FREE BuyCraft Package Added

I've added a new BuyCraft package that is FREE to players of ranks and includes:

$700 in game money (Shards)

8 x Scrap Boxes

Players can 'purchase' the package once per week.

The 'Booster Package' has also been renamed to 'Premium Booster Package'.

Enjoy!

Server Back Up (DDoS Update)

Sorry for the lack of information regarding the server being down for around 9 hours last night / this morning, I only just found out that the hosting company shut the physical server down for a while in connection with the DDoS attacks, it appears one of the targeted servers may have been hosted on the server or at least in the same rack as us so unfortunately they had no choice but to shut the machine down to limit the effect on everyone else until it was resolved.

The server is back up now but the attack has not gone away, it's just targeting a different IP now (one in Germany this time) so some players may still experience some network lag. I'm assured that the hosting company is doing everything they can to resolve this as soon as possible but this does seem to be a particularly intense attack.

Network Lag

Just to confirm that the lag some people are experiencing is not server lag, it is network lag which seems to  be related to a massive DDOS attack against our hosting company, specifically aimed at a voice server based in Chicago.

The situation is being dealt with but the network lag is likely to continue until it is resolved and at the moment it is impossible to say how long that will take.

Whitelist Glitch

Sorry about the whitelist turning back on for a while then, it was a typo that is now fixed!

Down For Maintenance

The server is down for scheduled maintenance as follows:

1. Perform full backup/clone - Done.
2. Apply updated EE mod patch (inc possible fix for EE chests + pipes)  - Done.
3. Check config & test - Done (EE chests + pipes issue still present).
4. Update OnTime plugin to latest version (should fix a couple of small issues)  - Done.
5. Test plugin update - Done.
6. Switch vote rewards to be handled by OnTime (will reduce overhead) - Done.
7. Tweak & test changes - Done.

Steps 6 & 7 will only happen on Sunday if a particular plugin bug has been fixed, I'll update here as always.

Scheduled Downtime:

Date Time: 29/12/13

Start: 09:45 am

End: 10:45 am

Status: Whitelist removed!

OnTime Data

We've lost some OnTime data due to an accident (long story involving my 5 year old), this will affect peoples 'unique days' count and only have any real effect for players waiting for a Member promotion. 

I can't be 100% sure about how much was lost but it appears to be a few days at most, the data that records first joins etc is still available so should anyone feel they have lost out because of this and will have to wait longer for Member rank just ask a staff member to open a modreq ticket so me or Tatankore can take a look and manually schedule a promotion or add days back on to your total.

Hourly Bonus Replaced By Play Time

Ahead of the plugin update on Sunday I have switched the hourly bonus to be handled by the OnTime plugin, here is a basic breakdown of what this change means for players:

Old Bonuses & Rewards:

Hourly Bonus: $100 + 2 Apples
1 Hour Playtime Reward: 2 x 30135
4 Hour Playtime Reward: 2 x 30135

New OnTime Reward:

Hourly Playtime Reward: 1 x 30135 + 1 Apple

Typical players will be getting roughly the same overall, players who play for 5 or more hours will be effectively getting an extra $50 an hour compared to the old bonuses & rewards.

Enjoy!

Downtime Scheduled For Sunday

There will be a scheduled downtime on Sunday morning (UK time) to do the following:

1. Perform full backup/clone.
2. Apply updated EE mod patch (includes possible fix for EE chests + buildcraft pipes).
3. Check config & test.
4. Update OnTime plugin to latest version (should fix a couple of small issues). 
5. Test plugin update.
6. Switch vote rewards to be handled by OnTime (will reduce overhead).
7. Test changes.

Steps 6 & 7 will only happen on Sunday if a particular plugin bug has been fixed, I'll update here as always.

Scheduled Downtime:

Date Time: 29/12/13

Est Start: 09:30 to 09:45 am

Est End: 10:45 to 11:00 am

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Have an awesome day everyone!

Santa Has Been!

Santa has now finished his round in the world of DiggyMinecraft this year and has left presents for each of the 178 players who logged in over the past few days and had a home, your present will look like this (colours vary) and be in or very near your home...

Merry Christmas!

Santa Coming In 9 Hours!

Santa will start his rounds on the server in just over 9 hours and so far has around 160 players on his list, remember to put out the milk and cookies!

