This article is about the NS2 Servers in general. For the Server hosting and administrating, see Dedicated Server
Introduction
Natural Selection 2 Servers are mostly community hosted.
List of NS2 Servers
Ranked
Servers have to be Ranked in order to report Player Skill / Hive Skill updates to change the Skill value.
Servers will default to ranked status if they:
- Utilize the default Consistency config file.
- Set between a minimum of 12 and a maximum of 20 player slots.
- Use a maximum of 5 spectator slots.
- Use only Whitelisted mods. The list can be found in the Discord server, or here. You can apply for a mod to be whitelisted in our #modding discord channel.
For more detailed requirements checkout the #server-ops channel on the official Discord.
Quick Play
The Quick Play button tries to connect the player to a suitable server that is:
- on your Skill Level and is filled
- preferably favourited Servers and Servers with Steam Friends
- ignores blocked Servers
- has acceptable performance
- has an acceptable ping
- preferably Ranked Server (Non-Ranked will be considered as well)
- uses only Normal Gamemode
For further information check the blogpost by moultano about his Server Ranking System
Consistency Check
The consistency check prevents users from modifying files via Mods or locally in order to prevent people from gaining an unfair advantage.
Default Consistency File looks like this:
{
"restrict":["lua/entry/*.entry"],
"check_postIgnore":[],
"check":["game_setup.xml","*.lua","*.hlsl","*.shader","*.screenfx","*.surface_shader","*.fxh","*.render_setup","*.shader_template","*.level","*.dds","*.cinematic","*.material","*.model","*.animation_graph","*.polygons","*.fev","*.fsb","*.hmp","ui/*.dds"],
"ignore":["*_view*.dds","*_view*.material","*_view*.model","models/marine/hands/*","*/hitsounds_client.fev","*/hitsounds_client.fsb","shaders/DarkVision.hlsl","shaders/DarkVision.screenfx","shaders/DarkVision.shader","models/marine/male/flashlight.dds","ui/crosshairs.dds","ui/crosshairs-hit.dds","ui/alien_hud_health.dds","ui/alien_hud_health_noise.dds","ui/alien_hud_health.dds","ui/alien_hud_health_old.dds","ui/alien_hud_health_smoke.dds","ui/bottomhudbar1bg.dds", "ui/bottomhudbar1main.dds","ui/bottomhudbar1sec.dds","ui/bottomhudbar2ap.dds","ui/bottomhudbar2bg-l.dds","ui/bottomhudbar2bg-r.dds","ui/bottomhudbar2hp.dds","ui/bottomhudbar2right.dds","ui/centerhudbar.dds","ui/blip.dds","ui/alien_outline_lookup.dds","ui/marine_outline_lookup.dds","ui/drop_icons.dds","ui/hud_damage_arrow.dds"]
}
This means any file that falls under "Checked" and is not covered in "Ignore" will cause consistency failure if it differs from the server's
| Tabular View | ||
|---|---|---|
| Restrict | Check | Ignore |
| lua/entry/*.entry | game_setup.xml | *_view*.dds |
| *.lua | *_view*.material | |
| *.hlsl | *_view*.model | |
| *.shader | models/marine/hands/* | |
| *.screenfx | */hitsounds_client.fev | |
| *.surface_shader | */hitsounds_client.fsb | |
| *.fxh | shaders/DarkVision.hlsl | |
| *.render_setup | shaders/DarkVision.screenfx | |
| *.shader_template | shaders/DarkVision.shader | |
| *.level | models/marine/male/flashlight.dds | |
| *.dds | ui/crosshairs.dds | |
| *.cinematic | ui/crosshairs-hit.dds | |
| *.material | ui/alien_hud_health.dds | |
| *.model | ui/alien_hud_health_noise.dds | |
| *.animation_graph | ui/alien_hud_health.dds | |
| *.polygons | ui/alien_hud_health_old.dds | |
| *.fev | ui/alien_hud_health_smoke.dds | |
| *.fsb | ui/bottomhudbar1bg.dds | |
| *.hmp | ui/bottomhudbar1main.dds | |
| ui/*.dds | ui/bottomhudbar1sec.dds | |
| ui/bottomhudbar2ap.dds | ||
| ui/bottomhudbar2bg-l.dds | ||
| ui/bottomhudbar2bg-r.dds | ||
| ui/bottomhudbar2hp.dds | ||
| ui/bottomhudbar2right.dds | ||
| ui/centerhudbar.dds | ||
| ui/blip.dds | ||
| ui/alien_outline_lookup.dds | ||
| ui/marine_outline_lookup.dds | ||
| ui/drop_icons.dds | ||
| ui/hud_damage_arrow.dds | ||