1st Time Setup

Welcome!

Welcome to PlayerSync! This setup guide assumes you already have the XIV Quicklauncher installed on Windows, Linux or Mac. 

You must use the Quicklauncher and have Dalamud enabled for any plugins to work. if you do not have the quick launcher you can find it HERE

These are the things needed for setup:

There are (3) core plugins you will need which we will walk through setting up in this guide:

• Penumbra - This plugin handles loading mods within the game.
• Glamourer - This plugin handles applying the mods to characters as well as manipulating visible character data such as gender, race, height, etc.
• PlayerSync - This plugin facilitates the syncing of what you see on your screen to other players.

Discord:

• A valid discord account that is in the PlayerSync server and as the needed roles to view channel

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Discord

Before you touch anything in game, you must first join the PlayerSync Discord and register an account: https://discord.gg/playersync

When you first join the server you must Agree to the rules by clicking the "Sync me up” Button this will give you the role “synctastic”. This will give you access to all community channels including “sync-chat” which is used for asking questions in regards to PlayerSync. 

The bot can be found in the “Sync-bot-commands”channel which is the 3rd channel from the top:

If you have found the bot we can start the process by clicking on the “➡️ start” button on the left bottom.

This will open a menu, if it is the first time interacting with the bot you will have to click on the button indicated in order to continue (The required button changes each time you interact with it).

After clicking this button you will receive two prompts, "🔄Register No-Lodestone" is the correct option if this is your first time “🔗Link” is for when you already have an in game working PlayerSync account that is NOT linked to your discord.

The following window will pop up, after clicking “✅ Accept”. The bot will give you a secret key that you will use later in the setup process. We recommend you record the secret key someplace safe in case it is needed for future use.

After clicking accept you will get this window giving you your UID at the top and you secret key, you will have to click the long gray bar to reveal it. You can also set your Vanity ID with the Discord bot, as well as setting the Vanity for Syncshells and creating secondary UIDs.

After saving your secret key press “🏠Return to Home” at the bottom left to go back to the previous page which now looks like this. 

You can also set your Vanity ID with the Discord bot, as well as setting the Vanity for Syncshells and creating secondary UIDs (explained in a different guide).

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Storage Folders

Both Penumbra and PlayerSync require you to have dedicated folders to store mod files. You generally do not touch these folders once they are in use, doing so (especially deleting stuff randomly) can cause things to break. 

You will want to create the storage folders on your fastest drive possible such as an SSD or nVME drive. Avoid older HDD and USB drives if at all possible. Create the folders at the root of the drive, do not use a OneDrive folder!

Example: C:\Penumbra and C:\PlayerSync

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Repositories

Now that you have your PlayerSync account registered on the Discord and your (2) folders created, it's time to jump in game. Hit Escape and click on “Dalamud Settings”, or type “/xlsettings” in the chat. At the top, navigate to the “Experimental” tab and scroll down to “Custom Plugin Repositories”.

Add in each of the following on their own line:

• https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Ottermandias/SeaOfStars/main/repo.json (we are not endorsed)
• https://playersync.io/download/plugin/repo.json

Note: do not use the “Dev Plugin location” but use the tabs on the bottom UNDER THE YELLOW TEXT.

Be sure to click the “+" after you paste in each URL, when you are done, there should be an empty/blank line at the bottom.

Once you have added the .jsons, click the “Save changes and close” button in the bottom right. Don't forget this step!

Now hit Escape and click on “Dalamud Plugins”, or type “/xlplugins” in chat. Go to “All Plugins” on the left and search for Penumbra, Glamourer, and PlayerSync. Don't install them yet, but make sure you see them listed before you move on.

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Penumbra + Glamourer

Search for Glamourer first in the “All Plugins” and install it. (no further interaction is needed with Glamourer for the setup process) 

Next, search for “Penumbra” and install it. Once Penumbra is installed, it may open automatically, or you may need to type “/penumbra” in game chat.

Once opened, you can choose to do the guided tour or not, but the most important thing is to set your Penumbra folder. Point this to the folder you made earlier, this step is crucial!

