Race Creation¶

Configure and launch a race room from the Race Menu.

Note: Race Creation settings are host options you set each time you create a race session — they are completely separate from the map/track. You pick a track first, then configure these settings. The track itself is never modified. Any map works with any vehicle or game-mode setting.

Race Creation Settings¶

After selecting a track from the race browser, use the selectors at the bottom of the menu to configure the session. These settings apply to this session only — they are not saved into the map.

Setting	Options	Notes
Laps	1 – 20	Number of laps. Point-to-point tracks ignore this.
Weather	Clear, Overcast, Rain, Thunder, Foggy, Snow, Blizzard, Extra Sunny	Applied at race start. Can be changed mid-race by the host via native menu.
Time	00:00 – 23:00 (hourly)	In-game time of day at race start.
Traffic	OFF / ON	Enables ambient vehicle traffic on the track.
DNF	OFF / 1–10 min	Disqualifies players who fall too far behind the leader.
Accessibility	Public / Private	Public rooms appear in the lobby for all players. Private rooms are invite-only.
Game Mode	Normal / GTA / Face To Face / Drift / Pursuit / No Collisions	Normal is standard lap racing. Face To Face is auto-selected when you pick an F2F category track. See notes below.
Timed Race	OFF / duration in minutes	Instead of a lap counter, a countdown timer drives the race — most laps completed when time expires wins. Timer chip appears top-right of HUD; pulses red at 30 s remaining. Set in Race Settings (⚙️ Race tab) after creating the room.
Vehicles	Default / Specific / Personal / Random / Track Class	See Vehicle System for full vehicle mode details.
Race Message	Up to 120 characters (optional)	Shown to all players as a notification at the GO! signal. Use for race rules or welcome messages.

Click Create Race to open the race room with these settings.

Qualifying: To run a qualifying session before the main race, create the room as normal then click Start Qualifying instead of Start Race. The host selects the qualifying duration (1 / 2 / 3 / 5 / 10 min) from a dropdown next to that button. See Race Room → Qualifying Session for the full step-by-step.

Game Mode notes¶

Mode	Behaviour
Normal	Standard lap or point-to-point racing.
GTA	Weapons enabled — players can eliminate each other.
Face To Face	Two-sided race — Side A and Side B start at opposite ends of the track and race toward each other through shared checkpoints. Vehicles change at every checkpoint via the Host Class Pool checkpoint setting. Auto-selected when you click a Face To Face category track. See Face To Face Racing for full setup guide.
Drift	Score-based mode — no race checkpoints. Players score points by drifting (angle × speed × combo multiplier). Highest score wins.
Pursuit	Cops vs Racers. Players are auto-assigned a team. Cops chase, racers flee to the finish.
No Collisions	All players are ghosted for the entire race — no vehicle contact.

Vehicles Mode (Overview)¶

Vehicles Mode decides who chooses the car and at what granularity (one exact car, or a class pool). This is the single most important setting for how a race feels.

Mode	Who decides the car	What players drive
Default	The track creator	The vehicle saved with the track when it was built (the car on the starting grid in the creator). Everyone spawns in that same pre-set car. The simplest, zero-config option — pick a track, hit Start.
Specific	The host	Host picks one exact car in the showroom (via the Choose Vehicle button in the Race Room); everyone races that identical car.
Personal	Each player	Each player picks from their own saved builds (MY VEHICLES garage). Everyone can be in something different.
Random (Host Classes)	The host's class choice	The host ticks which vehicle classes are allowed, and the game assigns each player a random car from within them. This is the only mode where the host overrides the track's vehicles and chooses the class pool per race.
Track Class	The track creator (class, not car)	Uses the vehicle class baked into the track at creation. Like Random, but the pool is pre-set by the track instead of chosen by the host. Not recommended for Face To Face tracks — F2F checkpoints use Host Class Pool, so the class should be chosen by the host at race time using Random instead.

Want to pick the class yourself for a race?

Use Random (Host Classes). Despite the name, this is the host-control mode — the "random" only applies to which car within the classes you selected. Default and Track Class lock you to what the track shipped with; Random is how you override that on a per-race basis.

