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Before building, make sure you have all required dependencies. See Requirements for the full list.
1

Clone the repository

The repository must be cloned as a git repo — plain file extraction is not supported (required by dbtool.py).
git clone https://github.com/LandSandBoat/server.git
cd server
2

Initialize submodules

git submodule update --init --recursive
3

Install Python dependencies

The build system calls Python during CMake configuration to generate IPC stubs.
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate       # Linux/macOS
# .venv\Scripts\activate        # Windows
pip install --upgrade -r tools/requirements.txt
4

Configure with CMake

Run CMake to configure the build. The flags below match the defaults used in the CI pipeline and Docker image.
cmake -G Ninja -S . -B build \
    -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release \
    -DTRACY_ENABLE=OFF \
    -DPCH_ENABLE=ON \
    -DWARNINGS_AS_ERRORS=TRUE
CMake option reference:
OptionDefaultDescription
CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE—Release, Debug, RelWithDebInfo
TRACY_ENABLEOFFEnable Tracy profiler instrumentation
PCH_ENABLEONEnable precompiled headers (speeds up builds)
WARNINGS_AS_ERRORSTRUETreat compiler warnings as errors
ENABLE_CLANG_TIDYOFFRun clang-tidy during build
5

Build

cmake --build build -j$(nproc)   # Linux/macOS
cmake --build build              # Windows
On a successful build, the following executables are placed in the repository root:
  • xi_connect — login/connection server
  • xi_search — search and auction house server
  • xi_world — world/lobby server
  • xi_map — zone map server (one or more instances)
6

Set up the database

Before starting the server, run the database tool to import all SQL files and run migrations:
python tools/dbtool.py update
See Database setup for full details.
7

Start the server

Launch each process. The map server must start after xi_world.
./xi_connect --log log/connect-server.log &
./xi_search  --log log/search-server.log  &
./xi_world   --log log/world-server.log   &
sleep 1
./xi_map     --log log/map-server.log     &
Alternatively, use python tools/dbtool.py and select Launch Server from the interactive menu, which reads zone settings from the database to launch the correct number of map processes.

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Building the Docker image

If you want to build a custom Docker image (for example, to include C++ modules), use the provided Dockerfiles. 
docker build -f docker/ubuntu.Dockerfile .
Available build args: 
BASE_TAG=24.04
UNAME=xiadmin
UGROUP=xiadmin
UID=1000
GID=1000
COMPILER=gcc
GCC_VERSION=14
LLVM_VERSION=20
CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
TRACY_ENABLE=OFF
ENABLE_CLANG_TIDY=OFF
PCH_ENABLE=ON
WARNINGS_AS_ERRORS=TRUE
REPO_URL="https://github.com/USERNAME/server"
COMMIT_SHA="$(git rev-parse HEAD)"
REPO_URL and COMMIT_SHA are required for dbtool.py unless you mount the host .git directory at runtime. They also add org.opencontainers.image labels that link to your source code. 
docker build -f docker/ubuntu.Dockerfile \
    --tag USERNAME/server:latest \
    --build-arg REPO_URL="https://github.com/USERNAME/server" \
    --build-arg COMMIT_SHA="$(git rev-parse HEAD)" \
    .
Alpine-based images are also available: 
docker build -f docker/alpine.Dockerfile .

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