Getting your dropcatch VPS ready for catching

The Multicore Dropcatch VPS arrives positioned inside Iron Mountain Slough (~3ms from the Nominet backend) and ready to run a catching engine. Here's how to get from a fresh server to catching.

1. Confirm the environment. The server ships ready for the Transcom dropcatch engine, which expects PHP 7.4 and the clock in UTC/Zulu time. If you're running your own catching software instead, install its runtime now.

2. Set up EPP access. Catching means firing EPP create commands at Nominet, so you'll need working EPP credentials — typically under your own Nominet TAG. The six vCPU are there specifically so the engine can hold many non-blocking EPP sockets open in parallel.

3. Keep the clock exact. Drops happen at precise moments; make sure time sync is running and the server stays on UTC so your attempts fire at the right instant.

4. Don't waste the position. The value of this server is its ~3ms proximity to Nominet — avoid routing your traffic through a proxy or distant relay that would throw that advantage away.

5. Manage it remotely. Pair the server with the Front End Dashboard to run and monitor catches, or drive it with the owned/leased Transcom engine for the full stack.

For general registrar automation that isn't latency-critical, the SS-NOMINET tier is the better fit; this node is specifically for winning contested drops.