I need help.

[irksomeduck]

I really want to set up and run a server, but I am a total n00b when it comes to this sort of thing and have absolutely NO idea idea what a port forward is, or how to get command prompt to work as it should [But I do know how to work command prompt] ect. Could someone please explain how to do this *In easy follow-able steps, with no big leaps to anything* without annoying links to the wiki or links to other posts on the forum, as I have checked and there is nothing to help the new people on server creation. N.B. I am running windows 7 Starter (Is the same as windows 7, but with slight software limitations)

[Thunder]

OK, well, here goes:

Port forwarding and proper Minetest server configuration are the two main obstacles. Configuring the actual Minetest server is the easy part, so we'll start with that.

Step 1: Create a new Minetest world, or at least be sure that you have one already (you probably do if you've played single player). Remember the exact name of this world, as you typed it in when you first made it. When you open up Minetest, you should see a list of these world names. Figure out which one would make a good server world.

Step 2: Open up Notepad (the basic text editing program that came with your computer, nothing fancy like Wordpad or anything like that). Copy and paste the following code into Notepad:

Your phone or window isn't wide enough to display the code box. If it's a phone, try rotating it to landscape mode.

Code: Select all

@echo off
minetest --server --worldname the_world_name --logfile ""
pause

Then, change the_world_name to whatever the name of the world you want to use is. Save the file as "server.bat" in the same folder where minetest.exe is. Whenever you want to start the server, just run server.bat.

--------------------------

Now, the hard part: port forwarding. To do this, you're going to need some numbers. To get these numbers, you're going to have to open up the command prompt. To open up the command prompt, click Start, then type in CMD. The command prompt should be the first thing that comes up. In the command prompt, type in ipconfig and press enter. Then, scroll up in the command prompt so that you can see the very top of the output. There should be some text that looks something like this:

IPv4 Address... 192.168.0.2
Subnet mask... 255.255.0.0
Default Gateway... 192.168.0.1

These numbers can vary, of course. Now, the first number you're going to need is the one is says is the Default Gateway (like 192.168.0.1 for example). So, open up your web browser (Internet Explorer) and go to http://192.168.0.1 (or whatever the Default Gateway number sequence is with the http:// before it). After a second or two, you should see a router configuration page. If it requires a username and password, type in admin as the username and either admin or password as the password. If those don't work, you might want to look up the default username and password for your modem or router. Once you have access to the router configuration page, proceed.

Step 1: On the lefthand menu, you should see an item that says "Services". Click it. Then, click the "Add Custom Service" or "Add Service" button. It should give you a menu. For the name, put in something you can easily remember, like "Minetest". For the type, choose TCP/UDP or UDP. The start port should be 30000 and the end port should be something like 30005. Bottom line, 30001 needs to be included in that range, because that is Minetest's default port. Click "Apply" or "Add" or "Confirm" or whatever.

Step 2: Click where it says "Rules" on the lefthand menu. Under "Inbound Services", click "Add". Select the "Service" that you typed in before, like "Minetest". Under "Action" or "Rules" or whatever, select "ALLOW Always". Where it says "Send to LAN server", you're going to need one of those numbers from ipconfig. It should be the one it says is your "IPv4 Address". This is NOT your internet IP address. You need your computer's LAN IP address for this, and ipconfig should indicate the correct one. So, type it in. (It probably looks something like 192.168.0.2.) For WAN users, make sure it says "Any", and if there is something called "Log" it should say something like "Never". Click "Apply" or "Add" or "Confirm" or whatever.

Congratulations, you have now set up port forwarding! To host your Minetest server, just double click on "server.bat". When your server is up and running, go to Google and type in "what's my ip". The number it gives you is the IP address of your server. 30001 is the port number of your server. Post these wherever you want to tell people how to join your Minetest server.

Note: If you have a power failure, your local IP address may change (and perhaps your internet IP address), so you may have to do all of this again.

[irksomeduck]

Thankyou so much! You are the most helpful person I have met on these forums by far. I now have a server running and I hope to make it public soon :D Thankyou again! :D :D :D :D

[Thunder]

Thankyou so much! You are the most helpful person I have met on these forums by far. I now have a server running and I hope to make it public soon :D Thankyou again! :D :D :D :D

You're welcome, irksomeduck. I had 40 minutes to kill, so I figured I might as well write a comprehensive tutorial since information on this subject is something I have gained only very recently.

[irksomeduck]

Thankyou so much! You are the most helpful person I have met on these forums by far. I now have a server running and I hope to make it public soon :D Thankyou again! :D :D :D :D

You're welcome, irksomeduck. I had 40 minutes to kill, so I figured I might as well write a comprehensive tutorial since information on this subject is something I have gained only very recently.

Thanks again :)