This document describes how to build and install the Crossfire server from source.
Instructions for building the client are on a separate page.

It's likely that many of these packages (listed alphabetically) are already installed on your system, but this list is a way to make sure. It's important to have all the right packages in place before attempting any builds or compiles.

• automake - A tool for generating GNU Standards-compliant Makefiles
• flex - A fast lexical analyzer generator
  • m4 - a macro processing language (required by flex)
• gcc - The GNU C compiler
• g++ - the GNU C++ compiler, supporting C++14 or later
• git - fast, scalable, distributed revision control system
• libgd-dev - GD Graphics Library (development version)
• libgd-tools - GD command line tools and example code
• libtool - Generic library support script
• make - The GNU version of the “make” utility
• python3-dev - header files and a static library for Python (default)

As a quick reference:

sudo apt-get install automake flex gcc g++ git libgd-dev libgd-tools libtool make python3-dev

A special note about installing python. The package listed above, python3-dev, should install the necessary packages to enable many of the in-game features (ship transportation, guilds, post office, et al.) to work.

However, if python related features are not working, then installing python depends on your choice of Linux distro.

• The server as of 2021-January can and should use Python 3, since Python 2 is outdated and unsupported
• Crossfire is known to run with Python with 3.5 and higher

As an example, this is what you would use to install python on Ubuntu Focal:

sudo apt-get install python3-dev

To confirm python is fully installed on Ubuntu Focal:

 $ python3
 

And you should see output like:

 Python 3.8.10 (default, Jun  2 2021, 10:49:15)
 [GCC 9.4.0] on linux
 Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
 >>>

If you see something like the above, python is installed, use ctrl-d to quit python.

The recommended packages provide additional add-ons or features (summaries included, below) to the server or as a way to test new functions and features.

• autoconf - automatic configure script builder (Not normally required for end-user builds, but it is useful if build scripts are not up to date)
• check - unit test framework for C (used by the unit tests)
• libsqlite3-0 - SQLite 3 shared library (used by cflogger)
• libpython3.8 - Shared Python runtime library (version 3.8) (used by game features such as bank, post office, slot machines, etc.)
• libcurl4 - - Multi-protocol file transfer library (required by metaserver2)
• libcurl4-openssl-dev - Development files and documentation for libcurl (OpenSSL) (required by metaserver2)
• libsvn-dev - Development files for Subversion libraries (required for Subversion revision number reporting in metaserver2)

As a quick reference:

sudo apt-get install check autoconf libsqlite3-0 libpython3.8 libcurl4 libcurl4-openssl-dev libsvn-dev

These useful packages are not normally required for end-user builds, but they come in handy in cases where developers may have forgotten to check in changes to build scripts, etc.

• cproto - supports `make proto` to automatically update prototype files.
• sudo - Provide limited super user privileges to specific users
  • Not required, but `sudo make install` is useful for installing to system directories.
  • sudo is also useful for installing packages that are missing.
  • Do not run `make` as the root user for security reasons.

A quick reference for Debian 10

sudo apt install flex libcurl4 libcurl4-openssl-dev libgd-dev libgd-tools libsvn-dev libtool python3-dev subversion

- The actual compile process requires directory and file ownership changes when finished. Also, there appears to be some complications with having to run ./configure first or sh autogen.sh command. Those steps need to be documented here.

- placeholder for future update

A quick reference for Fedora 33

sudo dnf install flex libcurl libcurl-devel libtool make python3 python3-devel subversion subversion-devel

After compiling the server (sh autogen.sh && make && sudo make install) you will also need to run the following command - but make sure to change <username> to the correct login name for you setup:

sudo chown -R <username>.<username> /usr/games/crossfire/

A quick reference for Fedora 34

sudo dnf install flex g++ git libcurl libcurl-devel libtool make python3 python3-devel

After compiling the server (sh autogen.sh && make && sudo make install) you will also need to run the following command - but make sure to change <username> to the correct login name for you setup:

sudo chown -R <username>.<username> /usr/games/crossfire/

A quick reference for Fedora 36

sudo dnf install flex g++ git libcurl libcurl-devel libtool make python3 python3-devel