Vehicle Classes, Custom List, Presets and Random Options only apply to Random¶

The Race Options → Vehicles tab (class grid, Custom Vehicle List, Presets, Sync Roll, Equal Pool Shuffle, Balanced Random, No Repeats, etc.) only does anything when Vehicles Mode = Random (Host Classes) — because that's the only mode where the host fills the vehicle pool. In every other mode the car is already decided (by the track, the host's single pick, or each player), so the tab shows just a short explanation instead.

Seeing a track's allowed classes before you choose¶

When you select a track on the race-creation screen, a "Track classes:" line appears below the dropdowns showing which vehicle classes that track supports (or "Any" if there's no restriction). Use it to decide your Vehicles Mode before committing — e.g. a NASCAR oval might only allow the Sport class, so Default already gives you the right car and you don't need Random.

Fairness in Random races — pick ONE of three¶

When Vehicles Mode is Random (Host Classes), the Race Options → Vehicles tab has three fairness toggles. They are three different answers to the same question — should all players be in the same car, or different cars? — so only one can be on at a time (turning one on switches the others off). They are NOT add-ons to each other.

Worked example — pool = [Fast, Medium, Slow], a 3-lap race, two players:

Synchronised RollEqual Pool ShuffleBalanced Random

Everyone in the SAME car, every lap.

Player 1:  Fast → Medium → Slow
Player 2:  Fast → Medium → Slow

Both players are always in the identical vehicle at the same time. Perfectly fair on its own — there's nothing to add. Use it when you want a level field with no variety between players.

Same SET of cars, but each player's own order.

Player 1:  Fast → Slow → Medium
Player 2:  Medium → Fast → Slow

Players are in different cars at any given moment, but by the finish line everyone has driven the identical set. Perfectly fair, with variety. Lap races only (2+ laps).

No repeats — each player's set is sampled without replacement, so no car appears twice in their run (as long as the class pool has at least as many vehicles as laps — e.g. a 3-lap race needs ≥3 cars in the pool; Off-road has 119, so easily). If the pool were smaller than the lap count it would refill and reuse. The separate No Repeats toggle is therefore redundant here — Equal Pool Shuffle already guarantees it.
No two players share the same order — orders are de-duplicated, so every player gets a unique shuffle. The only exception is when there are more players than possible orderings (a 3-lap race has just 6 possible orders, so a 7th+ player on a 3-lap race must reuse one). With longer races / bigger fields this never happens.

Different cars per player, speed-balanced.

Player 1:  Adder → Sultan → Faggio      (1 fast, 1 medium, 1 slow)
Player 2:  Zentorno → Schafter → Blista  (1 fast, 1 medium, 1 slow)

Each player gets different actual cars (not the same set), but their rolls cycle fast/medium/slow tiers — so nobody gets stuck with all-slow while another gets all-fast. Maximum variety, still fair. Uses real top-speed data. Lap races only (2+ laps).

No repeats within a player's own run (drawn without replacement per speed tier, as long as each tier has enough cars).
Because every player gets different actual cars, "same cars in the same order" can't happen between players — they're not even drawing from the same set.
Needs the vehicle top-speed data + a pool big enough to form 3 tiers; if it can't, it falls back to plain Random.

Why can't I combine them?

You can't have "everyone in the same car" AND "everyone in different cars" at once — they contradict each other. That's why the toggles are mutually exclusive. Plain Random (none of the three on) is the unbalanced option, where one player can luck into all the fast cars — switch on any of the three to prevent that.

Host quick-answer: \"3 laps, Random + Off-road, No Repeats + Equal Pool Shuffle — OK?\"

Yes. Equal Pool Shuffle is the active mode (it switches off Sync Roll + Balanced Random). Every player drives the same 3 Off-road cars over the 3 laps, each in their own unique order, no repeats. The extra No Repeats tick does nothing here — Equal Pool Shuffle already guarantees no repeats. Confirm it fired via the server console line [VP_Fair] Equal Pool Shuffle — 3 laps, master=[…].

Restricting which class players (or you) can pick — Personal & Specific¶

You don't have to use Random to control the vehicle class. The Vehicle Classes panel (Race Options → Vehicles) is available in Personal and Specific too, and it limits the picker rather than filling a random pool:

Goal	Vehicles Mode	What to do
Players pick any car, but only from a class you choose	Personal	Tick only that class in Vehicle Classes → Apply. Each player's Choose-Vehicle picker shows only that class (+ their Favourites / Personal builds).
You pick the one car everyone races, narrowed to a class	Specific	Tick the class(es) → Apply → use the Choose Vehicle button to pick the single car. Everyone spawns in it.

