Primal Carnage: Extinction Server Hosting

What Primal Carnage: Extinction Is

Primal Carnage: Extinction is a class-based multiplayer shooter in which one team plays dinosaurs and the other plays an elite mercenary squad sent to wipe them out. It came out on Steam on 3 April 2015 from Circle Five Studios, and it is still being updated today, with a record player count in May 2026 according to the developers.

The two sides play very differently. Dinosaur players choose from 12 classes, from small, sneaky Spitters to towering Tyrants, each with unique attacks and a Roar ability that buffs the team. The humans choose from five classes with their own weapons and gadgets. Matches are about using those differences: humans hold lines and focus fire, dinosaurs ambush, pounce and swarm.

PCE was built around dedicated servers rather than peer-to-peer play, as Circle Five itself has said. A player-hosted match through Host Game exists, but a dedicated server is what keeps a community running with a stable address, its own rules and a map rotation that does not end when the host quits.

Game Modes and Map Rotations

Update 3.5 renamed several modes, so older guides use different names. This is the current line-up.

Maps carry a mode prefix, so a server's rotation follows its mode. Some maps are tied to one mode: the Volcano map became Freeroam-only in patch 3.0.4, although server hosts can still run it in any mode they like.

Setting Up a Hybrid Server

Server owners used to hack together servers that switched modes. Since update 3.1.94 in October 2025, hybrid servers are an official feature. A hybrid server swaps between Get to the Chopper, now Evacuation, and Team Deathmatch, with the number of rounds for each set in the config.

1. Stop the server and open PrimalCarnageGame.ini from Configuration Files.
2. Set NumberOfRoundsUntilTDM, the Evacuation rounds before switching to TDM (2 by default).
3. Set NumberOfRoundsUntilGTTC, the TDM rounds before switching back (6 by default).
4. Add ?bHybridServer=True to the map URL in the server's launch line.
5. Start the server and watch the log through a full cycle.

Bots, Tyrants and Team Balance

AI bots have moved around. The June 2026 update let servers fill Team Deathmatch with bots using ?bAllowBots=true. Update 3.5 then moved bots into their own variant, Team Botmatch, with a smaller map rotation of levels that properly support them, and removed them from classic Team Deathmatch servers. Bots in Team Botmatch award half EXP, and a player picking a class full of bots kicks one to free the slot.

Tyrants are the biggest single factor in balance. Since the Meltdown 2025 update, a server needs at least 9 players before Tyrants can be selected in competitive modes, though not in free roam. Update 3.5 also improved auto-balance: it now looks at player count and class type, skips high scorers where it can and leaves Tyrants alone unless there is no one else.

Admin Commands for Server Owners

Admins log in from the in-game console. From there a few commands cover most moderation.

• AdminChangeTeam dino, human or spectator: move a player quickly, added in 3.5.
• admin enablecheats, then ForceRoundEnd: end a round early.
• Admin GiveWeapon with a weapon class: hand out a weapon for an event.
• ?bFreeRoamFriendlyFire=True on the map URL: friendly fire in free roam.
• In Sandbox, TogglePassiveMode makes a player immune to damage and unable to deal it, without admin login.

Cheat commands such as SuperJump, ToggleBigHead and InfiniteAmmo need enablecheats to be on, so they stay out of normal matches unless an admin switches them on.

What the 2026 Networking Changes Mean

The Summer Meltdown update of 29 June 2026 moved PCE to a newer version of Steamworks and to Steam Sockets. For dedicated servers, that meant a fake IP that hides the server's real address, and an optional relay-only mode that runs entirely behind Valve's Steam Datagram Relay for extra protection, at a small cost in latency.

Two weeks later, patch 3.3.4 dealt with players getting stuck or disconnected on map changes. The fix worked for Host Game matches, but not yet for dedicated servers, so Circle Five set dedicated servers back to the older networking by default. Our servers also sit behind DDoS protection at every location, so you are protected either way. Keep the server updated, as the developers expect to change this again.

Custom Maps and the Workshop

PCE supports the Steam Workshop, and community mappers have added many maps over the years, built with the public Extinction Editor toolkit. Circle Five even rewards some of the most dedicated mappers through map stamps, which pay almost triple the usual Workshop royalty, and has said it is looking at an editor update with all content added since 2022.

How a Workshop map gets onto your server depends on the map, and our support team can add one for you. Test a new map on a quiet evening first: a map with missing lighting or a broken objective can stall a rotation.

What to Compare Before You Rent a PCE Server

PCE patches often and plays fast, so look at the details.

1. Slot choiceAny size from 8 to 32 lets you match the server to your community.
2. Ini file accessHybrid rotations and rules live in PrimalCarnageGame.ini.
3. Quick updatesAfter a patch, players cannot join an old server.
4. CPU speedFast cores keep pounces and hit registration crisp.
5. DDoS protectionCommunity servers are targets; filtering matters.
6. LocationLow ping makes a real difference in a fast shooter.

Primal Carnage: Extinction Server Glossary

TDM

Team Deathmatch, dinosaurs against humans in team combat.

GTTC

Get to the Chopper, renamed Evacuation in 3.5; config keys still use the old name.

Hybrid server

A server that rotates between TDM and Evacuation after set numbers of rounds.

Onslaught

The co-op mode against waves of AI dinosaurs, formerly Wave Survival.

Sandbox

Free roam mode, formerly Freeroam, with extra playable species.

Tyrant

The largest dinosaur classes, selectable in competitive modes from 9 players.

Fake IP

A Steam Sockets address that hides a server's real IP.

Extinction Editor

The public SDK toolkit community mappers use to build PCE maps.

Primal Carnage: Extinction Server Help

Circle Five's update notes and our support.

• Primal Carnage: Extinction news on SteamPatch notes with every server change.
• October Update 3.1.94 (hybrid servers)The official hybrid server settings.
• Gaming Deluxe control panelHow the panel works and how to log in.
• Contact support24/7 help with configs, maps and updates.