The complete guide · 5 min read
Rising Storm Server Hosting Explained: A Complete Guide
This guide covers running a Rising Storm server in 2026: what makes the Pacific War different to host, how the Red Orchestra 2 maps fit in, slot sizing, the ROGame.ini settings Tripwire documented, custom content, ranked status and what to expect from a game whose last update was years ago.
By Matthew Griffin, Owner, Gaming DeluxePublished · Updated
In this guide
- What Rising Storm Brings to a Server
- Two Wars on One Server: The Red Orchestra 2 Connection
- Choosing a Slot Count for the Pacific
- ROGame.ini Settings Tripwire Documented
- Custom Maps, Mods and Extra Content
- Ranked Servers and Player Progression
- Running a Game Tripwire No Longer Patches
- What to Compare Before You Rent a Rising Storm Server
- Rising Storm Server Glossary
- Rising Storm Server Help and Next Steps
What Rising Storm Brings to a Server
Rising Storm is Tripwire Interactive and Anti Matter Games' move of the Red Orchestra formula to the Pacific, from 1942 to 1945. The US Army and Marine Corps fight the Imperial Japanese Army and the Special Naval Landing Forces across islands such as Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima and Saipan, with beach assaults, jungle fighting and close quarters night battles.
Steam calls it asymmetrical warfare. The Americans have semi-automatic rifles, automatic weapons and the flamethrower. The Japanese answer with knee mortars that drop indirect fire from anywhere on the map, grenades turned into booby traps, bayonets on almost every weapon and the banzai charge, which suppresses the enemy so attackers can close in. Morale and suppression play a bigger part than in most shooters, which is exactly what makes an organised server so rewarding.
Two Wars on One Server: The Red Orchestra 2 Connection
Rising Storm includes all of Red Orchestra 2's multiplayer content as a bonus, and Steam describes the two as the same game with the same server browser. In practice that gives a server owner a choice that no other WWII shooter offers: fight in the Pacific, then switch to the Eastern Front, without anyone installing a second game.
- Pacific only: keeps the asymmetric play, banzai charges and knee mortars every round.
- Mixed cycle: alternates island maps with Stalingrad and the Armored Assault tank maps, and keeps a broader crowd interested.
- Theme nights: one front per evening, switched with a different map cycle.
If your community plays the Eastern Front most of the time, our Red Orchestra 2 server hosting page covers that side in more depth.
Choosing a Slot Count for the Pacific
Tripwire built Rising Storm for up to 64 players, and the big island maps feel right only when they are busy. Close quarters and night maps play well with far fewer. A simple rule of thumb from our side:
| Plan | Typical use |
|---|---|
| 12 Slots | Squad drills, private training, testing a new map |
| 24 Slots | Clan against clan on smaller maps |
| 36 Slots | A community server most evenings |
| 48 Slots | A public server with regular busy nights |
| 64 Slots | Full beach assaults and the largest maps |
You can raise the slots later from the client area, so it is fine to start small while a community grows and move up when the server starts to fill.
ROGame.ini Settings Tripwire Documented
Server rules live in ROGame.ini. Tripwire's May 2014 required update, which also closed server crash and hit detection exploits, added two settings every public server should look at:
| Setting | Value | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| MaxKickVotesNeeded | 10 | Under ROGame.ROVoteCollector: the most votes a kick can need. Lower it for a small server. |
| KickForVACBan | true | Under ROGame.ROSteamUserBanned: kicks players with VAC bans in any game. It is off by default. |
| KickForVACBanNum | 0 | 0 kicks a player with any VAC ban. 2 or more sets how many bans a player may have before being kicked. |
Tripwire's recommendation for keeping VAC-banned players out completely was KickForVACBan set to true with KickForVACBanNum at 0. The same update made vote-kicked players session banned, so a kicked player cannot rejoin straight away.
Custom Maps, Mods and Extra Content
Rising Storm ships with a full mod SDK and Steam Workshop support, and Tripwire was generous in promoting community work. Kobura, an American defence of a jungle airstrip in Burma, and Tula Outskirts, a remake of a Red Orchestra 1 favourite, began as contest maps before Tripwire released them for free in the Armored Assault pack of 2014.
