Server registry

dealers-choice-registry is an optional directory server. Game servers can publish themselves to it, and clients can browse the list to find internet games (the LAN-only equivalent is built into the game and needs no registry).

Status: experimental. Like the dedicated server, the registry is new and lightly tested. Run one only if you are comfortable with that.

What it does

• A game server sends a short “I’m here” message (its name, port, player count) to the registry, and repeats it as a heartbeat.
• Before listing a server, the registry connects back to the advertised address and checks it really is a Dealer’s Choice server. A listing you can’t actually connect to never appears.
• Listings expire if the server stops sending heartbeats.
• The registry writes the current list to a JSON file (--json <path>) that a website can serve, and answers list requests from clients.

Running it

dealers-choice-registry --json /path/to/servers.json --verbose

The port defaults to 22070; pass --port to change it. Open inbound TCP on that port on the registry host. Game servers need no extra firewall change — the verification connects back to the game port players already use.

Configuring which registries to use

The list of registries lives in common.conf (in the data directory), read by both the game client (to show internet servers on the connect screen) and the headless server (to publish itself):

# common.conf
registry = registry.example.org
registry = 203.0.113.5, 22071

One registry per line (dnsmasq-style): the host is the value, with an optional port as a comma attribute (default 22070). Repeat the line for more registries. The headless server publishes to every listed registry unless started with --disable-publish. Leave it commented out for LAN-only play.

The client browses these registries by default. To stop the client from contacting any registry (it will then show only LAN servers), set registry_browser = no in player.conf, change it on the Settings screen, or run the client with --disable-registry-browser. See CONFIG.md.

Privacy — what is and isn’t stored

The registry is deliberate about addresses:

• Players who browse the server list: their IP address is not stored. It is used only to send the reply back, and is never written to the server list or the JSON file. It may appear in the registry’s own log only when --verbose is enabled, and even then it is not saved anywhere by the program.
• Game servers that publish: the server’s address is stored and shown publicly (in the list, the JSON file, and any webpage). This is necessary — the whole purpose of a directory is to tell players where the servers are. A server operator opts into this by publishing; publishing can be turned off (the game server’s --disable-publish option), in which case nothing about that server is sent to any registry.
• The registry never sees the connection between a player and a game server. Those connections do not pass through the registry, so it cannot and does not collect players’ addresses from gameplay.

In short: a publishing server’s address is public by listing (the operator’s choice); a browsing player’s address is not collected.