How to rotate maps on a schedule on your DDNet server

DDNet has no map cycle: a map runs until someone changes it. To change map at set times, schedule the Change Map task on Quick Tasks, one schedule for each map and time. Players can also change map any time by vote.

Before you start

• Every map in the rotation must be in data/maps, with the 0.7 badge on the Maps page. See How to upload and manage maps on your DDNet server.
• Write down each map's name as the Maps page shows it, without .map. Capitals count.

Schedule a map change

1. Open your server in the panel and click Quick Tasks in the left menu.
2. Under All tasks, find Change Map, open its menu (...) and choose Schedule….
3. Give the schedule a Name, for example Gold Mine on Friday, and type the map name under Map name. Click Next step.
4. Choose Repeats, set How often, for example Every week, pick the day under On and the time under At. Below, the window says when it runs, and if your time zone is different, what time that is where you are.
5. Keep Enabled on and click Schedule.

Repeat for each map and time. For a daily rotation of three maps, make three schedules at different hours.

The new schedules appear under Schedules. At each time, players on the server move to the new map. The start map does not change: after a restart the server starts on its Start map again.

Only when nobody is playing

Open a schedule under Schedules and switch on Skip while players are online. In the list When players are online, choose Skip that run, or a wait such as Wait up to 2 hours for the server to empty. The panel looks again every 5 minutes and changes the map as soon as nobody is on.

Change or stop the rotation

• Use a schedule's switch to turn it off or on.
• Open its ... menu and choose Run now to try it, or Delete schedule to remove it.
• The Quick Tasks page cannot change the time of a schedule that exists. For another time, make a new schedule and delete the old one.

Let players choose

Every map on the server is in the vote list from the next start, so players can rotate maps themselves. See How to set up map votes and vote rules on your DDNet server.

More about schedules: How to schedule tasks and automatic backups.