How to Read the Server Log of Your Arma Reforger Server

The server log records what your Arma Reforger server does: the startup, the loading of mods and the scenario, and errors during operation. When something goes wrong it is the first place to look – and exactly what our support team needs from you.

There are two ways to access the log: live in the console of the dashboard, or as files via SFTP.

Follow the log live in the console

1. Open dashboard
   Open the dashboard of your server and switch to the console.

2. Start the server
   Start your server. From now on the console prints the server output directly.

3. Follow the output
   Read the messages from top to bottom. Pay close attention to the lines shortly before a crash or a failed start – that is usually where the cause shows up.

Note

For Arma Reforger the console is for reading only. The server has no console commands, so input in the console has no effect.

Download the log files

Arma Reforger stores its logs in the profile folder of the server. On every server start, the server creates a separate subfolder there whose name contains the date and time of the start.

1. Connect via SFTP
   Connect to your server via SFTP.

2. Open the logs folder
   In the root directory, open the profile folder, inside it the subfolder of the same name profile and there the logs folder:

   /profile/profile/logs/

3. Select the right start
   Open the subfolder of the server start you are interested in. You can recognize the newest start by the most recent date and latest time in the folder name.

4. Download the files
   Download the .log files from this folder to your PC and open them with any text editor.

Warning

By default, Arma Reforger only keeps the 10 newest logs; older ones are deleted automatically. That is why it is best to download the files right after a problem occurs, before further restarts remove them.

What to look for in the log

Errors after a change to config.json

If your server no longer starts after you edited config.json, look at the last lines in the console or in the newest log. That is where you will find the error message at which the startup stopped.

Tip

The most common cause is invalid JSON. Check the file with a JSON formatter like JSONLint – a single missing or extra comma is enough to prevent the server from starting.

Errors while downloading mods

Your server downloads the mods from config.json on startup. If a mod is missing in-game or the startup hangs while loading mods, search the log for error messages around the download. Then check the entries in config.json as described under Add Mods.

List of available scenarios

On every start, your server writes the paths of the scenario files (.conf) it finds to the log – these are the scenarios included in the game. This helps you find the exact scenario ID to enter in the Scenario ID field.

Example

{ECC61978EDCC2B5A}Missions/23_Campaign.conf

Note

Workshop scenarios do not appear in this list. You can find the scenario ID of a workshop scenario in the Scenarios tab on its workshop page. You can find more about this under Change Scenario.

Performance statistics

If you set the [Advanced] Log FPS Interval field in the Settings to a value greater than 0, your server writes a line with performance values to the log at that interval (in seconds), e.g.:

FPS: 60.0, frame time (avg: 16.7 ms, min: 9.3 ms, max: 23.7 ms), Mem: 3291106 kB, Player: 2, AI: 104, Veh: 0 (17), Proj (S: 12, M: 0, G: 0 | 12), RplItemsS: 410, RplItemsC0: 17068

Among other things, it shows the current server FPS, the number of players and the number of AI units. You can find out how to interpret these values under Improve Performance.

If you are stuck

If the log does not tell you enough, simply attach the .log files of the affected server start to a support ticket and briefly describe when the problem occurred. That way we can look into it specifically.

Note

You can find solutions for common errors under Troubleshoot Common Problems.