If this step fails it is most likely due to the folder being located somewhere on your device where Penumbra won't accept it. 

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PlayerSync

Back in the Dalamud Plugins in “All Plugins” search for PlayerSync and install it. PlayerSync should open the setup wizard automatically upon install.

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PlayerSync Setup - Storage

Click the folder icon and find and select the folder you created at the start, such as C:\PlayerSync.

Do NOT share the same folder with other syncs! Each sync may handle local storage differently and it can cause problems!

Once you have selected a folder, there will be an initial scan performed. You must wait for the scan to finish before you can move on to the next page.

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PlayerSync Setup - Quick Start Settings

The Quick Start Settings includes some of the settings as part of the setup wizard for your convenience, and to know they exist. You can change these settings at any time. 

These  options can be found in the PlayerSync Settings in the following locations:

• Color code active pair names = Interface  → Game UI
• Color code active pair names = Interface  → Game UI
• Parallel downloads = Transfers → Bandwidth

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PlayerSync Setup - Discord vs Secret Key

There are two methods of finishing the set up process, one uses the “Service” tab and the other one uses the “Account” tab. We will mainly focus on the method using the “Account” tab since this method uses the discord OAuth2 using the discord account you have most likely just set up in the PlayerSync Discord. The second method is a legacy login using a Legacy secret key with NO discord OAuth2. This method is rarely used since Discord is the preferred method now. However if you have a Legacy secret key you can scroll down to the “PlayerSync Setup - Service Registration (Secret key NO Discord OAuth2)” section for a tutorial on how to finish the setup process using that method. 

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PlayerSync Setup - (Using Discord Account)

The first step in setting up the Discord auth is to click the button “Check if Server support Discord OAuth2” in the “Accounts” tab.

Next, click the button to “Authenticate with Server”. This step will open your default web browser to the Discord OAuth2 page. If you don't see it, look for a tab that opened on a browser window.

YOU MUST BE SIGNED IN TO THE SAME DISCORD ACCOUNT YOU REGISTERED WITH ON THE PLAYERSYNC DISCORD!

IF IT SAYS THE PLAYERSYNC ACCOUNT DOES NOT EXIST, YOU EITHER ARE NOT LOGGED IN TO DISCORD'S WEBSITE WITH THE SAME ACCOUNT YOU REGISTERED WITH, OR YOU NEVER REGISTER IN THE FIRST PLACE.

If it says, “Could not find a PlayerSync user associated to this Discord account. Make sure you have registered on the Discord using the bot before clicking this.” You need to make sure the website is logged in with the correct Discord account. In the same window you get this error, put in: https://discordapp.com/channels/@me and ensure it's the same Discord account that shows up.

Finally, click on “Update UIDs from Service”, then select your UID from the dropdown, then click “Connect to Service”.

If you have already put in the secret key in the “Service” tab and do not see the option to “” button you can:

• type “/xlrestart” command in the chat box to reset the page and see if you can use the button.
• Make sure “Use proxied server” is unchecked.  
• Make sure your secret key is a legacy key. How do you know if your secret key is legacy or not? If you just made an account in the PlayerSync Discord using the Discord bot your key is NOT a legacy key.
• Make sure you did NOT combine both setup methods by using both the “Service” and “Account” tab only use one to setup.
• Unlink your connection and use the discord method instead.

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PlayerSync Setup - Service Registration (Secret key NO Discord OAuth2)

For most users, you can skip this step. 

If you have opted to use a Legacy Login with the secret key instead of the Discord OAuth2, you can click the option for it and enter the secret key as provided by the Discord bot. For this method you will need a PlayerSync account in the discord, but you will not verify with your discord itself and will need to save the secret key you are given somewhere safe. 

If you have not yet created an account on the PlayerSync Discord, you must do so before finishing the setup. 