Some content is delivered to servers as its own Steam app. When Tripwire released Barrikady Factory as an opt-in beta map in 2015, it told server admins to download app 324890 as well. If you want a map or mod like that on your server, open a ticket and tell us which one.
- Upload custom maps with the file manager or SFTP.
- Add them to your map cycle in the config editor.
- Restart and check the log for anything that failed to load.
- Keep a stock map in the cycle as a safe fallback.
Ranked Servers and Player Progression
Rising Storm has persistent stats and player progression, as Steam's store page notes, which is a big part of why public players look for ranked servers. Our product is sold as Rising Storm (Official Ranked). Tripwire's current rules for what keeps a server ranked are not something we could confirm from an official page in 2026, so if ranked status matters, ask support before you add mods, mutators or unusual settings, and check the server browser after any change.
Running a Game Tripwire No Longer Patches
The newest game update we found in Tripwire's Steam news for Red Orchestra 2 and Rising Storm is version 2.0.0.20 from October 2015. Tripwire's later work went into Rising Storm 2: Vietnam, which launched in 2017. For a server owner that has two sides. Nothing will break because of a surprise patch, and a well-tuned server can run for years unchanged. On the other hand, the player base is smaller than at launch, so a server lives on its community: regular event nights, clear rules and a map cycle people like.
What to Compare Before You Rent a Rising Storm Server
Offers for an older Tripwire game can look the same. These are the points that matter.
- Is it ranked?Public players often look for ranked servers. Check how the server is sold.
- Can you edit ROGame.ini?Kick votes, VAC settings and the map cycle all live there.
- Can you upload files?Community maps and mods arrive as files, so you need a file manager or SFTP.
- How big can it go?Island maps are built for full servers. Look for 64 slots.
- How long are backups kept?A cycle and config you have tuned for months deserve more than one copy.
- Where is it?Ping decides firefights. Test it from your own PC first.
Rising Storm Server Glossary
- ROGame.ini
- The main server config: rules, kick votes, VAC settings and the map cycle.
- Banzai charge
- A Japanese charge that suppresses the enemy so attackers can close in.
- Knee mortar
- The Japanese light mortar that fires indirectly from anywhere on a map.
- Suppression
- The morale effect of incoming fire that makes it harder to shoot back.
- Ranked server
- A server where players' stats and progression count.
- Session ban
- A ban that keeps a vote-kicked player out for the rest of the session.
- VAC ban
- A Valve Anti-Cheat ban on a player's Steam account.
- Mod SDK
- Tripwire's tools for building maps and mods for Rising Storm and Red Orchestra 2.
Rising Storm Server Help and Next Steps
Official pages and our own guides.
- Rising Storm Game of the Year Edition on SteamThe game, its features and its Workshop.
- Red Orchestra 2 and Rising Storm news on SteamTripwire's update notes, including the 2014 server settings.
- Gaming Deluxe control panelLogging in and using the panel tools.
- Our server locations
- Contact support24/7 help with maps, mods and ranked questions.
How this guide was made: researched from the Steam store and Tripwire's announcements on Steam (Tripwire's own wiki blocks automated reads), 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:
- Rising Storm Game of the Year Edition on Steam (Tripwire, Anti Matter Games, 30 May 2013, Pacific 1942-1945, factions, up to 64-player servers, asymmetric features, RO2 content and same server browser, mod SDK and Workshop, persistent stats)
- Red Orchestra 2: Heroes of Stalingrad with Rising Storm on Steam
- Red Orchestra 2 and Rising Storm news on Steam, Tripwire (required update of 17 May 2014 with ROGame.ini kick and VAC settings; Armored Assault packs, September and November 2014; Heroes of the West, November 2014; Reinforcement Update 2.0.0.20, October 2015; Summer Sale, July 2025)
- Tripwire Interactive wiki (blocks automated reads, not used)
- Gaming Deluxe order form, Rising Storm (Official Ranked)