We have solved the mystery of the scheduled job issues!
The server hardware's time is set incorrectly, so the hosting company will be correcting this later when their is not so much load on the server. This does mean that they will have to take the server down for a few minutes to prevent issues and a white-list will automatically activate when it comes back up, I will try and turn it off as soon as possible!
Scheduled backups etc should then run without problems and at the correct times!
InfoBar
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Mumble & Old Server Expire Tonight
Just to confirm that the 40 Slot Mumble server expires tonight along with the old server and we will not be setting up a new voice server as most people prefer to use Skype anyway.
The events server will be staying with the old hosting company for now, but will eventually be replaced by a server run by me from home. This will help keep costs down and mean that I can load new maps etc much faster, it will also mean the possibility of allowing more players to take part in events!
Finally, the new server has only been running for two and a half days and already players have donated more than 35% of the quarterly hosting fees, so I'd like to say a big thank you to our 8 VIPs and everyone else who has made a donation in the last few months, it is very much appreciated!
The events server will be staying with the old hosting company for now, but will eventually be replaced by a server run by me from home. This will help keep costs down and mean that I can load new maps etc much faster, it will also mean the possibility of allowing more players to take part in events!
Finally, the new server has only been running for two and a half days and already players have donated more than 35% of the quarterly hosting fees, so I'd like to say a big thank you to our 8 VIPs and everyone else who has made a donation in the last few months, it is very much appreciated!
Sunday, 28 April 2013
New Server Opening Shortly!
The new server will be opening in 20-30 minutes at the most, see you in the new world!
Everything Updated!
All the website pages, images and details on Technic Forums & Planet Minecraft have now been updated with the new IP and other information in preparation for opening the new server!
Saturday, 27 April 2013
Commands & Other Information Updated!
The Commands page and other sections have now been updated and the new IP will be added to the website shortly.
Sorry for the delay, my home internet connection was down for almost an hour!
92 Transfers Complete
Time is up for player data to be transferred to the new server, in the end I transferred 92 players data, that's 184 individual files!
The website will be updating with the new IP address and player commands over the next hour or so and the new server will officially open tomorrow morning at or soon after 10am (UK time).
At around 9:30am (UK time) we will be nuking the old spawn building as a final farewell so if you'd like to see that make sure you login at least 10 minutes before!
The old server will also come back up at around 10am with a 'holding' world consisting of a small building and sign giving the new IP, this will stay up until the hosting company deletes the server at the end of the paid period, on or after 30th April.
Not long to go now!
The website will be updating with the new IP address and player commands over the next hour or so and the new server will officially open tomorrow morning at or soon after 10am (UK time).
At around 9:30am (UK time) we will be nuking the old spawn building as a final farewell so if you'd like to see that make sure you login at least 10 minutes before!
The old server will also come back up at around 10am with a 'holding' world consisting of a small building and sign giving the new IP, this will stay up until the hosting company deletes the server at the end of the paid period, on or after 30th April.
Not long to go now!
More Details Of The Changes
Just to clarify... you have until 10pm (UK time) to have me transfer your data across, the new IP will then be announced shortly after this time and the new server will have the whitelist removed at around 10am (UK time) tomorrow morning.
Here's some more details of changes on the new server...
Protection Stones & Regions
Some of you may have noticed that the rank based stone limits were buggy and didn't always apply properly, these have been removed and all ranks will have the same limit again.
Because the region file was getting so big I decided to decrease the stone limit to 2 stones per player, BUT also increase the size of the protected area, they will now protect a 61x61 area sky to bedrock, meaning that the area covered by 2 stones is actually significantly larger than the area that used to be covered by 4 stones (an area of 7442 blocks vs an area of 6724 blocks).
We've also decided to put a sensible size limit on VIP regions so that they don't interfere with other players exploration of the world, this limit will be 251x251 (an area of 63001 blocks), which is almost eight and a half times larger than a normal players maximum area.
