Install DOC Host

What you need

• Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit).
• About 2 GB of free disk space and a real graphics card. 16 GB of memory is comfortable for 8 seats.
• Enough CPU for your seat count: 8 seats runs 10 game windows at once. Fewer seats, fewer windows, but run at least 4. A decent, steady upload, because players watch video streamed from your PC.
• A Derby Owners Club account with Winner's Circle (from December 1, any account in good standing).

1. Download

Sign in and download DOC-Host-Setup-<version>.exe from the Host download page. Each link is personal and works for 15 minutes; get a fresh one there any time. Check the file's SHA-256 against the one shown on that page if you like.

2. Run the setup (and the blue Windows warning)

Double-click DOC-Host-Setup-<version>.exe. This first version is not signed with a code-signing certificate yet, so Windows shows a blue box that says "Windows protected your PC". That is expected:

1. Click More info.
2. Check that the file name is DOC-Host-Setup-<version>.exe.
3. Click Run anyway.

If your browser says the file "is not commonly downloaded", choose Keep (in Edge: the three dots, then Keep, then Keep anyway). Setup does not ask for an administrator password.

3. Answer the setup questions

• Install folder: keep the suggested one (in your user's Programs folder). Do not pick a OneDrive, Google Drive or Dropbox folder. If you choose a folder outside your user folder (for example C:\DOC Host), DOC Host locks it so only your Windows account can open it.
• Moving from a Host Pack folder? If you host today with an extracted Host Pack, first press Stop Hosting in that old folder when nobody is seated. Then choose that folder here. DOC Host copies your pairing over, so you do not pair again. The old folder is not changed or deleted, so it stays your way back. New hosts leave this box empty.
• Desktop icon: tick it if you want one.

Click Install. Copying takes a minute or two.

4. First start

1. 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 and confirm the code. Your cabinet goes live straight away, with no waiting for approval. (If you moved over from a Host Pack folder it already says Paired.)
2. Each account hosts one cabinet. Pairing a different PC moves your cabinet there, and the old PC stops hosting.
3. Pick the game and the number of seats. Tick "I will play at this PC too" if you want seat 1 for yourself. The website follows the game DOC Host is running, so players are offered horses for that game.
4. Press Start hosting. Card broker, Game, Seat stations, Lobby link and Video should go green within about two minutes.

The buttons

• Start hosting: starts everything (also applies a new game or seat count).
• Stop hosting: takes this PC off the lobby. Pairing is kept.
• Fix picture: board cropped, black or seamed. Does not restart the game.
• Restart game: restarts the game windows (anyone mid-race loses that race).
• Doctor: a full health report in the window.
• Host Console: play at this PC with your own horses.
• Open logs: the log folder, for the operator.

"Let remote players restart and fix screens" (on by default) lets players use the lobby's Restart and Refresh screens buttons for your cabinet. DOC Host refuses a Restart while you hold a seat at this PC or while a horse is being saved. Untick it to turn it off.

5. Upgrade

1. Press Stop hosting in DOC Host when nobody is seated.
2. Close DOC Host.
3. Run the new DOC-Host-Setup-<version>.exe (same More info, Run anyway step).

It installs over the old version in the same folder. Your pairing, settings, logs and any unsaved horses are kept. You need 3.3.0: older versions can't seat players any more. 3.3.0 saves your race program and records when you stop or restart hosting, and it updates itself from then on, so it is the last one you install by hand.

Good to know

• Your horses travel. Horses raced on a host cabinet come online and go back home with you. Every save is checked on the way in. A horse that comes back looking out of the ordinary stays unproven until it has raced on the house cabinets: it can still race, but it can't breed, be transferred, appear on the boards or enter events.
• Players' logins stay theirs. A player seated at your cabinet gives it a short-lived pass for that seat only. Their account sign-in never reaches your PC.
• Japanese-version horses can't be hosted yet.

6. Uninstall

Windows Settings, Apps, DOC Host, Uninstall. When it asks "Also delete your DOC Host data?", choose No (the default) to keep your pairing, settings and logs so a reinstall stays paired. If there are horses that never reached the website, it asks a second time: choose No to keep them for the operator.

If something is wrong

Press Doctor and read the last lines. Press Open logs and send the operator the newest files. Your data folder (%LOCALAPPDATA%\DOC Host\data) holds your cabinet's private token: do not copy it to a shared place.