Getting Started

Register for an account and enter a valid email address along with a password and a nickname. Please use a unique password for PXO. Setting a nickname is recommended to get the most from PXO, but it is not required and should not be your real name. Your email address, password, and nickname can be changed at any time in your account settings.

You should receive an email shortly after registration with a link to validate your account. You will not be able to log into PXO with a supported game until your account has been validated. Your PXO account will work with all supported games.

Your in-game credentials are automatically generated and are available on your account page. These credentials can only be used to log into PXO via a supported game. They can not be used to log into the PXO website or access your account information.

Clicking on the login and password fields will copy that respective field to your clipboard to easily paste into your launcher or game (where supported). If copy & paste is not possible, the credentials are generated in a way to make them easier to type. The login is all numbers and the password is all lowercase letters.

(FreeSpace 2 Open, as of version 21.0, allows pasting into input fields by pressing CTRL+V)

Enter your credentials using one of the following methods:

NOTE: FreeSpace 2 Open users can skip this step.

By default the retail versions of Descent: FreeSpace and FreeSpace 2 attempt to contact the original PXO which was shut down in 2003. In order to let those games know about the new PXO service the multiplayer configuration files need to be updated.

These configuration files are located in the Data directory inside of each games install location. For the original retail version this might be C:\Games\FreeSpace\, while the Steam and GoG versions might have a different install location.

For Descent: FreeSpace download these two config files: pxo.cfg and std.cfg. For FreeSpace 2 download this single config file: multi.cfg. Then copy the respective config file(s) to <InstallDir>\Data\, overwriting the originals.

For FreeSpace 2 Open nothing needs to be done as it will detect the old configuration and adjust the settings automatically. You will only need to alter the multi.cfg file if you wish to adjust the default settings for a standalone server.

To play on PXO in the FreeSpace series of games you will need to select the Multi option on the initial pilot select screen. Create a new pilot, or select an existing one, then click the Select button to enter the main menu. Click on Multiplayer to enter the PXO lobby. There should be a PXO or FSNet logo in the top left corner of the screen.

The PXO lobby is where you can chat with other players currently looking to play a game. The list of chat channels on the top right includes the number of players in each channel as well as the number of servers advertised in that channel. Once you have found a group of players, or if you wish to start your own server, click the Games button.

From the games screen you can see any available servers. Select an available server and click the Join button to join it. If the server is a standalone that has no other players on it you will become the host of the game. If no servers are available you can create your own by clicking the Create button.