Organizing the remaining AFP threads is the job of the server.  When started, the server launches the CleanUp Thread and, if appropriately configured, the WatchDog Thread. The CleanUp Thread ensures that invalid sessions are removed from Session.dbf every three minutes and that unassigned files in the %session% directory are deleted. Subsequently the number of AFP Engine Threads specified in the configuration file will be launched. They take over the processing of threads.

Following that, the server will switch to RemoteControl mode. The server waits in a pipe named AFP3_REMOTE for incoming commands to start or stop a thread. These commands can be sent through the ControlCenter. As soon as the server receives the signal to finish, all threads finish and the server shuts down.

If AFP3.8.EXE is launched without parameters or with the parameter verbose only, the server will automatically load, along with the configuration file afp.config. Unless the option silent was specified, the AFP will display the dialogue below for as long as the server runs. The server can also be loaded via the option thread:$server.