After compiling the server (sh autogen.sh && make && sudo make install) you will also need to run the following command - but make sure to change <username> to the correct login name for you setup:

sudo chown -R <username>.<username> /usr/games/crossfire/

A quick reference for Linux Mint Tina (19.2)

sudo apt-get install automake flex gcc libgd-dev libgd-tools libtool make python-dev subversion check autoconf libsqlite3-0 libcurl4 libcurl4-openssl-dev libsvn-dev

A quick reference for Linux Mint Tricia (19.3)

sudo apt-get install autotools-dev automake libcurl4-openssl-dev libtool python-dev subversion

- Instructions need to be updated now for Python-3 and git

- Instructions need to be updated now for Python-3 and git

- Instructions need to be updated now for Python-3 and git

The dependency and instructions for the listed versions of Ubuntu includes or applies to all the different flavours including:

• Kubuntu
• Lubuntu
• Ubuntu Budgie
• Ubuntu Mate
• Xubuntu

A quick reference for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver)

sudo apt-get install automake autoconf check flex gcc git libgd-dev libcurl4 libcurl4-openssl-dev libgd-tools libsqlite3-0 libtool make python3 python3-dev

Ubuntu 20.04 no longer support Python 2, so it is very important that Python 3 is installed.

Crossfire server relies heavily on Python for functions such as the message boards, post office, certain quests, gates & passwords, etc.

 sudo apt-get install check autoconf git libsqlite3-0 libcurl4 libcurl4-openssl-dev libsvn-dev python3-dev
 

A quick reference for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS (Jammy Jellyfish)

 sudo apt-get install autoconf automake check flex g++ gcc git libcurl4 libcurl4-openssl-dev libgd-dev libgd-tools libsqlite3-0 libtool make python3-dev

This is the starting point and confirms you are located in your home directory

 $ pwd
 /home/<username>

• Trunk contains the newest features and development for the game
• Tags is an official & stable release of the game

IMPORTANT - One should be consistent with what they check out; meaning use all trunk server & archetypes & maps or tags/1.75.0 server & archetypes & maps otherwise you run the risk of incompatibilities (broken maps, missing graphics, etc.)

The follow steps will download the necessary files to your computer, which will be used to compile (or build) the server.

$ git clone https://git.code.sf.net/p/crossfire/crossfire-arch crossfire-crossfire-arch
$ git clone https://git.code.sf.net/p/crossfire/crossfire-maps crossfire-crossfire-maps
$ git clone https://git.code.sf.net/p/crossfire/crossfire-server crossfire-crossfire-server

Here's the download URLs for Tag releases and is using the 1.75.0 release as an example

• https://sourceforge.net/projects/crossfire/files/crossfire-server/1.75.0/crossfire-1.75.0.tar.gz/download
• https://sourceforge.net/projects/crossfire/files/crossfire-maps/1.75.0/crossfire-maps-1.75.0.tar.gz/download

NOTE: The server download already contains the Archetypes, so that is why the URL for that file set is not listed

FIXME - Setup steps were recently (2021-Aug-06) updated for git commands, use with caution until they are further tested and verified

In the command line window or terminal, this confirms that you are still in your home directory

 $ pwd
 /home/<username>

Now change directory (hence the cd) to the directory that contains the server files

 $ cd crossfire-crossfire-server

This confirms that you are in the server directory

 $ pwd
 /home/<username>/crossfire-crossfire-server

Now change directory again to the lib folder

 $ cd lib
 

Make sure you are in the correct directory with the pwd command

 $ pwd
 /home/<username>/crossfire-crossfire-server/lib

This step “links” two directories to each other which makes the compile process more automated

 $ ln -s /home/<username>/crossfire-crossfire-maps/ maps

This step “links” two directories to each other which makes the compile process more automated and is used by the server once Crossfire server is up and running. This links the server to the map files which you downloaded earlier.

