I just got a Steam Client update this morning that included the following in the General update notes:
"Add IP tracking to game server favorites. Favorites will automatically update to new server IP addresses if the game server is using a persistent account." I'm assuming that this feature is no longer just a beta client feature now, which is wonderful news for anyone looking to change their IP addess(es). From: Mike Vail [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Saturday, February 15, 2014 10:49 AM To: 'Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list' Subject: [hlds] IP Changes & DDOS Attacks - Do Game Server Accounts Resolve These Issues Now? So this week for the first time since I started running Valve servers almost 10 years ago, I began getting ddos attacked on one of my servers. The datacenter null-routed the IP, which is typical in these cases. I don't have advanced firewall protection right now other than Windows 2008 Firewall so I'm kinda stuck. I don't even know the nature of the attack because the datacenter isn't helpful at all. Wireshark hangs and crashes every 30 minutes so it too is useless in identifying the attack. I also learned another server-op who runs a similar server is having the same attacks so it's likely the same guy trying to take us both down so he can start his own server like ours. So then I started thinking about these new game server accounts. My affected server is by no means stock. It runs a custom map, has instant respawn and 100% crits, which disqualifies it from Quick-play. That's fine but here's my question. As I read the recent thread about the new Game server account feature, by adding my server to a game server account, I can change the IP and players with it saved in their favorites will receive the new server IP address because their favorites will update after the IP change. Is this correct? If so, I should be able to change the IP after registering it and people should find the server through their favorites like before even though the server won't work with quick-play right? Lastly, with game server accounts becoming the norm, would it not make since for Valve to game servers' IP addresses from everyone in the future so the ability to attack them would be greatly diminished? I realize that dedicated attackers will always find a way to do evil, but by hiding the IP addresses from players, it may go a long way to reducing the frequency of attacks by script kiddies. What do you guys think? Happy Saturday, Mike
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