DorkNet/docs/server-cli.md

Headless host — Linux & macOS

For hosts running a server from a Linux box, a Mac, or a VPS. Joiners on Windows still use the Windows launcher to apply the patch to their copy of Rec Room.

dorknet-server is a small command-line tool for hosting without the Windows launcher. It downloads the server build, opens a Localtunnel HTTPS URL (or binds on the LAN), runs the server, and prints a join code. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows.

What you'll need

• A machine running Linux (x64 or arm64), macOS (Intel or Apple Silicon), or Windows
• For the default friends-anywhere mode: Node.js on PATH (the CLI invokes npx localtunnel to fetch a free *.loca.lt URL — no account needed). LAN mode doesn't need this.
• A Photon Realtime AppId — see photon-setup.md
• ~500 MB free disk (server binary + SQLite database)

You do not need Rec Room installed on the host machine. The server doesn't run the game; joiners run their own (Windows) copy.

Install

Grab the matching archive from the latest release:

Platform	Asset
Linux x64	dorknet-server-linux-x64.tar.gz
Linux arm64	dorknet-server-linux-arm64.tar.gz
macOS Apple Silicon	dorknet-server-osx-arm64.tar.gz
macOS Intel	dorknet-server-osx-x64.tar.gz
Windows x64	dorknet-server-win-x64.zip

Unpack, then either keep it where it is or move the dorknet-server binary onto your PATH.

# Linux / macOS
curl -L https://github.com/DorkSquadRR/DorkNet/releases/latest/download/dorknet-server-linux-x64.tar.gz | tar xz
chmod +x dorknet-server
./dorknet-server --help

# Windows (PowerShell)
Invoke-WebRequest https://github.com/DorkSquadRR/DorkNet/releases/latest/download/dorknet-server-win-x64.zip -OutFile dorknet-server.zip
Expand-Archive dorknet-server.zip
.\dorknet-server\dorknet-server.exe --help

Localtunnel

Default mode shells out to the Localtunnel client to get a free, anonymous https://<random>.loca.lt URL. The CLI calls npx localtunnel --port <local> if npx is on PATH; if not, install Node.js (16 or newer) or the standalone lt CLI from the Localtunnel repo and put it on PATH.

The URL is regenerated every host session — copy a fresh join code after each restart and re-share it. Joiners might see a one-time "Click to Continue" interstitial on first contact with a given URL; opening it once in a browser clears it.

Skip Localtunnel only if you're running in --mode lan (same WiFi only).

Usage

The minimum invocation is just your Photon AppId. For a predictable setup, pass the client build you want with --version:

dorknet-server \
  --photon-id 12345678-aaaa-bbbb-cccc-1234567890ab \
  --version december_2020_12_18

The CLI prints progress, then a join code:

DorkNet server CLI · v0.1.0
  mode:        Internet
  network:     Localtunnel
  server:      DorkNet Server
  photon:      ********90ab (us)

[server] downloading…
            54.2%  (27.1 / 50.0 MB)
[server] cached at /home/alex/.local/share/DorkNet/servers/december_2020_12_18
[tunnel] starting localtunnel…
[tunnel] live at https://lucky-pelican-42.loca.lt
[server] starting…
[server] listening (logs: /home/alex/.local/share/DorkNet/logs/server-…log)

══════════════════════════════════════════════════════
  Server live: DorkNet Server
  Address:     https://lucky-pelican-42.loca.lt

  Join code (paste this into your friend's launcher):

    eyJob3N0IjoibHVja3ktcGVsaWNhbi00Mi5sb2NhLmx0IiwidiI...

  Ctrl-C to stop.
══════════════════════════════════════════════════════

Copy the join code, send it to your friend, they paste it into their Windows launcher's Join a friend view.

Stop the server with Ctrl-C — the CLI shuts the server + tunnel down cleanly.

Common options

--photon-id <guid>     Required. Photon Realtime AppId.
--voice-id <guid>      Optional. Photon Voice AppId (Discord on the side
                       works fine without this).
--region <code>        Photon cloud region — us, eu, asia, jp, sa, kr,
                       in, au. Default: us. All joiners use the same.
--name "<text>"        Server display name in the join code.
                       Default: "DorkNet Server".
--mode <kind>          localtunnel (default) — public *.loca.lt URL,
                                               friends anywhere
                       wildcard              — legacy Tunnelto wildcard
                                               apex
                       lan                   — same WiFi only, no tunnel
--apex <hostname>      Wildcard apex. Required for --mode wildcard.
                       Example: dorknet.example.tunnelto.me
--version <key>        Rec Room version key. Current CLI default:
                       march_2020_03_10. Pass december_2020_12_18
                       when hosting December clients.
--server-dir <path>    Skip download — use a local build at this path.
                       Useful for dev work on the server itself.

