Manual Install for FreeBSD Server
As of 97D, the Skulltag server is now a standalone binary on Linux/FreeBSD called "skulltag-server".
It requires only a third the libraries the client does.
Here are the libraries you need:
- libsdl-1.2.11 or libsdl-1.2.8-r1
- libjpeg62
You can presumably use any higher versions of these programs, however that might not be the case.
In Debian and Debian-based, run (as root):
# apt-get install libsdl1.2 tar bzip2 libjpeg62
From there all you need to do is run skulltag-server with:
This is my method for running permanant servers on FreeBSD.
It should work on Linux too seeing as most of the commands work and act the same.
First extract the server packages and iwads into a directory like you would a client.
Hopefully Linux users know how to set that up. I put my skulltag package stuff and iwads in
Now you need to make a shell file. You might want to start by making a directory for your all of your shell files,
I use
I name my shell files after the wad+game config I use.
Also if you connect to your server from another PC you'll need a program that can write to files from the command line.
I use nano, but there are others.
Now create a template file.
The template file contains all of your default configuration
From there enter this:
#!/bin/sh
cd /home/user/skulltag/st
/home/user/skulltag/st/skulltag-server -host \
+duel 1 \
-port 1066x \
-iwad "/home/user/skulltag/st/doom2.wad" \
-file "/home/user/wads/wadname.wad" \
+exec /home/user/skulltag/cfg/template.cfg > /dev/null &
cd /home/user/skulltag/st //point this to the folder your skulltag binary is in.
/home/user/skulltag/st/skulltag-server -host \ //this starts the server
+duel 1 \ //pick your game mode
-port 1066x \ //pick what port on your machine to use
-iwad "/home/user/skulltag/st/doom2.wad" \ //Give a full path to the iwad you want to use. Caps matter
-file "/home/user/wads/wadname.wad" \ //Pick what pwad(s) to use. Use full path and caps matter.
+exec /home/user/skulltag/cfg/template.cfg > /dev/null & //This tells the server what config file to use.
// Also the > /dev/null & makes the server
// not appear to you and just run in the background.
OK, press ctrl + x and save that.
Now back at the command line, go to a directory where you want your configuration files to be made.
I use:
Now in this directory you'll store all of your cfg files.
First make your template cfg file!
Now in here make all of your default configurations.
Use the wiki to find more server commands you may want to use. Here is a base template.cfg
sv_hostname "Your server's name here that shows up on IdeSE"
sv_logfilenametimestamp true
sv_showlauncherqueries false
sv_website "http://GiveLinkToPwadHere"
addmap map01
addmap map02
addmap map03
addmap d2dm1
skill 4
fraglimit 50
timelimit 0
winlimit 0
pointlimit 0
duellimit 0
sv_maxplayers 12
sv_maxclients 12
sv_motd "This is the message people see when they join your server"
sv_rconpassword "SetRCONPasswordHere"
sv_hostemail YourEmail@Here
sv_broadcast 0 //Broadbast to LAN?
sv_banfile "/home/user/skulltag/banlist.txt"
sv_masterip skulltag.servegame.com:15300
sv_markchatlines false
sv_maprotation true
sv_randommaprotation 0
sv_connectiontype 3
sv_defaultdmflags 0
sv_forcejoinpassword false
sv_forcepassword false
sv_updatemaster 1 //show up on IdeSE to public?
sv_password ""
sv_joinpassword ""
sv_nocallvote false //Want people to be able to vote various things?
dmflags 0
dmflags2 0
compatflags 0
logfile "/home/user/skulltag/logs/changethis.log"
sv_disallowbots true /* This command makes server resources lighter because servers will not
have to build bot nodes.
Use of this is highly recommended if you don't intend for your server having bots.
*/
From there save that by pressing ctrl + x again.
Now make sure your pwads are in the folder you select for them.
I use
You can use wget to download the pwads you need.
Now from these two templates you'll make all of your server's configuration files.
To make a new shell just copy/paste everything into the new file and edit where necessary.
cp template.sh dwango5duel.sh
#!/bin/sh
cd /home/hex/skulltag/st
/home/hex/skulltag/st/skulltag-server -host \
+duel 1 \
-port 10666 \
-iwad "/home/hex/skulltag-bsd/st/doom2.wad" \
-file "/home/hex/wads/dwango5.wad" \
+exec /home/hex/skulltag/cfg/dwango5.cfg > /dev/null &
An example of an edited template shell file to make a dwango5 server shell.
Close and save your new shell and set it to execute by doing this:
Now do the same for your cfg
cp template.cfg dwango5duel.cfg
sv_hostname "[MY] Server: Dwango5 Classic Duel"
sv_logfilenametimestamp true
sv_showlauncherqueries false
sv_website "http://www.coffeenet.org/~vulture/wads"
addmap map01
addmap map07
skill 4
fraglimit 20
timelimit 0
duellimit 5
sv_maxplayers 2
sv_maxclients 5
sv_motd "\cf** \cnWelcome to HeX_Vulture's Server! \cf**"
sv_rconpassword "LOLUCANTSEETHAT"
sv_hostemail EditedForPrivacy@whatever.org
sv_broadcast 0
sv_banfile "/home/hex/skulltag/banlist.txt"
sv_masterip skulltag.servegame.com:15300
sv_markchatlines true
sv_maprotation true
sv_randommaprotation false
sv_connectiontype 3
sv_defaultdmflags 0
sv_forcejoinpassword false
sv_forcepassword false
sv_updatemaster 1
sv_password ""
sv_joinpassword ""
sv_nocallvote false
dmflags 2823172
dmflags2 1024
compatflags 2031848
logfile "/home/hex/logs/skulltag/dwango5.log"
sv_disallowbots true
An example of an edited template to make a dwango5 cfg.
Now after you have a server's cfg, sh, and wad ready, you can launch it!
Now your server is up and running.

(provided the port you have it assigned to is forwarded..)
If you want to kill your server, you can use this command to see all of your running programs:
From there find the server and kill the process number.
With this I hope its a bit easier for Linux users to make ST servers. Now you can save $10 a month for not having to use Windows!