How to make players join faster on your BeamMP server

Every new player downloads all the mods on your server before they can drive, so the smaller the pack, the faster they join. The What players download card on the Mods & maps tab shows the pack size and how long a first join takes. Switch off what you do not use and protect paid mods.

Read the card

1. Open your server in the panel and click the Mods & maps tab.

2. Look at What players download:

   • how many mods are sent on first join, and how many are protected,
   • Pack size against 10 GB, with a rating: Quick to join, Large, Very large or Too large for most players,
   • First join at 25 Mbit/s and At 100 Mbit/s: the time a player's download takes at those speeds,
   • Largest: the biggest mods.

The panel's advice: Most public servers send about 1 GB. Players leave while a big pack downloads.

Make the pack smaller

• Switch off mods you do not use: open Actions for the mod and click Switch off. The file stays on the server but is not sent. Filter Off shows them.
• Remove duplicates: a row with the Duplicate badge is the same file as another one, so players download it twice.
• Remove broken zips: a row that says This file is not a working zip is sent to every player for nothing.
• Pick fewer maps: maps are often the biggest mods. Keep only the one you run.
• After any change, click Apply now, no restart, so players who join from now get the smaller set.

Protect paid mods

Protect (do not send) in a mod's menu keeps the mod on the server but stops BeamMP sending it: players need their own copy. Use it for a paid mod that every player must own and install themselves. It also takes the mod out of the download. Send to players again undoes it. The mod shows the badge Protected.

The server must be running to protect a mod or send it again. Protecting needs the Use the console and Edit and rename permissions.

What players see while they wait

On the Players page, a player who is still downloading shows Downloading mods and Joined ... ago. When they are in, the badge changes to In the world: How to see who is online on your BeamMP server.

The times on the card are worked out from the pack size and those two speeds. A player's real speed can be slower. If players give up during the download, see Players are stuck downloading mods on your BeamMP server.