Core Settings

maximus.toml — system identity, paths, logging, and runtime toggles

This page covers config/maximus.toml — the central configuration file for your Maximus installation. It defines who your BBS is (system name, sysop), where everything lives on disk (paths), how logging works, and a handful of runtime toggles. Most sysops set these once during installation and rarely touch them again.

This page also covers four smaller config files that live under config/general/:

• Offline Reader — reader.toml (QWK packet settings)
• External Protocols — protocol.toml (protocol definitions)
• Display & Lightbar — display.toml (lightbar area display)
• MEX Runtime — mex.toml (socket and HTTP limits for scripts)

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maximus.toml — System & Global

File: config/maximus.toml

Every path in this file (except sys_path itself) is resolved relative to sys_path. This means you can relocate your entire installation by changing one value — everything else follows automatically.

Quick Reference

Identity

Key	Type	Default	Description
system_name	string	"MaximusNG BBS"	Your BBS name — used in origin lines, banners, and greeting screens
sysop	string	"Sysop"	Sysop display name (does not grant privileges — those come from access levels)

Paths

Key	Type	Default	Description
sys_path	string	(install dir)	Absolute path to your Maximus root — the one absolute path everything else is relative to
config_path	string	"config"	TOML configuration directory
display_path	string	"display/screens"	Display and screen files
rip_path	string	"display/rip"	RIP graphics icon and scene files
lang_path	string	"config/lang"	Language TOML files
data_path	string	"data"	Persistent data root (user DB, message bases, file listings)
mex_path	string	(not set)	MEX script directory (compiled .vm files)
temp_path	string	"run/tmp"	Scratch space for uploads and temporary operations
stage_path	string	"run/stage"	Staging area for slow-media file transfers
run_path	string	(not set)	Ephemeral runtime state root
node_path	string	"run/node"	Per-node runtime state (lock files, IPC sockets)
doors_path	string	(not set)	External door program directory
net_info_path	string	"data/nodelist"	Nodelist and net-info files
outbound_path	string	"data/mail/outbound"	Outbound mail bundles
inbound_path	string	"data/mail/inbound"	Inbound mail bundles

Data Files

Key	Type	Default	Description
file_password	string	"data/users/user"	User database location (root name — extensions added automatically)
file_callers	string	"data/users/callers"	Callers log location (root name)
file_access	string	"config/security/access"	Access level database (root name)
message_data	string	"data/msgbase/marea"	Message area data root
file_data	string	"data/msgbase/farea"	File area data root

Logging

Key	Type	Default	Description
log_file	string	"log/max.log"	Primary system log file (leave empty to disable logging)
log_mode	string	"Trace"	Log verbosity: Terse, Verbose, or Trace

Multi-Node & IPC

Key	Type	Default	Description
task_num	int	1	Node/task number — each node needs a unique value
mcp_sessions	int	16	Maximum concurrent nodes/sessions
snoop	bool	true	Mirror the caller’s screen on the local console
msg_reader_menu	string	"MSGREAD"	Menu name used for the message reader

Security

Key	Type	Default	Description
no_password_encryption	bool	false	Disable password hashing — not recommended

Legacy & Compatibility

Key	Type	Default	Description
config_version	int	2	Schema version for tooling — don’t change by hand
video	string	"IBM"	Console video mode (legacy DOS; ignored on UNIX)
has_snow	bool	false	CGA snow avoidance (legacy; always false)
multitasker	string	"UNIX"	Multitasking environment identifier
status_line	bool	false	Show a sysop status bar on the local console
local_input_timeout	bool	false	Auto-logoff local sessions after 5 min idle
dos_close	bool	true	Close internal files when launching external programs
no_share	bool	false	Disable file-sharing support (legacy DOS)
reboot	bool	false	Reboot on carrier drop in external programs (legacy DOS)
swap	bool	false	Swap out of memory for external programs (legacy DOS)

Paths — How They Work

All paths except sys_path are relative to sys_path. If your sys_path is /opt/maximus and your data_path is "data", the actual data directory is /opt/maximus/data.

A few paths deserve extra context:

• data_path — the root for persistent mutable data: user databases, message bases, file listings, and nodelist files. This is the directory you want in your backup scripts.
• run_path and node_path — ephemeral runtime state. Per-node lock files, IPC sockets, and temporary session data live here. These are recreated each time a node starts — no need to back them up.
• stage_path — used when file areas are marked Staged or CD. Files from slow media are copied here before transfer. Most modern setups won’t use this.
• mex_path — where compiled MEX scripts (.vm files) live. Only present in configs exported from CTL; set it if you store scripts outside the default locations.
• doors_path — home directory for external door programs. Only relevant if you run doors.

Renamed keys: In older documentation you may see misc_path and ipc_path. These have been renamed to display_path and node_path respectively.

Logging

log_file sets the path for the main system log. Leave it empty to disable logging entirely (not recommended). log_mode controls how much detail goes into the log:

Mode	What Gets Logged
Terse	Critical events only — logins, logoffs, errors
Verbose	Terse plus area changes, file transfers, menu navigation
Trace	Everything — great for debugging, but produces large log files

Multi-Node & IPC

• task_num — the node number for this instance. In a multi-node setup, each node needs a unique task number. MaxTel assigns these automatically when spawning nodes; if you run nodes manually, set this per-instance.
• mcp_sessions — the maximum number of simultaneous sessions. Match this to your MaxTel -n flag or your expected peak concurrency.
• snoop — mirrors the caller’s screen on the local console. Useful for monitoring live sessions. Disable it for headless or daemon operation.
• msg_reader_menu — which menu file is loaded when a caller enters the message reader. The default "MSGREAD" corresponds to config/menus/msgread.toml.