Homes
By popular demand players will now be able to set multiple homes depending on rank as follows:
NewBuilder - 1
Member - 2
Member+/VIP - 4
This does however mean we've had to sacrifice the 'social' commands, such as 'invite' and 'public', but I think most players will be happy with the change.
Challenges
There is now a challenge board at spawn and we will be running monthly challenges with big prizes for the winning player or team of players!
Jail & More Helpful Helpers
We now have a jail and Helpers will have the ability to jail and mute problem players until a Moderator or Admin logs in. This should greatly reduce the problems caused by excessive chat spammers and griefers when no senior member of staff is online.
Helpers will also be getting back the ability to view players inventories to check for stolen items.
Offline Mail
The ability to receive 'Mail' when they are offline will be given to all players to make communication from staff easier, players of Member+ rank or above will also be able to send mail to both staff and other players.
Asking For Help
All players will be able to request help from a Moderator or Admin using a simple command, this will hopefully help clear up chat and reduce chat spam.
That's pretty much it for the major changes, don't forget to make sure you get your stuff transferred by 10pm (UK time) tonight!
Here's some more details of changes on the new server...
Protection Stones & Regions
Some of you may have noticed that the rank based stone limits were buggy and didn't always apply properly, these have been removed and all ranks will have the same limit again.
Because the region file was getting so big I decided to decrease the stone limit to 2 stones per player, BUT also increase the size of the protected area, they will now protect a 61x61 area sky to bedrock, meaning that the area covered by 2 stones is actually significantly larger than the area that used to be covered by 4 stones (an area of 7442 blocks vs an area of 6724 blocks).
We've also decided to put a sensible size limit on VIP regions so that they don't interfere with other players exploration of the world, this limit will be 251x251 (an area of 63001 blocks), which is almost eight and a half times larger than a normal players maximum area.
Homes
By popular demand players will now be able to set multiple homes depending on rank as follows:
NewBuilder - 1
Member - 2
Member+/VIP - 4
This does however mean we've had to sacrifice the 'social' commands, such as 'invite' and 'public', but I think most players will be happy with the change.
Challenges
There is now a challenge board at spawn and we will be running monthly challenges with big prizes for the winning player or team of players!
Jail & More Helpful Helpers
We now have a jail and Helpers will have the ability to jail and mute problem players until a Moderator or Admin logs in. This should greatly reduce the problems caused by excessive chat spammers and griefers when no senior member of staff is online.
Helpers will also be getting back the ability to view players inventories to check for stolen items.
Offline Mail
The ability to receive 'Mail' when they are offline will be given to all players to make communication from staff easier, players of Member+ rank or above will also be able to send mail to both staff and other players.
Asking For Help
All players will be able to request help from a Moderator or Admin using a simple command, this will hopefully help clear up chat and reduce chat spam.
That's pretty much it for the major changes, don't forget to make sure you get your stuff transferred by 10pm (UK time) tonight!
Time For Transfers Running Out
Just thought I'd post a reminder that time is running out if you want to transfer items to the new server / world. if you need a reminder as to what you need to do see here...
http://diggyminecraft.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-switchover-next-step.html
... and remember if you emailed me to let me know you are ready for the transfer but you're not online to do it before 10pm (UK time) tonight only your Red Alchemy Bag will get transferred, I will not be able to transfer your inventory, hotbar & worn armour!
http://diggyminecraft.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/the-switchover-next-step.html
... and remember if you emailed me to let me know you are ready for the transfer but you're not online to do it before 10pm (UK time) tonight only your Red Alchemy Bag will get transferred, I will not be able to transfer your inventory, hotbar & worn armour!
Friday, 26 April 2013
Changes On The New Server
Thought I'd give you all a glimpse of what's to come on the new server :)
So here it is... Spawn Island...
We still have some work to do on permissions and some new feature testing before it's ready for everyone but the buildings are essentially complete now!
If you're wondering how you're supposed to explore the world starting from an island in the middle of nowhere this little list of a few of the new features will explain...