See this post for full details:

http://diggyminecraft.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/christmas-is-nearly-here.html

6 Donators Already!

It is less than 48 hours since the BuyCraft store opened and we have already had 9 donations through it, 6 people have bought the Donator package and 3 of those upgraded to Donator+, Jabbawokkey was the first player to purchase both packages and within minutes of the store opening!

Many thanks to everyone who has donated so far, you have already contributed 18% of the total annual running costs for 2014 between you and it is very much appreciated!

New Admin

As of now I (DiggyWig) am no longer Admin rank, I now hav a new rank of 'Owner' and will be gradually handing over a lot of the Admin work to the new Admin... Tatankore.

Going forward in February Tatankore will be in charge of the day to day server admin work and handling any issues that cannot be handled by a Helper or Moderator, so that I can concentrate on just bug fixing & updates (and hopefully some building!) in my free time around my studies.

Hopefully everyone will be happy with my choice :)

BuyCraft Packages & Donator Rank Enabled!

BuyCraft is now enabled and the packages are live on our BuyCraft store at:

http://diggyminecraft.buycraft.net/

You can use the /buy command to view a list of packages and get a direct link in game, I've also added a bar representing the Donations target for 2014, assuming everything goes ahead as hoped that's the minimum that needs to be raised by  mid February to pay the annual hosting.

Remember Donator is a lower rank than VIP and that a VIP buying the Donator package would be demoted and loose certain privileges until the situation could be resolved.

Hopefully together with VIP donations in February we'll reach our target, please be aware that no live transaction has been tested yet so please bear with me if any unforeseen issues arise!

DowntimeThis Morning

Sorry about the connection issues over the last 7-8 hours, I made a change a couple of days ago thinking that an issue was fixed and it seems that it isn't, I've undone the change so it's stable again now!

Christmas Is Nearly Here!

We may not have had time to prepare a Christmas map like we did for Halloween but there are still a few seasonal things planned, for example a new hourly freebie from tomorrow!

Santa is coming...

Everyone who plays between 9am on 21st December and 9pm 24th December (UK times) and has a home set will receive a very special delivery on Christmas Eve, leave some cookies and milk in a locked chest at your home location and you might just get a little something extra too!

There's only 5 days to go until Christmas so for those I don't manage to catch online between now and then hope you have a great one :)

Short Downtime at Midday

There will be a short downtime of around 30 minutes at midday (UK) to upgrade a plugin, this should result in noticeable decreases in both memory and cpu use and so will help keep things running smoothly during busier times.

Update: 12:08 - It didn't take as long as expected, server is now open again!

30 Minute Downtime

There will be a 30 minute downtime at 10am (UK) to take a backup/clone and apply a mod patch, this is the first half (mod side) of a fix for the Quarry issues we are currently experiencing, the second half (plugin side) is being worked on now and should hopefully be ready in a matter of days.

As usual, I'll update here as I go.

Update: 12:40 - All done, server is now back up!

New Time Based Rewards Added!

Some new rewards based on play time have been added as follows:

Daily rewards:

2 x Industrial Diamonds rewarded after 1 hour of total play time within 24 hours.

2 x Industrial Diamonds rewarded after 4 hours of total play time within 24 hours.

Anniversary rewards:

8 x Industrial Diamonds rewarded after playing on 7 different days.

16 x Industrial Diamonds rewarded after playing on 30 different days.

Enjoy!

Spawn Shops Now Rentable!

The shops at spawn can now be rented by players of Member rank or higher!

Please note that some are reserved, so please respect this and do not rent the shops marked as reserved (sign in entrance).

Enjoy!

Tubes bug & Quarries

The modified version of EE we are using has had a weird effect on EE chests (alchemical chest & condenser) whereby items do not stack correctly when fed in via pipes (e.g. from a quarry), this is being looked into and will hopefully be patched very soon, in the mean time please use a chest from the 'iron chests' mod, or use tubes instead of pipes wherever possible (a better option anyway). 

Please also note that players are currently able to place more than 1 quarry, however this is still against the rules, players found to have more than 1 quarry placed will receive a warning and the quarry (plus mined blocks) will be removed, you may also be banned from placing quarries.

If too many players abuse the limit issue we will have no choice but to ban quarries until we have a fix.

