How to Control the Automatic Updates of Your Arma Reforger Server

Your Arma Reforger server can update itself to the latest version on every start. The Auto Update field in the dashboard decides whether that happens.

Field	Values	Meaning
Auto Update	1 / 0	1 = the server checks for a new server version on every start and installs it, 0 = the installed version stays unchanged

Note

Create a backup before you restart your server after a game update: Create Backup. That way you can restore your save and your configuration if something goes wrong.

Turn Auto Update on or off

1. Open dashboard
   Open the dashboard of your server.

2. Open settings
   Navigate to the Settings.

3. Enter the value
   Enter the desired value in the Auto Update field: 1 for automatic updates, 0 to turn them off.

4. Restart the server
   Save the setting and restart your server.

Bring the server to the latest version

When a new update for Arma Reforger has been released, leave Auto Update on 1 and restart your server. During the start, the new server version is downloaded and installed, after which the server starts as usual.

Tip

Restart your server as soon as possible after a game update. Once your players have updated their game, they can only join again when your server runs the new version as well – the sooner your server catches up, the shorter this time.

When you should turn off Auto Update

• No version jump in the middle of a session
  Otherwise every restart pulls in a new version that has already been released. As long as Auto Update is set to 0, your server stays on the version that is currently installed.

• An update causes problems
  If your server runs on a version where everything works, 0 keeps it there, e.g. until your mods have been adapted to the new update. However, 0 only prevents upcoming updates: an update that is already installed cannot be undone this way.

Warning

Only leave Auto Update on 0 temporarily. Players whose game has already been updated then have a different version than your server and cannot join. You can only play together again once the server and the game are on the same version. So set the value back to 1 in time.

Mod versions and updates

Your mods are updated on start as well – depending on how they are entered in config.json. The Auto Update field has no effect on this – you control mods only through the version entry. You can find out how to add mods in Add Mods.

• Without version
  If a mod entry has no version, your server always loads the latest version of this mod on start.

• With version
  If the entry contains a fixed version number, the mod stays on exactly that version until you change it yourself.

Example

"mods": [
  {
    "modId": "59674C21AA886D57",
    "name": "BetterMuzzleFlashes 2.0"
  },
  {
    "modId": "591AF5BDA9F7CE8B",
    "name": "Capture & Hold",
    "version": "1.0.8"
  }
]

The first mod is brought to the latest version on every start, the second one stays on version 1.0.8.

A fixed version can be helpful around big game updates: your mod set then does not change unexpectedly just because a mod author releases a new version in the meantime. However, if a pinned mod version is not compatible with the new game update, the mod may no longer work properly on your server. In that case, enter the new version number or remove the version entry.

Change a mod version

1. Stop the server
   Stop your server via the dashboard.

2. Connect via SFTP
   Connect to your server via SFTP.

3. Adjust the version
   Open the config.json file and enter the new version number under version for the desired mod in the "mods" section – or remove the version line so that the latest version is always loaded.

   Tip

   Watch the commas when removing a line: there must be no comma after the last value of a mod entry. Check the file after editing with a JSON formatter like JSONLint – a missing or extra comma is enough to keep the server from starting.

4. Start the server
   Save the file and start your server.