Hosting a server
Running your own FlightOut server: hosting from the Multiplayer screen, running a dedicated server with no window, ports, routers and firewalls, and the server's weather.
Anyone can run a FlightOut server: for friends on the same network, or over the internet. The licence allows hosting a server with an official release.
Host from the Multiplayer screen
- Set your Weather (in Settings) the way you want the server: time of day, sky, wind, turbulence. The server takes them when it starts.
- MULTIPLAYER, type your callsign, press HOST A SERVER.
- Starting your server...: FlightOut starts a server in the background, with no window, then joins it. It's called "'s server".
- Tell your friends your address (below). They join with JOIN BY ADDRESS.
Good to know:
- It always uses UDP port 27015.
- It keeps running after LEAVE SERVER, until you quit FlightOut. You can rejoin it by address meanwhile. Pressing HOST A SERVER again restarts it, which drops everyone connected.
- If FlightOut crashes, the server it started keeps running: stop it in Task Manager (Windows) or Activity Monitor (macOS).
- If something else is already using port 27015, the server can't start: you'll see No answer from... when FlightOut tries to join it.
- Changing your Weather tab later doesn't reach a running server. Restart it to change the weather.
- Your jet goes through the server like everyone else's, though with almost no delay.
- Could not start the server on this computer. means FlightOut couldn't launch the server.
Who can join
| Your friends are | They type | You need |
|---|---|---|
| On the same network (home, LAN) | Your computer's local address | Allow FlightOut through your computer's firewall (Windows asks the first time) |
| On the internet | Your public address (or a domain name pointing to it) | Also forward UDP port 27015 on your router to your computer |
How to forward a port depends on your router: look for "port forwarding" in its settings, and forward UDP 27015 to your computer's local address.
A dedicated server
You can run a server on its own, with no window and nobody flying on that computer: on a spare PC or a rented server. It's the normal game started with a few options.
Windows (in PowerShell, from the folder FlightOut is installed in, normally %LOCALAPPDATA%\Programs\Yembera\FlightOut):
.\FlightOut.exe --headless -- --server --name="My server"
Linux (from the folder you unpacked FlightOut into):
./FlightOut.x86_64 --headless -- --server --name="My server"
Use FlightOut.arm64 on an arm64 machine. On Linux the server prints what's happening (pilots joining and leaving, kills) in the terminal.
macOS: open FlightOut normally once first, then run the program inside the app:
/Applications/FlightOut.app/Contents/MacOS/FlightOut --headless -- --server --name="My server"
| Option | Does |
|---|---|
--headless | No window, no graphics |
-- | Everything after it is for FlightOut itself |
--server | Run as a server |
--name="..." | The server's name, shown in the pilots' pause menu (up to 48 characters). Default "FlightOut server" |
--port=N | Listen on another UDP port instead of 27015. Pilots then join address:N |
- On Windows the server runs in the background with no window: stop it from Task Manager.
- It holds up to 16 pilots.
- Its time and weather come from the Weather settings of the user it runs as, read when it starts. If that user has never run FlightOut, it uses the defaults: 13:30 with time frozen, scattered clouds, light wind from the north, light turbulence. To set it, choose the weather in FlightOut on any computer, then copy that settings.cfg into the same folder for the server's user: see Files and folders.
- Keep it updated. The server and the pilots must have the same multiplayer version: update the server whenever you update the game.
- There's no password, kick, admin console or server list yet.
Checked against FlightOut 0.5.2.