This simple guide is how to get a DCS server running on a VPS system. The main issue is that most dedicated servers are made so that there is no 3d interaction because its redundant. Sadly in DCS we have no form of true dedicated server. Most people actually use a physical computer for their “dedicated server”. This comes with its down downsides and upsides, main one being you are using your own parts and your own bandwidth.
Most game servers are ran on shared system server, but since we have no true dedicated server shared system servers are out of the question so we have the only option of buying a full server or a VPS. A virtual private server (VPS) is a virtual machine sold as a service by an Internet hosting service. A VPS runs its own copy of an operating system, and customers may have superuser-level access to that operating system instance, so they can install almost any software that runs on that OS. They are more cost effective than buying a full server and have the power to give you a entire windows machine for you to use.
Now comes the downside of a VPS. 99% of them have NO GPU, which causes problems for DCS. This step by step guide will try to help you with that process.
This guide is not all encompassing, it is how I got my server running after about a full 24 hours of digging around the forums and trying everything I could to get the server up.
1. Rent a server: It should meet majority of DCS requirements. I rent mine from nfoservers.com, here are its stats.
Six HT CPU cores (Intel Sandy Bridge or better)
6144 MB of RAM
600 GB of RAID-protected storage
Windows Server 2012 R2
2. Download DCS
3. Download Notepad++
4. Go to {Eagle Dynamics Folder}\DCS World\distr and install vcredist, and DirectX.
5. Make a registry command (this is used to increase the time it takes for the server to say a 3d program has crashed)
a1. Exit all Windows based programs.
a2. Go to Start and type regedit in the Search box. In the results, double-click regedit.exe.
a3. Browse to and then click "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control \GraphicsDrivers".
a4. Click New in the Edit menu list. From the drop-down menu, select DWORD (32-bit) value. Then type TdrDelay as the Name and click Enter. Double-click TdrDelay, add 10 for the Value data and click OK.
a5.After all these done, reboot your computer.
6. Go to this thread and install the file to help with loading of DCS (removes 3d graphics from the start up. It helps with loading DCS)
https://forums.eagle.ru/showpost.php?p=2556425&postcount=29
7. Open Notepad++, create a new file with these lines: (this helps with CPU and also makes it possible to run the game without a GPU by turning off 3d in the game)
options.graphics.fullScreen = true
options.graphics.width = 1024
options.graphics.height = 768
options.graphics.render3D = false
and save it as %user%\Saved Games\DCS\Config\autoexec.cfg
8. (OPTIONAL) Upload and place your own copy of %user%\Saved Games\DCS\ to help with DCS loading for the first time (DCS doesn’t have to make folders and put files in so it helps with loading the first time the server runs DCS).
9. Run DCS
10. Close DCS and Open %user%\Saved Games\DCS\Config\network.cfg with Notepad++, and change
pause_on_load = true, to pause_on_load = false,
11. You should be able to run a server as normal now
12. Profit
Special thanks to sFalcon, HiJack, and WoAyumi for their forum posts that helped me get mine running. This guide is a majority just placing what these guys said already into one place to help people get a DCS server running on a VPS.
O7