The panel header reads "Vehicles Mode: Personal/Specific — restrict the picker" so it's clear it's filtering, not building a pool.
Leave the classes as-is (or untick all) to allow every class the track permits.
The Custom Vehicle List, Presets and Random Options stay hidden in these modes — they only apply to Random (Host Classes), where the host fills a rotation pool.

Host quick-answer: \"3 laps, players pick any car from one class I choose\"

Use Vehicles Mode → Personal, then in Race Options → Vehicles tick only the class you want (e.g. Sport) and Apply. Each player opens Choose Vehicle and picks any car from that class. Want everyone in the same car instead? Use Specific and pick the one car yourself.

For full vehicle panel settings and transform options → Vehicle System.

Wait-for-all-picks (Personal & Specific modes)

When Vehicles Mode is Personal or Specific, the Start button stays disabled until every player has confirmed a vehicle. Guests see a gold "Choose your vehicle to continue" banner and the picker auto-opens for them on join. The lobby player list shows a ⏳ / ✅ chip next to each name so everyone knows who's still picking. Hover the disabled Start button for a list of missing players.

Common setup: Personal mode + restrict to a single class in Race Options — every player picks any vehicle they like from that class. Full walkthrough: Scenario A10b — Class-Restricted Free Pick.

Bulk-invite: the 📩 Invite modal has an "Invite Everyone Online (N)" button at the top — one click invites every online player. Type in the search box first to narrow it down (button updates to "Invite All Matching (N)"). Already-in-room players are skipped automatically.

Race Browser — Circuit / P2P Filter¶

The race browser includes a Circuit and P2P filter bar above the track list, letting you narrow to a specific track format.

Pill	Shows
Circuit	Closed-loop tracks — finish line = start line
P2P	Point-to-point tracks — start and end are different locations
(none active)	All tracks regardless of format

Click a pill to activate it; click again to clear. Only one filter can be active at a time.

The active filter also applies to the 🎲 Random button — pressing it while Circuit is selected will only pick from circuit tracks, and vice versa.

Track type is set by the track creator (Circuit / P2P toggle in raycin_creator's map editor). If a track is misclassified, the creator can correct it and republish.

Race Browser — Star Ratings¶

Tracks with player ratings show a ★ average score (1–5) next to the track name in the lobby list. This is the average of all ratings submitted after racing on that track.

How ratings work¶

After finishing a race, a 1–5 star prompt appears briefly on screen.
Hover over a star to preview, then click to submit.
Click Skip (or ignore) to rate nothing.
Your rating is saved permanently. Racing the same track again replaces your previous rating.
Ratings are only visible in the race browser — not in the creator or stats site.
Unrated tracks show no star.

Race Message (MOTD)¶

The Race Message field (up to 120 characters) is shown to all players as a notification at the GO! signal.

Use it for: - Race rules ("No ramming — clean race only") - Vehicle notes ("All Super class tonight") - Welcome messages ("Good luck everyone!")

Leave blank for no notification.

MOTD Templates¶

Save frequently-used messages as reusable templates:

Type your MOTD in the Race Message box.
Click Templates (button next to the text box).
Click Save current as template — stored under your account.
Next session, click Templates → select a saved entry to load it instantly.
Click the 🗑 icon to delete a template.

Limits: Up to 10 templates per player · Maximum 200 characters per template.

Track Voting (After Race)¶

When enabled by the server admin, after each race ends three random tracks from the same category are presented to all players. Players vote for the next track — the winner is auto-selected.

Step	What happens
Race ends	Server picks 3 random tracks (same category)
Vote overlay	All players see 3 track cards with thumbnails and names
Vote	Click a card to vote — live totals update in real time
Result	After the duration expires, the winning track is announced
Host override	Host sees Accept or Pick Different buttons if override is enabled

Note: Track Voting is disabled by default. Ask your server admin to enable it in Config.TrackVoting.

Race Series / Championship¶

Queue 2–8 tracks to play back-to-back. Points accumulate across all races and a series standings table is shown between each race.