Run with --help for the canonical list.

Examples

# Sunday games server with a custom name, EU region
dorknet-server \
  --photon-id 12345678-aaaa-bbbb-cccc-1234567890ab \
  --name "Sunday games" \
  --region eu

# LAN party — no tunnel, joiners must be on the same WiFi
dorknet-server --photon-id ... --mode lan

# Legacy custom Tunnelto wildcard base
dorknet-server \
  --photon-id ... \
  --mode wildcard \
  --apex dorknet.acme.tunnelto.me

# Voice chat enabled
dorknet-server --photon-id ... --voice-id 87654321-...

# Iterate on a local server build during dev
dorknet-server --photon-id ... \
  --server-dir /home/alex/src/DorkNet/DorkNet.Server/bin/Debug/net9.0

Run as a systemd service (Linux)

Make a service so the server restarts on reboot:

# /etc/systemd/system/dorknet.service
[Unit]
Description=DorkNet private Rec Room server
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=alex
ExecStart=/home/alex/bin/dorknet-server \
  --photon-id 12345678-aaaa-bbbb-cccc-1234567890ab \
  --region eu \
  --name "Sunday games"
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=10

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now dorknet
journalctl -fu dorknet           # follow the logs

Heads-up: Localtunnel hands out a fresh *.loca.lt URL on every restart, so each time systemd restarts the service the join code rotates. Either commit to a stable apex via --mode wildcard, or arrange to re-share the join code (e.g. a tiny post-start hook that emails / Discord-webhooks the new code).

Run as a launchd agent (macOS)

<!-- ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.dorknet.server.plist -->
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN"
                       "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
  <key>Label</key><string>com.dorknet.server</string>
  <key>ProgramArguments</key>
  <array>
    <string>/usr/local/bin/dorknet-server</string>
    <string>--photon-id</string><string>YOUR-APPID</string>
    <string>--region</string><string>us</string>
  </array>
  <key>RunAtLoad</key><true/>
  <key>KeepAlive</key><true/>
  <key>StandardOutPath</key><string>/tmp/dorknet.log</string>
  <key>StandardErrorPath</key><string>/tmp/dorknet.err</string>
</dict>
</plist>

launchctl load ~/Library/LaunchAgents/com.dorknet.server.plist

Files & state

The CLI follows XDG-ish conventions on Linux/macOS and the standard %APPDATA% / %LOCALAPPDATA% paths on Windows:

Path	Contents
$XDG_DATA_HOME/DorkNet/ (Linux) ~/Library/Application Support/DorkNet/ (macOS) %APPDATA%\DorkNet\ (Windows)	Server SQLite DB (dorknet.db), JWT signing secret
same prefix /servers/<version>/	Downloaded server binaries (~50 MB each, cached across runs)
same prefix /logs/	Per-session server stdout / stderr

The CLI does not read or write the Windows launcher's state.json — it's stateless across runs (all config comes from CLI args).

Limitations

• No client patcher. Joiners need the Windows launcher to patch their Rec Room install — there is no patch-from-Linux flow yet because Rec Room is a Windows game and the patcher manipulates a Windows PE binary.
• No GUI. Use the Windows dorknet.exe if you want a graphical launcher.
• No auto-updates. Pull a new release manually when you want one. Watch the GitHub releases feed or run a periodic check in your service.

Troubleshooting

localtunnel client wasn't found

The CLI couldn't find an lt binary or an npx in PATH. Install Node.js 16+ (which brings npx) or install the standalone Localtunnel client (npm install -g localtunnel then lt --version to confirm). For same-WiFi hosting without any tunnel, pass --mode lan.

Joiner hits "Click to Continue" on a Localtunnel landing page

First-touch interstitial that Localtunnel shows once per (IP, URL) pair. Tell the joiner to open the URL in any browser once; the gate clears and the patched client connects normally on the next attempt.

couldn't fetch versions.json

You're offline or GitHub is blocked. Either fix the connection or point DORKNET_LOCAL_MANIFEST at a local copy of versions.json.

No server binary found in …

The downloaded archive doesn't contain the expected DorkNet.Server file. Likely cause: the release for your platform hasn't been published yet. Workaround: build the server from source and pass --server-dir /path/to/built/server.

Same Photon errors as the GUI launcher

Photon issues (CustomAuth 401, region mismatch, voice silent) have the same fixes as on Windows. See photon-setup.md → Troubleshooting.