Add Cars and Tracks to an Assetto Corsa Server with a Content Manager Pack

Every car and track on an Assetto Corsa server comes from files on the server: a cfg folder that says what to run and a content folder with the data for each car and track. Content Manager builds both for you, and its Pack button exports them as one archive you can upload.

A new server starts on Imola with the Abarth 500, both from the base game, so it works before you change anything. This guide replaces that setup with your own.

What the server is running#

Our Assetto Corsa servers run AssettoServer, the community server most public Assetto Corsa servers run on, rather than the server Kunos ships with the game. It reads the same server_cfg.ini and entry_list.ini that Content Manager writes, and adds its own settings in cfg/extra_cfg.yml for things such as AI traffic and Custom Shaders Patch weather.

Step 1: Set up the server in Content Manager#

1. Open Content Manager and go to the Server tab. If you do not see it, turn it on in Content Manager's settings.
2. Create a preset, or open the one you want to use.
3. Pick the track and its layout.
4. In Entry list, add the cars, and set the capacity to match the number of entries.
5. Set the rules, conditions and sessions you want: practice, qualifying, race and their lengths.
6. Save the preset.

Leave the server name, passwords and ports as they are. The panel sets those on every start (see What the panel sets for you).

Step 2: Export it with Pack#

In the bar where you saved the preset, choose Pack. Content Manager writes a .zip archive that holds:

For the target, Linux is right. Leave Include executable and Pack into single exe-file unticked: your server already has AssettoServer installed, and it needs only the files.

Step 3: Upload and extract it at the server root#

1. In the panel, stop the server.
2. Open the file manager at the top folder of the server, the one that already contains cfg and content.
3. Upload the archive there.
4. Extract it in that same folder, so its cfg and content merge with the ones already there.
5. Check the result: cfg/server_cfg.ini and cfg/entry_list.ini should be the pack's, and each car and the track should have a folder under content/cars/ and content/tracks/.
6. Delete the archive and start the server.

What the panel sets for you#

These values are written into cfg/server_cfg.ini from the panel's Startup settings every time the server starts, so anything the pack had for them is replaced:

• the server name
• the join password and the admin password
• the game port and the HTTP port
• whether the server is listed in the public lobby

The welcome message, the server description, Steam authentication and the admin list are the panel's too, when you fill them in. Change all of these in the panel, not in the pack.

Mod cars and tracks#

Mod cars and tracks work the same way as the game's own. Content Manager packs only the data the server needs for each one, not the whole mod.

Two things to know:

• Car checksums come from the pack. Each car's data.acd is what the server checks a driver's copy of the car against. A driver whose car data differs from the server's is kicked when they join, so keep the data.acd files the pack gives you, and update the pack when a mod updates.
• Drivers need the content too. The server sends no cars or tracks to players. Everyone who joins needs the same cars and track installed in their own game.

AI traffic for freeroam servers#

AssettoServer can fill a track with AI traffic for cruise and freeroam servers. It needs three things:

1. An AI spline for the track. The track needs fast_lane.aip (or fast_lane.ai) in its ai folder, at content/tracks/<track>/ai/, or in the layout's own ai folder for a track with layouts. The pack does not add one, so upload the spline there yourself.
2. AI switched on. Set EnableAi: true in cfg/extra_cfg.yml.
3. Slots AI may use. In cfg/entry_list.ini, add AI=auto to a slot that AI drives until a player takes it, or AI=fixed to a slot that only AI drives.

[CAR_10]
MODEL=abarth500
SKIN=0_white_scorpion
AI=auto

AI traffic and big grids are what use the most CPU on an Assetto Corsa server. A 12-car race server is light by comparison and idles under 0.1 GB of memory, so if you add traffic, give the server the CPU to match.

Verify it worked#

1. Watch the console as the server starts. It ends with Server startup completed once the track and cars have loaded.
2. If it stops instead, the last lines name the file or setting it could not use. A missing car or track folder under content/ is the usual cause.
3. Join from Content Manager and check that you are on the track and in a car you packed. See How to Join an Assetto Corsa Server.

Related guides#

• How to Join an Assetto Corsa Server
• Assetto Corsa Admin Commands on AssettoServer

Trusted references#

• AssettoServer: The Beginner's Guide — packing a Content Manager preset and setting up AI traffic
• AssettoServer: Common configuration errors — what a failed start is telling you, missing car checksums included
• AssettoServer documentation — what the server reads from cfg/ and extra_cfg.yml
• Content Manager — the launcher that builds the pack