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This guide was originally posted in The Halomapscouk Forums. I must apologize for the repeated posting, the character limit is very restrictive. Please understand.
'';aM;'' Inspire's Ultimate Guide to Understanding Rcon
Welcome to the world of Dedicated Servers. The are two ways to control a dedicated server in Halo. The first is to be at the computer running the Dedicated Server and input commands directly into the DS Console. The second is to use Rcon - short for Remote Control.
Now, nobody particularly wants to sit around at a DS Console all day waiting for someone in-game to tell them to kick so-and-so or change the map to this with that gametype. It's boring and, since Rcon is there, completely unnecessary.
However, just like any remote control, there's a lot of buttons. You need to know what they are, what they do, and how to use them - otherwise you'll inevitably end up playing the same game over and over, being stuck with some noobtard who kills his team-mates, or (worst case scenario) crashing the server.
Now that you know what Rcon is, let's talk about it some more. In this guide you will learn:
1. How to Enable and Access the Console
2. How to use Rcon Commands
3. Rcon Commands and What They Do
4. Basic Rcon Etiquette
5. Appendix I - Printer-Friendly List of Rcon Commands
6. Appendix II - List of Map Filenames
7. Basic Rcon Proficiecy Exam
Yes, there will be a test at the end. If you read all this and do well on the test, you will know how to effectively, and, moreover, safely, use Rcon. Let's get started.
1. How to Enable and Access the Console
Rcon can only be accessed through the Halo PC Console in-game. Unfortunately, the in-game console is not enabled by default. So, if the console is not enabled, you can't use rcon. :(
To enable the console in-game, you need to find your Halo or Halo Custom Edition Shortcut (usually on your desktop). Now, right click the icon and select 'Properties'. Now, in the 'Target' box, you should see:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Halo\halo.exe"
Or something like that. Please note that the quotes are part of the Target and are not just for show. Now, after the last " you need to add the text -console. So, you're Target should now read:
"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Halo\halo.exe" -console
Just like that. Click Apply, then Click OK. What this will do is enable the console every time you start Halo or Halo Custom Edition using that specific shortcut. If you open the game any other way, it won't work.
So what if you start your game through Xfire? I got you covered - Listen up. In the main windoe of Xfire, click 'Tools' and then select 'Options'. Now click on the 'Games' Tab. Find Halo (or Halo CE) in the list box on the left and click on it. Now, click on the 'Advanced Options button. You will see a text box apear under the heading 'Extra Command Line parameters'. In that text box, you should type:
-console
Great. Now you've enabled the console. To access the console in-game, just press the ` or ~ key. Likewise, to exit the console in-game, simply press the ` or ~ key again.
2. How to use Rcon Commands
Now, once you get into the console, the general syntax to use Rcon (what you have to type to use Rcon) is:
rcon [password] [command]
Where [password] is the Rcon password set by the Dedicated Server operator in the server's init.txt and [command] is the command you give to the server.
Right now, we'll talk about the password part. Let's say, for arguement's sake, that the Rcon password is frag (we'll use this as our password for the rest of the guide). Then, every Rcon command we submit must look like:
rcon frag [command]
Pretty straightforward, eh? Now let's talk about the command part. The commands you send the Dedicated Server via Rcon are the same commands that are entered directly into the Dedicated Server Console by the server operator. In other words, there's not a separate set of commands for Remote Console Control (Rcon) and Direct Console Control.
However, there console commands that cannot be used once the server has been started. These types of commands can only be submitted or edited by the server operators via editing the init.txt of the server. For example, submitting the following Rcon command while in-game:
rcon frag sv_name New_Halo_DS
will display a message that states that the Rcon command cannot be executed at this time. This is because the Server's name cannot be changed after the server has started. So, in short, there's a few things you just can't do with Rcon. What can you do? I'm glad you asked, because that brings us to our next section.
(Server operators please note that if you do not set an Rcon password in your server's init.txt that Rcon will be disabled by default.)
[Edited on 5/3/2006]