Docs › Running the server
Install layout
A LonelyIce release is one folder: the program, the core libraries, the shipped plugins and the setup packs. The first-run wizard then creates a server folder with the configs, the databases and the game data, and changes a few files in the game client. This page lists what is where, what may be deleted and what to back up. The settings file is described in lonelyice.ini, the game data in Server game data, a plugin folder in Plugin format.
Release folder
What the lonelyice_release build target writes to build/lonelyice-release (Building LonelyIce):
| Path | Contents |
|---|---|
LonelyIce.exe |
Launcher, server, extractors and package manager in one program (LonelyIce on Linux and macOS). |
common.dll, shared.dll, database.dll, game.dll |
The core's shared libraries, which the program and the plugins link against (libcommon.so ... on Linux, .dylib on macOS). |
libcrypto-3-x64.dll, libssl-3-x64.dll, legacy.dll |
OpenSSL, Windows only (elsewhere the system's). |
worldserver.exe, authserver.exe |
The fork's plain servers, when the build has them: for running the same plugins as a dedicated server without LonelyIce. The launcher does not use them. |
plugins/<id>/ |
The plugins shipped with the release, one folder each. |
setup/sql.pak |
The core's SQL (base, updates, custom, the static modules' SQL): what the wizard deploys the databases from. |
setup/configs.pak |
worldserver.conf.dist and the static modules' .conf.dist files. |
Program folder at run time
The launcher adds to the program folder:
| Path | Contents |
|---|---|
lonelyice.ini |
The launcher's settings. |
plugins/<id>/ |
Enabled plugins; the server loads this folder (AC_PLUGINS_DIR). |
plugins/.disabled/<id>/ |
Disabled plugins; the server does not look there. |
plugins/.cache/icons/ |
Catalog icons, <id>-<version>.png. |
plugins/.cache/sql.stamp |
Hash of the contents of the loaded plugins' SQL files (for auth, characters, world) and the core database connections at the last server start; a different hash makes the next start apply the plugins' SQL. |
plugins/.cache/server.lock |
Held open (locked) by the server process while it runs; --pkg refuses to change plugins while it is locked. The file itself stays. |
plugins/.staging/ |
Packages being unpacked during an install; removed when it finishes. |
plugins/.backup/<time>/ |
The old plugin folders while an install replaces them; removed when it finishes or is rolled back. Left behind only if the process died in the middle: the old folders are in it. |
With the server folder "Next to LonelyIce.exe", its contents below are in the program folder too.
Server folder
Chosen in the wizard's "Location" step and kept as [server] root:
| Choice | Folder |
|---|---|
| Inside the game folder | <game folder>/LonelyIce |
| Next to LonelyIce.exe | the program folder |
| In your user data folder (Linux, macOS) | ~/.local/share/LonelyIce ($XDG_DATA_HOME/LonelyIce), ~/Library/Application Support/LonelyIce on macOS |
| Another folder | any writable folder |
The server runs with this folder as its working directory, and the config the wizard writes uses paths relative to it.
| Path | Contents |
|---|---|
configs/worldserver.conf |
The server's config. Created from worldserver.conf.dist once, with LonelyIce's values: SQLite databases in db/, DataDir = data, LogsDir = logs, SourceDirectory = sql, Updates.EnableDatabases = 0, BindIP = 127.0.0.1, EnablePlayerSettings = 1 (per-character settings of the core and of plugins such as mod-transmog, table character_settings), MapUpdate.Threads from the CPU count, the rates chosen in the wizard. The wizard does not overwrite an existing one (only the rates, when changed on its Realm page); Settings edits it in place. A config from an older version gets EnablePlayerSettings = 1 once, on the next start ([server] configVersion). |
configs/worldserver.conf.dist |
Rewritten from setup/configs.pak on every "Databases" step. |
configs/modules/<name>.conf |
Configs of the static modules and of the plugins (copied from the plugin's .conf.dist at install, or when Settings first saves a value of a plugin installed later). The server reads them from the modules folder beside the config it was started with (the launcher passes the config's absolute path), on every system. |
configs/modules/<name>.conf.dist |
The static modules' defaults from setup/configs.pak. |
db/auth.sqlite, db/characters.sqlite, db/world.sqlite |
The databases with the built-in storage ([server] location = local). |
db/playerbots.sqlite |
The playerbots plugin's database (it attaches characters.sqlite). |
data/maps/ |
Terrain: extracted by the map extractor (data cache on), or tiles built from the client as grids load, with stamp.txt naming the client archives they came from (data cache off). |
data/Cameras/ |
Cinematic cameras, data cache on only. |
data/vmaps/ |
Collision from the vmaps step. |
data/mmaps/ |
Navigation meshes from the mmaps step (optional). |
logs/ |
The server's log files (LogsDir). |
backups/store/ |
The launcher's backups of all four databases: packs of changed pages and one small file per backup (Backups). Made while the server runs as well. |
backups/export/<id>/ |
Database files of a backup written out by Export. |
backups/<YYYY-MM-DD_HHMMSS>/ |
Full copies made by older versions (auth.sqlite, characters.sqlite, playerbots.sqlite); listed, never deleted by the launcher. |
sql/ |
The SQL from setup/sql.pak, only while the "Databases" step runs; removed afterwards. |
data/Buildings/, data/mmaps-config.yaml |
Temporary files of the vmaps and mmaps steps. |
With a plugin's database server ([server] location not local) there is no db/ in use and no launcher backups.
