Server Information

Blue Flag servers are ran 24/7 and you can find them on the DCS Server browser by searching for "blue flag" and picking the server with the map you wish to play on. Alternatively you can connect by IP as shown below.

BlueFlag runs tours (also called "rounds") that last until one team has fully captured all opponents airfields and FARPs (or neutralized, and no player of the opponent team alive).

During inofficial tours (running most of the time, for stability-testing purposes) you may switch your team once per tour. (to switch, request a side-switch in the BuddySpike Discord)

During official tours (currently once every few months), you may not switch your team.

Game version

Please note that all BS servers run the OPENBETA version of DCS World. Information on which specific build the servers are updated to, can be found in the #changelog channel on BS discord

Server IPs

Syria Modern / Syria 90's: 116.202.241.164:10308

Persian Gulf Modern: 135.181.0.242:10310

Persian Gulf 60s: 135.181.0.242:10311

Caucasus: 116.202.241.164:10309

Normandy: 116.202.241.164:10308

Ping limit

Auto kick for high ping set to 400ms > 2 minutes

Discord

Joining our Discord server connects you with the BuddySpike community and allows access to more information, coalition specific channels and more.

Coalition Roles

You can access coalition-specific channels depending on your choice of coalition. To do so you can link your Discord account with your DCS account, by running the in-game command "-link".

The command will return to you another command ("-account link <CODE>") that you can run in the #side-switch channel to link your accounts. This will ensure that the proper roles will be assigned to you every time you select a coalition.

Tacview

Persian gulf modern tacviews are uploaded after each session. The latest file is usually the one still running hence it's corrupted if you try to download it mid session. Upload is usually ready within few minutes after the server restart.

Links:

Persian Gulf Modern + Caucasus Cold war (OPEN IN NEW TAB TO AVOID GOOGLE DRIVE ERROR 403)

Caucasus (80s & modern) + Normandy (OPEN IN NEW TAB TO AVOID GOOGLE DRIVE ERROR 403)

SRS

SRS (Simple Radio Server) is used by Blue flag as its main method of communication between pilots.

Note: using SRS is not an enforced requirement, but highly encouraged. You can find the latest version of SRS here: https://github.com/ciribob/DCS-SimpleRadioStandalone/releases/latest

Modern - srs-pg.buddyspike.net:5014

80s - srs-cauc.buddyspike.net:5003

WW2 - srs-normandy.buddyspike.net:5002

Cold War - srs-nevada.buddyspike.net:5015

Alternatively, you can open your SRS client and connect to Blue Flag in DCS, the SRS AUTOCONNECT feature will make sure you're connected to the correct server.

Table of frequencies

General frequencies used with SRS:

Warsaw coalition

ATC: 124.00 MHz AM

GCI / General: 126.00 MHz AM

Live GCI: 125.000 MHz AM

AI AWACS: 266.000 MHz AM

Logistics: 30.00 MHz FM

NATO Coalition

ATC: 251.00 MHz AM

GCI / General: 264.00 MHz AM

Live GCI: 265.000 MHz AM

AI AWACS: 266.000 MHz AM

Logistics: 30.00 Mhz FM

In-game frequencies:

Persian Gulf

Platform	BLUE Frequency Mhz AM	RED Frequency Mhz AM	TACAN	Datalink frequency (if applicable)	ICLS Channel
Roosevelt		127.500	74 X	314.2	11
Tarawa		127.500	75 X		12
Tanker Basket Stennis / CW KC-130		250.000	50 Y
AI AWACS E-3 Nahel / Fin	266.000	266.000		301.6
Commander spawned AWACS E-3	266.000	266.000		318.7
Commander Spawned Boom Tanker KC-135	134.000	240.000	001 Y
Commander Spawned Basket Tanker KC-135 MPRS	135.000	241.000	002 Y
Tanker Basket Nahel KC-130 TEXACO 1-1		251.000	51 Y
Tanker Basket Ras Al Khaimah IL-78	132.000
Tanker Basket Fujairah KC-130 ARCO 1-1		250.000	50 X
Tanker Basket Lar KC-130 SHELL 1-1		250.500	52 Y
Kuznetsov	127.500
Tanker Basket Shiraz IL-78	130.000
Tanker Basket Kerman IL-78	131.000
UAV / DRONE (Syria)	259.000	259.000		Default lazer code NATO = 1688 Warsaw = 1687

Server Rules

Do not teamkill deliberately. You will not be punished for an accidental team kill, however we will exclude pilots that deliberately or continuously kill friendlies. Make sure you properly identify your target before engaging it (including additional means such as SRS) and cease fire immediately if you hit a friendly or get told you're engaging friendlies.

Do not abuse any exploits or bugs. Although this should be obvious, we'll explicitly mention it again: do not abuse any exploits or bugs (neither BF nor DCS related ones). If you encounter something you think shouldn't be possible, please post it in Discord under #blue-flag-bugs or message a staff member directly. Continuous use of an obvious exploit/bug before it has been fixed or officially acknowledged can lead to retroactive exclusion.

No taxiway/apron take-offs. Don't perform taxiway or apron take-offs, runways are there for a reason. The "benefit" of being airborne 15 seconds faster is not worth risking collision with another, taxiing pilot or causing damage/inconvenience to others.