World Portals - We are using 'Multiverse Portals' to provide 6 portals with destinations in various directions from spawn between 800m and 2000m away, the portals are two way and can be used to return to spawn as well!
Player Portals - A limited number of portals (one for each colour of wool) will be available to rent by players of Member+ rank or above, but will only be given if the destination is seriously impressive and beneficial to the player community!
Spleef - Wondering what that big round-ish building in the background is? It's a Spleef arena! We had many requests for this and have managed to build it in a way that any player can easily rebuild the arena floor and reset it for a new match!
More new features will be announced over the next 24-36 hours! :)
So here it is... Spawn Island...
We still have some work to do on permissions and some new feature testing before it's ready for everyone but the buildings are essentially complete now!
If you're wondering how you're supposed to explore the world starting from an island in the middle of nowhere this little list of a few of the new features will explain...
World Portals - We are using 'Multiverse Portals' to provide 6 portals with destinations in various directions from spawn between 800m and 2000m away, the portals are two way and can be used to return to spawn as well!
Player Portals - A limited number of portals (one for each colour of wool) will be available to rent by players of Member+ rank or above, but will only be given if the destination is seriously impressive and beneficial to the player community!
Spleef - Wondering what that big round-ish building in the background is? It's a Spleef arena! We had many requests for this and have managed to build it in a way that any player can easily rebuild the arena floor and reset it for a new match!
More new features will be announced over the next 24-36 hours! :)
Thursday, 25 April 2013
The Switchover - Next Step
All Alchemical Bag data has now been deleted, so it's time to start packing for the move!
After your items are moved you can continue to use the current world until the switchover but no further inventory changes etc will be saved, also please do not wait until the last minute as I can only over so many people in one go so you may miss this opportunity.
So to clarify this is what you can take with you and how you need to do it...
You can take:
Items you are wearing.
Items in your inventory.
The contents of a Red Alchemy Bag.
How this is going to work:
- Make sure you are wearing you best armour, jetpack or whatever wearables you want to keep.
- Place your most valuable items in your inventory or on your hotbar (just to cover yourself against all eventualities).
- Fill a Red Alchemy Bag with anything else you would like to take with you to the new world.
Do not use any other colour bag for any purpose, this could prevent your items from transferring correctly!
Once you are ready for the move notify either myself (DiggyWig) or DigginChickin in game, drop an e-mail to admin@johntyoung.co.uk, or send me a message on Skype (search for DiggyWig).
Once you are ready for the move notify either myself (DiggyWig) or DigginChickin in game, drop an e-mail to admin@johntyoung.co.uk, or send me a message on Skype (search for DiggyWig).
We cannot move your items across while players are logged in so the server will be taken down every so often to move the data in batches, with the last batch being moved over on Saturday evening (most likely around 10pm UK Time).
To prevent people spawning in random locations throughout the world (which would generate a large number of random chunks and cause a lot of lag) you will be required to log out within the 'Transfer Area' when your items are going to be moved over.
Things to note:
If you don't have a Red Alchemy you can either make one or check the chests at the Player Market, I'll be topping this up periodically, please only take one though so that everyone has access to them if needed.
Don't forget to keep your Red Alchemy Bag on your hotbar or in your inventory for the move so you can get to your items on the new server!
The new IP will not be posted on the website, Technic forums etc until Saturday, this is to prevent any confusion and players trying to join the server prematurely.
After your items are moved you can continue to use the current world until the switchover but no further inventory changes etc will be saved, also please do not wait until the last minute as I can only over so many people in one go so you may miss this opportunity.
Details of some of the changes and what to do first when you login will be posted later!
Wednesday, 24 April 2013
Server Switchover
Sorry for the delay in providing more information regarding this but we've been having major issues moving the world across to the new hosting company.
