Linux Dedicated Server Tutorial

I. Applicant information
User UID: [Please enter your game account user ID]
Server-bound public IP: [Please enter the unique fixed public IP address. It must respond to ping]
Server physical region: [For example: Asia, North America]
Application purpose and community size: [For example: personal server, server for a specific player community]
II. Important: Non-commercial operation commitment and compliance notice
As the operator behind this server, I have carefully read Chapter 10 of the Game License and Services Agreement and solemnly make the following legally binding commitments:

Purely non-profit nature: This server will remain strictly non-profit.
Only gratuitous donations are allowed: This server may accept only voluntary donations made out of support for the community, without compensation or any return benefit. All sponsored funds may be used only to offset the direct costs of physical hosting, such as server hardware rental, network bandwidth, and DDoS protection.
Strictly no sale of in-game assets or stats: This server will never directly, indirectly, or in disguised form sell any in-game virtual creature or dinosaur, character data, levels, stat bonuses, weapons, equipment, building materials, game tokens, or any virtual items that affect game balance.
Strictly no disguised privilege exchange: This server will never use forms such as donation lotteries, donation bonus gifts, paid custom characters or creatures, or paywalls or entry fees for joining the server or community as an exchange condition for in-game virtual goods or privileges.
No gambling mechanisms: Neither this server nor its associated communities, such as QQ groups or Discord servers, will set up loot boxes, raffles, roulette systems, or rebate mechanisms with a gambling nature involving in-game virtual goods.
III. Privacy isolation and security acknowledgement
I acknowledge and agree that the official collection of this server IP and the generation of a TOKEN are necessary for anti-cheat security and contract performance, and that this data processing complies with privacy regulations.
I undertake to keep the issued authorization TOKEN properly secured and never transfer, lease, or disclose it to any third party in any form. I bear full responsibility for any violations caused by improper management of the TOKEN or IP configuration.
I understand that sending this server application email to the official team constitutes my digital signature and unconditional acceptance of all legal terms in the Game License and Services Agreement. If I violate any of the red lines above, the official team may revoke the authorization TOKEN, blacklist the IP, and impose a platform-wide account ban and device blacklist without prior notice.

curl -fsSL https://get.docker.com | bash

systemctl start docker
systemctl enable docker

docker --version

docker compose version

curl -L "https://github.com/docker/compose/releases/latest/download/docker-compose-$(uname -s)-$(uname -m)" -o /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
chmod +x /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
docker-compose --version

/root/
├── docker-compose.yml   ← Docker Compose configuration
└── .env                  ← Environment variables (server settings)

vi .env

# Game authorization TOKEN (request from the official team; required for public servers)
GAME_TOKEN=
# Server name
GAME_NAME=The Sandbox
# Public IP (127.0.0.1 is only for local testing; use your real public IP so others can connect)
GAME_IP=203.0.113.10
# Server port (UDP)
GAME_PORT=26666

# Corpse despawn time (seconds)
GAME_DEAD_TIME=600
# Offspring count: 0 = disabled, 1 = one, 2 = two, and so on
GAME_CHILD=1

# Enable Sandbox mode
GAME_MODE_SANDBOX=true

# Register to the global server list
GAME_GLOBAL=true
# Maximum players
GAME_MAX_PLAYERS=50
# Server node (region hint for players only; no functional effect)
GAME_NODE=AS
# Public server
GAME_PUBLIC=true

# Allow gene proficiency
GAME_GENE_SKILLFUL=true
# Allow gaining proficiency from kills
GAME_KILL_SKILLFUL=true
# Allow gene learning
GAME_LEARN=true
# Game difficulty (higher is harder)
GAME_HARD=1
# No evolution eggs (eggs always stay in the current species)
GAME_EVOL=false

# Map name
GAME_MAP=Oasis
# Allow AI mate
GAME_AI_MATE=true

# Game authorization TOKEN (request from the official team; required for public servers)
GAME_TOKEN=
# Server name
GAME_NAME=The Evolution
# Public IP (127.0.0.1 is only for local testing; use your real public IP so others can connect)
GAME_IP=203.0.113.10
# Server port (UDP)
GAME_PORT=26666

# Corpse despawn time (seconds)
GAME_DEAD_TIME=1200
# Offspring count: 0 = disabled, 1 = one, 2 = two, and so on
GAME_CHILD=1

# Enable Evolution mode
GAME_MODE_EVOL=true
# Allow eggs to contain evolution eggs (this is NOT the evolution-mode switch)
GAME_EVOL=true
# Enable Primeval mode
GAME_MODE_PRIMEVAL=true

# Register to the global server list
GAME_GLOBAL=true
# Maximum players
GAME_MAX_PLAYERS=50
# Server node (region hint for players only; no functional effect)
GAME_NODE=AS
# Public server
GAME_PUBLIC=true

# Game difficulty (higher is harder)
GAME_HARD=0
# Allow AI mate
GAME_AI_MATE=true

vi docker-compose.yml

services:
  # Game application
  gameserv:
    image: hkccr.ccs.tencentyun.com/mesozoicdawn/gameserver:latest
    container_name: gameserv
    # Environment file (if you renamed it, e.g. sandbox.env, change the filename below)
    env_file:
      - .env
    volumes:
      - /data/Database:/app/GameServ_Data/Database
      - /data/Mods:/app/GameServ_Data/StreamingAssets/Mods
      - /data/Logs:/app/GameServ_Data/Logs
      # Mount host timezone
      - /etc/localtime:/etc/localtime:ro
      # Watchtower update notification signals
      - /data/Signals:/app/GameServ_Data/Signals
      - /data/Signals:/signals
    environment:
      - GAME_AUTO_RESTART=1
      - TZ=Asia/Shanghai

    labels:
      - "com.centurylinklabs.watchtower.scope=gameserv"
      - "com.centurylinklabs.watchtower.enable=true"
      # Notify the game server to save before update
      - "com.centurylinklabs.watchtower.lifecycle.pre-update=/usr/local/bin/watchtower-pre-update gameserv"
      - "com.centurylinklabs.watchtower.lifecycle.pre-update-timeout=2"

    restart: unless-stopped
    stop_grace_period: 60s

    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD-SHELL", "pgrep -f GameServ.x86_64 || exit 1"]
      interval: 50s
      timeout: 5s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 60s

    # Host mode (reduces latency)
    network_mode: host

    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          cpus: '1.8'
          memory: 3800M

  # Watchtower auto-update
  watchtower:
    image: containrrr/watchtower
    container_name: watchtower
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock
    environment:
      # Docker 26+ requires an explicit API version
      - DOCKER_API_VERSION=1.40
      - WATCHTOWER_POLL_INTERVAL=300
      - WATCHTOWER_CLEANUP=true
      - WATCHTOWER_LABEL_ENABLE=true
      - WATCHTOWER_TIMEOUT=120s

    command:
      - "--label-enable"
      - "--scope"
      - "gameserv"
      - "--cleanup"
      # Enable lifecycle hooks
      - "--enable-lifecycle-hooks"

    restart: unless-stopped

    deploy:
      resources:
        limits:
          cpus: '0.2'
          memory: 128M

mkdir -p /data/Database /data/Mods /data/Logs

docker-compose up -d

ufw allow 26666/udp