THIS IS A SEPARATE SET UP METHOD THEN THE ONE LISTED PREVIOUSLY. USING THIS SETUP METHOD THE "" BUTTON WILL NOT APPEAR LIKE IT DOES IN THE LAST IMAGE, IF YOUR SECRET KEY ISN'T LEGACY. IT IS HIGHLY ADVISED TO USE THE DISCORD METHOD SINCE YOU MOST LIKELY JUST MADE AN ACCOUNT USING THE DISCORD. DO NOT COMBINE THESE TWO SETUP METHODS.

If you have already put in the secret key and do not see the option to “Update UID from Service” button you can:

• type “/xlrestart” command in the chat box to reset the page and see if you can use the button.
• Make sure “Use proxied server” is unchecked.  
• Make sure your secret key is a legacy key. How do you know if your secret key is legacy or not? If you just made an account in the PlayerSync Discord using the Discord bot your key is NOT a legacy key.
• Make sure you did NOT combine both setup methods by using both the “Service” and “Account” tab only use one to setup.
• Unlink your connection and use the discord method instead.

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Vanity UID - what is it?

When you complete all the set up steps you will receive an UID this UID is your code you hand out to another player(s) in order to pair with them. You in turn will receive their code, it normally is a combination of numbers and letters and looks something like “XYZABC1DEF”. You can personalize this UID and change it to something more personalized (FOR FREE) like “BESTUIDEVER” as long as it is within the PlayerSync TOS and doesn't exceed 15 characters. 

You can check your characters UID by opening the PlayerSync menu after set up. it will be displayed at the top. 

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Vanity UID - Set up (FREE) 

In order to set up a custom UID there are multiple ways to do this, lets go over it.  We will start with the discord method, this process starts in the PS discord. Back at “sync-bot-commands” (the 3rd channel from the top in the discord).

Depending on how long it has been since you setup your account you might need to interact with the bot again. If this is the case press  “➡️ start” at the left bottom.

This will open a menu, if it has been a while since you have interacted with the bot you will have to click on the button indicated in order to continue (The required button changes each time you interact with it).

 Next you will be taken to the home page of the bot. To setup your vanity UID you will need to click the “💅Vanity IDs” button.

This will open a drop down menu where you can click and select the correct character UID you want to change. In the example case option “1️⃣” already has a vanity UID set, so we click on UID “2️⃣”.

After that the bot will ask if you want to change the UID, if so click “💅Set Vanity ID”. 

Now you will be able to setup your own custom UID, these IDs are unique so if there is already someone else with the same UID you will not be able submit. Note that you can have YOUR characters share UID and also have separate accounts share UID IF BOTH accounts are being played from the same device. However they can not use the same UID at the same time.

The bot will let you know if the process was successful.

IMPORTANT STEP: YOUR VANITY UID SHOULD WORK RIGHT AWAY, BUT YOU  WILL HAVE TO DISCCONECT AND RECONNECT TO THE SERVICE IN ORDER FOR THE CHANGE TO UPDATE !!!!

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Vanity UID - Set up (In game)

There is a second method for setting up a vanity UID, this method is done with the in game PlayerSync menu.

The first setup is to type "/psync" in your in game chat. This will pop up the menu, then you will need to go to the gear icon at the top right and click on it.

Next at the bottom left there will be a tab called “Vanity/Alias” click on this tab.

This should open the Vanity menu, to retrieve all the UIDs bound to your account click on the “ Retrieve Account Info” button.

After pressing this you should be able to select the UID you wish to change in the drop down menu and use the “Vanity/Alias” tab to input the new UID you want. If you are happy with the new UID press “Update UID”.

DONT FORGET TO DISCONNECT AND RECONNECT FOR THE CHANGES TO APPLY!

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If you are a Syncshell Owner you can also give your Syncshell a vanity UID using the “Vanity/Alias” tab. This follows the same in game method described previously. 

After disconnecting and reconnecting to PlayerSync the new UID for the Syncshell should be visible in your shell list.

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How to set up alt characters.

There are two categories when adding an alt.

• adding another character under the same UID as you main.
• adding another character with its own UID under the same Player Sync account.