Need to check the rules on item limits etc? You can find all the info here...

http://diggyminecraft.blogspot.co.uk/p/banned-item-list.html

Coreprotect / MySQL

Coreprotect has been reverted to SQL-lite, for now logging is still set to retain data for 21 days, however depending on how big the database gets I may have to lower this to 14 days, which is still an improvement over the 10 days we had before due to the new world being smaller and us having much more space to work with.

For now please assume that records are kept for 14 days, just in case.

MySQL Issue

We're having an issue with the MySQL server and it's causing the server cpu to max out every so often (twice today) and disconnect everyone, if I can't fix it within a couple of days I'll revert back to SQL-lite, in the mean time apologies for any 'downtime' this causes but it should be minimal!

1 Month Free For VIPs

As you all should know by now VIP is going annual and the price is being set as £20 for 2014, unfortunately the renewal date falls on January 14th though, which I felt was probably too close to Christmas to expect everyone to be able to afford it, however...

Thanks to a player that wishes to remain anonymous for now all existing VIP players will get the Month of January FREE as the entire cost for that month has been covered, so the hosting renewal will be 14th February instead!

I'm respecting the players request to remain anonymous but if you would like to leave them a thank you message please do so on this post.

Not only does what they have done give VIP's a free month but it drastically improves the chances of raising next years hosting fees in time for when I need to step down as Admin so the contribution is also a big step towards securing the servers future!

The New World Is Here!

Well it took 12 hours but it's finally done!

You'll notice quite a few changes across the site and the information in all the sections have been updated with the changes (let me know if I missed anything!).

Protection Stones

The area of the standard stones has been decreased to 51x51, however New Builders can now place 2 of them and Member rank and above can place 4. Premium stones have stayed the same,

VIP stones have been introduced in place of VIP regions, two have been put into each VIP Chalet for existing VIPs!

Malls

Shops will not be available to rent Friday unless you had a store in the old mall, in which case open a modreq with the shop ID you would like to reserve.

BuyCraft / Donator Rank

The packages are not activated but will be very soon, watch this space!

There are quite a few other small changes but I think that covers the most important ones for now, with so many changes there are bound to be a few bumps to be worked out so please be patient while we get things back to normal.

There will be a Quick Exchange in the Admin store for the next few days paying $10,000 instead of the usual $9600 for a stack of 64 Industrial Diamonds!

World Switch Started

The server is now down and work has begun as follows:

1. Full backup/clone - Done.
2. Restore normal maintenance schedule - Done.
3. Replace all plugins with fresh copies & test - Done.
4. Replace all mods with fresh copies, apply latest patch versions & test - Done.
5. Remove current world - Done.
6. Undo some temporary changes made to keep server running with old world - Done.
7. Remove all world specific data and config that doesn't apply to the new world - Done.
8. Rename new world and change configs to match - Done.
9. Test old configs now work correctly with new world - Done.
10. Make several dozen config changes & test - Done.
11. Add permissions for new plugins and features & test - Done.
12. Set border for new world, pre-generate all chunks and scan for errors - Done.
13. Generate new Nether world, pre-generate all chunks and scan for errors - Done.
14. Generate new End world, pre-generate all chunks and scan for errors - Done.
15. Delete backups and other unneeded data from the old world  - Done.
16. Setup wilderness warps (replacing current world warps) and warp zone   - Done.
17. Reset coreprotect database and other logging - Done.
18. Full backup/clone - Done.
19. Double check I didn't forget anything and re-open server! - Done.

As usual I'll post updates on here as things progress!

Done, enjoy the new world!

Scheduled Downtime On Monday

Just to confirm the world switch will be happening tomorrow as follows:

Downtime For World Switch:

Date:	Monday (9th December)
Time (UK):	9:00 am to 3:00 pm*

*3:00 pm is the earliest time the white-list is expected to be removed, it could be significantly later so please check here for updates before trying to connect.

