⌖ Verified for OpenFront v33.5 · 16 August 2026
The normal Host menu offers FFA or Team, map and AI choices, spawn and timing rules, alliances, resources, special modes, disabled units, anonymous names, a whitelist, and Host Cheats. Internal public-playlist flags such as isPeaceTime, isNukesDisabled, isSAMsDisabled, and isPortsDisabled are not normal Host-menu controls.
Direct answer: choose a goal, not a preset name
For a fair game with friends, keep Host Cheats off, disclose every global resource change, and use a whitelist if the link must stay private. For fixed-team practice in an ordinary room, choose Team, keep Random Spawn off, and leave automatic gold and troop donations enabled. Use Infinite Gold, Instant Build, disabled units, Water Nukes, or Doomsday only for a named drill. For tournaments or repeated rooms, publish a rules checklist and recheck the lobby before every start because named reusable presets are not available in v33.5.
What v33.5 changes for managed lobbies
| Capability | Where it applies | Ordinary Host boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Custom label and longer listing window | Featured lobbies managed through the admin tooling | A normal hosted lobby does not become featured automatically. |
| Pinned teams at game creation | The adminbot create-game request can assign players to teams | The v33.5 Host menu has no pinned-team button; choose Team and the visible controls instead. |
| Pinned teammates see one another with anonymous names | Players already assigned to the same managed team | Anonymous mode still hides opponents according to the room rule. |
| x5 ghost badge at zero cost | Infinite Gold drills | This is input feedback, not a new resource or batch rule. |
What the mode selector actually changes
| Choice | Use it for | Important boundary |
|---|---|---|
| FFA | Diplomacy, temporary alliances, solo victory | Custom alliances can be disabled with 0 minutes or set to 1-15 minutes; otherwise the game uses 5 minutes. |
| Team | Fixed sides and coordinated practice | Gold and troop donations turn on automatically. Team membership, not a custom alliance timer, defines the side. |
| Duos / Trios / Quads | Public playlist team sizes | These labels describe public rotations. In a private Host room, select Team and set the team count. |
| Special rules | Water Nukes, Doomsday, or a restricted-unit drill | They change the decision model of the match; announce them before players commit to a spawn. |
Four lobby plans that preserve the purpose of the match
1. Fair game with friends
- Correct setup: keep Host Cheats off; use a whitelist for invited players; keep standard resources unless everyone accepts the same global Starting Gold, Gold Multiplier, Infinite Gold/Troops, or Instant Build rule.
- Private link versus public listing: a whitelist or Host Cheats prevents the room from being publicly listed. Public hosted lobbies also require the host entitlement; sharing a private link does not.
- Failure case: a host adds one-sided cheats or changes resources just before starting. Reopen the lobby settings and wait for explicit agreement after any material change.
- Player response: do not treat the join link as consent to later rules. Leave before spawn if the displayed settings do not match the agreed game.
2. Fixed-team coordination practice
- Correct setup: choose Team, set the intended number of teams, and keep Random Spawn off when teammates need to practise adjacent starts or planned fronts.
- Built-in behavior: Team turns on gold and troop donations automatically, so do not invent a second hidden step.
- Failure case: Random Spawn breaks a drill that assumes known teammates and nearby openings. Restart with selectable spawns instead of judging the plan from the wrong setup.
- Opponent response: if the goal is pressure testing, agree on compact maps, immunity, and AI counts in advance so one side cannot quietly lower early contact.
3. Mechanics test or teaching demo
- Correct setup: use global Infinite Gold/Troops, Instant Build, Starting Gold, or multipliers for symmetric tests. Use Host Cheats only when a single presenter deliberately needs asymmetric resources.
- Isolate one variable: disable selected units for a specific counter drill; do not present one disabled-unit list as universally best.
- Special modes: Water Nukes changes terrain and coastlines; Doomsday changes expansion and survival thresholds. Read the dedicated guides before using either as a normal-match comparison.
- Failure case: results from accelerated resources or host-only cheats do not prove a build works under the normal economy.
4. Tournament or repeated-room workflow
- Publish a checklist: mode, teams, map policy, Random Spawn, anonymous/revealed names, whitelist, alliance duration, resources, disabled units, immunity, time limit, and special modes.
- No saved named preset yet: the approved preset request is targeted at v34 but is still open. Reusing a private room link does not prove every setting was restored.
- Before every start: compare the visible settings with the checklist and pause after a change so all players can review it.
- Failure case: starting immediately after a material change creates a rules dispute that the current lobby does not prevent for you.
Current Host controls, grouped by decision
| Decision | Current v33.5 controls | What can go wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Match structure | Map/Random Map, FFA/Team, teams, difficulty, 0-400 Bots, 0-400 Nations | Too much AI can hide whether a player plan works against humans. |
| Spawn and tempo | Random Spawn, Compact Map, 0-120 min immunity, 1-120 min match limit, 0-600 sec start delay | Changing contact distance or immunity invalidates an opening comparison. |
| Diplomacy and economy | Gold/troop donations, 0-15 min custom alliances, multipliers, Starting Gold, Infinite Gold/Troops, Instant Build | Resource shortcuts or alliance changes can quietly redefine a fair match. |
| Special rules | Water Nukes, Doomsday speed, disabled units | Players may prepare for standard terrain or counters that the room removes. |
| Identity and access | Anonymous Players, per-player name reveal, whitelist | Anonymous mode is a room rule; it is not the same as a player's local display preference. |
⚠ Do not look for public modifier flags in the Host menu
isPeaceTime, isNukesDisabled, isSAMsDisabled, and isPortsDisabled exist in the game configuration used by public rotations, but v33.5 does not expose them as ordinary Host controls. The same boundary applies to admin-pinned teams: use the settings the lobby actually shows; do not plan an ordinary private match around an internal field or API input.
Next reading
- First match for spawn choice and the first expansion.
- Alliances and betrayal for the default five-minute lifecycle and its combat costs.
- Water Nukes and Doomsday Clock for the two special rules that change the whole match.
Sources
- Official v0.33.5 Release for the four published changes.
- AdminBotRoutes.ts and GameServer.ts for pinned teams, featured metadata, and anonymous teammate visibility.
- v0.33.5 HostLobbyModal.ts and GameConfigSettings.ts for ordinary visible controls and Team behavior.
- Issue #2489 for the not-yet-shipped preset workflow and Issue #4951 for the reported last-second rule-change risk.