How To Set Up Race Sessions on Your Assetto Corsa Server

Assetto Corsa servers run a sequence of sessions: Practice, Qualifying, and Race. You can enable, disable, and configure each one independently.

Session Types

Practice

Open free driving with no ranking or timing pressure.

[PRACTICE]
NAME=Free Practice
TIME=0              ; Session length in minutes (0 = unlimited)
IS_OPEN=1           ; 1 = players can join mid-session

Set TIME=0 for unlimited practice, or set a time limit.

Qualifying

Timed session where drivers set their fastest lap to determine grid order for the race.

[QUALIFY]
NAME=Qualifying
TIME=15             ; Session length in minutes
IS_OPEN=1           ; 1 = allow joining mid-session

Race

The main event. Can be set by laps or by time.

[RACE]
NAME=Race
LAPS=10             ; Number of laps (set to 0 for time-based)
TIME=0              ; Minutes (used when LAPS=0)
WAIT_TIME=60        ; Seconds players have to ready up before race start
IS_OPEN=2           ; 0=closed, 1=open entire race, 2=open until leader passes start

IS_OPEN values for Race:

• 0 — No one can join after the race starts
• 1 — Players can join at any point during the race
• 2 — Players can join until the first car crosses the start/finish line (recommended)

Session Flow

Sessions run in order: Practice → Qualifying → Race.

• To skip a session, set its TIME=0 (for Practice) or remove the section entirely
• With LOOP_MODE=1 in [SERVER], sessions restart after the race finishes
• Without loop mode, the server shuts down after the race

Common Session Configurations

Quick Race (No Practice/Qualifying)

[PRACTICE]
NAME=Practice
TIME=0
IS_OPEN=1

[QUALIFY]
NAME=Qualifying
TIME=0
IS_OPEN=1

[RACE]
NAME=Race
LAPS=15
WAIT_TIME=30
IS_OPEN=2

Full Race Weekend

[PRACTICE]
NAME=Free Practice
TIME=30
IS_OPEN=1

[QUALIFY]
NAME=Qualifying
TIME=15
IS_OPEN=1

[RACE]
NAME=Feature Race
LAPS=25
WAIT_TIME=60
IS_OPEN=0

Endurance / Time-Based Race

[PRACTICE]
NAME=Warm-up
TIME=10
IS_OPEN=1

[QUALIFY]
NAME=Qualifying
TIME=20
IS_OPEN=1

[RACE]
NAME=Endurance Race
LAPS=0
TIME=60
WAIT_TIME=120
IS_OPEN=1

Race Finish Behavior

RACE_OVER_TIME in [SERVER] controls how many seconds remaining drivers have to finish after the winner crosses the line. Default is 60.

RACE_OVER_TIME=120    ; 2 minutes for slower drivers to finish

Skipping Sessions Mid-Run

Admins can skip to the next session or restart the current one in-game:

/next_session
/restart_session

See Admin Commands for details.

💡 Tip: For a casual server, run Practice with TIME=0 and LOOP_MODE=1. For competitive events, use the full Practice → Qualify → Race flow.

Related Guides

• Configure Your Server
• Change Track
• Admin Commands