How to Join Your Quake Live Server

Quake Live has no matchmaking. You either connect directly through the in-game console using the IP address and port, or you look for your server in the server browser.

Find connection details

Note

You can find the IP address and the Game Port of your server in the dashboard of your server. Quake Live uses the same port for gameplay and for server queries — there is no separate Query Port.

Open the in-game console

The console is the most reliable way onto your server.

1. Start Quake Live
   Launch the game and wait until the main menu has loaded.

2. Open the console
   Press ~ to open the console.

Console does not open?

The console key sits to the left of the 1 key — on a German keyboard layout that is the ^ key. Whether the console is available at all is controlled by the client variable com_allowConsole, which is set to 1 by default.

Connect directly via IP

1. Open the console
   Open the console in the game.

2. Connect
   Enter the following command:

   connect IP:Port

   Example

   If the dashboard shows the IP 123.45.67.89 and the Game Port 27043, the command is:

   connect 123.45.67.89:27043

   Always use the values from your own dashboard here.

3. Enter the server
   After connecting you first join the running match as a spectator and can then pick a team.

Connect to a password-protected server

If you set a Server Password in the dashboard, you have to set it in the game before connecting.

1. Set the password
   Enter the following command in the console:

   password YOURPASSWORD

2. Connect
   Then connect as usual:

   connect 123.45.67.89:27043

Reserved slots

Besides the server password, Quake Live supports reserved slots. sv_privateClients defines how many slots stay reserved, and sv_privatePassword sets the matching password. Players who enter that password with password can join even when all regular slots are taken.

Via the server browser

1. Open the server list
   Open the server list from the main menu.

2. Search for the server
   Search for the name you set as Server Name in the dashboard.

Warning

For your server to be listed publicly, Server Type in the dashboard has to be set to 2 (Internet). 0 means offline and 1 limits the server to the local network. In addition sv_master "1" has to be set — only then does the server register with the master server and answer queries. Connecting directly through the console works regardless of this.

Tip

Server tags make it easier to find your server in the browser again. Add them to /baseq3/server.cfg, for example:

set sv_tags "classic, custom"

The tags are offered as filters in the in-game server browser.

Tip

To learn how to give yourself admin rights on your server, see Add Admin.