How to record and download demos on your DDNet server

Tick Record demos automatically on the Make it a public server card on the Maps page, apply it and restart. The server then records each map from start to change, and you download the recordings from Files. Watch them in the DDNet client.

Turn recording on

1. Open your server in the panel and click Maps in the left menu.
2. On the Make it a public server card, tick Record demos automatically.
3. Click Make it a public server, or Update if the preset is on already.
4. The page says Done. Restart the server to apply it. Click Restart now, or restart the server later.

The card says it plainly: a demo covers one map from start to change, about 1 GB a day even on a quiet server. Use this only if your map changes often, for example with votes.

Download a demo

1. Click the Files tab.
2. Open the folder .local/share/ddnet/demos/auto/server.
3. Find the demo by its map name and date, and download it from its menu.

To watch it, open the DDNet client and its demo browser, with the file in the client's own demos folder.

The preset keeps the 5 newest recordings: each time a map loads, DDNet deletes the older ones. Download a demo you need, for example to check a report, before the map changes a few more times.

The 1 GB limit

So demos never fill your server, the panel removes the oldest finished demos once they pass 1 GB, and if one demo alone is bigger, recording stops at the next map change. The Console then says Automatic demos passed 1 GB, so recording stops at the next map change. Delete old demos in that folder, or turn Record demos automatically off, and restart.

Turn it off

Untick Record demos automatically, click Update, and restart the server. Undo on the card takes the whole preset out, recording included: How to make your DDNet server public and add moderators.

Good to know

• Demos are part of your backups while they are on the server. Delete the ones you do not need, so backups stay small.
• A demo shows the game as it happened, which helps you check a report before you ban someone: How to kick or ban a player on your DDNet server.