After several days of working with the new hosting company we have been unable to get the world to load without serious corruption, we have tried a number of repair tools but none have worked. The cause of these issues is complicated but seems to stem from our current hosting company using a modified version of minecraft_server.jar in place of the usual tekkit.jar (most likely to allow easier automatic installation of the mods etc). The basic result is that our world will only load correctly using that customised version of the server, which we cannot continue using with our new host.
So basically we have no choice but to start a new world :(
I know many people will be annoyed with this but you have to appreciate that we are all in the same position, for example me and DigginChickin had spent two weeks re-designing and modifying the the four 'Challenges' around spawn which will now never be used.
I do however have some good news, we will not have to completely start from scratch...
Hopefully you have all seen the announcement regarding the deleting of all alchemical bag data tomorrow (9am UK time), this is because I have figured out a way to allow everyone to move their player inventory (including worn armour) and one alchemical bag over to the new world!
So make sure all your bags are empty for 9am UK time tomorrow (25-04-13) and do not use them again after the backup, this is important as using them may prevent you from being able to transfer a bag to the new world. I will then post instructions tomorrow on what you need to do with the items you want to transfer.
The official switchover will take place later than planned, on Sunday 28th April, to allow everyone the maximum amount of time to ensure they get to transfer their items to the new world (once the server goes live no more alchemical bag transfers will be possible).
The delayed switchover will also allow more time for me and DigginChickin to finish building a new spawn area, luckily we had been experimenting with ideas on the new server so already have a headstart on this. On another positive note it will also allow us to make some changes to the way things work that in hindsight we would have done differently from the start and will allow a smoother transition to the new plugins.
I'll also be posting some information regarding the new plugins and some exciting new features tomorrow!
Please bear with us and we hope you'll join us in the new world on the 28th!
Tuesday, 23 April 2013
Further Downtime
As I announced yesterday the server is now down again and won't be up until this afternoon, I'll update here when I have a better idea of how long everything is going to take.
UPDATE: 13:00 - Server is coming back up now!
UPDATE: 17:00 - Full details of the switch-over will be announced tomorrow!
UPDATE: 13:00 - Server is coming back up now!
UPDATE: 17:00 - Full details of the switch-over will be announced tomorrow!
Monday, 22 April 2013
Downtime
As announced yesterday the server is now down and won't be up until this afternoon, I'll update here when I have a better idea of how long everything is going to take.
UPDATE: 17:00 - I'm having some issues with the world files, I'll update as soon as I know more.
UPDATE: 17:50 - I'm starting the server up now, sorry it took longer than planned!
More downtime will be required tomorrow in preparation for the switch-over, it will be the same sort of time to minimise the impact.
UPDATE: 17:00 - I'm having some issues with the world files, I'll update as soon as I know more.
UPDATE: 17:50 - I'm starting the server up now, sorry it took longer than planned!
More downtime will be required tomorrow in preparation for the switch-over, it will be the same sort of time to minimise the impact.
Sunday, 21 April 2013
Server Downtime Tomorrow
I'm taking the server down for most of the day tomorrow, Monday daytime is always very quiet with 1-3 players most of the time so the impact should be minimal.
I will be taking it down around 8am UK time and estimate it will be back online by 4-5pm, this is to clear out a significant amount of data and test for issues relating to the hosting company switch.
If everything goes to plan this could mean that we will be switching before the 26th, so keep your fingers crossed!
I will be taking it down around 8am UK time and estimate it will be back online by 4-5pm, this is to clear out a significant amount of data and test for issues relating to the hosting company switch.
If everything goes to plan this could mean that we will be switching before the 26th, so keep your fingers crossed!
Saturday, 20 April 2013
New Hosting Company & Changes
I can confirm that hosting fees with our new hosting company are now paid up until 18th July!
I spent Thursday/Friday testing various things and getting used to the new interface, which I must say is far more flexible than our current hosting company provides and has some great features which automatically deal with day to day admin and other common issues.
