DOC Host: what you need to know

Everything hosts and players can expect from a home-hosted cabinet, from setup to screens, controls, seats, horses and getting help. New to hosting? Read this, then follow the install guide.

Before you start

Community hosting is back, but it's still a very new idea, and DOC Host will keep changing as we learn. Hosting comes with some frustration: every PC and connection is different, and some things may not work on your setup. Sometimes there won't be an answer right away. Head into it with an open mind, tell us what you hit, and we'll keep improving it together.

The seat buttons at a glance

Icon	Button	Where
☰	Control panel (or press M)	Side rail
🐎	Your Stable: load a horse	Side rail
⛶	Fullscreen (or press F)	Side rail
🔊 / 🔇	Race audio on / off	Side rail
🚪	Leave your seat	Side rail
⤢	Adjust layout	Panel, Screen
❐	Board to 2nd screen	Panel, Screen
📊	Low data	Panel, Screen
⌨	Rebind keys	Panel, Controls
🎮	On-screen pad	Panel, Controls
✥	Move pad	Panel, Controls
📺 / 🎚	Seat sounds / Mixer	Panel, Sound
📱	Phone link	Panel, Seat
👥	Who's playing	Panel, Seat
📓	Career note	Panel, Seat
	Race schedule	Panel, Seat
	Refresh screens: nobody loses a seat	Panel, Fix this cabinet
⟳	Restart cabinet: everyone back to the lobby	Panel, Fix this cabinet

What DOC Host is

DOC Host turns your Windows PC into a Derby Owners Club cabinet that appears in the online lobby. It runs the main race board, the player seats, the card saves and the video stream from one window.

Who can host: any Winner's Circle member (from December 1, any member in good standing). Each account hosts one cabinet.
Who can play on it: anyone in the lobby. Players sign in with their usual account and race their own horses.
Where to get it: the Host page. The install guide has the step-by-step setup.

What your PC needs

Part	What to aim for
Windows	Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. No Mac or Linux version.
CPU	Single-core speed matters most. Every seat is its own game window, plus the main board: 8 seats means 10 game windows at once.
Graphics	A real graphics card helps.
Memory	16 GB is comfortable for 8 seats.
Disk	About 2 GB free.
Internet	A steady upload. Every remote player watches video sent from your PC, so upload matters more than download. Wired beats Wi-Fi.

Run at least 4 seats. The race needs data from the other seats' game windows to fill the CPU horses, so fewer than 4 seats doesn't race properly. Not sure your PC can keep up? Start at 4 and raise it later.

Your PC is the whole cabinet

Hosting isn't a simple three-station setup. While you host, your PC does the work of a full arcade cabinet and its link to the online arcade, for every player seated at it.

Job	What it means for your PC
The main race board	The two big race screens, running the race for the whole cabinet.
One game per seat	Every seat is its own copy of the game. At 8 seats that's 10 game windows running at once.
Live video for every player	Your PC records the race screens and each seat as they play and streams them out over your upload.
Every player's controls	Each remote player's button presses travel to your PC and into their seat's game.
Saving horses	Your PC hands each player's horse to the website when they save.
The lobby link	Your PC keeps telling the lobby which seats are open, who's playing and which game is running.

Your PC is the cabinet. If it sleeps, restarts, loses power or loses internet, the cabinet goes down and everyone seated is dropped mid-race.
Stop sleep while you host. Set Windows Power & sleep to Never while plugged in, and schedule Windows Update restarts for when you're not hosting.
Your upload is everyone's picture. Streaming, big downloads or cloud backups on the same line show up as lag for every player.
Leave the PC for the cabinet. Games, video editing or heavy browsing compete with the game windows and the video. Light use is fine; watch for stutter.
Players are trusting your setup. They spend real races and real horses' condition at your seats, so a steady cabinet matters more than a big one. Run the seats your PC handles smoothly, and never fewer than 4.
Stop hosting when you're done. Press Stop hosting when nobody is seated, rather than shutting the PC down with players on it.

Getting set up

Your cabinet goes live the moment you pair it. There is no approval wait.

