Note: Look here for the Call of Duty 2 guide.

Call of Duty Dedicated Server is a first-person shooter game. The application can be run as a Windows Service using FireDaemon Pro, which lets you start the application automatically at boot prior to login, start multiple instances of the application and more. This HOWTO will show you how to set it up. You can also use Fusion to manage FireDaemon and other Windows services via a web browser.

Call of Duty Dedicated Server Setup Under FireDaemon

Install Call of Duty into the directory of your choice, typically C:\Program Files\Call of Duty.

Create a dedicated server configuration file, typically dedicated.cfg. This file needs to be placed in the Main directory under Call of Duty: C:\Program Files\Call of Duty\Main. This configuration file should optimally contain at least one map cycle definition. A map cycle is defined by one variable which stores a list of maps and game types. Pay close attention to the quotation marks and make sure your map cycle is inside them. Here is an example dedicated server map cycle configuration:

set sv_mapRotation "gametype sd map mp_brecourt
gametype re map mp_carentan
gametype bel map mp_dawnville
gametype tdm map mp_depot
gametype dm map mp_harbor
gametype sd map mp_hurtgen
gametype re map mp_pavlov
gametype bel map mp_railyard
gametype tdm map mp_rocket"

Download and install FireDaemon Pro into the directory of your choice, typically C:\Program Files\FireDaemon.

Next start the FireDaemon GUI from the desktop shortcut. Click on the "Create a new service definition" button in the toolbar (or type Ctrl+N) and enter the information into the fields as you see below. Adjust the paths to suit your installation. Note the required parameters.

Executable: The path to your CoDMP.exe file. For the purposes of this HOWTO, the path is C:\Program Files\Call of Duty\CoDMP.exe.

Working Directory: The directory containing your CoDMP.exe file. For the purposes of this HOWTO, the path is C:\Program Files\Call of Duty.

The Parameters list defines how the dedicated server is to start. There are multitudes of other parameters, but the basic three you need to get your dedicated server going are:

+set dedicated
Valid values are 0, 1 or 2. 0 = Normal Multiplayer, 1 = Private Dedicated Server, 2 = Public Dedicated Server

+exec
Name of your map cycle configuration file to execute.

+map_rotate
This kicks off the map cycle.

If you want to observe your dedicated server running, click on the FireDaemon settings tab, and check Interact with Desktop. Make sure "Show Window" is set to Normal.

You're done! Click on the Install button and your Call of Duty Dedicated Server will start up and run your map cycle!