RDS License Server Discovery Registry Key Location

This article details the exact Windows Registry locations used to store and manage Remote Desktop Services (RDS) / Terminal Server license server discovery configurations. Administrators frequently need to inspect or modify these keys using the Registry Editor (regedit.exe) to troubleshoot licensing issues, force specific license servers, or verify discovery methods deployed via local configuration or Group Policy.

Primary Registry Key for License Server Configuration

The active configuration for specified Terminal Server licensing discovery is primarily stored in the following registry path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TermService\Parameters\LicenseServers

Under this key, the system lists the hostnames or IP addresses of discovered or manually specified Remote Desktop license servers as individual subkeys.

To manually point a Terminal Server to a specific license server, an administrator can create a subkey matching the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) or NetBIOS name of the target license server:

• Path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\TermService\Parameters\LicenseServers\<ServerName>

Group Policy Override Key

When license server discovery is configured via Active Directory Group Policy or Local Group Policy, the settings are enforced through the policy hive, which overrides the standard service parameter keys:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Terminal Services

Inside this key, two main values control licensing discovery and behavior:

• SpecifiedLicenseServers (REG_SZ): Contains a comma-separated list of license servers to be used by the Remote Desktop Session Host.
• LicensingMode (REG_DWORD): Defines the licensing mode applied to the server:
  • 2 = Per Device
  • 4 = Per User

Internal Runtime and Licensing Core State

For modern Windows Server environments, the active licensing operational parameters and internal state are managed under the Remote Desktop Connection Manager (RCM) branch:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\RCM\Licensing Core

• LicensingMode (REG_DWORD): Reflects the current active licensing mode used by the session broker and terminal server engine.

Applying Registry Changes

After modifying any of these registry keys directly via regedit, the Remote Desktop Services service must be restarted for the changes to take effect:

1. Open an elevated PowerShell or Command Prompt window.
2. Run net stop TermService followed by net start TermService.