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Squad Server Visibility & Listing

Showing up in the Custom browser (automatic) and the official list (Offworld license).

Squad Server Visibility & Listing

There are two separate levels of visibility for a Squad server. Your Lobby Maker server is set up for the first one automatically.

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Level 1 — Community "Custom" Browser (automatic)

Your server advertises itself with ShouldAdvertise=true in SquadGame/ServerConfig/Server.cfg, which Lobby Maker writes for you by default. So a freshly deployed server appears in the game's Server Browser → Custom tab within a minute or two of finishing startup — no application needed.

To find it: launch Squad → Server Browser → Custom tab → search your server name.

If it doesn't show up: 1. Make sure the server has fully started (the Console tab shows it running / "Engine Initialization"). 2. In the Files tab, open SquadGame/ServerConfig/Server.cfg and confirm ShouldAdvertise=true. 3. Restart the server.

You can rename the server and set player limits from the Startup tab variables — those are written into Server.cfg on each start, so you don't need to edit the file by hand.

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Level 2 — Official Server List (requires an Offworld license)

To appear in Squad's official server list (not just Custom), Squad requires a free server license from the developer, Offworld Industries.

Until the server is licensed, the console shows messages like:

LogODKOnline: Error: [Unknown] Failed to parse JSON
LogDataServerProvider: Error: Max retries reached. Login failed.

These are normal for an unlicensed server and do not stop players from joining via the Custom tab or direct connect.

To get licensed: 1. Apply at https://license.offworldindustries.com/. 2. Fill in your server and hardware details. If you need your server's specs or public IP, open a support ticket and we'll provide them. 3. Offworld reviews applications manually — it is not instant, and a license is tied to your server's specific machine/IP.

> Because licensing is a manual step handled by Offworld Industries, official-list visibility can take time and is outside Lobby Maker's control. The Custom browser (Level 1) works immediately.