Config

Server Config

The server reads data/server.conf on startup (or the file specified via --conf).

Password

Password authentication requires libsodium. If the build was compiled without it, any configured password is ignored and a warning is printed at startup.

To require players to authenticate before joining, set a password:

password = mysecretpassword

Leave the value empty (or omit the key) to allow anyone to connect without a password.

The DC_PASSWORD environment variable takes precedence over server.conf:

DC_PASSWORD=mysecretpassword ./dealers-choice-server

Clients can also also use either method for setting their password.

Admin controls

Any client that authenticates with the server password is granted admin status for that session. An admin can kick or ban other players during a lobby or game via the Kick / Ban buttons in the player list.

• Kick — the target player is immediately disconnected and their coins are reset to the starting amount.
• Ban — same as kick, but the player’s IP address is added to an in-memory ban list so they cannot reconnect for the duration of the server session. Bans are not persisted to disk and are cleared when the server restarts.

An admin cannot kick or ban themselves.

Bet amounts

The bet amounts shown during a game (as a notched bet-amount scale) are configured as a comma-separated list:

bet_amounts = list, 100, 250, 500

Up to 8 values are supported. The hotkeys 1–8 map to each amount in order. The first value is also used to scale the coin display in the pot.

Player Config

When you run the client from a terminal, you’ll see the path to your config file. You can edit settings from the Settings menu on the startup screen, or by editing the file directly.

Sound

sound.volume = 7 # You can use a range of 0 - 10
sound.notify.turn = yes # Use "no" to disable your turn audio notification

Connection

connect.attempts = 6 # Number of connection attempts before giving up

Server browser

The connect screen lists internet servers by asking the registries named in common.conf (see the registry guide). That file is not installed, so out of the box there are no registries and the list stays empty — creating it is how you opt in. To stop the client contacting a registry for one run, start it with:

dealers-choice --disable-registry-browser

This only affects the internet server list. LAN discovery is separate and is not changed by it.

LAN discovery port

The client and the servers on your LAN must agree on one UDP port, which defaults to 22787. Change it only if that port is already taken, and change it on every machine:

dealers-choice --discovery-port 22800
dealers-choice-server --discovery-port 22800

The same setting can live in common.conf as lan_discovery_port, which is useful when several machines share a data directory. The flag wins over the file.

Language

To use a language that is different from your system’s default:

language = de

The value must match the name of a .po translation file, without the .po ending.

You can see the available languages in the po directory.

Game-play hotkeys

In-game keys are set in your player.conf; see keys.md for the full list and how to change them.