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ConnectServer.ini

Ports, per-IP connection cap, and license for ConnectServer

Primary configuration file for ConnectServer. All keys live under a single [ConnectServerInfo] section.

File Location

ConnectServer/ConnectServer.ini

Loaded once at startup. Changes require a ConnectServer restart.

Configuration

All keys belong to section [ConnectServerInfo].

Key
Type
Default
Effect

ConnectServerPortTCP

int

44405

TCP port clients connect to for the server list. Must match the port the launcher hands off to the client. Exposed to the internet.

ConnectServerPortUDP

int

55557

UDP port that receives heartbeats from JoinServer and every GameServer. Must match the ConnectServerPort value in JoinServer's JoinServer.ini and each GameServer's GameServerInfo - Common.dat. Internal traffic only; do not expose.

MaxIpConnection

int

0

Maximum simultaneous client connections allowed from a single source IP. See MaxIpConnection below.

LicenseKey

string

(empty)

License token tied to this ConnectServer instance. Required; empty or invalid prevents startup.

MaxIpConnection

Limits how many TCP connections a single source IP can hold at once against ConnectServer.

Value
Behavior

0

Blocks every connection. Never set to 0 in a live deployment.

1 to N

Allows up to N simultaneous connections from each IP. Additional connections are rejected at accept time.

MaxIpConnection = 0 rejects every client. The shipped template uses 10; if this key is missing from the file, the parser defaults to 0 and no one can connect.

Tune based on expected NAT'd clients sharing a public IP:

  • 10 is reasonable for residential connections

  • Higher values (e.g. 50) suit LAN cafes or networks where many players share one gateway

  • Lower values tighten per-IP scraping/bot pressure at the cost of legitimate shared-IP users

Port Exposure

Port
Protocol
Who connects
Expose to internet

ConnectServerPortTCP

TCP

Game clients

Yes

ConnectServerPortUDP

UDP

JoinServer + GameServers

No

Block ConnectServerPortUDP at the edge; only JS and GS hosts should reach it.

Important Behavior

  • Missing or unreadable ConnectServer.ini leaves LicenseKey empty, which aborts startup before any socket opens

  • If any port key is absent, the default value from the table above is used; the sockets still open on those defaults

  • If MaxIpConnection is absent from the file, the default is 0 and all connections are blocked

  • LicenseKey is validated online at startup; activation failure aborts startup with no offline grace at that point. Once activated, runtime heartbeats have a grace window

  • File is read with the Windows INI parser - quotes, trailing spaces, and BOM can cause silent value truncation

Examples

Common Issues

  • Every client fails to connect - MaxIpConnection is 0 or missing from the file

  • Legitimate players rejected at high traffic times - NAT pool sharing a public IP exceeds MaxIpConnection; raise it

  • JoinServer shows offline despite running - ConnectServerPortUDP on this server does not match the ConnectServerPort set in JoinServer.ini

  • Port already in use at startup - another process is bound to ConnectServerPortTCP or ConnectServerPortUDP

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