Starting a series¶

In the lobby panel, click the SERIES button (🏆 icon, next to the normal CREATE button).
The Create Race Series modal opens.
Use the search box to find tracks by name.
Click + to add a track (2–8 tracks required).
Once 2+ tracks are selected, click Start Series.

The series uses the current Race Creation settings (laps, weather, vehicle mode) for every track.

During the series¶

Each track races like a normal race session.
After all players finish, the Series Standings overlay appears automatically with cumulative points.
Players are automatically joined to the next race room (or click Next Race to join early).

Series Standings¶

Column	Description
#	Current series position
Name	Player name
Pts	Cumulative race points across all races
Time	Combined finish time (tiebreaker when points are equal)

Notes¶

Series rooms are always public — any player can join mid-series.
If the host disconnects, the next room is created under the next connected player.
Race Message only applies to the first track. Subsequent tracks use no MOTD.
Hot Lap Mode cannot be combined with a series.
No RP bonus beyond normal per-race points each track already gives.

Private / Invite-Only Rooms¶

Set Accessibility → Private at race creation. The room will not appear in the public lobby browser.

Share the room ID with invited players, or use the in-game Invite button in the race room.
Anyone with the room ID can still join — it is not password-protected.
Useful for: streamer lobbies, organised events, league races, testing sessions.

Track Categories¶

Categories are the rigid top-level grouping that drives race-defaults (laps, ghost-on-contact, slipstream, etc.). The current category set is:

Category	What sits in it
F2F	Face-To-Face tracks (two-sided checkpoint format).
Multi Purpose	General-purpose circuits and sprints.
Stunt	Stunt tracks with jumps, loops, and props.
Transform	Tracks with vehicle-transform checkpoints.
Playground	The home for novelty / party-mode tracks: deadline, hunting-pack, and other GTA-Online-style modes that have been folded into general "fun" tracks.

Where Deadline / Hunting Pack tracks live now

Tracks that previously had their own category — Deadline, Hunting Pack — now sit under Playground. The track files themselves haven't changed, just where they appear in the browser. You can still host these tracks in any race mode that suits them.

Categories can be renamed or merged at any time without affecting tags or per-track race settings — categories drive defaults, tags handle the fine-grained labelling.

Track Browser — Card Indicators¶

Each track card in the race browser shows additional information at a glance:

Indicator	Description
CPs / Circuit / P2P / km / ▶ plays	Metadata row: checkpoint count, track format, distance, and total times this track has been raced
⏱ record time · record holder name	The all-time fastest lap for this track and the player who holds it — shown on the card for quick reference
▶ N (white badge, bottom-left)	Play count — how many times this track has been raced. Only shown when above zero.
✓ PLAYED (green badge, top-left)	This track has been raced during your current session. Resets when you disconnect. Helps hosts avoid repeating the same track.
📌 FEATURED (gold banner, top of card)	Track has been pinned by an admin. Featured tracks always appear first in their category regardless of date.

Pinning a Track as Featured (Admin)¶

Server admins can pin and unpin tracks using the console command:

featuretrack <raceid>

Running the command on a track that is already featured will unpin it. The change is applied instantly in memory and persisted to the database — no resource restart needed.

Play Count¶

Each track card shows a ▶ N play count (how many times this track has been raced) when the count is above zero. The count increments automatically each time a race on that track finishes.

Track Tags¶

Tags are free-form labels attached to a track for organisation only. They have no effect on race defaults, vehicle settings, or any race behaviour — they exist purely to help you find and filter tracks.

Each track can carry multiple tags (e.g. urban, drift-friendly, jumps, technical). Tags are separate from the Category field — categories drive race defaults; tags are the flexible secondary layer that lets you add fine-grained labels without touching the category system.

Setting tags¶

There are three ways to manage tags, all restricted to server admins:

Option 1 — raycin_creator (Race Details submenu)

While editing a track in the creator, open RACE DETAILS → Tags. A checkbox list shows every tag already used across all tracks — tick or untick to toggle each one. To add a brand-new tag, choose Add New Tag… and type the label on the on-screen keyboard. Tags are saved automatically when you publish or save the track.

