Finding a server isn't that difficult, though some come and go. Finding a server that is going to be there at all times as well as has the resources necessary to support a healthy community with decent admins is hard to find. Hopefully, this will help:


Finding a server that will be there for a while is really easy to spot. Go to the steam forums and look for the server in the server list. If they posted an advert more than a few months ago, it is likely that server is there to stay and has survived the first 30 days.

Always stay in contact with the admins of that server, ask what you can do to help ensure the server stays online. Some admins might be paying out-of-pocket for their servers, and some are too proud to ask their players for help. Instead, offer it. Ask how you can donate to keep the server online.

Ask your admins what kind of server they are running and what the bandwidth is to that server. Generally, you will want a server that has over 100Mbps up and 100Mbps down. The Divine Reapers server operates at 1Gbps up and down (1,000Mbps). 100Mbps can support a full server without network lag.

Hardware or CPU lag is another issue entirely. Some servers might be running on laptops or weak systems. They begin to show their signatures when more than about 20 players get online. Players begin to experience lag, disconnects, and other signs that the server is overstressed. Playing on a server that is "weak" isn't a bad thing, so long as the admins have lowered the maximum player count to accommodate for 10 players instead of 100.

Servers that can easily handle 100 players are Xeon servers with 32GB RAM.

Finding a server with all of the above can be a rare gem, but finding one that also has far administrators can be even tougher. When someone runs a server they have access to special commands that not all other players have access to. Generally and ideally administrators wouldn't play the game on the same account or avatar that they use to admin. However being this game requires a valid license per account you can't expect an administrator to buy the game twice, have two steam logins, or not play on his/her server. But what you can do is look at their policy.

Here are some things to look for. If you answer no to any of these, you might want to find another server.

• Does the server offer access to admin logs?
  
• Does the admin's ships reasonable in size, power, and scale?
  
• Do the admins make clear what they use cheats for?
  
• Does the server have a procedure for finding and dealing with abusive admins?

Server admins already have the job of maintaining and moderating their servers, they can't do it all and we will always miss something because we're just human. So ensuring that you are contributing to the server is always a great thing. Some things you can do to help us server admins as a player is:

• Report Cheaters -- ask how you can do this.
  
• Donate to your server -- ask how you can do this.
  
• Don't get mad when the server reboots or updates.
  
• Don't curse out the server admin because you experience a bug.
  
• Read the server rules and information about the server
  
• Help recruit players to the server and game.

In the past six months that I've been playing, I have noticed the following servers meet the criteria that were explained in the previous section. This server list are servers in which have passed the test of time, have decent hardware specs and connectivity as well as have a decent and dedicated admin team.

• Andromeda Server
  
• Divine Reapers Server (My Community's Server)
  
• Official Server

Leave a comment on your server name and post in the forums. If you've been around for 3 months and you have decent hardware specs and an admin policy, I will add you to this guide.

If you're new to the game there are some things you need to be made well aware of before you make the wrong move and make your profile unplayable on the DS's out there.

• When you first join a server, pick Sentinel Security Services (if you prefer combat) or Hurles Industrial factions (If you prefer mining). As of the moment, the trading faction will not get you much and you'll find yourself wanting to switch factions really quick, but currently there is no way of doing this.
  
  
• Before you ever join a server go into the ship editor and look at all the pieces, see what they do by looking them up on the wiki. There is one, in particular, you do not want to play with around your bases.
  • Hacking Module (Electronic Warfare Suite) -- do not play with this device at all or if you wish to test it, make sure you ask permission to target someone's ship. This has caused me to kill a few newbies already coming back to base with a full cargo hold -- the last thing we want is someone hacking "access" and looting our stuff; so connections to our ship while our cargo hold is full is met with relentless counter-attacks and this is the attitude of most veteran players as well.
    
    
  • Your cockpit is also a place you fire weapons (Spacebar), if you must chat, get out of your cockpit (or your weapons will fire if the letter H is in a word and you hit the space-bar. H will disable your ship's main cannon safety, and spacebar will fire.
  
  
• Never beg. Asking for players to give you something when they had to earn it the hard way can be interpreted as an insult; moreover, you give a really bad first impression that you are a freeloader. Asking to trade is different. Asking to help in a crew is different. "Can someone give me 180K steel?" Is begging; "Can someone trade me 180K steel?" is not. This is a sure-fire way to ensure you never crew a ship -- think about that, who wants someone crewing a ship that's going to constantly want more than they agreed to?
  
  
• Acronyms:
  • LFG - Looking for group/crew (LFC for crew or LFF for Fleet)
    
  • LFM - Looking for members
    
  • WTT - Want to trade
    
  • WTS - Want to sale
    
  • WTB - Want to buy
• Buy twice as much hydrogen as you "think" you need!
  
  
• Always take a stack of oxygen with you when you board your ship for the first time. Find your Life Support module and load your oxygen into it (You'll have to place the O2 and then press the button on the screen to load it!)
  
  
• If you need help it never hurts to ask (beyond begging), but do remember if you don't get a reply it is likely not due to the entire server ignoring you, either they are busy, in the ship editor, or simply afk. Give them a few minutes even half-an-hour and they will eventually see your message.
  