Download. Sign in, open the Host download page and press Download DOC Host. The link is made for you and works for 15 minutes. Don't share it; anyone else can get their own.
Run the installer. Windows shows a blue "Windows protected your PC" box because the installer isn't code-signed yet. Click More info, check the file name is DOC-Host-Setup-(version).exe, then Run anyway. It doesn't ask for an administrator password.
Pick a folder. Keep the suggested one. Never use a OneDrive, Google Drive or Dropbox folder.
Pair. Open DOC Host and press Sign in and pair this PC. DOC Host shows a pairing code and opens the pairing page in your browser. Sign in, check the code matches, and confirm.
Choose your game and seats. Pick the game, the number of seats (at least 4; 4, 6 or 8 are the usual sizes), and the three options below.
Press Start hosting. Within about two minutes the lights go green and your cabinet shows in the lobby.

The three options under Game and seats

Option	What it does	Default
I will play at this PC too	Keeps seat 1 for you at the keyboard. The lobby can't take it.	Off
Broadcast video so remote players can play	Sends each seat's picture to players in the lobby. Turn it off and only you can play, at this PC.	On
Let remote players restart and fix screens	Lets seated players use the Refresh screens and Restart cabinet buttons on their seat.	On

One cabinet per account. Pairing a different PC moves your cabinet there, and the old PC stops hosting.
The website follows your game. Whatever game DOC Host is running is the game players are offered horses for. There is nothing to match by hand.
Moving from an old Host Pack folder? Press Stop Hosting in the old folder first, then choose that folder during setup. DOC Host copies your pairing, so you don't pair again.

Moving and arranging the screens

Players arrange their own view from the seat's control panel. Press M (or the ☰ button) at any seat to open it, then use the Screen group. Every change is saved on that device. The icons below are the ones on the seat's buttons.

At your seat (players)

You want to	Do this
Move or resize the race board or your seat picture	⤢ Adjust layout (Panel, Screen). Pick Main L, Main R or Seat, then use the arrows and – size / + size. Press done. "reset all" puts everything back.
Put the race board on a second monitor	❐ Board to 2nd screen (Panel, Screen). The board opens in its own window; drag it to the other monitor. Your keyboard stays on the seat, so the whip keeps working. Allow pop-ups if nothing opens.
Go fullscreen, or back again	⛶ on the side rail, or press F. Esc also leaves fullscreen.
Use less internet	📊 Low data (Panel, Screen). The race board drops to a lighter stream; your own seat stays full quality. This works on house cabinets only: a host cabinet's race board is already one combined stream.

Layouts are saved per device and per cabinet, so a layout you set on one host's cabinet doesn't move another cabinet's.

On the host's PC

DOC Host opens the two main race screens (Left and Right) plus one window per seat. That is 10 windows at 8 seats.
Don't close or minimize the game windows. A closed window stops that screen; a minimized one stops sending its picture, so that player sees a frozen or black screen until you restore it. Cover them with other windows instead, or move them to another monitor.
Fix picture cleans up a board that looks cropped, black or seamed. It doesn't restart the game, so nobody loses a race. The Right main screen only opens once the race link starts, so if it isn't up yet, press Fix picture again after it appears.
Seat windows can't be rearranged from the website. What players see is set on their own device, as above.

Changing controls

Every player sets their own controls at the seat, saved on that device. Keyboard, any standard Xbox or PlayStation controller, and an on-screen touch pad all work, on host cabinets and house cabinets alike.

The defaults

Action	Keyboard	Controller
Whip (go)	C	A / Cross, or left trigger
Hold (save the gauge)	X	B / Circle, or right trigger
OK (confirm)	Z	X / Square
Start (the yellow button)	Enter	Start / Options
Insert card (at the card screen)	I	Y / Triangle
Up, down, left, right	Arrow keys	D-pad

Two keys work everywhere unless you bind them to something else: F toggles fullscreen and M opens the control panel.

