Zandronum Dedicated Server (Docker)

This repository provides a Dockerized Zandronum dedicated server suitable for running multiplayer Doom servers in a clean, reproducible way.
The image is designed for headless operation, supports bind-mounted WADs and configuration, and handles legacy runtime dependencies required by Zandronum.

---

Features

• Runs the Zandronum dedicated server (zandronum-server)
• Automatically creates a minimal server.ini if none exists
• Optionally downloads and extracts WAD/PK3 archives from URLs at startup
• Automated build & push via GitHub Actions

Docker Compose Example

services:
  zandronum:
    image: lancommander/zandronum:3.2.1
    container_name: zandronum-server

    # Zandronum uses UDP
    ports:
      - "10666:10666/udp"

    # Bind mounts so files appear on the host
    volumes:
      - ./config:/config

    environment:
      # Optional: download mods/maps at startup
      # EXTRA_WAD_URLS: >
      #   https://example.com/maps.zip,
      #   https://example.com/gameplay.pk3

      # Optional overrides
      # SERVER_CONFIG: /config/Overlay/server.ini
      # SERVER_ARGS: '+map map01 +sv_hostname "My Zandronum Server"'

    # Ensure container restarts if the server crashes or host reboots
    restart: unless-stopped

---

Directory Layout (Host)

.
├── config/
│   └── server.ini
    ├── doom2.wad
    ├── gameplay.pk3
    └── maps.zip

Both directories must be writable by Docker.

---

Configuration

If /config/Overlay/server.ini does not exist, the container will generate a minimal default on first startup.

An autoexec.cfg file can also be created for adjusting server settings. Example:

set sv_hostname "My Zandronum Server"
set sv_maxclients 16
set sv_maxplayers 16
set sv_broadcast 1

set sv_coop 1
set sv_deathmatch 0
set sv_teamplay 0

All gameplay rules, cvars, maps, and RCON settings should live here.

Supported Content Types

Supported file types:

• .wad
• .pk3
• .pk7
• .pke
• .zip

Archives provided via EXTRA_WAD_URLS are extracted into /config before startup.

---

Environment Variables

Variable	Description	Default
SERVER_CONFIG	Path to the server configuration file	/config/Overlay/server.ini
EXTRA_WAD_URLS	URLs to download and extract into /config at startup	(empty)
SERVER_ARGS	Additional Zandronum command-line arguments (advanced)	(empty)

EXTRA_WAD_URLS

A list of URLs separated by commas, spaces, or newlines.

Examples:

EXTRA_WAD_URLS="https://example.com/maps.zip,https://example.com/mod.pk3"

Archives are extracted into /wads. Single files are copied as-is.

---

Running the Server

Basic run (recommended)

mkdir -p config

docker run --rm -it \
  -p 10666:10666/udp \
  -v "$(pwd)/config:/config" \
  lancommander/zandronum:3.2.1

With automatic WAD downloads

docker run --rm -it
-p 10666:10666/udp
-v "$(pwd)/config:/config"
-e EXTRA_WAD_URLS="https://example.com/modpack.zip"
lancommander/zandronum:3.2.1

Ports

• UDP 10666 – default Zandronum server port

License

Zandronum is distributed under its own license. This repository contains only Docker build logic and helper scripts licensed under MIT.