Getting Started

From download to a working Citadel dashboard in under 10 minutes. This guide is for the normal, subscriber flow. Building from source is covered separately in Backend Setup.

1. Subscribe

Head to citadels.cc/pricing and pick monthly or yearly. Paddle handles checkout and taxes — your card statement will say PADDLE.NET rather than CITADEL. You can cancel anytime from your account page.

After payment, you'll receive a welcome email with a link to set your password. Click it, choose a strong password, and you'll land on citadels.cc/account.

2. Download the installer

On your account page, click Download CitadelSetup.exe. It's a single ~100 MB executable that bundles Node.js, the Citadel backend service, the Electron desktop app, and the NSSM service wrapper.

[!NOTE] On first run you may see "Windows protected your PC". This is normal for unsigned installers — click More info → Run anyway. Full explanation here: Windows SmartScreen Warning.

3. Install

1. Double-click CitadelSetup-*.exe
2. Accept the UAC admin prompt
3. Accept the default install location (C:\Citadel) or pick your own
4. Click Install

The installer will:

• Copy files to C:\Citadel
• Register a Windows service called CitadelServer (auto-starts on boot)
• Open TCP 3001 in the Windows Firewall for LAN access (private/domain profiles only)
• Create Start Menu + desktop shortcuts

On the Finish page, leave Launch Citadel checked and click Finish. The desktop app opens a splash screen while the backend service starts, then loads the dashboard.

4. Complete the Setup Wizard

On first launch, you'll see the Setup Wizard:

1. Welcome — Brief overview
2. Admin Account — Create your local admin username and password for this installation (different from your citadels.cc account)
3. Network — Configure your server IP and ports
4. SteamCMD — Auto-detected or configured manually
5. First Server — Add your first DayZ server, or skip for now
6. Complete — You're in

Re-running the wizard

The wizard is one-shot by design. When it completes, Citadel writes a flag file at data/.first-run-completed and from that point on every /api/setup/* endpoint returns 403. This is a deliberate security gate: an attacker who can write to your data/ directory could otherwise delete setup_complete.json and re-arm the wizard to take over the local admin account without authenticating.

If you legitimately need to re-run the wizard (e.g. you broke the install during a network change and want to start clean), contact support. Don't try to remove the lock file yourself — even if you do, the rest of the data store will refuse to cooperate, and you may end up with a wedged install. Support has a documented recovery flow that resets the relevant state safely.

Recommended: enable 2FA

Once the wizard is done, enable two-factor authentication on the admin account from Settings → Security → Two-Factor Authentication. Setup is two minutes and the protection against credential stuffing is worth it. See the Two-Factor Authentication guide.

5. Activate your subscription

After the wizard, you'll see a yellow banner: "Citadel isn't activated yet."

1. Click Manage in the banner (or visit Subscription in the sidebar)
2. Enter your citadels.cc email and password (the same ones from step 1)
3. Click Activate

Your status flips to Active. This installation counts as one of your two activated devices. You can manage devices later from citadels.cc/account or from the Subscription page in your Citadel dashboard.

What you now have

• A Citadel backend service running 24/7 on localhost:3001 under NSSM — survives logoff and reboot
• The Electron desktop app as a native Windows app with tray icon
• A dashboard you can also access from other LAN machines at http://<server-ip>:3001
• An activated license linked to your citadels.cc subscription, refreshing every 6h
• Up to 7 days of offline grace if the server loses internet

Next steps

• Add a DayZ server
• Configure the Discord bot
• Install the @CitadelAdmin in-game mod
• Expose the panel for remote management

Troubleshooting

"Port 3001 is already in use" — Something else is listening on 3001 (often an old Citadel install or an HTTP dev server). Stop that process and re-run the installer.

Desktop app opens but stays on splash — The service hasn't come up. Check C:\Citadel\data\service.log for errors, or open Services (services.msc) and confirm CitadelServer is Running.

"Invalid email or password" on activation — Use the same credentials you set in the welcome email. If forgotten, reset at citadels.cc/auth/forgot-password.

"Device limit reached (2)" — You've activated two machines already. Go to citadels.cc/account → Devices → revoke the one you're replacing, then re-activate.