Me and DigginChickin spent virtually the whole of today testing the new plugin setup and tweaking the related permissions. To give you an idea of how big the changes are we have removed 9 of the plugins in use on the current server and added in 6 new ones, 4 as direct replacements for much of the functionality of ones we removed (as well as adding some new features) and two that add some entirely new features which we have big plans for and are sure you're going to love!
I know you have a lot of questions so here are some answers to common ones:
When is the switch-over taking place?
We will be moving over to the new server on the 26th at the latest, hopefully a day or two sooner.
Why is it taking so long to switch?
We decided to use this opportunity to make some significant changes to the plugins we use which means we have to do a lot of testing to make sure we don't have serious issues when we move the world & data over, we'd hate to have to roll back the world after a day or two because of a problem we missed. It'll be worth it in the long run though!
Will we loose anything when the switch takes place?
On the day of the switch the server will go down straight after the daily backup, the world and player data from that backup will then be used for the new server, which means in theory that nothing should be lost. Alchemical bag data can be temperamental though which is why we've asked everyone to empty the bags into chests, read the last couple of posts on here for more information.
What do the plugin changes mean?
That would be telling! I can confirm that ranks and their chat colours etc will be staying the same, although new benefits for Member rank and above have been added along with some new tools for Helpers & Moderators.
One big change is that banned items will be automatically removed and notifications sent to Admins & Moderators, in some cases players may even be automatically banned, if you currently have any banned items you'll want to get rid of them before the switch over to avoid this possibility.
I'll post another update tomorrow!
I spent Thursday/Friday testing various things and getting used to the new interface, which I must say is far more flexible than our current hosting company provides and has some great features which automatically deal with day to day admin and other common issues.
Me and DigginChickin spent virtually the whole of today testing the new plugin setup and tweaking the related permissions. To give you an idea of how big the changes are we have removed 9 of the plugins in use on the current server and added in 6 new ones, 4 as direct replacements for much of the functionality of ones we removed (as well as adding some new features) and two that add some entirely new features which we have big plans for and are sure you're going to love!
I know you have a lot of questions so here are some answers to common ones:
When is the switch-over taking place?
We will be moving over to the new server on the 26th at the latest, hopefully a day or two sooner.
Why is it taking so long to switch?
We decided to use this opportunity to make some significant changes to the plugins we use which means we have to do a lot of testing to make sure we don't have serious issues when we move the world & data over, we'd hate to have to roll back the world after a day or two because of a problem we missed. It'll be worth it in the long run though!
Will we loose anything when the switch takes place?
On the day of the switch the server will go down straight after the daily backup, the world and player data from that backup will then be used for the new server, which means in theory that nothing should be lost. Alchemical bag data can be temperamental though which is why we've asked everyone to empty the bags into chests, read the last couple of posts on here for more information.
What do the plugin changes mean?
That would be telling! I can confirm that ranks and their chat colours etc will be staying the same, although new benefits for Member rank and above have been added along with some new tools for Helpers & Moderators.
One big change is that banned items will be automatically removed and notifications sent to Admins & Moderators, in some cases players may even be automatically banned, if you currently have any banned items you'll want to get rid of them before the switch over to avoid this possibility.
I'll post another update tomorrow!
Friday, 19 April 2013
Changes Next Week - Update
Promotions On Hold
I've set up all the plugins on the new server using a 'dummy' world and have started to set up groups and permissions etc, to ease the transition promotions are now on hold until the switch-over meaning that no more players will be promoted using the existing system.
We are still keeping a list though and anyone who would have been promoted this week will be immediately promoted on the new server!
Alchemical Bags
As you should know we recommend against using these for long term storage, I would strongly advise everyone to move items from alchemical bags into chests or safes for the switch-over just in case they are reset. Any items lost from alchemical bags that do reset cannot be recovered and will not be replaced.
Old Data
Their are currently over 6000 world and player data related files on the server, totalling more than 1.2 GB.