As you can see the list of stuff to be done is pretty long: 

1. Full backup/clone.
2. Restore normal maintenance schedule.
3. Replace all plugins with fresh copies & test.
4. Replace all mods with fresh copies, apply latest patch versions & test.
5. Remove current world.
6. Undo some temporary changes made to keep server running with old world.
7. Remove all world specific data and config that doesn't apply to the new world.
8. Rename new world and change configs to match.
9. Test old configs now work correctly with new world.
10. Make several dozen config changes & test.
11. Add permissions for new plugins & features & test.
12. Set border for new world, pre-generate all chunks and scan for errors.
13. Generate new Nether world, pre-generate all chunks and scan for errors.
14. Generate new End world, pre-generate all chunks and scan for errors.
15. Delete backups and other unneeded data from the old world.
16. Setup wilderness warps (replacing current world warps) and warp zone.
17. Reset coreprotect database and other logging.
18. Double check I didn't forget anything and re-open server! 

As usual I'll post updates on here as things progress!

Switch Going Ahead Tomorrow!

I can confirm that as per my last post the switch is definitely going ahead tomorrow!

A few important notes:

Players have until 5pm (UK) today to submit modreq requests for building backups and be guaranteed they will be saved as schematics, after that time it depends on what staff can get online and how much time they have.

The Vault and VIP Island will remain available until the server goes down tomorrow so you have until it shuts down at 9:00am (UK) to store your items.

Please remember inventories will not be saved and alchemy bag contents may or may not be saved, it's likely that many will carry over. I just found out that the longer it's been since you accessed your bag the greater the chance it's contents will be lost so just taking something out, closing the bag, then opening it again and putting something back in will improve your chances of keeping the contents!

I'll post a more detailed schedule of work being done tomorrow a little later, I'm still going over the order things need to be done myself to make sure I've got everything covered!

I've been asked about placement of the copied builds by a few players, basically when you arrive in the new world just go and find a spot you like open a modreq and we'll paste the schematic in for you (larger ones may have to wait for quieter periods), we cannot rotate builds though as this will create problems with various Tekkit items, especially factories and miniblocks. Also please remember we have builds to transfer for a lot of players, it will take time to get them all done.

Switching On Monday

The number of building save requests has dropped right off and there hasn't been a new one since early yesterday so unless someone requests more time to prepare (a VIP for example) by e-mail or /modreq by tomorrow morning I intend to go ahead with the world switch on Monday (9th December).

The switch is not as simple as just disabling one world and enabling the other, several configs will have to be updated or replaced to remove data relating to the old world and a few changes planned for the new year will be implemented early as aspects of the new spawn (designed before the world corruption) have been built around them. 

For these reasons the downtime is likely to be at least 6 hours, and could be significantly longer if any serious issues come up with the changes that didn't occur on the test server, it's unlikely but not impossible.

Downtime For World Switch:

Date:	Monday (9th December)
Time (UK):	9:00 am to 3:00 pm*

*3:00 pm is the earliest time the white-list is expected to be removed, it could be significantly later so please check here for updates before trying to connect.

Because of the type & extent of changes being made  the strict white-list will be used initially and so staff will also be unable to connect for at least a few hours. 

15 Minute Restarts

Overnight restarts have been scheduled for 15 minute intervals to give maximum uptime for players to prepare for the switch.

I know it's frustrating not being able to play properly but we're all in the same situation, just remember we only have to put up with this for a few more days!

World Switch Date Revised

The world corruption is getting worse much faster than I thought so I've had to revise the 'switch-by' date, I can therefore confirm that we will switch to the new world no later than 11th December, at least five days earlier than originally hoped.

Players therefore have until this coming Tuesday, 10th December, to get builds saved and items in The Vault. Remember to open a /modreq request, or get a Helper/Mod to open one for you, to request your building is saved for transfer, unless you follow the example at spawn and open a modreq request it will be assumed that you do not wish to save your builds.

Tatankore has provided some images as a guide to placement of the gold blocks as this seems to have confused some people.

The first image is a top down view, showing the gold blocks in place at opposite corners.

The second image is an angled view, showing how one block is at the base of the build (ground level), whilst the other is in line with the top of the build.

The last image shows a sign placed on one of the blocks requesting that the area is expanded down 3 blocks below ground to include a basement or cabling etc under the floor.

Thanks again to Tatankore for the images, I hope they help anyone that was confused as to what they needed to do!

World Stability

I have done some tinkering this morning and hopefully the server will be more stable for the next few days.

Please use this time to get your items stored and builds saved if you haven't already, don't be tempted to leave it until the last minute as it is likely the switch will happen sooner than the 16th!