Game client
LonelyIce changes these files in the game folder:
| Path | When |
|---|---|
Data/<locale>/realmlist.wtf |
Set to 127.0.0.1 (127.0.0.1:<port> with a RealmServerPort other than 3724) by the wizard and before each game start ([client] writeRealmlist). The first overwrite keeps realmlist.wtf.bak. |
WTF/Config.wtf |
SET locale before each start ([client] locale), SET realmList when present, SET accountName by the wizard. |
Cache/WDB/ |
Deleted before each start ([client] clearWdb) and by the wizard. |
Data/<locale>/patch-<locale>-4.MPQ |
The plugins' client patch, built by the server at start when plugins have patches, removed when none has. An archive of that name LonelyIce did not write is never deleted: before LonelyIce writes its own, it moves that one to the first free name of patch-<locale>-4.MPQ.bak, .bak2, .bak3, …; with nothing to write it is left alone. |
Interface/AddOns/<addon>/, Interface/AddOns/lonelyice-addons.txt |
The plugins' addons, copied before each start, and the list of addons LonelyIce placed (addons of removed plugins are deleted). |
The storage check writes LonelyIce/storage-check.conf in the system's temporary folder.
What can be deleted
| Path | Effect |
|---|---|
logs/* |
Nothing but the logs. |
backups/export/, backups/<YYYY-MM-DD_HHMMSS>/ |
Nothing but those copies. |
backups/store/ |
All backups; the next one starts over with every page. Remove single backups by lowering [backup] budget or days instead. |
sql/, data/Buildings/, data/mmaps-config.yaml, plugins/.staging/ |
Leftovers of an interrupted step; the next run of that step starts over. |
data/maps/ with the data cache off |
The tiles are built again as grids load. |
data/mmaps/ |
Optional in the wizard; the Maintenance page then reports it missing. |
plugins/.cache/icons/ |
Downloaded again with the next catalog load. |
plugins/.cache/sql.stamp |
The next start runs the updater over the plugins' SQL folders; files already applied are skipped. |
worldserver.exe, authserver.exe |
Only needed for a dedicated server without LonelyIce. |
Data/<locale>/patch-<locale>-4.MPQ |
Built again at the next server start. |
Keep setup/: the wizard's "Databases" step needs sql.pak and configs.pak, and the launcher compares
sql.pak with [server] sqlStamp to notice database updates, which it applies before the next server start. Removing data/maps/ with the data cache on, or
db/world.sqlite, makes the launcher open the wizard.
What to back up
db/, all four files; the world database also holds the plugins' named ids (plugin_ids) and patch stamps (plugin_patches) and anything changed in the world by hand. The launcher's backups (Maintenance → Backups) cover all four, also while the server runs; to take them elsewhere, copybackups/store/or Export a backup. Copydb/itself only with the server stopped.configs/: the server's and the plugins' settings.lonelyice.ini: the launcher's settings, including the server folder and the storage.plugins/if exact plugin versions matter; otherwise they can be installed again from the catalogs.
With a database server, back the databases up with that server's tools.