To reduce this size, clear out unneeded data and speed up the switch-over we will be purging player data over 21 days old, this will include all data of players that have not logged in 21 days as well as transmutation tablet & alchemical bag data that has not been changed within this time. I have estimated that together with the removal of other old data this will reduce the size by around 25%.
Protection Stones
On the day of the switch-over Protection stones belonging to players who have not logged in for 21 days or longer will be automatically removed and their protection area regenerated.
If you live in a region originally protected by someone who no longer plays or has not logged in for 21 days contact DiggyWig or DigginChickin as soon as possible (preferably within the next 2-3 days in case we switch early) to remove the stone so that you can place your own.
More updates to follow over the next few days!
Thursday, 18 April 2013
Changes Next Week
Next week the hosting company change will take place and as we'll have more memory with the new company we've decided to make some changes to the plugins we use, we will be asking Helpers and some Member+ players to help us test the changes on the new server before we switch over.
What you need to do before the switchover:
1) Remember you will loose all your waypoints, carefully note down the coordinates of any waypoint you don't want to lose.
2) Make a note of your 'home' coordinates, home locations will be reset as part of the plugin changes.
3) Bookmark this page! Details of the new server and any command changes will be posted on here when we switch over.
What you need to do before the switchover:
1) Remember you will loose all your waypoints, carefully note down the coordinates of any waypoint you don't want to lose.
2) Make a note of your 'home' coordinates, home locations will be reset as part of the plugin changes.
3) Bookmark this page! Details of the new server and any command changes will be posted on here when we switch over.
Monday, 15 April 2013
Update On Connection Dropouts
After running a copy of the server at home from a recent backup for a couple of days without issue I decided to take a free trial with another hosting company just to be sure.
After three days running on the trial server there has been no sign of the problem which as I'm sure you all know has been occurring at least twice daily with our current hosting company, with the symptoms of the problem (only visible to me on the console) occurring far more frequently.
Hosting fees are currently paid up until 27th April, with payment for the next quarter due on 28th April, although I was originally inclined to stick with our current hosting company as prior to the recent changes they were very stable etc it has now been more more than 2 two weeks since this problem first appeared and it feels like I am still having trouble getting them to take it seriously, I have therefore decided that I will not be renewing either the Tekkit or Events server hosting with them.
This means that on or just before 27th April both servers will be permanently moved to a new hosting company and so will both have a new IP address.
I'll post more details once I have confirmed who we will be moving to and what the new addresses will be, I will also use the message broadcast plugin to announce the new IP every 30 minutes for at least 48 hours prior to the changeover. Just to make sure I catch as many regular players as possible I will keep the old server up with a small 'dummy world' until the hosting expires, redirecting people to the new IP.
As I intend to move the world over to the new company there will be some downtime will the switchover takes place, but no player or world data should be lost.
This downtime will depend largely on my internet connection speed and I estimate around 30 minutes to download the world (which is now just over 1.2 GB), then at least 3 hours to upload it to the new server. I am hoping to reduce the upload time by uploading the world files as a single zip file and getting the new hosting company to unzip it for me. The server will also be whitelisted for at least an hour or two afterwards for testing.
I am pretty much decided on a new hosting company but will save the official announcement until nearer the time, they are slightly more expensive but have excellent reviews and many features that our present hosting company doesn't which should make the Admin work a lot easier!
They have also assured me that the server will easily support 30 player slots rather than the 26 we have now which as we have hit capacity several times recently makes the relatively small extra cost worthwhile.
Watch this space for updates!
Friday, 12 April 2013
Server Down This Morning
The hosting company requested that I take the server down and whitelist it in case they need to restart it etc so that they can check some things out, as Friday mornings are generally quiet and I didn't want to disrupt the weekend I've taken it down now.
Sorry for the inconvenience, I'll bring the server back up and remove the whitelist as soon as they give me the go ahead.
An update will be posted here asap!
UPDATE: 11:30 - Still waiting to hear from hosting company.
UPDATE: 14:20 - Server is back up and whitelist removed, however unfortunately they have still not got to the bottom of the disconnect issues.