Option 2 — Dev Tools menu (Tag Track)

From the native admin menu, open Racing Lobby → Dev Tools → 🏷 Tag Track. Enter a race ID, then toggle the checkbox list of existing tags or add a new one. Click Save Changes to write to the database immediately — no track re-publish required. Useful for tagging tracks you didn't create or for bulk corrections.

Option 3 — /tag chat command (fallback)

/tag <raceid>                          — show current tags for a track
/tag <raceid> add <tag>                — add a single tag
/tag <raceid> remove <tag>             — remove a single tag
/tag <raceid> set <tag1,tag2,tag3>     — replace all tags at once
/tag <raceid> clear                    — remove all tags

In all three methods, tags are automatically lowercased and sanitised to a–z, 0–9, and - (hyphen). Anything outside that character set is stripped.

Race Start Sequences¶

The host can choose between three start sequences in Race Options → Race tab. All three are mutually-aware — picking Staggered Start automatically suppresses F1 Lights-Out (Stagger handles its own per-player countdown).

Mode	Behaviour	When to use
Classic 3-2-1-GO (default if both toggles off)	The original countdown. Vehicles unfreeze on GO.	Standard races, when you want everyone to launch identically.
🏁 F1 Lights-Out (toggle ON)	5 red lights fill left-to-right (1 per second). All lights then hold for a random 0.5–3.0s. When the lights extinguish = GO.	Closer to real sim-racing — no one can pre-time the launch. The random hold is the entire point.
Staggered Start (toggle ON)	Each player gets their own countdown in grid order, separated by a configurable Stagger Spacing slider (1–10s).	Rally-style point-to-point races, time trials, or when you want spaced single-player departures.

Jump-Start Penalty (F1 Lights-Out only)¶

When F1 Lights-Out is active, the throttle is sampled during the hold period. Pressing the accelerator before the lights go out triggers a 5-second jump-start penalty:

The HUD shows 🟡 JUMP START — 5s penalty (top-left)
Your vehicle freezes in place + goes invisible to other racers (ghost mode)
Other players can drive through you without collision
After 5 seconds: ✅ Penalty served — GO! — vehicle visible + drivable again

The penalty applies on YOUR client only — clean racers aren't held up.

Pre-Race Briefing Screen¶

After the host clicks Start Race and the track loads, all players see a 6-second briefing card before the countdown begins. It shows:

Track name + author
Mode + lap count
Checkpoint count + estimated distance
Active Race Options (Slipstream, F1 Lights-Out, Pitstops etc.) as small chips
A minimap preview of the track route

The briefing is purely informational — no buttons to press. It auto-dismisses at the 6-second mark, when the start sequence begins.

Race Options — Vehicles Tab Gating¶

The Race Options modal's Vehicles tab has four pool-configuration sections (Vehicle Presets, Vehicle Classes, Custom Vehicle List, Random Options) that only apply when Vehicles Mode = Random.

When the host picks any other Vehicles Mode (Default, Specific, Personal, Track Class), the Vehicles tab shows only an explanation card:

Vehicles Mode: {current}

Vehicle Classes, Custom List, Presets and Random Options only apply when Vehicles Mode = Random. Change the Vehicles Mode dropdown on the race-creation screen to Random to pick from a class pool.

Switching back to Random restores all four sections (state is preserved — your previous class picks return).

Filtering by tag¶

In the in-world race-creation screen (Screen 1), a tag filter row appears above the track grid whenever any tracks have tags set. Click a tag chip to AND-filter the list — only tracks that carry all selected tags are shown. Click the chip again to deselect. Your tag selection persists across sessions via localStorage.

The same chip-based filter is available in the WordPress track browser.

Suggested starter vocabulary¶

The tag system accepts any valid string, but a consistent vocabulary makes filtering much more useful. Suggested groupings:

Group	Suggested tags
Surface	`tarmac` · `dirt` · `mixed`
Location	`urban` · `mountain` · `coastal` · `airport` · `desert` · `industrial`
Style	`circuit` · `sprint` · `drift` · `drag` · `stunt` · `jumps` · `p2p` · `technical`
Vehicle vibe	`super` · `classic` · `motorcycle` · `off-road` · `economy`
Difficulty	`beginner` · `intermediate` · `advanced` · `expert`

These are suggestions only — you can use any labels that make sense for your track library.