Java Settlers of Catan [Beta v2.x]

Beta Version - Demo Server
Games expire after 90 minutes, use "*ADDTIME*" to extend a game.
If you would like to run your own server, see the main Downloads page.


To play online, download and run the JSettlers JAR file.
Connect to nand.net port 14213

This is the 2.x BETA VERSION server for JSettlers. You can download the beta JAR to practice offline.

JSettlers is based on a board game that you can buy from the good people at Mayfair Games.

The Settlers of Catan is a trademark of Mayfair Games. All rights reserved. The Settlers of Catan was originally published in German by Franckh-Kosmos Verlags-GmbH & Co. as Die Siedler von Catan. Original game design by Klaus Teuber. This program is not intended to replace the original board game in any way.

Updated 2023-01-02: (2.7.00)

  • New optional house rule: Allow undo building and moving pieces (new game option UB; requires client v2.7.00 or newer)
  • Client: Game window: For visibility when a player builds, highlight most recently placed piece until end of their turn
  • Client: Game Info/Options popup: Show game duration and status (not started yet, in progress, finished)

Updated 2022-06-12: (2.6.00)

  • I18N: Added Polish translation (thank you KotCzarny)
  • Client:
    • Game window:
      • Moving robber: If hex is desert, don't ask "are you sure" when you have an adjacent settlement/city
      • Less flicker while resizing window
    • More consistent sound quality on Windows 10
  • Game *STATS*: Show player's resource totals given/received with ports, bank, other players if client and server are v2.6.00 or newer
  • Other changes: see Versions.md

Updated 2021-12-30: (2.5.00)

  • Gameplay:
    • Road Building: If player cancels placement or ends turn before placing the first free road or ship, the dev card is returned to their hand
    • When a trade is offered to bots and humans, bots wait longer before responding. Was 3 seconds, is now 8, changeable with server property jsettlers.bot.human.pause (thank you Lee Passey)
    • Recalc Longest Route when building coastal settlement to connect a player's roads to ships (thanks kotc for reporting issue #95)
    • Pirate Islands scenario: Ship placement: Fix client bug where placing a coastal ship next to a road would prevent any further ship building, based on "no branches in route" rule
  • I18N:
    • Added French translation (thank you Lee Passey)
  • Client:
    • Game window:
      • Added hotkey Ctrl-B/Alt-B/Cmd-B to ask to Special Build in 6-player game
      • Discards: List resources you discarded, not just total amount, in game action textarea
      • Forgotten Tribe scenario: Much less flicker while placing gift ports
    • New Game dialog:
      • If server has increased default VP to win, use that as minimum when picking a scenario
    • If client starts a TCP server, keep it running; previous versions timed out after being idle an hour (thanks kotc for reporting issue #81)
    • Linux/Unix: Use sub-pixel font antialiasing if available (thanks kotc for issue #92)
  • Bots/AI:
    • Shorten pause after bot requests a bank trade
  • Server:
    • During game reset, don't send chat recap: Chat text is still in clients' game windows
    • If default VP is set on command line or properties, will also be minimum VP for any scenario
    • Other server changes: see Versions.md
  • Other changes: see Versions.md

Updated 2020-07-05: (2.4.00)

  • Gameplay:
    • Pirate can be placed next to any coastline, even those near edge of board
    • For consistency, calculate Longest Route and Largest Army only at server, not also at client
  • Client:
    • Add client preference: Remember face icon when changed
    • Game window: Game stats: If player leaves at end of game, keep showing their statistics
  • Network/Message traffic:
    • When client joins a game:
      • Server sends players' current trade offers
    • Bugfix: When client is v1.x, send seat lock state CLEAR_ON_RESET as UNLOCKED not LOCKED so they can take over a "marked" bot seat
  • Other changes: see Versions.md

Updated 2020-02-29: (2.2.00)

