The Tool Desk
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This guide covers x86_64 and ARM64 VPSs, foreground and background operation, boot-time startup, cloud licensing considerations, and clean removal.
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What you need before installing
SFS3 is the current Linux-oriented SmartFoxServer release described in the vendor documentation. It is built around Java 25 LTS and licenses are measured by concurrent users (CCU). Prepare the server before uploading the archive so an architecture or runtime mismatch does not look like an application failure.
Operating-system and runtime requirements
- A Linux kernel version 4.x or newer.
- glibc 2.17 or newer.
- Java 23 or newer. The official Linux x86_64 package includes a Java 25 runtime.
- A CPU architecture matching the installer: x86_64 or ARM64.
- SSH access with permission to install files, create a service, and adjust firewall or resource-limit settings.
Check the architecture and basic runtime information from SSH before downloading:
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uname -m
ldd --version
java -versionAn x86_64 VPS normally reports x86_64; ARM machines commonly report aarch64. The glibc command prints the installed library version. A missing Java executable is not automatically a blocker because the x86_64 archive carries its own runtime, but it is useful to know whether another Java installation could affect troubleshooting.
Size the VPS from the workload
The Linux installation documentation does not publish one universal CPU, memory, disk, or bandwidth recommendation. Select those resources from your expected room sizes, extension workload, message rates, persistence needs, and load-test results. Leave headroom for the operating system, logs, updates, monitoring, and temporary files; do not choose a fixed VPS plan merely because an example server used one.
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Use the official SmartFoxServer download page and select the SFS3 Linux archive for the VPS architecture. The page lists separate x86_64 and ARM64 packages. Keep the downloaded .tar.gz filename unchanged or note it exactly, because the extraction command must use the real name.
Upload the archive with your normal SCP, SFTP, or provider file-transfer method. The following example assumes the file is in /home/ubuntu and is named SFS3_unix_3_0_0.tar.gz; substitute the actual account directory and filename in your shell.
cd /home/ubuntu
tar xf SFS3_unix_3_0_0.tar.gzExtraction creates a SmartFoxServer3 directory. In the remainder of this guide, the installation is placed at /opt/SmartFoxServer3. If you extracted elsewhere, use that absolute path consistently in every command and service setting.
sudo mkdir -p /opt
sudo mv SmartFoxServer3 /opt/SmartFoxServer3
sudo chown -R root:root /opt/SmartFoxServer3Running the move and ownership commands as shown is optional if you intentionally keep the installation in your home directory. A dedicated service account is preferable for a production deployment; whichever account runs SFS3 must be able to read the installation and write its log and runtime directories.
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Start SFS3 for the first time
Foreground mode for an initial check
Foreground mode keeps the process attached to your terminal and prints its startup output there. It is the quickest way to confirm that the package launches before adding a daemon.
cd /opt/SmartFoxServer3/server
./sfs-standaloneWatch for startup errors and confirm that the expected listeners bind successfully. This mode ends when you press CTRL+C or close the terminal, so it is suitable for verification and interactive debugging rather than an unattended game server.
Background service mode
The bundled service launcher detaches SFS3 from your SSH session and provides four operations:
cd /opt/SmartFoxServer3/server
./sfs-service start
./sfs-service status
./sfs-service restart
./sfs-service stopUse status immediately after start and inspect the files under /opt/SmartFoxServer3/server/logs/. If the status command reports a failure, read the newest log entries before changing configuration; they normally identify a Java, permission, port, or extension problem.
Configure automatic startup with systemd
On a VPS that uses systemd, create a unit at /lib/systemd/system/smartfox.service. This example uses the concrete installation path above and starts the bundled launcher in forking mode:
[Unit]
Description=SmartFoxServer 3
After=network.target
[Service]
Type=forking
User=root
LimitNOFILE=100000
WorkingDirectory=/opt/SmartFoxServer3/server
ExecStart=/opt/SmartFoxServer3/server/sfs-service start
ExecStop=/opt/SmartFoxServer3/server/sfs-service stop
Restart=on-abort
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.targetThe sample uses User=root to mirror the vendor’s unit example. For a hardened server, replace it with a dedicated account such as smartfox, then make sure that account owns or can access the installation, logs, extensions, and any data directories that SFS3 must write. Do not switch the account without testing a manual start as that user.
