Days of War Server Hosting

Why Run Your Own Days of War Server

Days of War is Driven Arts' tribute to the team shooters of the early 2000s: close quarters fighting across Second World War fronts, six classes, an arsenal of 60 weapons and 12 maps at full release, set in Europe, Africa and on the Eastern front. The game left Early Access on 30 January 2020 with an overhaul of its graphics, recoil, movement and interface, and Steam lists dedicated servers among its features.

The studio was open about the hard part. A week after launch it wrote that player numbers were the big issue, and a few days later it warned that servers might be sparse. That has not changed in the years since, and when we checked the Steam store in October 2026 the page showed no way to buy the game. The people who still play are the ones who already own it, and they need a place to meet.

That is where a hosted server earns its keep. A clan or community with its own Days of War server has a fixed address, a known rotation and a regular time. Nobody has to keep a home PC on, the host does not get a ping advantage, and the server is still online at midnight when two players fancy a few rounds of rifles only.

Choosing the Right Number of Slots

Slots are the number of players who can be connected at the same time. Days of War is built for 32-player multiplayer, but very few communities fill that every night. Start from your real numbers: how many members turn up for a normal match, how many guests you would welcome, and whether you hold bigger events now and then.

Building a Rotation With Custom Maps

Custom maps are the strongest tool a Days of War admin has. Driven Arts released its map editor alongside the full game, based on Unreal Engine 4.20.3, and players share their work through the Steam Workshop. In February 2020 the studio thanked a long list of creators for the maps they had already published, and patch 2.0.0.413 made custom maps award XP, so playing them counts towards progression.

A good rotation mixes the official maps everyone knows, such as Bocage, Carentan and Chateau from the patch notes, with a few community maps that give your server a reason to exist. Keep the number of custom maps small at first. Every new map means players may need to download it, and a rotation that changes every week makes it harder for people to learn the lines of fire.

• Test first: load each new map on an empty server before match night and walk the spawns.
• Announce changes: post the rotation in your Discord a few days ahead so players can subscribe on the Workshop.
• Keep a backup: save the working config in the Backup Manager before you add or remove maps.
• Ask for help: if a map file will not load, our support team can look at the log with you.

Running Regular Match Nights

1. Pick one or two fixed evenings and keep them for at least a month.
2. Set the server name so it is easy to spot and share the address in your community channel.
3. Use a password for clan-only nights and take it off for open nights.
4. Schedule a restart a few hours before the match so the server starts clean.
5. Balance the teams at the start, then let players swap only between rounds.
6. Collect feedback on maps after each night and adjust the rotation.

With a game that has a small player base, routine matters more than features. A server that is busy every Thursday at eight will gather more regulars than one that is open all week but empty most of it. Bots are useful while people trickle in, and the practice mode lets newer players learn recoil before they face your veterans.

Rules and Admin on a Community Server

Most problems on WW2 servers are human ones: spawn camping, stacked teams, abuse in voice chat. Days of War includes voice chat, so decide early what is acceptable and who has the authority to act. Write three to five short rules, put them in the server name or message where the game allows, and post them in your community channel.

Give at least two trusted members admin access so a problem never waits for one person to come online. Keep a short log of kicks and bans in your Discord so decisions stay consistent. If you run a public server, review your rules once a month as the regular crowd changes.

Fixing Common Connection Problems

Most issues show up in the log within seconds of a start, which is why the Web Console and log viewer sit in the panel menu. If you cannot see the cause, open a ticket and include the time it happened. Support is available around the clock.

Hosted Server or a PC at Home?

You can run the dedicated server on your own computer, but it then depends on your upload speed, your electricity and your willingness to leave the machine on. Every player connects to your home address, the host's own ping is near zero, and the server disappears the moment your PC restarts for an update.

A hosted Days of War server takes those problems away for the price of a few pints a month. It sits in a data centre with DDoS filtering, a fast CPU and NVMe storage, and the whole community reaches it on equal terms. For a game where every remaining player counts, that reliability is what keeps them coming back.

What to Compare Before You Rent a Days of War Server

For an older shooter with a small player base, the practical details matter more than headline specs.

1. Config and file accessYou need the real config files and SFTP for map files, not just a web form with a few fields.
2. Ping for your playersTest from where your clan lives, especially if members are spread across countries.
3. Slot flexibilityCheck that you can change size month to month as the community grows or shrinks.
4. Single-core speedA fast CPU core keeps hit registration steady on full servers.
5. BackupsSaved configs let you undo a bad rotation change in seconds.
6. No long contractLook for monthly billing, no setup fee and no minimum term.

Days of War Server Glossary

Dedicated server

A server program that hosts matches without anyone playing on that machine.

Slots

The number of players who can be connected to the server at the same time.

Rotation

The list of maps the server cycles through, one after another.

Workshop map

A custom map shared on the Steam Workshop and built with the official editor.

Map editor

Driven Arts' tool for making Days of War maps, based on Unreal Engine 4.20.3.

Ping

The round-trip time between a player and the server, in milliseconds.

Scrim

A practice match between two teams, usually on a private server.

DDoS protection

Filtering that blocks floods of junk traffic aimed at taking a server offline.

Days of War Server Help

Pages that help with setting up and running your server.

• Days of War on SteamFeatures, announcements and patch notes.
• Days of War Steam WorkshopCommunity maps for your rotation.
• Gaming Deluxe control panelWhat the panel does and how to log in.
• Contact support24/7 help with configs, maps and connections.