  • Client:
    • Game window:
      • Remember recently sent chat text; browse history with Up/Down arrow keys in input field (based on Chad McHenry idea)
      • At end of game, reveal VP cards in players' hand panels
      • If user clicks board to dismiss the right-click build menu, don't show "to build pieces, right-click" reminder dialog
  • Server:
    • *STATS* command: Send client how long they've been connected and, if at least 1 game won or lost, their win-loss count for this session
    • If client joins a game that's already over, send final scores and revealed VP cards
    • Let debug user also chat and run commands while observing a game
    • SQLite database: For convenience, if JVM properties don't contain org.sqlite.tmpdir but that property is set in jsserver.properties file or command line, copy it into JVM properties
  • Other changes: see Versions.md

Updated 2020-01-19: (2.1.00)

  • Client:
    • New Game dialog: If "force UI scale" option is changed, use new value for new game's window
    • Game Options dialog: If Enter pressed while in text field, save prefs instead of saying "Game with this name already exists"
    • While joining game, try to prevent game-list window from getting in front of that game's new window
  • Server:
    • Bugfix when client sits down, taking over a bot's seat, during first initial-settlement round: Some players' first placement was skipped because "first player" changed during that bot replacement
  • Other changes: see Versions.md

Updated 2020-01-02: (2.0.00)

  • Large sea board, including ships and Seafarers scenarios
  • Game Scenarios (named collections of Game Options with special rules)
  • I18N framework in place, with Spanish translation so far
  • High-DPI support based on screen resolution, user preference, or running with JVM parameter -Djsettlers.uiScale=2
  • Added second set of hex graphics; in new-game options, can choose Classic or the new set (contributed by qubodup)
  • Client and server refactoring
  • Other changes: see Versions.md

Updated 2018-05-26: (1.2.01)

  • Game reset no longer hangs when game had bot(s) and someone locked all bots' seats
  • Game expiration:
    • Initial game length increased: Now 2 hours, was 90 minutes
    • Warns 5 or 6 minutes earlier
    • Ensure at least 1 warning before ending game
  • Client:
    • Game window bugfix: Join Game hangs on Windows Java 9
    • Sound prompt when client player is offered a trade
    • Game windows: Render board with antialiasing
  • Players can end their turn during Free Road placement if dice were rolled before playing the card
  • Server game cleanup: If the last human player leaves a game with bots and observers, don't continue that game as bots-only
  • Details and other changes: see VERSIONS.txt

Updated 2017-10-05: (1.2.00)

  • Simple sound effects for game events: Start of client player's turn, resource stolen by robber, etc
  • Game windows have same size as previous game if resized, not small default size
  • Re-word trade offers to clarify who would give which resources
  • Persistent client preferences for settings like sound effects and game window size
  • Optional database Schema Upgrade, adds:
    • Game stats: Winner, duration, options, etc
    • BCrypt password hashing
    • Case-insensitive usernames/nicknames
  • Details and other changes: see v1.2.00's VERSIONS.txt

Updated 2016-10-24: (1.1.20)

  • Game board graphics updated to be smoother when window resized
  • For new players: When game starts, clicking the board reminds you to right-click to build
  • Bots no longer leave practice games after 4 hours idle
  • For server config, new optional properties file
  • Server can set Game Option defaults on command line or properties file
  • If using an optional user database, easier password reset
  • Server admins can list all currently connected users with command *WHO* *
    or any game's members with *WHO* gamename
  • Details and other changes: see v1.1.20's VERSIONS.txt

Updated 2014-11-27: (1.1.19)

  • New game option for house rule: Roll no 7s until a city is built
  • Trading port/harbor graphics updated
  • Reset board during initial placement: Pick randomly-selected robots, instead of keeping same robots
  • Check client password when "New game" is clicked, not later after filling out game options
  • For servers using an optional user database, new config options about creating or requiring accounts.
  • Other changes: see v1.1.19's VERSIONS.txt

Updated 2013-04-02: (1.1.18)

  • Reset board: Keep player chat text; Confirm before restarting after end of a practice game
  • Chat text field: Word-wrap long lines
  • Don't limit the number of simultaneous practice games
  • 6-player board: Focus cursor on input field when the chat window expands; scroll chat/game text to bottom when it shrinks
  • If saving completed games to db, save if any human players, even if some have left/rejoined
  • Bugfix: Client creating a game on a server newer than itself might show a second New Game Options window
  • Other changes: see v1.1.18's VERSIONS.txt

