Game modes

MCS runs three game modes across three kinds of lobby. Public lobbies are always open, competitive is played for a rank, and a private lobby is yours down to the weather.

How lobbies work

The server does not put you in a single shared world. Each lobby is its own instance with its own players, weather and scoreboard. A public lobby provisions a spare as soon as it gets busy, so a full server never means a queue. Switching lobby takes one keypress and does not disconnect you.

Air and ground

Team deathmatch and free for all each run in an air variant, a ground variant, or both. Air lobbies spawn you on a runway or a carrier deck with the aircraft roster unlocked. Ground lobbies spawn you in the city with the armour roster. Helicopters count as both and appear in either. The dogfight arena is air only.

What you play

01Public

Team Deathmatch

Two to four teams, one scoreboard, first to the point limit.

Blue against red, with green and yellow if the lobby wants them. A kill is a point for your team and a teammate kill is worth nothing, so the round rewards holding a line rather than chasing a number.

2, 3 or 4 teams
Up to 12 per team
Air or ground

02Public

Free for all

No teams, no cover, everyone in the lobby is a target.

The fastest way into a fight. One point a kill, nobody watching your six, and a scoreboard that collapses into a single ranking instead of team columns.

Up to 24 players
One point per kill
Air or ground

03Best at 1v1

Dogfight Arena

A circle in the sky. Everyone spawns on the rim, and the last one flying takes it.

You start frozen on the edge of a circular arena at altitude, change airframe with F1 and launch with W. The circle is deliberately tight, so a duel opens with the enemy already in front of you. Fly out of it and you have eight seconds to turn back.

Built around 1v1
Four arenas, rotating
15 minute rounds

Where you play it

Public
Open
The default way to play. Public lobbies run team deathmatch, free for all and the dogfight arena, fill from a single click, and provision a spare as soon as one gets busy, so a full server never means a queue.
- All three game modes
- Spare lobbies open automatically
- Global stats count here
Competitive
Ranked
Locked teams, nobody joining once the round is live, and a scoreboard that counts. It runs in the dogfight arena, first to ten kills or ahead when the fifteen minutes are up, and steps up from 1v1 through 2v2 to full squads.
- 1v1, 2v2 and squads
- First to 10 kills
- Locked teams, no mid match joining
Private
Invite
Name it, size it, pick the mode and how long a round runs, then set the weather and the time of day or leave them on automatic. It gets a four digit code, and you decide whether it appears in the browser at all.
- Four digit join code
- Up to 24 players
- You set weather, time and length

What runs underneath

The same systems are in every round, whichever mode and lobby you picked.

Vote on weather and time: Any lobby can put the weather or the time of day to a vote. It stays open for thirty seconds, the majority wins, and there is a thirty second cooldown before the next one.
Weather that moves on its own: Weather runs a state machine rather than a fixed list, and one in game minute takes ten real seconds. A round can start in sunlight and finish in fog.
Teamkilling costs you: A teammate kill never scores. The second one gets you kicked out of the lobby and the third bans you from it. The count follows you through a rejoin.
Safe zones on every spawn: Nobody can shoot you on the spawn pad. Take a ground vehicle into an air zone and you get ten seconds to leave before you are removed from it.
Locks stop at your own team: Homing missiles refuse to lock onto a teammate, so a crowded merge cannot turn into an accident. You can still collide and still shoot, only the lock is blocked.
Anti-cheat that logs everything: A custom anti-cheat runs on the server, watching for the usual ways people cheat and writing every detection to Discord. Enough of them and the player is gone. What it looks at is deliberately not published.

Pick a lobby and fly

Every mode is in the F5 menu the moment you connect.

Connect now Browse the full roster

Air and ground

What you play

01Public

Team Deathmatch

Two to four teams, one scoreboard, first to the point limit.

2, 3 or 4 teams
Up to 12 per team
Air or ground

02Public

Free for all

No teams, no cover, everyone in the lobby is a target.

The fastest way into a fight. One point a kill, nobody watching your six, and a scoreboard that collapses into a single ranking instead of team columns.

Up to 24 players
One point per kill
Air or ground

03Best at 1v1

Dogfight Arena

A circle in the sky. Everyone spawns on the rim, and the last one flying takes it.

Built around 1v1
Four arenas, rotating
15 minute rounds

Where you play it

Public

Open

The default way to play. Public lobbies run team deathmatch, free for all and the dogfight arena, fill from a single click, and provision a spare as soon as one gets busy, so a full server never means a queue.

All three game modes
Spare lobbies open automatically
Global stats count here

Competitive

Ranked

Locked teams, nobody joining once the round is live, and a scoreboard that counts. It runs in the dogfight arena, first to ten kills or ahead when the fifteen minutes are up, and steps up from 1v1 through 2v2 to full squads.

1v1, 2v2 and squads
First to 10 kills
Locked teams, no mid match joining

Private

Invite

Name it, size it, pick the mode and how long a round runs, then set the weather and the time of day or leave them on automatic. It gets a four digit code, and you decide whether it appears in the browser at all.

Four digit join code
Up to 24 players
You set weather, time and length

What runs underneath

The same systems are in every round, whichever mode and lobby you picked.

Vote on weather and time

Any lobby can put the weather or the time of day to a vote. It stays open for thirty seconds, the majority wins, and there is a thirty second cooldown before the next one.

Weather that moves on its own

Weather runs a state machine rather than a fixed list, and one in game minute takes ten real seconds. A round can start in sunlight and finish in fog.

Teamkilling costs you

A teammate kill never scores. The second one gets you kicked out of the lobby and the third bans you from it. The count follows you through a rejoin.

Safe zones on every spawn

Nobody can shoot you on the spawn pad. Take a ground vehicle into an air zone and you get ten seconds to leave before you are removed from it.

Locks stop at your own team

Homing missiles refuse to lock onto a teammate, so a crowded merge cannot turn into an accident. You can still collide and still shoot, only the lock is blocked.

Anti-cheat that logs everything

A custom anti-cheat runs on the server, watching for the usual ways people cheat and writing every detection to Discord. Enough of them and the player is gone. What it looks at is deliberately not published.