Overview

GameServer runs game logic and holds the per-server identity configuration

One GameServer process runs one game world. It handles combat, items, monsters, events, PK, trade, guilds, duels, and every other piece of live gameplay. Each GameServer talks to a shared DataServer (persistence), JoinServer (auth), and ConnectServer (server list heartbeats).

Role

• Owns one ServerCode and one TCP port for game clients

• Routes all saves and loads through DataServer

• Validates every login through JoinServer

• Reports user counts and liveness to ConnectServer

• Loads its full game content (items, monsters, events, skills) from the shared Data/ root

File Location

GameServer/
├── GameServer.exe
├── zlibwapi.dll
└── Data/
    ├── GameServerInfo - Common.dat
    ├── GameServerInfo - Character.dat
    ├── GameServerInfo - Command.dat
    ├── GameServerInfo - Event.dat
    ├── GameServerInfo - Skill.dat
    └── GameServerInfo - Custom.dat

Two distinct config roots feed the process:

Root	Purpose	Contents
GameServer/Data/	Per-server identity. One copy per GameServer instance.	The 6 .dat files above.
Data/ at release root	Shared game content. One copy per installation, read by every GameServer.	Items, monsters, events, skills, plugins, quests, shops, messages. Documented in the Data section.

Running multiple GameServers on the same machine means multiple GameServer/Data/ folders (one per instance) but they all share the single root-level Data/ folder.

Configuration Files (per-server identity)

File	Purpose
Common.dat	Server identity, connections, logs, anti-hack, rates, PK, trade, guild, create character
Character.dat	Per-class stats and growth
Command.dat	Chat command costs, cooldowns, and limits
Event.dat	Enable flags and schedules for every event
Skill.dat	Buff and skill numerical parameters
Custom.dat	Chaos mix announce, custom attack, custom messages, custom guild warehouse

Chaos Machine recipes live in the ChaosMix plugin XMLs, not in a .dat file.

Shared game content (Item/, Monster/, Event/, Skill/, Plugins/, Shop/, etc.) is documented under its own pages.

Startup Order

1

Resolve data paths

Config root defaults to GameServer/Data/, shared content root to the installation Data/. Both can be overridden by environment variables (GS_CONFIG, GS_GAME_DATA) or by GameDataOverlay in Common.dat.

2

Read identity from Common.dat

Pulls ServerName, ServerCode, ServerPort, ServerVersion, ServerMaxUserNumber, EnableCastleSiege, LicenseKey, and the DS / JS / CS endpoint keys.

3

License activation

Validates LicenseKey. Failure aborts startup.

4

Start TCP listen

Opens ServerPort for game clients.

5

Load shared game content

Reads every file in the shared Data/ root: items, monsters, events, skills, plugins, shops, messages, maps, quests. The rest of the 6 .dat files are loaded here too.

6

Connect to JoinServer

TCP connection to JoinServerAddress:JoinServerPort. Required for any login to succeed.

7

Connect to DataServer

TCP connection to DataServerAddress:DataServerPort. Required for character load and save.

8

Connect to ConnectServer

UDP to ConnectServerAddress:ConnectServerPort for heartbeats. The GameServer appears in the client's server list only after heartbeats start.

TCP listen opens before DS / JS connect. A client that races the startup can land on a GameServer that has no persistence yet; their login will fail until DS is reachable.

Dependencies

• DataServer reachable at DataServerAddress:DataServerPort with a working SQL Server backend

• JoinServer reachable at JoinServerAddress:JoinServerPort

• ConnectServer reachable at ConnectServerAddress:ConnectServerPort (UDP)

• Shared Data/ folder present at the release root with every file the process expects to load

• Writable working directory for logs

Cross-File Dependencies

The 6 .dat files are not independent. Keys in one often gate or feed behavior defined in another.

Setting in...	Affects...
Common.dat EnableCastleSiege	Whether Event.dat's Castle Siege schedule runs
Common.dat WriteChaosMixLog	Whether ChaosMix plugin mixes produce audit entries
Common.dat MaxLevelUp / PlusStatPoint / <CLASS>LevelUpPoint	Character.dat per-class stat growth curves
Common.dat Create Character Settings	Character.dat class availability (overlaps by class)
Command.dat reset command caps	Common.dat ServerMinReset / ServerMaxReset
Custom.dat Announce Chaos Mix	ChaosMix plugin outputs + Common.dat log toggle
Event.dat Castle Siege	GuildManager on DataServer + EnableCastleSiege flag

Treat a config change as a pair: edit the primary key, then audit every file that depends on it.

Multi-Server Deployments

Each additional GameServer:

• Gets its own GameServer/Data/ folder with a unique ServerCode and ServerPort

• Shares the single release-level Data/ folder (identical game content)

• Uses a unique LicenseKey (one per instance)

• Appears in ConnectServer's ServerList.xml under a <Server> entry with the matching Code

Logs

Chat, trade, command, connect, hack, cash shop, and chaos mix logs each have their own enable flag in Common.dat Log Settings. Logs land in the GameServer working directory. Chaos mix outcomes themselves are driven by the ChaosMix plugin.

Common Issues

• Stuck at "Loading files..." - LicenseKey is empty, invalid, or the license service is unreachable

• Listens on port but no one can log in - JoinServer connection failed. Check JoinServerAddress:JoinServerPort and JS's AllowableIpList.txt

• Players can log in but character load times out - DataServer connection failed. Check DataServerAddress:DataServerPort and DS's AllowableIpList.txt

• Server does not appear in the client's server list - UDP heartbeat not reaching ConnectServer, or this GameServer's Code is missing from ConnectServer's ServerList.xml

• Two GameServers claim the same slot - duplicate ServerCode in Common.dat

• Port in use at startup - another GameServer instance is still running, or ServerPort collides with another process