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Load the unit, enable it for future boots, and start it now:
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable smartfox.service
sudo systemctl start smartfox.service
sudo systemctl status smartfox.servicesystemctl status shows the most recent service result. For a longer journal view, use:
sudo journalctl -u smartfox.service -n 100 --no-pager
sudo journalctl -u smartfox.service -fAfter changing the unit file, run sudo systemctl daemon-reload again and restart the service. The installation guide does not prescribe one enablement command for every Linux distribution; the commands above apply to systemd-based systems. Distributions using another init system require that distribution’s documented startup mechanism instead.
Raise file-descriptor limits for busy servers
Every open TCP or UDP socket and many open files consume a file descriptor. Many Linux distributions begin with a soft limit of 1024, which can be inadequate when thousands of client connections are expected. Check the current shell limit:
ulimit -nUse your distribution’s supported limits mechanism to raise the limit for the account that runs SFS3, and keep the service limit aligned with that value. The systemd unit above sets LimitNOFILE=100000 as an example high ceiling; it is not a universal sizing answer. Choose a value from connection forecasts, operating-system limits, and load testing, then verify the effective limit for the running service rather than assuming the unit was accepted.
A limit that is too low commonly appears as intermittent connection failures or log messages reporting “too many open files” under load. Raising the number alone does not create CPU, memory, or network capacity, so monitor all of those resources while testing.
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Install on an ARM64 VPS
ARM64 support requires both an ARM-compatible SFS3 package and an ARM64 Java 25 runtime. Do not run the x86_64 bundle on an ARM host through an emulation layer for a production deployment.
- Download the ARM64 SFS3 installer from the official download page and extract it normally.
- Obtain the Java 25 build for ARM64 and unzip it on the VPS.
- Inside the extracted
SmartFoxServer3directory, remove the bundledjre/directory. - Copy the unzipped ARM64 Java directory into
SmartFoxServer3and rename that directory tojre/. - Run
./sfs-standalonefrom the server directory, then check the logs for architecture or library errors before enabling the service.
cd /opt/SmartFoxServer3
rm -rf jre
cp -a /path/to/unzipped-arm64-java jre
cd server
./sfs-standaloneThe /path/to/unzipped-arm64-java segment represents the real directory created by your Java archive; replace it with that directory before executing the command. The replacement is necessary because the default runtime in an extracted package may not match the VPS CPU.
Choose a license for your deployment
| Edition or model | Concurrent-user scope | Attribution or cloud consideration |
|---|---|---|
| Community Edition | Free and full-featured, limited to 100 CCU | Commercial projects may use it when the main application screen or GUI shows a readable “Powered by SmartFoxServer” notice |
| Commercial license | Higher CCU limits are available | Licensing can remove the Community attribution requirement; confirm the terms for your edition |
| Older IP-bound licensing | Determined by the older license terms rather than the SFS3 CCU presentation | A cloud VM whose private IP changes after termination and relaunch can invalidate an IP-bound activation; the vendor documents a License Server approach for cloud deployments |
Confirm the exact license terms for the SFS version you are deploying. Do not assume that guidance for older IP-bound SmartFoxServer products applies unchanged to SFS3’s CCU-based model, especially when a cloud provider can assign a different private address after a rebuild.
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Configure firewall and network access
Open only the TCP and UDP listener ports configured by your SFS3 instance, plus any administration path that you deliberately expose. Apply the same policy in both layers:
- The VPS provider’s security group, cloud firewall, or network ACL.
- The Linux host firewall, such as the distribution’s nftables, firewalld, or UFW configuration.
SFS3’s exact port list depends on the generated configuration, zone setup, and enabled administration services; there is no universal list to copy safely. Read the listener settings for this installation, open those protocols and ports, and leave unrelated inbound traffic closed. Restrict administration ports to your management addresses or VPN rather than exposing them to the whole internet.