Controlling Combined arms units is only is allowed only in first person through CA or through commander actions. Do not hide units in locations that are deliberately interfering with the other teams progress. Any action to impose issues with BF mechanics or similar are not allowed and should be avoided.

Screenshots are taken on a regular basis. Repeatedly failing to return screenshots requested by the server administration via server GUI could lead to a permanent exclusion from the server. This does not not require any steps taken from a player, just making sure everybody is playing a fair game and no files are altered.

Playing with two accounts is not acceptable.

Streaming

We generally welcome streaming and are happy for people to stream their experience on our servers live for others to enjoy.

In order to avoid issues and provide a fair environment for all players on the server, there's two short rules we've decided to introduce though:

1) Streaming GCI. Should you decide to stream your GCI gameplay (whether that's using the F10 map or any other potential tools in the future), please apply a delay of 10 minutes to your stream in order to avoid abuse of the stream to gather live intel by pilots actively flying on the server. Just to emphasize: this rule does not apply to all streams of pilots flying or likewise, but only to people intending to stream their GCI perspective. Feel free to hop into the GCI slot before your sortie to figure out where friendlies are, but streaming the F10 map for a prolonged time requires a delay of 10 minutes.

2) Streaming only the F10 map. Do not stream only the F10 map/comms without any additional interaction (e.g. to provide a live picture to your squadron or team).

FAQ's & Information for Beginners

Why aren't my engines starting?

Make sure your aircraft has fuel on board! Blue Flag will start some aircraft with no fuel to help prevent an "air-quake" style of play.

If your aircraft wont get refuelled, another reason may be because the airbase you spawned at has no fuel left - extra fuel must be delivered by Logistics pilots in this case, you can read more about this on the Logistics page.

How do I capture an Airbase or FARP?

To capture an airbase or FARP, it must be cleared of all enemy units. Upon neutralizing the base, a logistic pilot(s) must drop troops to the area to capture, followed by a repair crate to replace destroyed units. For more information on capturing, repairing, defending and attacking airfields and FARP's, including information on AI units placed at these bases, please read the Logistics topic.

What is SRS and how do I use it?

SRS (Simple Radio Standalone) is a communications tool that integrates into DCS Multiplayer, allowing pilots to communicate on various frequencies just like in real life. It is highly recommended to use in Blue Flag as it allows effective communications between players that will help you and your team stay alive and win the battle.

Don't worry about using fighter pilot brevity, plain English is fine! A wide variety of communications are taking place on Blue Flag servers.

As long as people understand your message and intentions you will be OK.

[If you're interested to know more though: we recommend checking out Ralfidude's helpful "GCI radio brevity for beginners" video.

A decent quick start guide can be found here, however there are plenty of SRS tutorials across YouTube. http://dcssimpleradio.com/gettingstarted/

How do I know where to spawn from?

In most cases it is a good idea to pick an airbase or FARP to start from that is as close to the front line as possible. It is wise to check if an airbase has enemies nearby before spawning there as they can and will try to attack you whilst on the ground. This can be checked with the PAK-info in F10 menu, checking the gadget web tool, or asking in the server.

Where do I find out if an airbase or FARP is Blue or Red?

A quick way to see which bases are blue or red is to use the web gadget at http://gadget.buddyspike.net/ Hovering your mouse over a base will also tell you it's current health, coordinates, PAK number and base type.

You can also check the PAK info by using the F10 menu and seeing which airbases are Blue, Red or Neutral. More info on airbases and FARP's can be found here:Airbases & FARP's

How do I know what is the current objective?

One can type "-obj" in the in game all chat, if a commander has set any objectives, they will be listed in the chat. You can also check the F10 map for "commander objective" markers (red circles) or if you don't find any, you can check on the gadget which hostile airbase is under attack and assist the attack, or defend a friendly base if one is under attack. Or ask your teammates via SRS if they need you to fly CAP (close air patrol, a fighter), CAS (close air support, ground attack aircraft) or Logistics - by far the most unrewarded task yet utmost important. CAS is useless if the gains are not materialized by capturing and repairing. CAP won't be available in a timely manner if airbases are out of fuel, or friendly air defenses have been destroyed thus not providing a safe place to re-arm and re-fuel.

I accidentally selected the wrong team, how do I switch coalitions?

If you need a side switch, you can request one easily. We recommend you use the #side-switch channel in our BuddySpike Discord to run the mentioned commands below.

To do so, make note of the following pre-requisites:

1) You must have joined our server, joined a side and have flown a sortie.

2) Your discord nickname for this server must match your in game player name (callsign) exactly

3) if 1 and 2 are done correctly and you don't change your in game name constantly, your discord ID should have a role relating to the map and scenario and coalition which grants you access to the team HQ channels. If all of the above is adhered to, use the command "-c sw <map> <scenario>" and BuddyBot (our bot) will flip you automatically e.g.: "-c sw pg modern" or "-c sw cauc 80s".

If you can't obtain the team channel roles in #3, we have an account command where you can link your discord ID with your in game name using -account and following the instructions.

If you find yourself in trouble, just leave a moderator a message in the #side-switch channel and we will try to help you.