OpenHV

Last reviewed Sep 13, 2026 · 794 words

If you can host an OpenRA server, you can host OpenHV, and that is the fastest way to understand what it is: a complete real-time strategy game built as an OpenRA mod, with its own free pixel-art assets instead of the Command & Conquer files OpenRA asks you to supply. Where OpenRA needs the original game's data to play Red Alert, OpenHV ships everything under GPL-3.0, art included, and its dedicated server is the same OpenRA server process with a different mod loaded. The 1,071-star project has been playable since 2020 and is on Steam, itch and Flathub for free.

The engine you already know, the assets you do not have to find

The gameplay is classic 1990s RTS: harvest, build, mass units, attack-move. Two factions, a handful of maps, skirmish against bots and multiplayer over the internet. The art comes from the Hard Vacuum set that Daniel Cook released under a free licence years ago, which is how a small team assembled a complete game without a pixel artist on staff and why every sprite has the same 16-bit-era look.

Because it is OpenRA underneath, the OpenRA documentation for lobbies, map installation and dedicated servers applies almost verbatim, and the OpenRA community's answers apply to OpenHV bugs more often than not. That shared base is the strongest reason to host it over other niche RTS projects: the multiplayer netcode, the lobby system and the server browser are the same mature code that thousands of OpenRA players use nightly.

The dedicated server is a shell script

The repository is built on the OpenRA Mod SDK, which includes a launch-dedicated.sh wrapper around the engine's server mode. Clone the repository, build it with make (you need the .NET runtime installed), then:

Name="Friday HV" \
ListenPort=1234 \
AdvertiseOnline=True \
Password="" \
./launch-dedicated.sh

The variables map straight to OpenRA's server settings: Name is what shows in the browser, ListenPort is the TCP port players connect to (OpenRA's default is 1234), AdvertiseOnline=True registers with the master server so the game appears in the in-game list, and Password locks it. Set AdvertiseOnline=False and hand out the address for a private game night. Wrap the script in a systemd unit running as an unprivileged user and it survives reboots.

Resource needs are small: 512 MB of RAM is plenty for one server, and a single vCPU handles an 8-player match. Disk is a few hundred megabytes for the mod and engine. Forward TCP 1234 on the router if you want public players, or run it on your mesh VPN address if you do not.

Version lock is the operational gotcha

OpenRA-based games require the client and server to be on the same release; a mismatch simply hides the server from the browser or refuses the connection. When OpenHV publishes a release, the server needs rebuilding from that tag the same day, and players on Steam will auto-update ahead of you. Pin your checkout to a release tag, not to the main branch, and subscribe to the repository's releases so you are not debugging "the server is gone" on game night. The mod SDK's make step downloads the matching engine version for you, so a rebuild is a git checkout and a make.

A small player base means you host for people you know

The public server list is thin. This is a young game with a modest community, and the games category has larger scenes if the goal is meeting strangers online. Where OpenHV shines is a private server for a group that misses Command & Conquer style skirmishes and does not want to dig up 30-year-old CD images to play OpenRA legally. The bots are decent enough for co-op against AI when only three people show up, which is more than most niche multiplayer games can say.

It is also a pleasant thing to run on a box that already hosts an OpenRA server: the two share nothing on disk but the operational knowledge transfers completely, and your friends who play one usually try the other.

What I'd do

Build from the latest release tag on the same small server that runs your other game nights, AdvertiseOnline=False, a password, systemd, TCP 1234 forwarded or reachable over the VPN. Announce a weekly slot. If your group already plays OpenRA with original assets, add OpenHV as the second mod rather than replacing anything. If you are choosing one RTS to host for strangers, OpenRA's Red Alert mod has the players; OpenHV is the one you host for the six people who will actually turn up.