The complete guide · 5 min read
Call of Duty: World at War Server Hosting: The Complete Guide
This guide explains what a rented World at War server gives a PC community today, what our Call of Duty 5 - Ranked product includes, and how to choose slots, set up the config, run admin and keep a public server busy.
By Matthew Griffin, Owner, Gaming DeluxePublished · Updated
In this guide
- World at War on PC Today
- Why Rent Instead of Hosting at Home
- What Our Call of Duty 5 - Ranked Product Includes
- Matching Slots to Game Types
- Setting Up the Server Config
- Admin, RCON and Server Rules
- Custom Maps and Mods
- Keeping a Public Server Busy
- What to Compare Before You Rent a World at War Server
- World at War Server Glossary
- World at War Server Help and Next Steps
World at War on PC Today
Call of Duty: World at War is Treyarch's Second World War shooter for Activision, set on the Pacific and European fronts, where players fight as a US Marine and a Russian conscript. Steam has sold the PC version since 18 November 2008, and the store page still describes what made its multiplayer last: class-based play built on the Call of Duty 4 engine, vehicle combat with tanks, more weapons, new Perks, maps and challenges, and persistent stats, player rankings and upgradeable weapons.
Multiplayer games this old live on their servers. A lobby that is always online, always on the same address and always running the rotation regulars expect is what keeps a World at War community together. That is the job a rented server does.
Why Rent Instead of Hosting at Home
You can run a World at War server on your own PC, but every evening then depends on that PC staying on, on ports forwarded through your router and on your upload holding up for the whole lobby. When your connection hiccups, so does every match.
In our data centre the server has a fixed address, steady bandwidth and DDoS filtering in front of it, and it runs on 5.0GHz CPUs with NVMe storage. You manage it from a web panel with the config, the log and backups one click away, and our support team is there around the clock when something goes wrong.
- Always on: the lobby is there for players in every time zone, whether or not an admin is online.
- One address: players save the server once and find it again every night.
- Your rules: the rotation, game types and passwords are yours to set.
What Our Call of Duty 5 - Ranked Product Includes
Our order form lists World at War as Call of Duty 5 - Ranked: a competitive multiplayer server for the game types above. The form sells eleven sizes from 18 to 64 slots; this page shows the three most groups choose, 18, 24 and 32.
Every plan includes 5GB of RAM, 100GB of NVMe storage and a 5.0GHz CPU, with optional upgrades for faster CPUs, CPU priority, bigger and faster disks and more memory. You choose a location and a billing cycle, and the server is created automatically once payment clears, usually within 20 minutes.
Matching Slots to Game Types
The right size depends on what you want the server to feel like. Small maps get chaotic fast with too many players, and the big maps with tanks feel empty with too few. As a rule of thumb:
| Plan | Typical use | Good game types |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Slots | 9v9, clan matches, a friendly regular crowd | Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag |
| 24 Slots | 12v12 on most maps, a busy public server | War, Team Deathmatch, Capture the Flag |
| 32 Slots | 16v16 on the larger maps | War and Free-For-All on maps with tanks |
Start with the size your community fills on an ordinary evening rather than its best night. A full 18 slot server feels better than a half-empty 32 slot one, and you can move up from the client area later without losing anything.
Setting Up the Server Config
Like every Call of Duty of its generation, a World at War server is driven by a plain text config of settings, which the panel's Configuration Files tab opens in your browser. Most owners change the same few lines on day one.
- Stop the server, because changes saved while it runs are not applied.
- Set sv_hostname to the name players will look for in the browser.
- Set rcon_password to a long, private value, and g_password only if the server should be private.
- Choose the game type with g_gametype and list your maps in sv_maprotation.
- Leave sv_maxclients alone: the player limit comes from your plan.
- Save, start the server and check the Log Viewer before you tell your players.
Download the working config over SFTP and keep it safe. If an experiment goes wrong, upload it again and you are back where you started.
Admin, RCON and Server Rules
RCON is how World at War admins run a live server. With rcon_password set, an admin logs in from the in-game console and can change map, move the rotation on, restart a round or kick a player, all without the server going down. The panel's Web Console does the same from the browser, which is useful when you are not in the game.
Write the rules down and put them where players will see them, such as in the server name or on your community page. A small, active admin team and a clear set of rules do more for a public server than any setting.
Custom Maps and Mods
Custom content for World at War is file based, so on our servers it goes on through the File Manager or SFTP. The golden rule is that every player needs the same files as the server, so stick to content your regulars already have or make it easy for them to get.
Because this product is a ranked server, talk to support before you load a mod. Stock maps and game types never need anything extra, which is why most public servers start there.
Keeping a Public Server Busy
Players come back to a server that is predictable: the same name, the same address and a rotation they like. Change things slowly, and when you do, tell your regulars first.
- Location: run the ping test and pick the location closest to most of your players.
- Restarts: two a day, booked in the Scheduler for when the server is empty.
- Backups: a fresh one whenever the config changes.
- Size: start smaller and grow, because a full server attracts more players than an empty one.
What to Compare Before You Rent a World at War Server
The game files are the same everywhere. What differs is what you can change yourself and what you pay for.
- Slot sizes that fit your crowdLook for a range of sizes, so you can start small and grow without moving servers.
- RAM in the priceCheck what memory the base price includes; World at War needs little, so you should not pay extra for it.
- Config and RCON accessMake sure you can edit the config yourself and set your own RCON password.
- Locations you can testPing matters in a twitch shooter, so test the host from where your players are.
- Backups you can restoreAsk whether undoing a bad change needs a ticket or a click.
- Billing termsLook at the monthly price, the discount for longer terms and any setup fee.
World at War Server Glossary
- Dedicated server
- A World at War multiplayer server that runs on its own, without a player hosting it.
- RCON
- Remote console: admin commands sent to a running server, protected by rcon_password.
- Rotation
- The list of maps, set in sv_maprotation, that the server plays in order.
- Game type
- The mode the server runs, such as War or Team Deathmatch, set with g_gametype.
- War
- One of the competitive modes Activision named for World at War's multiplayer beta.
- Ranked
- How our order form lists this product: Call of Duty 5 - Ranked, a competitive multiplayer server.
- Slots
- How many players can be connected at once, set by your plan.
- Perks
- Abilities players choose for their class in World at War multiplayer.
World at War Server Help and Next Steps
Where to go next.
How this guide was made: based on the Steam store page, Activision's 2008 announcement of the World at War multiplayer beta and our own years of hosting Call of Duty servers, drafted with AI assistance, checked against our live order form for every plan, price and location, and reviewed by Matthew Griffin before publishing. Something out of date? Tell us.