Re: [hlds] Heads Up: Minimum Requirements Changing for Linux TF2 and SDK2013 Dedicated Server

[Bottiger]

Will server_srv.so be renamed to server.so? I don't think it is part of the
Steam Runtime.

Do you expect most plugins currently linked to libtier0_srv.so to break
even with a symlink?

On Tue, Mar 15, 2016 at 2:16 PM, John Schoenick <jo...@valvesoftware.com>
wrote:

> Yes, the server will be using the same libtier0/engine/etc as the client
> builds, like the current windows builds, rather than being separate. We can
> evaluate shipping a stub/symlink depending on how many tools work with that
> v. those that may need a recompile either way.
>
>
> On 03/15/2016 02:07 PM, Bottiger wrote:
>
> Does this mean every extension and vsp needs to be recompiled back
> to libtier0.so?
>
> Can we just create a symlink named libtier0_srv.so?
>
> Is server_srv.so also going to be renamed server.so?
>
> On Tue, Mar 15, 2016 at 1:30 PM, John Schoenick <jo...@valvesoftware.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> The current Linux TF2/SDK2013 dedicated server is a bit odd, shipping a
>> dedicated-only build of the source engine that targets a very old toolchain
>> for maximal compatibility.  This setup predates the Steam Runtime and the
>> widespread availability of container setups like Docker that make it
>> trivial to run apps in alternate environments.
>>
>> We're planning on obsoleting this setup, and shipping a unified build[1]
>> between clients and servers that targets the current Steam Runtime[2]
>>
>> What this means for you:
>>
>>
>> *1) If your distro is not binary compatible[3] with the Steam Runtime
>> (based on Ubuntu 12 LTS) you may need to update your setup to continue
>> running TF2 servers. *There are several options for this.
>> - Switch to a Ubuntu 12 LTS based distro
>> - Create a Steam Runtime chroot or container (e.g. Docker) to run your
>> servers.
>> - Package a copy of the Steam Runtime for your servers and invoke the
>> server with a modified environment ( env
>> LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$RUNTIME"/usr/lib/ "$RUNTIME"/usr/lib/ld-linux.so.2
>> ./srcds_linux ... )
>> - Etc
>>
>> See the Steam Runtime page[2] for more information on setup and usage.
>>
>> *2) If you have mods or scripts that are hard-coded to expect "_srv"
>> binaries, they will need to be fixed*
>>
>> We plan on working with the SourceMod team to ensure their tools continue
>> to function, but server operators will likely need to update when this
>> occurs. Other tools or scripts that are hard coded to "_srv" may need
>> fixing.
>>
>> *When**?*
>> The plan is to begin shipping builds based requiring the Steam Runtime in
>> the next few months, so we encourage server operators to begin looking into
>> their setups ASAP.
>>
>> Non-TF2 SDK2013 games will likely be switched to this setup some time
>> after TF2, as it becomes necessary to maintain compatibility with the Steam
>> SDK.
>>
>> Let me know if you have any questions or concerns
>> - John
>>
>> [1] Meaning, one client.so and server.so and associated engine, rather
>> than a separate "_srv.so" build of the entire system for dedicated servers.
>> [2] https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-runtime
>> [3] Binary compatibility largely meaning new-enough
>> gcc-libs/libc/libstdc++, but also some supporting libraries like ncurses.
>>
>> ___
>> To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives,
>> please visit:
>> https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds
>>
>>
>
>
> ___
> To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please 
> visit:https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds
>
>
>
> ___
> To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives,
> please visit:
> https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds
>
>
___
To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please 
visit:
https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds

Re: [hlds] Heads Up: Minimum Requirements Changing for Linux TF2 and SDK2013 Dedicated Server

[Bottiger]

Does this mean every extension and vsp needs to be recompiled back
to libtier0.so?

Can we just create a symlink named libtier0_srv.so?

Is server_srv.so also going to be renamed server.so?

