "master0.gamespy.com"
set sv_master6 "master1.gamespy.com"
set sv_master7 "clanservers.net"
set sv_gamespy "1"

Once you have that information entered into your configuration file you are ready to continue on to the next step. If you are running the server yourself and are behind a firewall or a router you will need to open port 28960 so that your game server will "talk" with the master server (the master server is the server used by players in-game to find game servers to play on). Verify that port 28960 is open and continue on...

Many people debate that punkbuster will decrease your rating. This simply isn't true. Punkbuster will not affect your game server position on the master server list at all. In fact, some of the most popular servers use punkbuster. Punkbuster simply requires a little know-how and alot of maintenance, but if you want to keep those cheaters off of your server, then it's absolutely worth it to have punkbuster running.

If you are not a member of a gaming clan then I suggest at this point that you start playing on other more popular servers and begin making friends. These friends will certainly join your clan if you are polite and kind to them over a period of time. You don't have to have 50 people in your clan to start boosting your server popularity. In fact, I recommend about 5 people to start. Invite them to start playing on your game server and have them provide feedback as to what they like and don't like about it. Change settings until everyone is comfortable and enjoying themselves. You may find yourself wanting to put mods up on your server, which is fine. Just be careful which mods you choose, some mods may sound cool to you but may deter people from playing on your server. Generally, any mods that require huge downloads (anything over 5mb), or serveral small sized downloads or off limits. Try to stay away from mods that simply add blood or weapon skins to the game. Instead, try mods that will be fun for everyone to play. I remember the days of Call of Duty 2 when PAM and Xtreme mods were very popular. These days though, they seem to have dropped off the map in popularity due to their bugs and large downloads. But don't take my word for it, play around and see what works best for you. In the end, it all comes down to fun.

Once you're clan has grown to about 20 members it's time to get yourself a website and upgrade your game server (allow for more players). So why do you need a website? Many people will argue with me on this one, but a website can help to keep your servers running via donations, and also allow for recruiting and player stats tracking. Not to mention forums for everyone to share ideas and converse on. Websites have a hidden agenda though. A website can increase your clan's popularity which will in turn bring more players to your server. Let me elaborate a little bit here...

Your website will have content which search engines will be looking at. As the search engine bots scan your website they will be looking at keywords to help other people online find your website. As people find your website and look through your site's content they may find your clan to be a bunch of fun guys that share similar interests and personality traits. This person will now find your game server ip address on your website and connect to your server to begin playing with you and your clan. Eventually more and more people will begin to find you through the in game browser (because your game server is becoming more popular) and through your website. Do you see a pattern here? What's happening is that for the majority of the day (and well into the night) you have players on your server. The longer players are on your server the more "popular" your server becomes to the master server.

Keep these ideas in mind and keep working at it and eventually your server will be sitting at or near the top of the game server list. It's also good to remember that your server will only be as popular as it's ping. So make sure you're on a good location in a good geographical location that will provide a good ping to all who connect and you'll go far.

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