Some basic thoughts on setting up an Unreal server with special regards to speed and network settings.

Servers, networking / speed settings

• Firewall users need to open a few ports, bidirectional UDP traffic must be allowed for the gameport and gameport+1 (default 7777 and 7778 - please read below, too) and outgoing UDP traffic must be allowed for potrs 27500 to 27900 so your server can send heartbeats to master servers. ***

• If you are running Unreal as a server behind a Cable/Dsl Router you need to go to the port forwarding menu on your router and forward the gameport and the UDP server query port (gameport+1) to the internal IP that your server has - so by default these are 7777 and 7778. Rumor has it a third port (7779) must also be routed but I can't see its purpose. I would also suggest putting a static internal ip address on your Unreal Server. ex. 192.168.1.253. You want it to be outside the range of your router's DHCP pool of IP addresses. You'll also want to find the DNS server IP's that your ISP uses and manually assign these to the network card that is in your Unreal Server.***

   The first (and most important) step in starting a Unreal Server, is to go to Options, Advanced Options, Networking,  find the Master Server Uplink and set douplink to true.
   Next set a admin password so you can control the server while playing in it.  Options, advanced options, game settings, admin pass.
   To be a passworded server go to "game password" and put a password in there.   Leave it blank for a public server.
   For "max players" and "max spectators" set it to what your bandwidth can handle (see charts below).  I usually set my spectators to 0.  I like to reserve my bandwidth for actual players.

For the Maximum player limit use the following chart as a guide.

Connection	Max Players:
56k Modem	2 for Death/Team, 3 for Coop
ISDN 128k	5 for Death/Team, 6 for Coop
DSL (check your speed, see above)	300k 6 for Death/Team, 8 for Coop
Cable (again check your speed)	8 or less for Death/Team, 12 or less for Coop
T1	12 or less for Death/Team, 16 or less for Coop

Scroll down till you get to games settings. Go to game types. Here you can set your options for Death, Team, or Coop. Some of the Team settings (frag limit/time limit) are actually set in the Deathmatch section. Most of these settings for the game types are self-explanatory. Now you need to set the levels you wish to play, unless using the default maps is what you want. Networking, map lists, deathmatch maps, maps (this also sets the team maps). You set what your server is called (this shows up in the server lists for the public to see) in Networking, Public Server Information. Admin name and email should be filled in so people can contact you. Server name is what your server will be called in the server lists. The short name is for server finding software that I don’t think many people use, but make it the same as your Server name. If you wish you can set your Server Region setting in the Networking, Public Server Information. Here's the list:

0	No Region Specified (default, use any)
1	Southeast US
2	Western US
3	Midwest US
4	Northwest US, West Canada
5	Northeast US, East Canada
6	United Kingdom
7	Continental Europe
8	Central Asia, Middle East
9	Southeast Asia, Pacific
10	Africa
11	Australia, NZ, Pacific
12	Central, South America

Adjust your TCP/IP settings in Advanced Options, Networking, TCP/IP Network Play:

1.Find your average bandwidth; use your upload speed as the limiting factor. Find your speed here.

2.For your max tick rate use the following chart as a guide. The higher you set the Max Tick rate, the better connection possible, but higher settings also use up more bandwidth. I generally use a Max Tick of 12 (lowest ping possible is a 89), with a Max Client rate of 5500. But set according to the bandwidth you have available and the number of players you will have. The rule of thumb is to divide the upload speed by the number of players you wish to have. E.g. 256k upload = about 32000 bps / 6 players = 5300 MaxClientRate. If you assign more bandwidth per player than you have available you will experience the creeping lag, and probably disconnect most of the players.

MAX TICKS	Lowest Ping and Connection Speed Needed (download/upload)
Max Ticks 5	199 (connection needed is 45k/45k)
Max Ticks 10	99 (connection needed is 90k/90k)
Max Ticks 15	66 (connection needed is 135k/135k)
Max Ticks 20	49 (connection needed is 180k/180k)
Max Ticks 25	39 (connection needed is 225k/225k)
Max Ticks 30	32 (connection needed is 270k/270k)

3. Also many people have reported that changing the Max Client rate (not to be confused with Max Client Tick Rate) to 5500 has resulted in smoother game play. 4. I wouldn't mess with anything other than Max Client Tick Rate, and Max Client Rate. (Note on 226 server Max Client Tick Rate is called NetServerMaxTickRate).

Well hopefully this has gotten your server up and running somewhat smoothly! Good luck and have fun!