---
title: "Advanced hosting"
description: "Run the openmw-web server without Docker, wire your own reverse proxy, operate a multiplayer server, and size a gateway."
book: "Self-hosting"
order: 52
---
Everything here is for operators going beyond the Docker quick start in
[Self-hosting](
/openmw/docs/self-hosting/): running without Docker, wiring your own proxy,
tuning a public gateway. Most people never need this page. Stuck, or something not covered?
Ask in [Discord](
https://discord.gg/PzFfDkbSue).
## Running without Docker
The same server, set up by hand.
**1. Build.**
```bash
cd server
npm ci
npm run build # emits dist/server.mjs (single world) and dist/gateway.mjs (gateway)
```
**2. Stage game data.** Copy your own `Data Files` into `<dataDir>/gamedata`. A multiplayer
server refuses to boot without it - deliberate, not a bug. The sim-peer binary is auto-probed
from `/usr/local/bin/openmw`, `/usr/bin/openmw` or `/opt/openmw/bin/openmw` (override with
`[simPeer] binary`); the production image below includes one.
**3. Generate the vanilla manifest** (until it exists the locker refuses every upload - the
safe default):
```bash
node server/tools/gen-vanilla-manifest.mjs "/path/to/Morrowind/Data Files" \
--out <dataDir>/vanilla-manifest.json
```
**4. Write `<dataDir>/config.toml`.** Defaults live in
[`server/config.default.toml`](
https://github.com/Virtastic/openmw-web/blob/main/server/config.default.toml),
documented inline; overrides deep-merge over them. Minimum viable:
```toml
[server]
password = "<long random string>" # the SIM PEER's credential - never typed by a player.
[auth]
requireSso = true # SSO-only sign-in. Leave unset to also allow passwords.
returnUrl = "
https://example.com/launcher.html"
[auth.google] # and/or [auth.discord] / [auth.microsoft]
enabled = true
clientId = "..."
clientSecret = "..."
redirectUri = "
https://example.com/auth/google/callback"
```
Two silent footguns, both logged at boot: `requireSso` unset leaves password login open
beside SSO; behind Cloudflare, set `[limits] trustCloudflareIp = true` or every player shares
one rate-limit bucket. Storage is optional - with no S3 configured, lockers and saves land on
the server's disk (set `[locker] publicBase` to the origin players reach it on; provider-side
steps in [Multiplayer setup](
/openmw/docs/multiplayer-setup/)).
**5. Run.**
```bash
node dist/server.mjs --data ./devdata --port 8080 # one world
node dist/gateway.mjs --worlds /data/worlds --shared /data --port 8080 --base-port 9000
docker compose -f server/docker-compose.prod.yml up -d # or the image
```
S3 keys go in the environment / an `env_file`, never in `config.toml`.
**6. Reverse-proxy, same origin as the game page.** The page will not hand its session
ticket to a different hostname. Forward to the gateway:
```
/w/* /ws # the gameplay WebSocket - needs Upgrade handling
/auth/* # OAuth sign-in
/locker/* # game-data upload/stream
/saves /saves/*
/worlds /worlds/*
```
[`deploy/Caddyfile`](
https://github.com/Virtastic/openmw-web/blob/main/deploy/Caddyfile) is a
working reference. Non-negotiables it encodes: **strip `CF-Connecting-IP`, `X-Omw-Client-IP`
and `True-Client-IP` from client requests** (a forged one grants a fresh login budget and
walks past IP bans), preserve `X-Forwarded-Proto`, keep the COOP/COEP/CORP isolation headers
on the game page, and never expose `/admin`, `/metrics`, `/healthz` or `/status` to the
internet.
**7. Verify.**
```bash
curl -s localhost:8080/healthz
curl -s localhost:8080/auth/providers
curl -s localhost:8080/worlds
```
## Configuration knobs you will actually touch
| Key | What |
|---|---|
| `[server] name`, `motd`, `maxPlayers` | identity and capacity |
| `[server] password` | **the sim peer's credential**, not a player password |
| `[auth] requireSso`, `[auth.google/discord/microsoft]` | sign-in |
| `[locker] *` | storage: S3 endpoint/bucket, or `publicBase` for disk mode; save quota |
| `[login] allowRegistration`, `inviteCode`, `resumeWindowSec` | who may join; rejoin window |
| `[content] enforce`, `[engine] enforce` | load-order / engine matching |
| `[sharing] *`, `[rules] *` | what is shared, and gameplay policy |
| `[admin] owners`, `allowConsole` | moderation |
| `[cellReset]`, `[limits]`, `[simPeer]`, `[dev] bots` | wipes, rate limits, the peer, test bots |
## Operating a multiplayer server
Ranks per account: **0** player, **1** moderator (kick, tp, tpto on the dashboard console),
**2** admin (ban, unban, give, motd), **3** owner (setrank, console). List your account in
`[admin] owners` and restart - promoted on boot, no hand-editing. Every action is logged as
`admin.action`. `/console` executes a script on a player's own client: owner-only, fully
logged, and `[admin] allowConsole = false` removes it entirely.
**Endpoints.** `GET /healthz` liveness; `GET /status` the launcher-facing summary (no IPs, no
account data); `GET /metrics` Prometheus, gated on `[metrics] token`, 404 while disabled.
`SIGUSR1` flushes state; `SIGTERM`/`SIGINT` disconnect cleanly and flush.
**Development bots.** `[dev] bots = N` (or `OMW_DEV_BOTS`, capped 16) spawns bots that hold
real accounts and handles for testing menus and social flows alone. The server says loudly at
boot when they run. Never on a server strangers can reach.
**Privacy.** Everything the server stores about players, and how to erase it, is in
[`server/PRIVACY.md`](
https://github.com/Virtastic/openmw-web/blob/main/server/PRIVACY.md) -
including `--delete-account <name>`. Read it before taking sign-ins from anyone but yourself.
## The sim-peer image
The production image (`server/Dockerfile.simpeer`, target `tier2`) compiles OpenMW from
source:
```bash
docker build --build-arg BUILD_JOBS=6 -f server/Dockerfile.simpeer -t openmw-simpeer .
```
**`BUILD_JOBS` ≈ one per gigabyte of spare RAM.** OpenMW translation units reach 1–2 GB
each; ninja's default on a many-core box exhausts memory and presents as a *hang*, not an
OOM kill.
## Sizing a gateway
**Every occupied world costs a sim peer** - worlds multiply the cost. Measured (Linux
x86-64, full retail data, one player): peer 487 MB + world 136 MB ≈ **640 MB per occupied
world**. Re-measure on your hardware with
[`server/scripts/measure-capacity.ts`](
https://github.com/Virtastic/openmw-web/blob/main/server/scripts/measure-capacity.ts).
The ceiling lives on the gateway:
```toml
[worlds]
memBudgetMb = 8192 # total RAM for worlds and their peers
worldCostMb = 640 # measured cost of one occupied world
gatewayReserveMb = 256 # held back for the gateway itself
```
`GET /healthz` reports the live ceiling; a refused player is told the server is full.
**`memBudgetMb = 0` disables the memory governor entirely** - the combination that gets a
container OOM-killed while every per-world cap reads as satisfied. Keep
`memBudgetMb + gatewayReserveMb` at or below the container's own limit.
**Rolling restart: `kill -HUP` the gateway.** Worlds restart one at a time, emptiest first,
each drained and verified back before the next - a world-code deploy is not an outage.
`--idle-reap-ms` (default 120000) controls how long a world may sit empty before
it is stopped; its data survives and it revives when its owner returns.