  
• Remember to never underestimate the value of the In-game mail feature and knowing who your server admins are. Using this tool ensures that the recipient gets the message even if they are offline or AFK.

Finding a fleet and crew can be a very difficult thing to do in Interstellar Rift because many people have misconceptions about multiplayer and/or believe that there is little to do in Multiplayer. Because of this, multiplayer has become a self-fulfilling prophecy where people stop playing on multiplayer and therefore those left have less fun. With that said, I advise only that you keep at it, keep playing multiplayer. Eventually, the stigma will wear off and the server list will become healthy again allowing robust servers that will allow you to have access to several fleets and crews on your server.

One way to get started is by getting your friends playing the game and into the server, you're playing on. Create projects together and remind them that the game is more fun when multiple people manage the ship.

With that said, you may want to find a fleet that has military leadership; while it sounds a bit "over-the-top" for a video game, us veterans know what a chain of command is and we know the value of staying at your post until relieved. While we have our faults, the one thing no one can ever fault us for is being unable to bring order to an otherwise chaotic battle. They will be able to lead a crew into combat like a well-oiled machine, everyone will know their stations, everyone will know their assigned duties, and when the battle starts the other team will be left wondering what it was that just ran them over.

These are necessary components to finding a fleet or crew that will be combat effective.



A great way to both fund your server and allow fleets a more healthy environment is to offer a central location that players can add messages for fleet recruitment. We have done this on the Divine Reapers server and it has worked wonders both promoting fleets and helping to foot the bill for the server cost.

Many people think griefing is a problem and it is, but not because people grief but because people are easy targets. This game provides all the resources necessary not just to minimize griefing, but to completely eliminate it!

When you are done managing your ship, use the store-o-tron and store it. Players can't grief a ship they can't see! Many players complain that griefing is so bad yet anyone can freely store their ship when they're not using it. Simply get close enough to a station that you can teleport aboard that station and use the store-o-tron there to store your ship. Never again will you be griefed.

*spsst!* Devs! Making it so a store-o-tron can have a fleet storage area and ships to be owned by the fleet is a necessity so players can store ships only to the fleet storage allowing any group of players in a fleet to undock it when needed.

Your beacon is a "Hi, my ship is right here" sign that is broadcasted 100km from your ship *I think that number is right, it's a big number though*. This means when you leave your beacon on, you're advertising your ships location. If a griefer logs in and sees no one is online, guess who he'll be visiting? You.

This game is not intended to be a solo game, sure you can play the game solo much like a dog walks on one leg if you call it walking at all. With that said, avoid combat if absolutely necessary even with NPCs, and ensure you don't undock a ship that is bigger than what you can man if you are forced into combat.

For example, if you know you have a ship for your fleet that requires at least 3 people to properly operate it for shield management, gun operations, and piloting, don't undock that ship and take it mining. Instead, build a smaller ship, something that won't cost you much even if it is blown up.

So you don't have that many people on your server? Not many fleets you can interact with? Welcome to the club!

Under this circumstance, I would advise creating your own fleet and recruit your friends to join you and your fleet. Once you and your friends begin playing on a server regularly, other players will see there are 10/121 players on that server and they will join too and they also might bring their fleets too! You might even be able to bring a few players that play single-player out of hiding!

There are a few items your ships absolutely must have. In this little crash-corse, I will simply outline the devices you will need and a brief reason why beside it.

• Solar Panels - People believe this is optional but it really is not. If you have no solar panels there is no way to let your ship "idle" without burning fuel or burning through stored battery power. It is possible to make a ship entirely powered by solar panels and batteries, though you will have to leave your ship out to charge for a few days before it is usable but hey, "Green Power!".
  
  
• Capacitors (Fuse Boxes and "Power Cells") - are a must for bringing your shields back online. Once your shields go offline the shields will consume a LOT of power to bring the shields back online. These Fuse Boxes and Power Cells can speed up the rate in which the shields return to full power.
  
  
• Batteries - if you are going the solar route, batteries are a must. They also don't weight as much as a full tank of hydrogen either (with equivalent power stored) which means your ship will be faster running on batteries with no hydrogen on board. If you are using solar powered setups then batteries are an absolute must-have.
  
  
• Transporter - Without it, you can't get to or from your ship.
  
  
• Cockpit - how else can you fly?
  
  
• Engines - your ship will need engines. This is the main thrust of your ship.
  
  
• Thrusters - provide your ship with directional thrust, left, right, pitch, yaw, and roll. You need at least one thruster in each facing direction on your ship.
  
  
• Life Support - Without it, you will die. Remember to load oxygen into this device as SOON as you board your ship.

If I had to put my finger on one golden rule for multiplayer games it would be exactly this:

Have fun, but not at the expense of others.

Generally, if you run around blowing people up, you're going to get a lot of people angry: at you. This means that once they get into a decent crew, there will be retribution to pay. However, assume that player simply quits. Then what? Your server is 1/121 and you play by yourself. If that is to be your attitude you should just play single-player anyway.

So, sure, have fun, but don't be an ass.