Sorry for the inconvenience, I'll bring the server back up and remove the whitelist as soon as they give me the go ahead.
An update will be posted here asap!
UPDATE: 11:30 - Still waiting to hear from hosting company.
UPDATE: 14:20 - Server is back up and whitelist removed, however unfortunately they have still not got to the bottom of the disconnect issues.
Thursday, 11 April 2013
Maintenance Today
The extended downtime has now started and investigations are underway, please check back here for updates.
UPDATE: 11:30 - Testing continues, the server will not be back up for at least another 2 hrs.
UPDATE: 12:15 - Good news! World corruption or any other in world cause has been completely ruled out meaning that it's either a corrupt mod / plugin or a hardware issue, testing continues!
UPDATE: 12:55 - I've reinstalled tekkit and the problem still occurs even with a freshly generated world and no plugins, I've notified our hosting company that the problem is definitely not due to anything I have control over, it's in their hands now! Don't worry our world is safely backed up!
UPDATE: 13:20 - There's nothing more I can do now, we're waiting on a response from the hosting company, in the meantime I've brought the server back up and removed the whitelist so you can all login now! BUT the problem is not resolved so be aware that the disconnects we've been experiencing will still occur :( Hopefully we'll get some good news from the hosting company soon!
UPDATE: 11:30 - Testing continues, the server will not be back up for at least another 2 hrs.
UPDATE: 12:15 - Good news! World corruption or any other in world cause has been completely ruled out meaning that it's either a corrupt mod / plugin or a hardware issue, testing continues!
UPDATE: 12:55 - I've reinstalled tekkit and the problem still occurs even with a freshly generated world and no plugins, I've notified our hosting company that the problem is definitely not due to anything I have control over, it's in their hands now! Don't worry our world is safely backed up!
UPDATE: 13:20 - There's nothing more I can do now, we're waiting on a response from the hosting company, in the meantime I've brought the server back up and removed the whitelist so you can all login now! BUT the problem is not resolved so be aware that the disconnects we've been experiencing will still occur :( Hopefully we'll get some good news from the hosting company soon!
Wednesday, 10 April 2013
Extended Downtime Tomorrow
There will be an extended downtime after the daily backup tomorrow to fully investigate the cause of the recent disconnect issues we've been experiencing, I expect this to take 2-3 hrs minimum as it will involve running both automated checks and manually going over the last weeks logs.
In a worst case scenario the server could be down for 6 hrs or longer depending on how difficult it is to locate the problem, whether a fix can be implemented immediately and whether any further testing is required if changes are made.
Please note that the server may appear up during parts of this time but will be whitelisted, please do not attempt to connect until I update this site to say it's ready as this will create extra log entries and may slow down our progress, I'll post regular updates on here to keep you all informed as to when I expect the server to be available again!
Sorry for the inconvenience!
Tuesday, 9 April 2013
WorldGuard flags & CoreProtect
Since upgrading to CoreProtect 2.04 two of the region flags have stopped working correctly, theses are:
chest-access & use
They still work for regions for which they were already set but fail to work if the flag was changed or set after CoreProtect was installed, I've investigated the cause and it seems that their is no fix for this other than to remove CoreProtect, which given how much it has helped to catch griefers and how much time it has saved staff isn't an option.
I've therefore removed these flags from the command page and removed the related permissions, effectively disabling them.
As we have protection stones and Lockette these flags weren't essential anyway and looking at the region file were only used by an extremely small number of players so this should have minimal impact, I'm sure you can all understand my decision.
Thanks to DigginChickin for bringing this to my attention earlier!
Sunday, 7 April 2013
Text Formatting Now Available In Chat!
I've enabled the use of Minecraft's text formatting codes in chat, all the codes except 'Obfuscated' are now available to all ranks.
A full list of the colour and formatting codes can be found here:
http://www.minecraftwiki.net/wiki/Formatting_codes
When using them in chat you need to replace the character before the letter or number with an '&' symbol, for example:
&4Hello! - would make the text appear red (as '4' is the code for the colour red).
