ARMA Reforger

ARMA Reforger is Bohemia Interactive's modern military sandbox, built on the Enfusion engine. It supports dedicated servers on Linux via SteamCMD.

Requirements

Ubuntu 22.04 / Debian 12 (64-bit)
8 GB RAM minimum (16 GB recommended for modded servers)
20 GB disk space
SteamCMD installed
Ports: 2001/UDP (game), 17777/UDP (Steam query)

Install SteamCMD

sudo apt update
sudo apt install software-properties-common -y
sudo add-apt-repository multiverse
sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt update
sudo apt install steamcmd -y

Create a dedicated user

sudo useradd -m -s /bin/bash arma
sudo su - arma

Install the server

/usr/games/steamcmd +force_install_dir /home/arma/server \
  +login anonymous \
  +app_update 1874900 validate \
  +quit

App ID 1874900 is the ARMA Reforger Dedicated Server.

Server configuration

Create the config directory and main config file:

mkdir -p /home/arma/server/config
nano /home/arma/server/config/server.json

{
  "bindAddress": "0.0.0.0",
  "bindPort": 2001,
  "publicAddress": "YOUR_SERVER_IP",
  "publicPort": 2001,
  "a2s": {
    "address": "0.0.0.0",
    "port": 17777
  },
  "game": {
    "name": "My ARMA Reforger Server",
    "password": "",
    "passwordAdmin": "AdminPassword123!",
    "scenarioId": "{ECC61978EDCC2B5A}Missions/23_Campaign.conf",
    "maxPlayers": 32,
    "visible": true,
    "supportedGameClientTypes": ["PLATFORM_PC"],
    "gameProperties": {
      "serverMaxViewDistance": 1600,
      "serverMinGrassDistance": 50,
      "networkViewDistance": 500,
      "disableThirdPerson": false,
      "fastValidation": true,
      "battlEye": true
    },
    "mods": []
  },
  "operating": {
    "lobbyPlayerSynchronise": true,
    "playerSaveTime": 120,
    "aiLimit": -1
  }
}

Built-in scenarios (scenarioId)

Scenario	ID
Conflict	`{ECC61978EDCC2B5A}Missions/23_Campaign.conf`
Game Master (Everon)	`{59AD59368755F41A}Missions/21_GM_Eden.conf`
Combat Ops (Everon)	`{C41618FD18E9D714}Missions/22_CombatPatrol.conf`

Start the server

/home/arma/server/ArmaReforgerServer \
  -config /home/arma/server/config/server.json \
  -profile /home/arma/server/profile \
  -maxFPS 60

Run as systemd service

Exit back to root and create the service:

exit
sudo nano /etc/systemd/system/arma-reforger.service

[Unit]
Description=ARMA Reforger Dedicated Server
After=network.target

[Service]
Type=simple
User=arma
WorkingDirectory=/home/arma/server
ExecStart=/home/arma/server/ArmaReforgerServer \
  -config /home/arma/server/config/server.json \
  -profile /home/arma/server/profile \
  -maxFPS 60
Restart=on-failure
RestartSec=15s
KillSignal=SIGINT

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Enable and start:

sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable arma-reforger
sudo systemctl start arma-reforger
sudo systemctl status arma-reforger

Firewall rules

sudo ufw allow 2001/udp
sudo ufw allow 17777/udp

Adding mods (Workshop)

Mods are referenced by their Workshop ID in the config. In server.json, add to the mods array:

"mods": [
  {
    "modId": "591AF5BDA9F7CE8B",
    "name": "ACE Reforger",
    "version": ""
  }
]

The server downloads mods automatically on first start if they are public.

For mods that require a Steam account to download, you'll need to authenticate with SteamCMD using a Steam account (not anonymous).

Server updates

sudo systemctl stop arma-reforger
sudo -u arma /usr/games/steamcmd +force_install_dir /home/arma/server \
  +login anonymous \
  +app_update 1874900 validate \
  +quit
sudo systemctl start arma-reforger

View logs

journalctl -u arma-reforger -f

# Server profile logs
tail -f /home/arma/server/profile/logs/*.log

BattlEye setup

BattlEye is enabled by default when "battlEye": true in config. The necessary files are downloaded automatically by the server. No additional setup required on Linux.

Performance tips

Set -maxFPS 60 to prevent CPU overload on idle servers
Increase networkViewDistance only if you have enough bandwidth
Reduce aiLimit if CPU usage is high with AI-heavy scenarios
Use fastValidation: true to speed up player connection validation

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