The WarDogs agent

Agent or RCON address?

• Rented game server (xREALM, Nitrado, …): you usually cannot run programs there. Use RCON address in the dashboard with the RCON port your host shows.
• Your own machine (root server, VPS, a PC at home): use the agent. RCON can stay on 127.0.0.1 and nothing has to be opened in the firewall.
• One agent can serve up to ten game servers on the same machine. A Discord can have five agents.

Step by step

1. 1

   Turn RCON on in the server config

   In ServerSettings.ini, the section [/Script/WDRCON.WDRCONSettings] needs RCON on and a password. With the agent it can listen on this machine only:

   [/Script/WDRCON.WDRCONSettings]
   bEnabled=true
   BindAddress=127.0.0.1
   Port=7776
   Password=choose-a-long-password

   Restart the game server after changing this section.

2. 2

   Create the agent in the dashboard

   Open your server in the dashboard, go to Overview → Directly with RCON → WarDogs agent (or Settings → Connection if you are already connected directly), give the machine a name and press Create agent. The dashboard shows the start command with your token in it. The token is shown only once.

3. 3

   Start it on the server

   With Docker (Linux). --network host lets it reach RCON on 127.0.0.1:

   docker run -d --name wardogs-agent --restart unless-stopped --network host \
     -e WARDOGS_TOKEN=wda_your_token \
     -e RCON_URL=http://127.0.0.1:7776 \
     -e RCON_PASSWORD=your-rcon-password \
     registry.wardogsbot.com/wardogs-agent:1

   Or with Docker Compose, next to your other services:

   services:
     wardogs-agent:
       image: registry.wardogsbot.com/wardogs-agent:1
       restart: unless-stopped
       network_mode: host
       environment:
         WARDOGS_TOKEN: wda_your_token
         RCON_URL: http://127.0.0.1:7776
         RCON_PASSWORD: your-rcon-password

   The image is built for Linux on x86-64 and ARM64. Version 1 gets fixes under the same tag.

   With Node.js 18 or newer (Linux or Windows), for example next to a Windows game server:

   Invoke-WebRequest https://wardogsbot.com/api/agent/wardogs-agent.js -OutFile wardogs-agent.js
   $env:WARDOGS_TOKEN="wda_your_token"; $env:RCON_PASSWORD="your-rcon-password"
   node wardogs-agent.js

   Keep it running: Docker restarts it by itself; with Node.js use a service, a scheduled task at start-up, or pm2.

4. 4

   Done

   Within a few seconds the dashboard shows the agent as Online and lists your server. The status panel, moderation, bans, whitelist, rotation, recaps and the server config editor now work through it.

Settings

Security

• The agent only makes outgoing HTTPS requests to wardogsbot.com. Nothing listens for connections.
• It only forwards requests to the game's RCON API (paths under /v1/) on the addresses you set. Nothing else on the machine can be reached through it.
• The RCON password stays in the agent's environment. We store only a hash of the agent token.
• The script has no dependencies and is short enough to read: wardogs-agent.js. The Docker image is that script on node:22-alpine, run as an unprivileged user. The dashboard tells you when a newer version is out.
• Updating: docker pull registry.wardogsbot.com/wardogs-agent:1, then docker rm -f wardogs-agent and the start command again (Compose: docker compose pull && docker compose up -d). With Node.js, download the script again.
• A leaked token? Press the key button next to the agent for a new one, or remove the agent. The old token stops at once.

Troubleshooting

• Stays on “Waiting for first start”: the agent did not reach wardogsbot.com. Check its log (docker logs wardogs-agent) and outgoing HTTPS.
• Online, but “could not reach the game server”: RCON is off, on another port, or the server is down. Check RCON_URL and restart the game after config changes.
• “does not accept the RCON password set in the agent”: RCON_PASSWORD differs from Password in the config.
• “The token was not accepted” in the agent log: the agent was removed or got a new token. Start it with the current one.
• Docker on Windows or macOS has no host network: run the Node.js version there, or use RCON_URL=http://host.docker.internal:7776 with RCON bound to 0.0.0.0.