Changing them

Press M (or ☰) at your seat and open Controls.
⌨ Rebind keys changes the keyboard and controller. Pick an action, then press the key or button you want for it. The game ignores your presses while you're binding, so you can't start a race by accident. You can go back to the defaults any time.
🎮 On-screen pad shows or hides touch buttons. It's on by itself on phones and tablets.
✥ Move pad lets you drag and resize the touch buttons. All input to the game pauses while you arrange them, keyboard and controller included.

You can pin up to three favourite tiles from the panel to the seat's side rail for one-tap access.

Playing at the host's PC

If you play at the PC itself (see Running your cabinet), click the seat's game window and use the same default keys shown above. Those can't be remapped from DOC Host. Don't open the game's own settings menu on a seat window while hosting: it can knock that seat out of step with the race link.

Running your cabinet day to day

You control which seats the lobby can use from My Stable, in the Host: seat control box (🎛). It shows each seat live and only works while your cabinet is online.

Pulling seats from the lobby

Seat shows	Buttons	What happens
Online: open	Pull local	The seat leaves the lobby straight away and is yours at the PC.
A player's name	Pull local	The seat closes once that player leaves. Nobody is kicked mid-race.
A player's name	Reclaim now	Kicks the player and takes the seat now. You're asked to confirm first.
Closing: frees when (player) leaves	Reclaim now or Cancel (push online)	Take it now, or change your mind and keep it in the lobby.
Host / local	Push online	Gives the seat back to the lobby.

A seat an online player has just left counts down before you can take it, because their race can still finish into it.

Playing at the PC with your own horses (Host Console)

With hosting running, open Host Console. A page opens; it only works on this PC.
Press Play here on an open seat to make it yours. The lobby can't claim it while it's yours.
When the seat shows the Insert Card screen, choose the seat, press Load, then press I in the game window.
When you finish, press Save this seat's horse. That sends the races to your stable. Without it, the horse stays on this PC only.
To hand the seat back, save it (or Take it out if it never raced), then Put back online.

Making a brand-new horse at the game? Press Start playing here on the seat first. A card an online player left in a seat has a Return it button: it goes back to them, never to you.

Playing with no broadcast

Untick Broadcast video so remote players can play before you press Start hosting. Only you can play, at this PC: lobby players can't use your seats, because they'd have no picture. It also saves your upload.

Your house rules

The House rules box under seat control shows your rules to players in the lobby, usually within a minute. Clear the box and save to remove them.

The DOC Host buttons

Button	When to use it	Who it affects
Start hosting	Starts everything. Also applies a new game or seat count.	Takes a couple of minutes to come up
Stop hosting	Takes your cabinet off the lobby. Pairing is kept.	Everyone seated is sent back to the lobby
Fix picture	Board cropped, black or seamed	Nobody: the game keeps running
Restart game	The game itself is stuck	Anyone mid-race loses that race
Doctor	Something is red or amber	Nobody: it only checks
Host Console	You want to play at this PC with your own horses	Only the seat you take
Open logs	The operator asks for them	Nobody

Change games or seat counts only when nobody is seated. With Let remote players restart and fix screens on, seated players can press Refresh screens (nobody loses a seat) or Restart cabinet (everyone goes back to the lobby). DOC Host refuses a remote restart while you hold a seat at the PC or while a horse is being saved.

Your horses on a host cabinet

Your horses live in your online stable, and they travel: race them on a host cabinet, save them, and they're back in your stable like any other race.

Load and save on the website. At a lobby seat you load a horse from your stable (🐎 on the side rail) and save it when you're done, exactly as on a house cabinet. The host's PC only holds your horse while you're seated. If a save can't reach the website, DOC Host keeps it so the operator can recover it.
Save before you walk away. A horse you never save stays with the races it had before.
Every save is checked on the way in. A horse that comes back from a host cabinet looking out of the ordinary is marked unproven until it has raced on the house cabinets.
What unproven means. It can still race. It can't breed, be transferred, appear on the boards or enter events. Racing it on the house cabinets is how it earns its way back.
Events take proven horses only, wherever the event is run.
Each game keeps its own horses. A cabinet offers you horses for the game it's running, and a horse is never saved under another game.
Japanese-version horses can't be hosted yet. They race on the house cabinets as usual.