Updated 2012-12-12: (1.1.17)

  • Road Building: Player may skip (cancel) placing second free road, if they want to use just one road piece
  • If jar client can't connect to server, returns to first panel, with buttons to connect or practice
  • If try to start server in JSettlers.jar, but port already in use, show message instead of exiting immediately
  • Get Practice Game options from practice server, not from most recently started game
  • If join a server after a practice game, re-enable name and password fields
  • Chat text field: If a long line is truncated, keep the rest of it in the textfield
  • Debug commands: dev cards: Send card type numbers with help message
  • Server DB setup script: Ignore net errors when running script and exiting

Updated 2012-10-27: (1.1.16)

  • Bugfix: 1.1.15 can't start practice games
  • If jar client loses server connection, returns to first panel, with buttons to connect to a server or practice

Updated 2012-10-21: (1.1.15)

  • Bugfix: Occasional hangs creating new game, when old game isn't yet cleared
  • Bugfix: Hangs on mac osx 10.7, 10.8 after a few minutes (SnippingTextArea) - thanks olivierdeckers
  • Server command line simplified: port number, max conns, db info now optional
  • Can save all completed game results in database, with new option:
    	-Djsettlers.db.save.games=Y
  • Server db property for jdbc driver jar file: -Djsettlers.db.jar=sqlite-jdbc-3.7.2.jar
  • Server db easy setup script options:
    	-Djsettlers.db.url=jdbc:sqlite:jsettlers.sqlite
	-Djsettlers.db.script.setup=../src/bin/sql/jsettlers-tables.sql
  • Server db sqlite driver URLs updated in readme

Updated 2012-09-30: (1.1.14)

  • Game can require more than 10 Victory Points to win (new game option "VP")
  • Don't force-end bot turn if waiting for human discard
  • Discard dialog has "Clear" button (sourceforge bug# 3443414)
  • Show 'Server is ready' message at end of initialization
  • At server shutdown, try to disconnect from database (helpful for sqlite)
  • Debug commands are off by default, except practice games; you can enable them with:
    -Djsettlers.allow.debug=Y
  • Split out sql from README, add indexes (Chad McHenry idea)

Updated 2011-11-01: (1.1.13)

  • Game name maximum length is 30, was 20 previously
  • Allow player to undo their last bank trade, if the undo is the very next thing they do, by trading the same resources back. For example, give back 1 brick to get back 3 sheep.
  • Show your player's total resource count (Rowan idea)
  • 6-player board: New game option allows using this board with 2-4 players
  • 6-player board: Chat ease of use: Focus on text input field when any text area is clicked; to put the cursor in the text areas instead of the input field, click there again.
  • Remember the player checkboxes chosen in previous trade offer
  • If new game options require a certain version, don't warn unless the required version is newer than 1.1.08 (released January 2010).
  • Warn on server startup if robots take up most of maxConnections
  • On server startup, show each property's description
  • If the graphical PlayerClient starts a server, the "server is running" text on-screen now also says "Click for info" (D Sawyer idea)
  • New debug command for robots: botname:print-vars
  • If game is in progress, joining/leaving people also announced in chat area (less clutter there)
  • Don't echo info commands like *STATS* to all players
  • Bugfix: If observer closes the game window, shouldn't ask them if want to keep playing
  • Bugfix: Truncating a long player name, don't drop the first character
  • License upgrade to GPL v3

Updated 2011-01-22: (1.1.12)

  • Don't show hovering road/settlement/city if player has no more pieces
  • Feedback if 'Road Building' clicked but 0 roads left
  • Lock/unlock button for robot seats: add tooltip, fix label when first shown
  • Bugfix: Robot 'No thanks' displays after bank trade
  • When 6-player board's window loses focus, un-expand the chat area
  • If game has observers, list them when client joins
  • For debugging, new "Free Placement" mode; see README.developer
  • Further encapsulate board coordinate encoding

