Direct mode

Rented servers can't run extra software — hosts like Nitrado and GPORTAL let you install workshop mods and nothing else. Direct mode is for exactly that box: the @CitadelAdmin mod talks to Citadel itself, over one config file. No Server Manager, no Windows app, nothing to keep running.

If you host your own machine, the Server Manager does more — see what direct mode trades away below and pick once.

1. Issue a Server ID and key

In the console, open your server, go to Metrics, and press Issue Server ID and key. (The panel is labelled Citadel Server Manager — it is the same credential either way; direct mode just uses it from the mod instead.)

Copy the key now — we store only a digest and cannot show it again.

2. Write one file

On the server, next to the other files the mod writes, create profiles/Citadel/cloud.json:

{
  "endpoint": "https://ops.citadel-hub.com/api/v1/plugin",
  "apiKey": "your key from step 1",
  "postIntervalMs": 3000
}

Most rented-host panels have a file manager that reaches the profile folder.

3. Restart the server

The mod reads the file once, at startup. When it took, the server log (RPT) prints:

Cloud client (direct mode) enabled → https://ops.citadel-hub.com/api/v1/plugin

You should see: within a minute, the server rail shows the mod version and "last heard from", the live map fills in, and rows arrive in Activity.

4. Pick your map

One thing cannot travel this path: the mod's capability report, which is how we normally learn which world a server runs. Open Diagnostics in the console and pick your map from the list — one click, nothing on the server changes. Player positions are correct either way; this only chooses the imagery drawn underneath them.

What direct mode trades away

Direct mode is the mod alone, so everything the Server Manager adds on the machine itself is not available:

| | Direct mode | Server Manager | | --- | --- | --- | | Live map, roster, Activity, Metrics | Yes | Yes | | Bans, compensation, kick, message | Yes | Yes | | Priority queue and whitelist grants | Yes | Yes | | Start / stop / restart from the console | — | Yes | | Automatic @CitadelAdmin deploys and updates | — | Yes | | Player address, country, linked-account matching | — | Yes | | Host CPU / RAM alongside server FPS | — | Yes |

Run one or the other per server, never both: they would report the same server twice, so Citadel refuses the second transport while the first is active. Switching is safe at any time — turn one off, let the other take over.

If it does not come up

No RPT line means the mod never enabled: check the file is valid JSON, in the right profile folder, and that the server actually restarted. If the line is there and the console stays quiet, Diagnostics names which part is not reporting and where the fix is.