How to Book a Free Games Server

If you like to play online games like Team Fortress 2, Call of Duty 4, Counter Strike etc and want to have organized private games without the interruptions of randomly joining people. Then booking a private server is the way to go, not only do you have an uninterrupted game you also have the ability to adjust some basic settings though RCON commands. Map select, time limits, voice options, password locking and more are adjustable when you have booked a server yourself. Some of these options can even be set while making the actual booking. This guide will show you how to get started with booking a private server using GameArena. It's a free service that anyone can use even if you are not a Big Pond client.

Before you can start you will need a GameArena account, if you haven't already got one to get started click here and fill in you details.

Starting from the GameArena home page click on the Servers button which will then bring you to another page describing how to "get online".

Skip down the page to a section titled Step 4. Jump on a "ladder or book a "game server" then click the grey coloured button labeled Book a GameArena Server which will take you to the "make a new Booking!" page.

On this page is where you select which game server you want to book, eg Team Fortress 2. Just scroll down the list until you find the game you are after, select the game then press the Go button. From here you'll be sent to the "Make a New Booking" page.

Depending on which game you select the options will vary but basic stuff like date, time, run time, booking name, maximum players, RCON password, and join password(be careful not to mix the two different passwords up) should all be the same. Note: when setting a booking date you can only book 3 days in advance, so if you want to book a game for Saturday night then you'll have to wait until Thursday to make the actual booking. When all the required options have been set click the Submit Booking button.

A confirmation screen should then appear listing all the details about your server booking, double check everything and remember the server IP address.

After you have submitted your booking request you should receive a confirmation email to the email address you listed in your GameArena account. This email will give you an overview of your booking, make note of the Server Address because you will need that to find your booked server. That's it you're good to go, happy gaming!

Tags: GameArena gaming online server