What is the difference? 

Using the former method will result in both characters using the same UID. this means you will keep all your pairs and Sync shells, BUT people will know it is you from your UID code.

Using the latter method will result in you having an option to toggle between UIDs and select which character fall under these UIDs, this method is best if you want don't want keep your pairs or keep your character private.

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Making a secondary UID for an alt character

Go to the Player Sync Discord and navigate to the bot (that can be found in the “sync-bot-commands” channel. Click “start” and interact with it until it brings you to the homepage, it should look like this:

Click on the “2️⃣Secondary UID” button.

It should pop-up the following menu, click on the “2️⃣Create Secondary UID” button.

After clicking this the bot will generate a second UID, you can check if it was successful by clicking “Return to Home” and checking if the UID shows up in the “vanity UIDs” tab.

If you see it displayed there that means it worked!  Now to apply it in game.

Open the Player Sync in game, this can be done by typing “/psync" in your chat window, when the menu opens navigate to the top left and click on the gear icon this will open the settings. 

Next navigate to “Service settings” on the bottom left and go to “Service Configuration” .

Now this will look different depending on if you have this box checked or not.

If you do not have it checked you will have three tabs at the top: 

If you have the box checked you will have two tabs at the top:

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I have the box checked

In this case go to the “Character Management” tab. You will see your main character in the list.

Underneath the tab your main character info is displayed go to the “Add new character” button.

This will generate a new tab. In this tab write the name of the character you want to add correctly spelled and the server which they are on.

After this all that is left is to assign the character to a UID in the drop down menu. You can see all the UIDs you created with the discord bot make sure to select the one you want the alt to use. 

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I DO NOT have the box checked

In this case navigate to the middle of the Three tabs.

Create a new tab by clicking on “Add new Secret Key” 

Paste the secret key the Discord bot gave you in the “ Secret Key” tab and choose a display name (the display name is what is shown when selecting for a key so we recommend giving it a recognizable name).

After you have done this go back to the top tabs and click the “Character Management” tab on the left.

Click on the “Add new character” button, it should be displayed at the bottom. 

This will generate a new tab. In this tab write the name of the character you want to add correctly spelled and the server which they are on.

For the last step click on the "Secret" Key" dropdown menu and select the one you want to use. __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I want to add an alt on the same UID as my main

Open the Player Sync in game, this can be done by typing “/psync" in your chat window. When the menu opens navigate to the top left and click on the gear icon this will open the settings. 

Next

 navigate to “Service settings” on the bottom left.

Go to the “Character Management” tab it should be the most left one.  

Now this will look slightly different depending on if you have this box checked or not. but for this example it doesn't effect the process. 

In both instances this should work the same, make a new tab by clicking on the “Add new character” button. 

Fill in the name of the alt you want to add and from which server they are. Then in the 3rd drop down which will either say “secret key” or “UID” select the option in the drop down menu that matches the one your Main uses.

That should be it! Your alt character should now use the same UID as your main! 

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What is an MCDF? 

A MCDF/Mare Character Data File. Is a character file you can create and load that includes your current characters appearance at the time the file was made, you then save and export this as a data pack. This pack can be sent to other players via Discord or other media sites and be directly loaded in to a Gpose program for use. 

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Exporting a MCDF using PlayerSync.

The first step is to open the Playersync menu, this can be done by typing “/psync” in your game chat while the plugin is active, this will open the menu. Navigate to the right where you see an icon of a person with a gear and click on it.

This will change the menu displayed under the icon, to open the menu click on the long “Character Data Hub” button.

Clicking in this will open the Data hub menu. The data hub menu might open somewhere collapsed on your screen make sure to check for it!

Next navigate to the “Data Creation” tab. Here you can choose between MCD or MCDF. We will go with MCDF for this guide. 

Click the “What is this?” dropdown menu and agree to the terms. Then write a character export description and hit 

“💾Export Character as MCDF” if you are happy with you current look and description.

Lasty it will open one more menu asking where you would like to save the file, make sure you will be able to find this location!

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