Security

no_password_encryption defaults to false, which means passwords are hashed before storage. Only set this to true if you have external tooling that requires plaintext passwords — and even then, consider fixing the tooling instead.

Legacy Compatibility

Several keys exist for compatibility with DOS/OS2 behavior. On modern UNIX systems, you can safely leave these at their defaults:

• video, has_snow, multitasker — console/platform detection from the DOS era. Set multitasker to "UNIX" and ignore the rest.
• swap, reboot — DOS-era memory management and watchdog behavior. Both should be false.
• no_share — disabled DOS SHARE.EXE file locking. Leave false.
• dos_close — closes internal files before launching external programs. Leave true to avoid file handle conflicts with doors.
• status_line — shows a sysop info bar at the bottom of the local console. Only worked with Video IBM on DOS; limited utility on modern terminals.
• local_input_timeout — auto-logoff for local console sessions after five minutes of inactivity. Remote callers always have timeouts; this extends the same behavior to local sessions.

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reader.toml — Offline Reader

File: config/general/reader.toml

If your BBS supports QWK offline mail packets, these settings control the packing behavior — packet size limits, the working directory, and the archiver used for compression. Most sysops running a modern telnet-only board won’t need to touch this file.

Key	Type	Default	Description
max_pack	int	1200	Maximum messages per QWK download packet
archivers_ctl	string	"config/legacy/compress.cfg"	Path to archiver definitions
packet_name	string	"TVK"	Three-letter QWK packet identifier
work_directory	string	"data/olr"	Working directory for packet assembly
phone	string	"(123) 456-7890"	BBS phone number included in QWK control files

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protocol.toml — External Protocols

File: config/general/protocol.toml

This file tells Maximus where to find external file transfer protocol definitions (Zmodem, etc.). The actual protocol entries are defined in the legacy .ctl or .max files referenced here. You can also configure protocols through MaxCFG’s Setup & Tools screen.

Key	Type	Default	Description
protoexit	int	9	Errorlevel returned after protocol execution
protocol_max_path	string	"config/legacy/protocol.max"	Path to protocol.max definitions
protocol_max_exists	bool	false	Whether protocol.max is present
protocol_ctl_path	string	"config/legacy/protocol.ctl"	Path to protocol.ctl definitions
protocol_ctl_exists	bool	true	Whether protocol.ctl is present

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display.toml — Display & Lightbar

File: config/general/display.toml

This file controls lightbar display behavior for file area lists, message area lists, and the message reader — things like highlight style, selected-row colors, list boundaries, and header/footer anchoring.

For a full walkthrough of what each setting does and how to set up lightbar navigation, see Lightbar Customization.

General

Key	Type	Default	Description
general.lightbar_prompts	bool	false	Use lightbar-style prompts system-wide

Per-Section Settings

Each section ([file_areas], [msg_areas], [msg_reader]) supports the same set of keys:

Key	Type	Default	Description
lightbar_area	bool	true	Enable lightbar navigation for this section
reduce_area	int	5	Rows reserved for header/footer/status lines
lightbar_what	string	"row"	Highlight style: row, full, or name/number
lightbar_fore	string	""	Selected-row foreground color override
lightbar_back	string	""	Selected-row background color override
custom_screen	string	""	Optional display file shown before the list

Optional boundary and anchor keys (commented out by default):

Key	Type	Description
top_boundary	[row, col]	Upper-left corner of the list area (1-based)
bottom_boundary	[row, col]	Lower-right corner of the list area
header_location	[row, col]	Fixed position for the header
footer_location	[row, col]	Fixed position for the footer

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mex.toml — MEX Runtime

File: config/general/mex.toml

This file controls the runtime behavior of MEX script socket and HTTP intrinsics — connection limits, timeouts, and access control. If your BBS runs MEX scripts that make network calls (weather lookups, API integrations, inter-BBS messaging), these settings let you tune performance and security.

For full details on MEX networking, see MEX Networking. For socket programming specifics, see Socket Programming.

[sockets] Section

Key	Type	Default	Description
enabled	bool	true	Master switch — false disables all outgoing socket/HTTP calls
max_connections	int	8	Maximum concurrent socket connections per MEX session
connect_timeout_ms	int	500	Default connect timeout (ms) when the script passes 0
tls_handshake_timeout_ms	int	500	Hard cap on TLS handshake duration (ms)
max_recv_size	int	131072	Maximum bytes per sock_recv call (128 KB)

Access Control Rules

Access rules are defined as [[sockets.rules]] entries, evaluated top-to-bottom (first match wins). Each rule has:

Key	Type	Description
action	string	"allow" or "deny"
host	string	Host pattern (supports * wildcards)
ports	array	(optional) Port whitelist for allow rules

If no rules are defined, all outgoing connections are allowed.

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See Also

• Session & Login — user experience and policy settings (session.toml)
• Equipment & Comm — modem and connection settings (equipment.toml)
• Directory Structure — full runtime layout reference
• Configuration Overview — top-level config guide