Quick Exchange Added

I've added a 'Quick Exchange' between the mall information screens, this will allow you to buy 64 Industrial Diamonds for the original value of $9600 to make storing your cash for the world switch easier and fairer.

Enjoy!

Unlikely To Last Until 16th December

We're definitely see more issues with the map and I've had to spend more than 4 hours today patching things up, I can't keep fixing chunks at this rate so expect sudden downtimes especially during UK night-time hours.

I can't see the world lasting until 16th December as planned so please get your stuff into the vault and open /modreq tickets to get your builds copied asap.

If the existing world dies early then the server is likely to be offline for 24 hours or more before it comes back up with the new world as certain things will have to be done all at once rather than gradually over the next 2 weeks.

Important Changes To Commands

I have fully switched us over to the new promotion plugin now so there have been some command changes;

Removed:  /playtime & /seen

Added: /ontime <name>

The '/ontime' command replaces both the old commands and can be used to check your own playing time and that of others, specifying your own name will list some extra detail.

In addition I decided to give an extra permission to all players in relation to the warning system, all players can now use '/warnings <name>' to view another players list of warnings, this gives genuine players a way to check out others before deciding whether to work with them or not as well as being able to check if and why a player has been banned.

Remember if you have received a warning the past (more than 30 days ago) and have stuck by the rules since, you may request that a Moderator or Admin considers removing it.

Enjoy!

New Rank Colours!

The new rank colours are now setup and are:

Newbie
Member
Member+
Donator
VIP
Helper
Moderator
Admin

The new Donator rank is not actually available at the moment but the reason for adding it as well as VIP will become clear very soon!

Helpers & Moderators: A new version of the handbooks (v1.68) containing all the permission changes today is now ready for download.

Enjoy!

Scheduled Maintenance

The server is down for scheduled maintenance as follows:

1. Take a full backup/clone - Done
2. Update TekkitRestrict - Done
3. Update 3 mod patches - Done
4. Test updates - Done
5. Switch to new rank colours and add new ranks (more details coming soon) - Done
6. Permissions cleanup - Done
7. Test colours are applied correctly and ranks promote in correct order - Done
8. Tweak auto-promote plugin - Done
9. Make around 30 changes to permissions, specifically relating to Staff ranks - Done
10. Test permission changes - Done
11. Clear out some old and redundant data - Done

The work is complete and the server is now available again!

Crashes & Build Backups

Ok so I'm guessing most people have noticed that the downtimes because of chunk errors have suddenly got a lot more frequent, particularly the ones that shut down the server until I can fix them manually. Please bear with me, we just need to put up with it long enough to transfer over to the new world, time seems to be running out faster than I'd hoped though.

If you are Member or above then please get a room in the The Vault asap if you haven't done so already!

We are now ready to start creating schematics of buildings for players, if you'd like a building moved just place a gold block at opposite corners of what you want copied (think of them as opposite corners of an imaginary box)  and open a Modreq request, or ask a Helper to open one for you.

Tatankore has built an example at Spawn if you're unsure about where to place the gold blocks.

If you need something copied that extends below ground then place the gold block for the bottom corner at ground level and  put a sign on one the blocks telling us how many blocks to expand down from that. 

Please be aware that;

1. Computer programs are not copied with the computer, however you can back them up to disk, disk contents should copy over successfully if stored in The Vault.
2. Alloy wire is likely to need replacing after pasting your build into the new world.
3. Buildings containing mini-blocks cannot be rotated or moved after the initial paste without issues.
4. Builds containing non-vanilla chests, condensers & filters etc still containing items cannot be rotated or moved after the initial paste due to the possibility of major lag spikes.
5. Vanilla chest contents will be copied over with the build successfully in most cases, although some Tekkit specific charge data etc may be lost. 
6. Alchemy bags may transfer, no guarantees but it wouldn't hurt to put less valuable items in them if you don't have anywhere else to put them etc.
7. There is a possible transfer limit of 1 build (max 71x71, or 101x101 for Member+)  per player if  time becomes more of an issue, so please assume for now that you can only take 1 build or get your request in early if you'd like to transfer more than 1.
8. The bigger and more complex the build (especially factories) the less chance of successful transfer.

The world switch will happen by 16th December.

But if the chunk issues get any more frequent it could be several days earlier!

I'll post updates here so watch this space!