Linux Game Server Running on Boot

Using systemd

systemd is the default init system for most modern distros.

You need to create a service file in /etc/systemd/system/

Example ts3server.service:

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[Unit]
Description=LinuxGSM Teamspeak3 Server
After=network-online.target
Wants=network-online.target

[Service]
Type=forking
User=ts3server
WorkingDirectory=/home/ts3server
ExecStart=/home/ts3server/ts3server start
ExecStop=/home/ts3server/ts3server stop
Restart=no
RemainAfterExit=yes   # Assume that the service is running after main process exits with code 0

[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

Replace the user and paths to fit your setup.

You need to reload the systemd-daemon once to make it aware of the new service file:

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systemctl daemon-reload

Now you can do:

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sudo systemctl start ts3server    # Start the server
sudo systemctl stop ts3server   # Stop the server
sudo systemctl enable ts3server  # Enable start on boot
sudo systemctl disable ts3server # Disable start on boot

Using Crontab

The crontab will allow you to create cronjobs that allow you to run a command on a set time or on boot. The below examples uses @reboot that will run a command on boot。

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@reboot '/home/username/gameserver monitor' > /dev/null 2>&1

note: Most admins will also have a timed monitor cronjob configured. If you do not want to have extra cronjobs the timed monitor will also start a server but with a timed delay.

Using monitor command

After a reboot, any game server that has a “started” status will be started on boot. Servers that were manually stopped will remain stopped.

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crontab -e
@reboot su - username -c '/home/username/gameserver monitor' > /dev/null 2>&1

To learn more, see cronjobs and automated monitoring.

Using start command

Start a game server unconditionally, even if you manually stopped a server.

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crontab -e
@reboot su - username -c '/home/username/gameserver start' > /dev/null 2>&1

To learn more, see Start-Stop-Restart

Using rc.local

rc.local is another method to run scripts on boot. Any commands added to the rc.local file will run on boot.

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nano /etc/rc.local
su - username -c '/home/username/gameserver start'