Hosting rFactor 2 yourself means installing the dedicated server, adding every car and track with the mod manager, building a mod package, and opening five ports. On 2hours.gg you pick a track and a car class, and the server does all of that for you.
What you get
- Free official tracks and cars: Zandvoort, Lime Rock, Portimao, Sepang and more, with Tatuus single-seaters, Clio Cup, Caterham, GT3, GT500 and historic F1. Every rFactor 2 player already has this content, so nobody gets a content mismatch on join.
- AI fills the grid: Half the grid starts as AI cars, so two friends still race a full field. Add more in game with /callvote addai.
- Workshop mods: Paste the id of a Steam Workshop car or track. A car replaces your car class, a track replaces your track.
- A full race weekend: The server runs practice, then qualifying, then the race, and starts the weekend again after the race.
How friends join
- From the server list: In rFactor 2 open Multiplayer, search for your server name and join. Enter the password if you set one.
- Direct connect: In Steam, open rFactor 2 Properties and set the launch option +connect IP:64297, adding +password PASSWORD for a private server. The game starts and joins straight away. Use port 64297, not 54297.
- Workshop mods: The first join downloads the server's content package, which can take a few minutes. If you deployed with a Workshop mod, everyone subscribes to it on Steam first: rFactor 2 cannot join a server whose car or track is not installed.
Run the race as admin
Your server card shows an admin password. Type /admin followed by it in the in-game chat, then /callvote nextsession skips to the next session straight away. The full list is in the commands guide.
What it cannot do
- Paid DLC (Spa, Monza, the Nordschleife, the GT3 pack) needs a licence key tied to the owner's account, so it is not offered.
- One track and one car class per server. To race somewhere else, deploy again with a different pick.
Deploy an rFactor 2 server by the hour