Getting started
About ten minutes, most of it waiting for a server restart. One mod goes on your game box, and one credential connects it to Citadel. There is no third-party account to buy and no RCon password to hand over.
There are two ways the mod reaches Citadel, and you pick by your situation:
- Rented host (Vykix, Nitrado, GPORTAL, any panel where you can add workshop mods but cannot run a program of your own). The mod talks to Citadel by itself from one file. That is direct mode. Host-specific notes: Rented hosts.
- Your own machine (a VPS or dedicated box). The Citadel Server Manager runs alongside the server, holds the credential, and adds restarts, updates and the whitelist.
Each step below says what you should see when it worked. The usual reason a setup stalls is not a broken step but not being able to tell whether a step succeeded.
1. Sign in
Go to app.citadel-hub.com/signup to create an account, or ops.citadel-hub.com if you already have one. You can use Discord.
On first sign-in you name your organization — the workspace your servers and staff belong to.
2. Install @CitadelAdmin on the game box
It is on the Steam Workshop.
On a rented host, add it through your panel's workshop mod list. It runs as a
server mod (-serverMod=@CitadelAdmin, not -mod, which would make every
player download it) and is server-side only, so your players never see it.
If you run the Citadel Server Manager, add the same Workshop item through its mod manager. The app does not silently install the mod for you.
You should see: the server start normally, with CitadelAdmin in the startup
log.
3. Add the server — the key is shown once
Sign in, add a server, and give it a name. Ops mints a Server ID (cs_…) and a
key on that screen, then asks Rented host or My own machine and
prints the rest of the steps with the key already filled in.
Copy what you need now — we store only a digest of the key and cannot show it again. If you leave, Issue Server ID again on that server's page.
Use the ID we mint, not the instanceId from serverDZ.cfg. Every fresh DayZ
install ships the same one.
You should see: a cs_… Server ID, a key shown exactly once, and the steps
for your path underneath.
4. Put the key on the box
Rented host. Save the cloud.json the panel printed at
profiles/Citadel/cloud.json on the server (create the Citadel folder if it
is not there) and restart. The mod reads it once, at startup. Both endpoint
and apiKey have to be present; if either is empty the mod turns direct mode
off with one line in the server log and nothing else happens. The full page,
including what direct mode cannot carry, is Direct mode.
Your own machine. Open the server's settings in the Server Manager, find Citadel Ops link, paste the Ops URL, the Server ID and the key, and turn it on. The Server Manager keeps the credential itself, so there is no file to write.
You should see: the rail says waiting until the first report. Within a minute of the server starting with the key in place, that becomes the mod version and "last heard from", the live map fills in, and rows arrive in Activity. The status bar names which way the server is connected.
Waiting is not a down server. The key is issued and nothing has arrived yet. Finish the step above.
If nobody is on the server yet, the roster and map stay empty. Online and Citadel Admin in the status bar means it worked. Empty is normal.
If the panel says the link has gone quiet, it used to report and then stopped. That is a connection problem on the game box, not a setup mistake in the console. The message names the mod or the Server Manager, whichever your server uses.
5. Watch it come alive
The live map fills in as players connect. Once the first report has arrived, an empty server still lists as online with its map and player count. That is the sign it worked, not an empty screen. Before that report, the rail says waiting.
You should see: the server marked online, and the roster populating as players join. Empty with Online and Citadel Admin showing is success.
6. Invite Overwatch (optional)
One Discord bot, shared across every community on Citadel. You do not create an application or host anything.
Add it to your Discord,
run /connect there — you need Manage Server — and enter the code it
gives you in the console. Then set your killfeed, chat relay
and leaderboard channels per server, under Discord.
See Citadel Overwatch for what it does and how channels work.
You should see: the bot online in your member list, and your server listed in the console under Discord.
7. Automate perks (optional)
Keep your own store. Point its checkout at a signed webhook. LB Core cosmetics
(tags, skins, prefixes) land on any linked server, including a rented host.
Priority queue needs the Server Manager, or a @CitadelAdmin that can write
the file; the current Workshop build on a rented host typically cannot.
Whitelist needs the Server Manager. Do not sell a perk the console says this
server cannot grant.
See Perk fulfilment.
You should see: a command appear in the console with what the game server actually replied — not just that it was sent.
Stuck?
The rail saying waiting is not stuck. The key is issued and nothing has arrived yet. Finish pairing, then restart. Troubleshooting names waiting, gone quiet, offline, and empty.
If it still does not match those, open app.citadel-hub.com/support and say which step and what you saw. That is almost always enough to answer it in one reply.