Updated 2010-12-31: (1.1.11)

  • Popup to confirm before you move the robber onto your own hex
  • Show robber's previous position on the board
  • Robots: Force robot turns to end after several seconds of inactivity
  • Bugfix: "Restart" button wasn't enabled if game ends after special build
  • Bugfix: Couldn't place initial road on 6-player board's northernmost edge
  • Fix infinite loop when robot leaves during game setup
  • Game last-action time tracked, to detect idle games
  • Debug commands now case-insensitive

Updated 2010-06-13: (1.1.10)

  • Game owner tracked at server
  • Security: Limit the maximum simultaneous games/chat channels created per client: Once a game/channel is removed (all members leave), they can create another.
    Defaults are 5 games, 2 channels. Use these properties to change the default: 
    	jsettlers.client.maxcreategames
	jsettlers.client.maxcreatechannels

Updated 2010-04-17: (1.1.09)

  • 4-player board: crisper graphics (images from 6-player board)
  • Practice games don't expire (Rowan H idea)
  • Show rounds remaining for "roll no 7s during first n turns" (Rowan H idea)
  • When moving robber and choosing a victim, popup shows their # VPs
  • 6-player board: Always allow to request special build, even if no resources.
    Also allowed at start of own turn, only if not rolled or played card yet, and not when you are the first player taking your first turn.
  • 6-player: During Special Building Phase, a player can ask to Special Build after the phase has begun, even if this means we temporarily go backwards in turn order. (Normal turn order resumes at the end of the SBP.) The board game does not allow this out-of-order building.
  • 6-player robots: Slow down a little: Pause 75% of 4-player's pause duration, not 50%
  • At end of game, show number of rounds along with resource stats and time elapsed
  • Easier setup of other database types (besides MySQL)
  • Robots can be automatically started when the server starts
  • Other changes: see VERSIONS.txt

JM: Updated 2010-01-12: (1.1.08)

  • 6-player board : use max players 5 or 6 in game options
  • Can now sometimes reconnect after connection to server is lost, when message "A player with that nickname is already logged in" appears.
  • Smaller, cleaner building panel
  • Re-word counter offer text to: Give Them / You Get
  • Cleaner scaled graphics: Draw hex dice-number circles on hex, instead of GIFs.
  • Chat text prompt ("type here to chat") cleared when clicked (D Campbell idea)
  • Other changes: 
    - Fix button redraw for Discard, Year of Plenty popups on OSX
- Fix new-game options bg color on OSX Firefox 3.5+
- BoardPanel faster redraw: cache image of board without pieces
- BoardPanel javadocs explain nodeMap and initNodeMapAux
- SOCRobotBrain refactor some message-handlers out of run() (C McNeil idea)
- Old version history (pre-sourceforge):
    Added file src/docs/old-updates-rsthomas.html
    found on web at http://jrh-xp.byu.edu/settlers/updates.htm

Updated 2009-10-31: (1.1.07)

  • Per-game options: 
    	- PL  Maximum # players (2-4)
	- RD  Robber can't return to the desert
	- N7  Roll no 7s during first # rounds
	- BC  Break up clumps of # or more same-type ports/hexes
	- NT  No trading allowed
  • Other changes: 
    - Re-word counter offer text
- Hide trade offer after rejecting counteroffer (John F idea)
- Allow debug commands in practice games
- New applet parameter "nickname" for use with dynamic html (Rick Jones idea)
- Framework for parsing "-" / "--" options at server commandline
- Refactor per-turn resets from many places to new game.updateAtTurn()
- GameList kept at server/client
- Bugfix: Could sit down at 2 positions due to network lag
- Rescaled board hex graphics now fall back to polygons if problem occurs
- Removed unused hex graphics from soc/client/images
- Fewer disconnect-reconnect debug messages from robots during idle hours
- Don't cover board with 'choose player' popup (Rowan H idea)
- AskDialog supports multiple lines with "\n"

Previous changes:

See the main page change log.
Jeremy D Monin - email jsettlers @ nand (this server) for more details.