You can be playing in about 30 minutes
You need a retail FFXI client installation. If you already have FFXI installed (even an old installation from years ago), that works fine. If not, you can install it through the official PlayOnline installer — you do not need an active subscription or to pay anything. The client files are all that's needed.
Make sure all expansions are installed up through Seekers of Adoulin. The installer will handle this if you select all expansions during setup. The full installation is roughly 15GB.
Private servers use a bootloader to connect your FFXI client to our server instead of the official Square Enix servers. We recommend Ashita v4 — it's a free, open-source FFXI launcher with addon support, windowed mode, and quality-of-life features.
Windower is also supported if you prefer it. Both work fine. The key requirement is that the bootloader can redirect the FFXI client to a custom server address.
Account registration details are in our Discord server's #connection-info channel. The process takes about a minute. You'll create a username and password that you'll use to log in through the bootloader.
In your bootloader configuration (Ashita's scripts or Windower's settings), set the server address to connect to Scythe. The exact IP and port are provided in the #connection-info channel in Discord.
For Ashita v4, this means editing your boot script to point
--server at our IP address. For Windower,
you'll set the server field in the profile settings.
Start your bootloader, log in with the account you created, and you're in Vana'diel. Create a character, pick a starting nation, and you're ready to go.
Check the #new-player-guide channel in Discord for tips on getting started — recommended first jobs, where to level, how to unlock trusts, and where to find your first hunt NMs.
If you get stuck at any step, ask in Discord. There's always someone around who can help with setup issues.
Join Discord