Tribes 2 Dedicated Server — Documentation

This folder documents the Tribes 2 dedicated-server container and its ASP.NET Core control panel: how it is put together, how to run and configure it, and — the part most people come here for — how to build your own mod image with a custom ruleset.

New to the project? Read Architecture for the big picture, then jump to Creating a custom mod image.

Contents

Doc	What’s in it
Architecture	How the pieces fit: ASP.NET Core panel as image owner, Wine, the headless game, the PTY bridge, the database.
Configuration reference	Every environment variable and build arg, with defaults.
Web panel & roles	Every page in the panel, the role/permission model, and the Developer capability.
Rulesets & mods	How SERVER_RULESET / -mod works and how the panel discovers and configures rulesets.
Creating a custom mod image	Step-by-step: derive from the base image, install your mod, set the ruleset, build, compose, CI.
Building & deploying	Local builds, Docker Compose, GHCR images, the GitHub Actions workflow, VC++ runtime licensing.
Networking & client IPs	Make real player IPs reach the container (host networking / DNAT) so bans & admin work.
Internals: patch & headless	The PE patch, the no-xvfb headless approach, the PTY bridge, the modern-runtime DLLs, crash tracking.
Database	The local Turso/SQLite database, its tables, and how schema changes are applied.
TLS	Self-signed and Let’s Encrypt certificates.
Troubleshooting	Common problems and how to diagnose them.

At a glance

• One image, two layers of concern. The image is fundamentally an ASP.NET Core 10 app; Wine + the Tribes 2 game are layered on top. The panel is PID 1 and owns the game via a hosted Worker Service, so the panel stays up even when the game stops or crashes.
• Headless, no xvfb. The dedicated server runs without a display via a PE patch (GUI→console subsystem) and a pseudo-terminal bridge. See Internals.
• Configure from the panel. First-time setup, Auto-Start, ruleset/-mod, serverprefs.cs, file editing (Monaco), uploads, a root container terminal, users, audit, and crash reports — all in the browser. See Web panel & roles.
• Mods are folders + a ruleset name. A “ruleset/mod” is a top-level GameData folder (e.g. Classic) with a scripts/ dir. Bake it into a derived image or upload it at runtime, then point SERVER_RULESET/the panel at it. See Creating a custom mod image.

The top-level README has the quick start; these docs go deeper.