&lHello! - would make the text appear bold (as 'l' is the code for bold formatting).
&4&lHello! - would make the text appear red and bold (a combination of the other examples).
The codes can be combined in just about any way you want!
Also please note that you can also use any of the colour codes on Lockette signs, however Lockette signs will not recognise the other formatting codes such as bold or italic.
Wednesday, 3 April 2013
Maintenance
I have taken the server down for maintenance, it shouldn't take more than a few hours and I expect the server to be back up by midday.
There will be a whitelist in place until all work is completed.
UPDATE: 11:50 The work is complete and the whitelist is removed!
There will be a whitelist in place until all work is completed.
UPDATE: 11:50 The work is complete and the whitelist is removed!
Tuesday, 2 April 2013
Protection Stones, Website Changes & Helpers
Protection Stones
Protection Stones are now limited in number by rank rather than having a limit of 4 stones for all players, the new limits are as follows:
New Builder - 2 stones.
Member - 4 stones.
Member+ - 6 stones.
Stones already placed will not be affected by these limits unless removed, i.e. if you are a New Builder with 3 stones placed your areas will remain protected, however if you remove one of them you will not be able to place it again until you are promoted to Member rank and your limit increases.
We feel this is a fairer system that provides an additional reward for regular players, as well as increasing the maximum area of protection available to players at Member+ rank or above.
Website Changes
The "Commands", "Security" & "Rank Info" pages have all been updated with new information and to make certain things clearer based on player feedback.
Helpers
We now have 3 players at Helper rank:
crazyboy909, Go_Magic2, & zinatawehowe
We've received excellent feedback on all three and based on feedback from the Helpers themselves and other players we've decided to increase their powers.
As of now Helpers can remove dropped items en-masse to assist with machine overflows etc causing lag, teleport directly to any players 'Home' and view (but not edit) other players inventories to help gather evidence relating to griefing.
Protection Stones are now limited in number by rank rather than having a limit of 4 stones for all players, the new limits are as follows:
New Builder - 2 stones.
Member - 4 stones.
Member+ - 6 stones.
Stones already placed will not be affected by these limits unless removed, i.e. if you are a New Builder with 3 stones placed your areas will remain protected, however if you remove one of them you will not be able to place it again until you are promoted to Member rank and your limit increases.
We feel this is a fairer system that provides an additional reward for regular players, as well as increasing the maximum area of protection available to players at Member+ rank or above.
Website Changes
The "Commands", "Security" & "Rank Info" pages have all been updated with new information and to make certain things clearer based on player feedback.
Helpers
We now have 3 players at Helper rank:
crazyboy909, Go_Magic2, & zinatawehowe
We've received excellent feedback on all three and based on feedback from the Helpers themselves and other players we've decided to increase their powers.
As of now Helpers can remove dropped items en-masse to assist with machine overflows etc causing lag, teleport directly to any players 'Home' and view (but not edit) other players inventories to help gather evidence relating to griefing.
Downtime last night
There was a severe DDoS attack against another server in our rack in the data centre, they ended up having to reroute the entire rack for several hours last night / this morning.
I'm just sorting a few things out before it comes back online, which should hopefully take no longer than an hour.
I'll post an update once the server is ready to come back up!
UPDATE: 11:30 - Nearly done, just waiting for the manual backup to complete (90% done)!
UPDATE: 11:50 - Last batch of files are taking longer than expected, getting their though!
UPDATE: 12:15 - Server is back up!
I'm just sorting a few things out before it comes back online, which should hopefully take no longer than an hour.
I'll post an update once the server is ready to come back up!
UPDATE: 11:30 - Nearly done, just waiting for the manual backup to complete (90% done)!
UPDATE: 11:50 - Last batch of files are taking longer than expected, getting their though!
UPDATE: 12:15 - Server is back up!
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