Run multiple servers from 1 computer

Running multiple servers from 1 computer

• First, you must set usingMultipleServerInstances to 1 or True in serverSettings.txt.
• Make a copy of the RUN_SERVER script.
• Edit it in a text editor to manually override the ports and server name set in serverSettings.txt like this:

OBEY.exe -server -batchmode -screen-quality Low -port 57346 -name "My Server A" -logFile obeyServerLogA.txt

My own Windows example can be seen here. Feel free to copy it and just modify it to suit your own settings.

• Then, forward the port of each server to the server computer.

NOTE: When running multiple servers from a single machine, it is not possible to search for any of the servers via LAN. If you want to join one of them via the local connection, the local IP + PORT must be entered manually in the Join Server screen.

Consider your bandwidth

• First, test your bandwidth on this site.
• A rule of thumb is about 15MB Upload speed per 5 players. (So for example, a 60MB up connection should be able to handle about 4 completely full 5 player servers from your location without bottlenecks, assuming no other heavy internet use).

Consider your specs

• While running your servers, have a look at the resource use of the processors. If you are running higher than 40% you are probably running too many.
• An OBEY server only uses about 170MB of RAM when you start it. So most computers will not bottleneck on RAM. However, due to a Unity bug that I can't control, servers do contain a memory leak, and should be restarted every couple of days.

Testing for lag

• Be sure to test and play on the servers when they are full to rule out lag during high activity, since the suggestions above are only guidelines.
• If you shut down steam, you can run multiple instances of the OBEY client on another computer and join all of them to the server to help measure.
• In OBEY, lag presents itself as 'warping' or snapping back to past positions, and snapping/unresponsive camera movements. "WARNING: HIGH PACKET LOSS" messages are also obvious signs of lag.
• A server with high ping to a given player is not necessarily a sign of a laggy server, and only indicates the latency to that player. If many players have high ping, and it is known that they are geographically near to the server, it is a likely sign of too much strain on the server.
• Low frame rate is not an indicator of lag.