Next, create the necessary directory tree for the game files with this command:

 $ sudo mkdir -p /usr/games/crossfire/share/crossfire
 $ sudo chown -R <username>.<username> /usr/games/crossfire/

What that does, is it creates a directory located here: /usr/games/crossfire/share/crossfire and changes the ownership of this directory to your user

Now this step “links” two directories to each other which makes the compile process more automated

 $  ln -s /home/<username>/crossfire-crossfire-maps /usr/games/crossfire/share/crossfire/maps

Double check again that you are in the correct directory

 $ pwd
 /home/<username>/crossfire-crossfire-server/lib

This step “links” two directories to each other which makes the compile process more automated. This links the arch or archetype files to the server files which you downloaded earlier.

 $ ln -s /home/<username>/crossfire-crossfire-arch ./arch

Make sure you have the maps and archetype directories properly linked by using this command:

 $ ls -la
 

You will see multiple lines of output, but these are the two important ones you are looking for:

 arch -> /home/<username>/crossfire-crossfire-arch/
 maps -> /home/<username>/crossfire-crossfire-maps/

Go back another directory

 $ cd ..

Double check that you are in the correct directory which is the server directory

 $ pwd
 /home/<username>/crossfire-crossfire-server

Code update (~2007-Mar-30) changed the build process for the server; use the following command in the server root directory:

$ sh autogen.sh && make && sudo make install

autogen.sh script re-creates the configure (./configure) script while the rest of the command starts the compile (build) process. Pass the same options to autogen.sh as you would normally pass to ./configure since autogen.sh calls ./configure. This command requires both autoconf and automake to be installed.

(Otherwise do the following, and look below for optional arguments to autogen.sh) Now you are going to begin the compile process; choose one of the following:

$ ./configure && make && make install

Any missing dependencies, errors or similar problems during the compile process will be listed. Each should be addressed or resolved accordingly.

Optional: If you want to have more useful debugging information in case of crashes, set the CFLAGS environment variable to disable optimization (-O0) and enable debugging (-g): That is a uppercase letter O and a zero

$ CFLAGS="-O0 -g" ./configure && make && make install

Optional: For even more gdb debugging information, add -ggdb3 to the command

$ CFLAGS="-O0 -ggdb3" ./configure && make && make install

Optional: To disable the unit test or check when compiling the server, use ./configure –disable-check

$ ./configure --disable-check && make && make install

Optional: To enforce the unit test or check when compiling the server, use make -k check

$ ./configure && make -k check && make install

Optional: If you have modified any archetypes use:

$ cd lib && rm archetypes && make archetypes && cd .. && sh autogen.sh && make && sudo make install

More information at: Testing Archetypes

Once the server has been successfully built (aka compiled), you need to launch the Crossfire Server application

Double check that you are in the correct directory which is the server directory

 $ pwd
 /home/<username>/server.svn

Change directory the server directory

$ cd server

Your file directory path should look like this:

 $ pwd
 /home/<username>/server.svn/server

Just before launching it is worth while just to make sure all the permissions are correct for the server. If not, the server will not be able to write and characters will not be saved. To do so re-run:

 $ sudo chown -R <username>.<username> /usr/games/crossfire/

Run this command to launch the server:

$ ./crossfire-server &

What that command will do is run the Crossfire server and return you back to bash or shell prompt

This is the same as running it from your install directory which is typically /usr/games/crossfire/:

$ /usr/games/crossfire/bin/crossfire-server &

If crossfire-server is unable to locate the maps file it may be because the chown command didn't work. You may see an error like:

[EE] Cannot open /usr/games/crossfire/var/crossfire/clockdata for writing
[EE] Couldn't read regions file from "/usr/games/crossfire/share/crossfire/maps/regions.reg".
[EE] Please check that your maps are correctly installed.

A simple fix is to:

$ sudo chown -R <username>.<username> /usr/games/crossfire/
$ ln -s /home/crossfire/maps.svn /usr/games/crossfire/share/crossfire/maps

Note, great care should be taken in using chown -R as this will change all permissions in the parent directory (e.g. if you “ $ sudo chown -R <username>.<username> /” you will break your linux install's permissions completely)

A permission error such as this:

 [EE] /usr/games/crossfire/var/crossfire/clockdata.tmp: Permission denied
 

Can be fixed by running this command again, be sure to correctly replace the <username> reference with the user who will be launching the server:

$ sudo chown -R <username>.<username> /usr/games/crossfire

A message about a missing accounts directory can be ignored because no player files or accounts have been created yet.

