Real players on classic Call of Duty servers
codforever is a live server browser for Call of Duty (2003), United Offensive, Call of Duty 2 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. It cuts through the bots, fake servers and dead addresses, so you can find a game with real people, as close to the original as it gets.
Is classic Call of Duty multiplayer still active?
Yes. People still play all four games online every day, on community servers that list themselves with the games' master servers. The in-game browser makes it look quieter than it is: many listed servers are empty, full of bots, or not there at all.
codforever asks every listed server who is playing, every hour and whenever a signed-in player presses Refresh. The numbers on the game buttons count only humans, on servers within about 100 ms of you.
How does codforever tell real players from bots?
Each server sends its player list, with every player's score and ping. A player is marked as a likely bot when:
- their ping has been exactly 0, or exactly 999, every time the scanner looked; or
- "bot" or "bots" is a word in their name.
Some hosts run dozens of fake servers that claim to be busy but never send a player list. Their players aren't counted, they never pass "Has humans", and on CoD4, where most of them are, they aren't listed at all.
How do I join a server?
On the website, Join opens the game through Steam; when Steam asks, pick Multiplayer. With the codforever app on your PC, Join starts your installed game and connects straight away.
To join by hand, open the game's console (the key under Esc; you may need to enable it in the options first) and
type /connect followed by the server's address, for example /connect 203.0.113.10:28960.
Every server page has a Copy button for its address.
What are CoD2x and CoD4X?
They're community patches that keep the games alive. CoD2x updates Call of Duty 2; servers running it only let in players who have it too, and you can get it at cod2x.me. CoD4X updates Call of Duty 4 to version 1.8 and comes with its own master server.
codforever tags CoD2x, CoD4X, CoDUO+ and CoDExtended servers. With the app, it also reads your CoD2x version and marks the servers you can't join yet.
What does "Original" mean?
The game as it shipped: no mod, and one of the game's own maps. A mod counts even when it runs from the game's own files, as CoD2's zPAM does. Servers on custom maps get a dashed badge, since you may need to download the map first. On Call of Duty 2, the "_fix" versions of the stock maps count as original.
What does a mod change?
The list names each server's mod, coloured by kind: competitive, overhaul, bots, jump, zombies or fun. A server's page says what the mod does.
How are pings worked out?
With the codforever app, pings are measured from your PC. On the website they're estimated from the scanner's own
ping to each server and the distance between you, the scanner and the server, and shown with a ~.
Up to 100 ms is the recommended range, and Quick join never picks a server above it.
What is Quick join?
One click for the closest classic game: the original game and an original map, humans only (no bots, not full, no password), at least two players with someone already on the scoreboard, within 100 ms. If a buddy is playing on a server like that, it comes first.