Project CARS Server Hosting

Why Drivers Still Race the First Project CARS

Project CARS arrived on Steam on 6 May 2015 after a long development guided by a paying community of fans and real drivers. Slightly Mad's launch feature list promised more than 110 unique locations, over 80 cars across GT, touring, Le Mans prototypes, karts and open wheel, dynamic weather, a changing time of day, pit strategy and endurance races up to the Le Mans 24 Hours.

The studio kept patching the PC version until 2016, adding VR improvements, HTC Vive support and a long run of car packs and track expansions. Patch 11.2 in November 2016 was the last. Today the Steam page states that the game is no longer available on the Steam store, so the players left are owners who like its handling, its track list or simply the memories of their first league.

For those drivers, a dedicated server solves the old lobby problem. The race does not depend on one person's home connection, the lobby is always in the same place, and drivers can practise on the week's circuit long before the official start.

Planning a League Around a 16-Car Grid

Online Project CARS races hold up to 16 players. That is fewer than later sims, so a growing league needs a plan. Small groups fit in one grid with room to spare. Larger communities can split drivers into two classes or two skill groups that race on different nights, or run heats and a final.

Setting Up a Race Night

The server reads its settings from a config file, which you can open from the File Manager in our panel. That is where you set the server name drivers will look for, the password, and the lobby options. After saving, restart the server from the panel to apply the change.

• Circuit: choose it a week ahead so drivers can practise on it.
• Cars: one class keeps a sprint race close; mixed classes suit endurance events.
• Session lengths: practice, qualifying and race times that fit your evening.
• Weather and time: a fixed dry race for beginners, changing conditions for veterans.
• Assists and damage: agree them in writing and set them the same for everyone.

Join in progress is useful on busy evenings, but some leagues prefer to lock entries once qualifying starts. Decide which you want and tell the drivers, so nobody is surprised.

Running a Season Step by Step

1. Publish the calendar of circuits and dates before round one.
2. Open sign-ups and close them when the 16 places are taken.
3. Leave the server open for practice in the days before each round.
4. Restart it an hour before the race so it starts clean.
5. Run qualifying and the race with the agreed settings.
6. Post the results and any penalties the same evening.
7. Back up the config after each round.

Consistency keeps a league together. The same night, the same time and the same rules matter more than any single setting. Endurance specials with pit stops and changing weather work well as a season finale once drivers know each other's habits on track.

Keeping the Racing Clean

Most disputes in sim racing start at the first corner. A short set of rules on overtaking, rejoining the track and blue flags prevents the majority. Ask drivers to save replays of incidents, and choose one or two stewards who review them after the race rather than during it.

Private lobbies protect a league night from random joiners. If you also run open practice, keep the open sessions on a different evening from official rounds so newcomers can try the server without disturbing a race.

Solving Common Problems

The log in the Web Console shows most problems as soon as the server starts. If the answer is not obvious, open a ticket with the time the problem happened and our support team will look at it with you, at any hour.

Hosted Server or Your Own PC?

A lobby hosted from a racing rig at home ties the whole grid to one connection and one machine. The host has the best ping, the race ends if that PC restarts, and the setup has to be repeated every time someone else hosts.

A hosted Project CARS server stays online with the same settings and the same address. It runs on a fast CPU behind DDoS filtering, nobody has a home advantage, and you can concentrate on driving rather than on whether the host has turned up.

What to Compare Before You Rent a Project CARS Server

For a sim that is no longer on sale, the useful differences between hosts are practical ones.

1. Real config accessYou want the server's own config file, not a short web form with a handful of options.
2. Honest slot sizesThe game supports 16 drivers online; paying for more seats than that buys you nothing.
3. Ping to your driversTest from where your league lives before you buy.
4. CPU speedA fast core keeps timing and positions smooth with a full field.
5. BackupsSaved configs let you rebuild a round's settings in seconds.
6. Flexible billingLook for monthly terms with no setup fee and no minimum.

Project CARS Server Glossary

Dedicated server

A program that runs the online session without anyone driving on that machine.

Lobby

The online room drivers join before practice, qualifying and the race.

Join in progress

A setting that lets drivers enter a session that has already started.

Private lobby

A lobby that only invited or password-holding drivers can join.

Grid

The field of cars that starts a race; up to 16 online in Project CARS.

Endurance race

A long race where pit stops, fuel and tyre wear decide the result.

Ping

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

Steward

A league official who reviews incidents and hands out penalties.

Project CARS Server Help

Useful pages for running your server.

• Project CARS on SteamStore page and patch announcements.
• Project CARS 2 server hostingIf your league moves to the sequel.
• Gaming Deluxe control panelWhat the panel does and how to log in.
• Contact support24/7 help with configs and connections.