The complete guide · 4 min read
Broke Protocol Server Hosting: The Complete Guide
This guide is for whoever is building a Broke Protocol community: how the game's servers work, choosing a slot count, the files that run a city, plugins and custom content, staff and permissions, and keeping the city healthy as it grows.
By Matthew Griffin, Owner, Gaming DeluxePublished · Updated
In this guide
- What Broke Protocol Is
- Free to Play, Out of Early Access
- How Many Slots Your City Needs
- The Files That Run a City
- Plugins, Maps and Custom Content
- Staff, Permissions and Rules
- Keeping a Busy City Healthy
- What to Compare Before You Rent a Broke Protocol Server
- Broke Protocol Server Glossary
- Broke Protocol Server Help and Next Steps
What Broke Protocol Is
Broke Protocol is an open-world city roleplay game with voxel destruction, hundreds of AI citizens, police, firefighters, paramedics and criminals, and a progression system that tracks both your career and your rap sheet. You can work as a paramedic, firefighter, driver, gangster or police officer, own apartments and garages, join a gang and fight over territory, and drive cars, trucks, boats, aircraft and armoured vehicles.
The game's real character comes from its servers. Steam describes community-run servers that are fully scriptable and loaded with custom content, including complete overhauls with war and apocalyptic themes. Two Broke Protocol servers can feel like two different games, which is why communities want a server of their own.
Free to Play, Out of Early Access
Update 1.40, the UI Update of 13 June 2024, brought an engine upgrade and the end of Early Access. In September 2024 the developer announced the game would become free for everyone, and it went free on 29 September 2024. The Armor Update followed in two parts in January and March 2025, reworking vehicles and armour.
- Current build: 1.44.3 on the official site, for the Windows client, Android APK, Linux server and modding package.
- Cost to players: nothing, which makes it easy to recruit for your city.
- The studio: its homepage now features its next game, War Company, beside a dedicated Broke Protocol page.
How Many Slots Your City Needs
Roleplay servers need people in every role: police, medics, criminals and civilians. That is why our order form starts at 40 slots. A new community fits comfortably there; 60 or 80 suits a city with regular faction nights; and 120 covers the over 100 players per server that Steam advertises.
| Plan | Memory | Typical city |
|---|---|---|
| 40 Slots | 5GB | New community, stock map |
| 60 Slots | 8GB | Growing city with a custom map |
| 80 Slots | 8GB | Established factions and plugins |
| 120 Slots | 12GB | Large public with content packs |
Slots are sold one at a time from 40 to 250, so any size in between is on the order form. If your city grows faster than planned, upgrade slots or memory from the client area and the server keeps all its files.
The Files That Run a City
The developers' hosting notes name four files you edit with a text editor. In our panel they all open in the File Manager.
- settings.json: the main server settings.
- groups.json: player and staff groups and what each may do.
- server_info.txt: the information players see about your server.
- announcements.txt: messages the server shows to players.
The notes also explain the network side for self-hosters: UDP ports 5557 and 5558 opened and forwarded, and ICMP allowed so the ping shows correctly. On our servers that is already done. A server set up properly shows a plus sign on the master server list.
Plugins, Maps and Custom Content
Broke Protocol's game logic is open source in three projects: GameSource, LifeSource and WarSource. Plugins built on them can change jobs, economies, rules and whole game modes. Custom maps come from the World Builder, which has thousands of prefabs, and custom weapons, vehicles and clothing are made with the official Unity resources package.
Content you add to the server is streamed to players automatically when they join and cached on their side, so nobody needs to download a mod pack first. That makes it easy to keep everyone on the same content: update it on the server, and players pick it up on their next join.
Staff, Permissions and Rules
A roleplay city lives or dies by its staff. Set up groups.json before you open, with a clear ladder from new player to moderator to admin, and give each group only the commands it needs. Put the rules in server_info.txt and use announcements.txt for reminders and event notices.
For panel jobs such as restarts and file edits, give staff their own sub user logins instead of sharing your account. When someone leaves the team, remove their group in groups.json and their panel access on the same day.
Keeping a Busy City Healthy
Take a snapshot before every new plugin, map or game update, and keep the last working version of your config files. We keep offsite backups of the last 7 days, restorable from the panel. A daily restart at the quietest hour keeps a server with many plugins responsive.
When a new Broke Protocol version comes out, servers and clients should update together. If you are moving from another host, download your configs, plugins and map there, upload them here, and the city opens again on its next start.
What to Compare Before You Rent a Broke Protocol Server
Questions worth asking before you commit a community to a host.
- Full file accessPlugins, maps and config files need SFTP and a file manager.
- Memory for growthCheck what RAM is included once your city passes 50 players.
- Slot pricingLook for slots sold one at a time, not big fixed jumps.
- Restorable backupsYou should be able to undo a bad plugin yourself.
- Location and pingTest from your own PC first.
- Billing termsWatch for setup fees and minimum terms.
Broke Protocol Server Glossary
- GameSource
- One of the open-source projects that hold Broke Protocol's game logic, with LifeSource and WarSource.
- World Builder
- The built-in map editor with thousands of prefabs.
- settings.json
- The main server settings file.
- groups.json
- The file that sets player and staff groups and their permissions.
- NavMesh
- The navigation data NPCs use, generated on a map's first load and cached.
- Master server
- The public list of servers; a correctly set up server shows a plus sign there.
- BPResources
- The official Unity package for creating custom content.
Broke Protocol Server Help and Next Steps
Official pages and our own help.
How this guide was made: researched from Broke Protocol's official page and its server hosting notes, the Steam store page and the developer's update posts on Steam, drafted with AI assistance, checked against our live order form for every plan, price and location, and reviewed by Matthew Griffin before publishing. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.
Sources, checked October 23, 2026:
- Broke Protocol, official page (version 1.44.3 downloads for Windows, Android, Unity modding package and Linux x64 server; server hosting notes: 3 to 4GB RAM, UDP 5557 and 5558, settings.json, groups.json, server_info.txt, announcements.txt, NavMesh first load 5 to 10 minutes, plus sign on the master server)
- Broke Protocol on Steam (free to play, 26 June 2024; over 100 online players per server; server mods streamed to players; open-source GameSource, LifeSource and WarSource; World Builder; cross-platform multiplayer)
- Broke Protocol, The UI Update (13 June 2024, 1.40, end of Early Access), Game is now free! (29 September 2024) and The Armor Update Parts 1 and 2 (22 January and 28 March 2025)
- Broke Protocol homepage (now features War Company)
- Gaming Deluxe order form, Broke Protocol (slots 40 to 250, one at a time)