With this plugin you can decide when to run your DCS servers, when to run which mission and how long a specific mission shall run, either in local time, real time or in mission time. Tasks that can be achieved with this solution are below others:
- Have a server rotate a mission every 4 hrs.
- Restart the mission before it gets dark.
- Have two servers run alternately, maybe one with password, one public
The plugin is one of if not the most complex plugins of DCSServerBot. Read this documentation thoroughly.
Examples:
DEFAULT:
startup_delay: 10 # delay in seconds between the startup of each DCS instance (default: 10)
warn: # warn times before a restart / shutdown (see alternative format below)
text: '!!! {item} will {what} in {when} !!!' # Message to be displayed as a popup in DCS. These variables can be used in your own message.
times: # List of times when a message will be displayed
- 600
- 300
- 60
- 10
DCS.release_server:
schedule: # Server "DCS.release_server" will run 24x7
00-24: YYYYYYY
startup:
mission_id: 3 # Load mission #3 from the mission list on startup
instance2:
schedule: # Server "instance2" will run every day from 0h-12h in the specified time zone
timezone: Europe/Berlin # optional: timezone (default: local time)
00-12: YYYYYYY
12-24: NNNNNNN
action: # at 04:00 and 08:00 LT ..
local_times:
- 04:00
- 08:00
method: rotate # .. it will rotate ..
populated: true # .. independently if players are flying or not.
onMissionStart: load:Scripts/net/start.lua # We will run a specific lua script on mission start
onMissionEnd: load:Scripts/net/end.lua # We will run a specific lua script on mission end
onShutdown: run:shutdown /r # if the DCS server is shut down, the real PC will restart
instance3:
schedule: # server "instance3" will run every day from noon to midnight
00-12: NNNNNNN
12-24: YYYYYYY
action: # It will restart with a DCS server shutdown after 480 mins of mission time ..
method: restart
shutdown: true
mission_time: 480
populated: false # .. only, if nobody is on the server (or as soon as that happens afterwards)
mission:
schedule:
18-00: NNNNNNY # our mission server will only run on Sundays from 18h - midnight LT| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| times | List of seconds, when a warning should be issued or alternatively a dictionary with seconds and specific warn texts. |
| text | A customizable message that will be sent to the users when a restart is pending. {item} will be replaced with either "server" or "mission", depending on what's happening. {what} will be replaced with what is happening (restart, shutdown, rotate) {when} will be replaced with the time to wait. |
# Alternative format for warn, e. g. to display messages in your own language
warn:
times:
600: Внимание сервер будет перезапущен через 10 минут!
300: До перезапуска 5 минут!
60: Минутная готовность!
10: Сервер перезапускается!| First Parameter | Second Parameter |
|---|---|
| Timeframe, with start and end-time in either HH24 or HH24:MM format. If only one time is provided, the action (see second parameter) has to happen at exactly this time. |
The second parameter contains a character for every day, starting Mo and ending Su. Depending on the character, the behaviour will be selected: Y, N or P - the server should run in that timeframe (Y) or not (N). P means, it should only run, if populated. |
| Examples: Time between 12:30h and 18:00h => 12:30-18:00 Time between 09:00h and 21:30h => 09-21:30 Time between 21:00h and 03:00h => 21-03 (next day!) All day long (00:00h - 24:00h) => 00-24 |
Examples: YYYYYYY => every day YYYYYNN => weekdays only |
| See the above examples for a better understanding on how it works. |
Here you can provide a mission_id to be started on server startup.
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| method | One of restart, rotate, load or shutdown. - "restart" will restart the current mission, - "shutdown" will only shutdown the server - "rotate" will launch the next mission in the mission list. - "load" will load a specific mission. |
| shutdown | If true, the server will be shut down prior to restarting or rotating (default: false). |
| mission_time | Time in minutes (according to the mission time passed) when the mission has to be restarted. |
| max_mission_time | Time in minutes (according to the mission time passed) when the mission has to be restarted, even if people are in. |
| real_time | Time in minutes since the start of your server (not necessarily your mission, if that is paused for instance), when a restart should happen. Only works with restart_with_shutdown. |
| idle_time | Time in minutes, the server was not in use (no people in the server) |
| local_times | List of times in the format HH24:MM, when the mission should be restated or rotated (see method). |
| utc_times | Like local_times but UTC. |
| mission_id | For load only: the mission_id to load (1 = first from the mission list). |
| mission_file | For load only: the mission file name to load (has to be in the mission list). |
| populated | If false, the mission will be restarted / rotated only, if no player is in (default: true). |
| mission_end | Only apply the method on mission end (usually in combination with restart_with_shutdown). |
| run_extensions | If true, extensions will be applied to the mission prior to the restart / rotation (default: true) . |
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
| onMissionStart | Called at the start of a mission (onSimulationStart). |
| onMissionEnd | Called, when the Scheduler (!) ends a mission. Not if the mission is ended in any other way. |
| onShutdown | Called, when the DCS server is being shut down. |
Commands can be executed in different ways:
| Starts with | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| load | Load an external lua file into the mission (do_script_file). | load:Scripts/net/test.lua |
| lua | Run this lua script inside the mission environment (do_script). | lua:dcsbot.restartMission() |
| call | Send a DCSServerBot command to DCS. | call:shutdown() |
| run | Run a Windows command (via cmd.exe). | run:shutdown /s |
The following environment variables can be used in the "run" command:
| Variable | Meaning |
|---|---|
| dcs_installation | DCS installation path |
| dcs_home | Saved Games directory |
| server | internal server datastructure |
| Command | Parameter | Channel | Role | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| /scheduler maintenance | admin-channel | DCS Admin | Sets the servers maintenance mode. | |
| /scheduler clear | admin-channel | DCS Admin | Clears the maintenance state of a server. | |
| /server cleanup | admin-channel | DCS Admin | Delete the temporary directories of a shutdown server. | |
| /server config | admin-channel | DCS Admin | Changes the configuration of a server, like name, password, max players. | |
| /server list | all | DCS | Lists all available servers. | |
| /server migrate | instance | admin-channel | DCS Admin | WIP: Migrate a server to another instance (maybe even node). |
| /server password | admin-channel | DCS Admin | Sets a new server or coalition password. | |
| /server rename | admin-channel | DCS Admin | Rename the respective DCS server. Handle with care! | |
| /server restart | [force] [run_extensions] [mission] | admin-channel | DCS Admin | Restarts a running DCS server and optionally launches another mission. |
| /server shutdown | [force] [maintenance] | admin-channel | DCS Admin | Shuts the dedicated DCS server process down. If force is used, no player check will be executed and no onShutdown command will be run. Optional: don't set maintenance flag. |
| /server start | admin-channel | DCS Admin | Starts a stopped DCS server. | |
| /server startup | [maintenance] [mission] [run_extensions] | admin-channel | DCS Admin | Starts a dedicated DCS server process and optionally launches a specified mission (default is last one). Optional: don't set maintenance flag, don't run extensions. |
| /server stop | admin-channel | DCS Admin | Stops a DCS server. | |
| /server timeleft | server | all | DCS | Shows the time until the next scheduled restart. |
Important
If a server gets started or stopped manually (using /server startup or /server shutdown), it will be put into
"maintenance" mode unless specified otherwise with the optional maintenance parameter. To clear this and give the
control back to the scheduler, use /server clear.
You can put a server into maintenance mode manually, by using /server maintenance.
| Command | Parameter | Role | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| -maintenance | DCS Admin | Enables maintenance mode for this server. | |
| -clear | DCS Admin | Clears the maintenance mode for this server. | |
| -timeleft | all | Displays the time until the next restart. |