server settings Sharky's Server Settings Recommendations

[SharkLordSatan]

Please note that I have NEVER ran a dedicated server before (as I don't have an extra Xbox 1 to do so), so these are purely recommended settings if you want to run a fair, fun server.

Gathering Rates: Contrary to popular belief it's actually gathering rates that are a major cause of server lag and crashes, not wild dinosaurs (though doing dino wipes can help clear lag for a small amount of time). Hence you probably wouldn't want to have the rates higher than 10x if you are concerned about lag. However things like a large amount of tamed dinosaurs, structures, people on the server, your internet connection, your computer, the host's internet/computer and of course the fact that the game is technically in Alpha/Preview can cause lag. You can see a explanation about this here and here.

XP Rates: While having massively high XP rates can be fun, it leads to people levelling up very quickly in a matter of short time, obviously depending on the rates. I would recommend 3x - 6x, that way people who are starting off can get to a good starting level before they begin to slow down.

Stat Gain: Again, having massively high gaining of stats per level for both dinosaurs and people can be crazy and lead to seriously overpowered players and creatures. I would recommend having them at a sort of "midway", that way people can still get to a somewhat high stat percentage but not be stupidly overpowered (25+ for health/stamina/oxygen, 100+ for weight, 10+ for melee/fortitude, etc.)

Breeding Rates: Having people being able to breed dinosaur after dinosaur in a short amount of time can lead to people getting OP dinosaurs pretty quickly. I would recommend having the breeding interval for more strong dinosaurs be at 14 hours - 2 days at minimum. Egg hatching and baby raising however should be kept to about a small amount of hours, as baby raising can be tedious and difficult for people who don't have much time on their hands, be it through school, jobs or whatever.

Crops: Crops should also be at a short rate, though not ridiculously short to prevent people from growing a large amount of Species X turrets in a short amount of time.

Rotting: Personally, rotting should be kept at a somewhat slower rate (at most 2x or 1.5x slower than vanilla rates). This is because rotting affects everything, from food to items like organic polymer to dinosaur corpses. It'd be pretty OP for organic polymer to last for more than an hour outside of anything to preserve them for longer, right?

Taming: Personally I recommend having taming at a somewhat low rate - about 6x. A lot of people hate waiting several hours for a low-level tame that should take perhaps only a few minutes at most (obviously depends on dinosaur species and level).

Events: Life on a server can get boring if you don't have any goals to accomplish in the foreseen future on that server. Hence, events are a great way to spice things up a little - they can range from anything from Dodo battles to hunting down a specific admin-spawned dinosaur for a prize.

Specialized Areas: Areas like the Volcano on the Island or Skull Island on the Center are great spots to designate special zones, like public Industrial Forges.

Restricted Zones: Also recommended to keep people from blocking off specific, key areas. Caves should be made no-build zones as they contain Artifacts required to summon the Broodmother, Megapethificus or Dragon. And obviously, large nodes of resources (like the Penguin Iceberg on the Center or the icebergs on the Island) should also be made no-build zones.

Taverns: Taverns are fun little places where people can just hang out. Most taverns I've seen or heard of are no-PVP zones except for fist fights and clubbing, and provide free food, beer and water.

Arenas: Also a fun way for people to duel, these large arenas can be set up so two or more people can have friendly brawls and spars, with swords, guns, spare dinos or the like.

 

If anyone has suggestions, please let me know and I'll consider adding them!