After applying rules, test from an allowed client network and verify the server logs. A port that is listening locally but blocked by the provider firewall will look like an application outage, while a port open in the provider console but denied by the host firewall will fail in the opposite direction.
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Validate the deployment before inviting players
- Run
systemctl status smartfox.serviceand confirm the process remains active after several minutes. - Review
/opt/SmartFoxServer3/server/logs/for startup exceptions, bind failures, repeated restarts, or authentication errors. - Confirm the configured TCP and UDP listeners with the network tools supplied by your distribution, then compare them with the firewall rules.
- Close the SSH session and reconnect later; a correctly managed service should continue running.
- Reboot a test VPS and verify that systemd starts SFS3 automatically.
- Run a representative client and concurrency test before committing to a production CCU tier.
Test under the same extension set, message patterns, encryption settings, and zone configuration expected in production. Record CPU, memory, network throughput, descriptor usage, and log growth so resource and limit decisions are based on observed behavior.
Troubleshoot common installation failures
The launcher exits immediately
Check the architecture reported by uname -m, the extracted directory permissions, and the Java runtime bundled or installed for that architecture. On ARM64, repeat the JRE replacement procedure and ensure the replacement directory is named exactly jre. Read the first startup exception in the SFS3 log instead of repeatedly restarting the process.
systemd reports a failed service
Run sudo systemctl status smartfox.service and sudo journalctl -u smartfox.service -n 100 --no-pager. Confirm that WorkingDirectory, ExecStart, and ExecStop point to the real installation, that the selected User can execute the scripts, and that no foreground SFS3 process is already occupying the listeners. After editing the unit, reload systemd before restarting.
Clients cannot connect
First establish whether SFS3 is listening locally. If it is, compare the exact configured port and protocol with both firewall layers and with the address clients are using. A DNS or public-address error is separate from a SmartFoxServer runtime error. Do not open a broad port range as a workaround; correct the specific listener and rule.
Connections fail only at higher concurrency
Inspect the effective file-descriptor limit and logs for “too many open files.” Then measure CPU, memory, bandwidth, and packet handling while increasing load gradually. A higher descriptor ceiling addresses one operating-system bottleneck but cannot compensate for an undersized VPS or inefficient extension code.
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Determine whether the license is an older IP-bound activation or an SFS3 CCU-based license. If the private address changed, follow the applicable License Server or reactivation process documented for that exact product version and contact the license administrator before production migration.
Uninstall SFS3 safely
Back up custom settings, extensions, certificates, zone data, and any other information you may need before deleting the installation. Stop the service first, then remove the installation and, if used, its systemd unit:
cd /opt/SmartFoxServer3/server
./sfs-service stop
sudo rm -rf /opt/SmartFoxServer3
sudo rm -f /lib/systemd/system/smartfox.service
sudo systemctl daemon-reloadIf the service was enabled, disable it before removal or after restoring the unit long enough to run the command:
sudo systemctl disable smartfox.serviceVerify that no SFS3 process remains, remove firewall rules that were dedicated to it, and retain backups until you have confirmed that the replacement deployment is complete.
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Quick Recap
Deployment choices at a glance
| Decision | Option A | Option B | Operational effect |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU architecture | x86_64 package with included Java 25 runtime | ARM64 package with architecture-matched Java 25 replacement | The package and runtime must match the VPS architecture |
| Process lifetime | sfs-standalone |
sfs-service |
Foreground mode ends with the terminal; the service launcher detaches and supports start, stop, status, and restart |
| Boot behavior | Manual start after each reboot | systemd unit enabled for multi-user boot | Automatic startup requires a correctly installed unit and tested permissions |
| Descriptor policy | Distribution default, often 1024 | Measured and tuned service limit | The default may restrict large connection counts; tune it with load evidence |
| License scope | Community Edition | Commercial CCU tier | The Community edition has a 100-CCU ceiling and attribution condition; higher tiers are for larger limits or different licensing terms |
| Cloud identity | Older fixed-IP activation | Cloud-compatible licensing approach | Private-IP changes after VM replacement can affect older IP-bound licenses |
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