[II] Warning: Unable to open /usr/games/crossfire/var/crossfire/accounts [No such file or directory]

This might be a good time to setup crossloop .

To update an existing install to the latest svn image;

This confirms that you are still in your home directory

 $ pwd
 /home/<username>

Now change directory (hence the cd) to the directory that contains the server files

 $ cd server.svn

This confirms that you are in the server directory

 $ pwd
 /home/<username>/server.svn

This updates the directory using svn

$ svn update

repeat for

maps.svn arch.svn

and repeat section “COMPILE”

Sometimes additional steps are required to compile the server after major development or code changes. Under most cicrcumstances, these steps are not needed. Bu they are being documented here just in case.

Listed below are some of thoes steps:

Change directories to server.svn/lib

$ cd server/lib

Then run

$ make do-collect

Then change back to the server.svn directory

$ cd ..

Make sure you are in the server.svn directory

$ pwd
/home/<username>/server.svn

Repeat the steps listed under “COMPILE”

Make sure you are in the server.svn directory

$ pwd
/home/<username>/server.svn

Run the autoreconf command

$ autoreconf -i

Repeat the steps listed under “COMPILE”

Make sure you are in the server.svn directory

$ pwd
/home/<username>/server.svn

Run the clean command

$ sudo make clean

Repeat the steps listed under “COMPILE”

Warning this information may be out of date

To access the latest version of crossfire from sourceforge, a Windows compatible tool to access the source files is called tortoisesvn which is available here.

The interface is built into the windows environment, to access the repository create a new folder such as “crossfire files” and right click on this folder. You will see the following option menu now available:

Select “Repo-browser”. When asked, use this URL: https://svn.code.sf.net/p/crossfire/code

After a short time you should now see a window with the current directory structure of crossfire.

You can now start checking out directories you are interested in. Note: that the branches (trunk, stable etc) are within these directories so do not check-out from the root directory unless you want to download _everything_. To checkout a directory simply right click and select checkout:

and then choose where to save the downloaded files:

The following tools are used to compile the server:

• Microsoft Visual Studio 6 (service pack 4 probably). Server has not been tested with other versions.
• flex, from http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/flex.htm.
  • you need it to build common/loader.c and random_maps/reader.c from their respective .l. Syntax is: flex -oloader.c -i loader.l, flex -oreader.c -i -P rm reader.l respectively. The -P rm seems to be required to not have duplicate symbol issues
• Python to build the Python plugin. Any version starting from 2.3 should do the trick, if not report a bug please. 1.50 has been tested with Python 2.6.5 from Python.org, direct link (MSI installer)
• if you want metaserver2 support, you'll need:
  • libcurl, from http://curl.haxx.se/. You probably want this file (no SSL support, none needed a priori).
  • pthread, obtained from http://www.sourceware.org/pthreads-win32/. Tested with pthreads-w32-2-8-0-release.exe
  • zlib, file zlib1-dll.zip from GNU Win32 (direct link)
  • copy the following files to the directory you'll run Crossfire from: pthreadVC2.dll, zlib1.dll, libcurl.dll
  • link the executable to libcurl.lib and pthreadVC2.lib (project settings → link → general → object/library modules)
• to build the installer, you need NSIS, and PERL (for maps installer).
• to build archetypes, you need PERL
• once you got the server sources, open a command prompt, go to make_win32 directory, run the installwin32.bat file. It will create required directories

The following tools are used to compile the client:

• GTK. An installer with all required dependencies can be found at the Glade/GTK+ project. Warning: you'll need to add ~10 directories to include list, and rename some files around (like copy libpng.lib to png.lib). Don't ask why here, ask Glade/GTK+ project instead :)
• current SVN (end of 2006) is somewhat broken, and requires some tweaking to build (need to undef HAVE_SDL, comment out lines, add files, and such). That may be fixed or not eventually.
• if you want metaserver2 support, follow the same instructions as for the server.

It may be possible to cross-compile Windows binaries from Unix.

Visit the server hosting page for information on setting up a server.