Your login stays yours. When you sit at someone else's host cabinet, it gets a short-lived pass that only works for that seat. Your account sign-in never reaches the host's PC.

Playing on someone else's host cabinet

Host cabinets sit in the lobby next to the house cabinets, and you join them the same way: pick an open seat, sign in, load a horse.

It runs on the host's own PC and internet. Picture and response depend on their upload and yours. If it stutters, close other streams and downloads on your end first; if it's the same for everyone, the host's PC or upload is struggling.
Read the house rules. A host can post rules for their cabinet; the House rules button on the lobby card shows them.
The host can take a seat back. They can close a seat once you leave, or, rarely, reclaim it while you're seated. Save your horse between races so nothing is lost.
Restart and Refresh buttons depend on the host. They only show when the host allows them and their PC is listening. Try Refresh screens (the monitor icon) first: nobody loses a seat. ⟳ Restart cabinet sends everyone back to the lobby.
"Update required" on a cabinet means the host is on an older DOC Host and its seats are paused until they update. Pick another cabinet meanwhile.
A cabinet that won't load for you may not be reachable from your network even while it shows online for others. Try another cabinet, or ask in Discord.

Updating, moving PCs and uninstalling

Updating. New versions are announced in Discord and posted on the Host page. You need 3.3.0 or newer: older versions can't seat players. From 3.3.0 on, DOC Host updates itself when nobody is seated (untick "Install automatically when nobody is seated" in its Updates box to choose when, with Update now).

When nobody is seated, press Stop hosting and close DOC Host.
Download the new installer from the Host page and run it (same More info, Run anyway step).
It installs over the old version. Your pairing, settings, logs and any unsaved horses are kept. Open DOC Host and press Start hosting.

Moving to a new PC. Install DOC Host on the new PC and pair it. Your cabinet moves there and the old PC stops hosting. It's the same cabinet, not a new one.

Uninstalling. Windows Settings, Apps, DOC Host, Uninstall. When asked "Also delete your DOC Host data?", choose No (the default) to keep your pairing for a reinstall. If there are horses that never reached the website, it asks again: choose No so the operator can recover them.

Your data folder (%LOCALAPPDATA%\DOC Host\data) holds your cabinet's private key. Don't copy it anywhere shared.

When something looks wrong

Start with Doctor in DOC Host: it checks the whole PC and says what is wrong in plain words. The lights: green means working, amber means it needs a minute or a look, red means not working, grey means off. Card broker, Game, Seat stations, Lobby link and Video should all be green within about two minutes of Start hosting.

What you see	Try this
Board cropped, black or seamed	Fix picture. The game keeps running.
Video says "no feeds: press Fix picture"	Press Fix picture once both main screens show the game.
A player's seat picture is frozen or black	Check that seat's game window isn't minimized on your PC. Restore it and the picture comes back.
Video says "video off (local play only)"	Broadcast is unticked, so lobby players can't play. Tick it, then Start hosting.
Cabinet doesn't show in the lobby	Check Lobby link is green. If it stays red, press Doctor.
Remote restart shows "paused while you hold a seat"	You have a seat at the PC. Hand it back (Put back online) to let players restart again.
A player says their seat won't respond	Ask them to try Refresh screens (M, Fix this cabinet, the monitor icon). If that fails, Restart game when nobody is mid-race.
Everything is slow or stutters	Fewer seats, close other heavy programs, and use a wired connection. Keep at least 4 seats.
Windows blocks the installer	More info, check the file name, Run anyway. Your browser may also ask you to Keep the file.

Getting help

Type /host in the Discord server for the download and install links.
Ask in the hosting channel on Discord. Press Doctor first and share the last lines.
If the operator asks for logs, press Open logs and send the newest files.

A note from John. I run DOC alongside a day job, so I'm often slow to answer. I'll help as much as I can, but not hearing back from me for hours or even days is normal. Don't wait on me: ask in Discord, because other hosts and players are often the fastest help there is.

Get DOC Host Install guide