On Tue, Mar 15, 2016 at 1:30 PM, John Schoenick 
wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> The current Linux TF2/SDK2013 dedicated server is a bit odd, shipping a
> dedicated-only build of the source engine that targets a very old toolchain
> for maximal compatibility.  This setup predates the Steam Runtime and the
> widespread availability of container setups like Docker that make it
> trivial to run apps in alternate environments.
>
> We're planning on obsoleting this setup, and shipping a unified build[1]
> between clients and servers that targets the current Steam Runtime[2]
>
> What this means for you:
>
>
> *1) If your distro is not binary compatible[3] with the Steam Runtime
> (based on Ubuntu 12 LTS) you may need to update your setup to continue
> running TF2 servers. *There are several options for this.
> - Switch to a Ubuntu 12 LTS based distro
> - Create a Steam Runtime chroot or container (e.g. Docker) to run your
> servers.
> - Package a copy of the Steam Runtime for your servers and invoke the
> server with a modified environment ( env
> LD_LIBRARY_PATH="$RUNTIME"/usr/lib/ "$RUNTIME"/usr/lib/ld-linux.so.2
> ./srcds_linux ... )
> - Etc
>
> See the Steam Runtime page[2] for more information on setup and usage.
>
> *2) If you have mods or scripts that are hard-coded to expect "_srv"
> binaries, they will need to be fixed*
>
> We plan on working with the SourceMod team to ensure their tools continue
> to function, but server operators will likely need to update when this
> occurs. Other tools or scripts that are hard coded to "_srv" may need
> fixing.
>
> *When**?*
> The plan is to begin shipping builds based requiring the Steam Runtime in
> the next few months, so we encourage server operators to begin looking into
> their setups ASAP.
>
> Non-TF2 SDK2013 games will likely be switched to this setup some time
> after TF2, as it becomes necessary to maintain compatibility with the Steam
> SDK.
>
> Let me know if you have any questions or concerns
> - John
>
> [1] Meaning, one client.so and server.so and associated engine, rather
> than a separate "_srv.so" build of the entire system for dedicated servers.
> [2] https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-runtime
> [3] Binary compatibility largely meaning new-enough
> gcc-libs/libc/libstdc++, but also some supporting libraries like ncurses.
>
> ___
> To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives,
> please visit:
> https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds
>
>
___
To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please 
visit:
https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds

Re: [hlds] Optional TF2 update released

[Bottiger]

On Tue, Oct 13, 2015 at 11:36 AM, N-Gon  wrote:

> Welp, you guys heard it here first.
> Let's call it a day and let ad-based servers like skial have complete
> reign of the place.
>

Excuse me?

We have *never* used text mode clients to seed our servers and couldn't
care less if it patched.

Please don't use us as an example for anything bad just because we have the
most players left, which is hardly worth consideration given that it is
less than 3% of tf2 population.

On Tue, Oct 13, 2015 at 12:08 PM, E. Olsen  wrote:

> Think about it - communities used to grow one or two servers at a time as
> their membership grew. Now, the vast majority of "communities" (and I use
> that word extremely loosely) only offer a handful of stock maps.


Now I'm not saying that you are referring to us, but some of you here are
probably thinking it.

This is exactly how we grew. We added 1 server at a time mostly added due
to player request, and if they die out we remove them. Every single server
we have fills up every day. We do not rent servers so cheap that it doesn't
matter if they are empty 90% of the time. We had custom gamemodes even
before quickplay existed. All of these in stark contrast to the usual
posterboys of ad-farms and pay2win-farms that were popular scapegoats
before us before they bled out from the quickplay change.

It is sad that after the quickplay change killed off most of the real
exploiters, disgruntled server owners just started to assume we are the
same.

If you want to blame someone for the declining state of your server, it
should probably be the people who defaulted quickplay to official servers,
not us.
___
To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please 
visit:
https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds

Re: [hlds] Optional TF2 dedicated server update released

[Bottiger]

Can you tell us which function was patched?

On Mon, Dec 8, 2014 at 8:40 PM, Eric Smith er...@valvesoftware.com wrote:
 We’ve released an optional update for TF2 dedicated servers that fixes a
 crash related to the EOTL ducks being created when players are killed. You
 do not need to update your server(s) if you’re not having any problems.
 Thanks.



 -Eric




 ___
 To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives,
 please visit:
 https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds


___
To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please 
visit:
https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds

Re: [hlds] TF2 servers disappearing from favorites and losing Steam connection

[Bottiger]

Tony can you add the sv_registration_message and sv_registration_successful
counterparts for steam accounts? It would be useful to debug these issues.


On Sun, Mar 9, 2014 at 12:14 PM, Tony Paloma to...@valvesoftware.comwrote:

  This is what would happen if you had two servers trying to login to the
 same account. Check that you don't.



 *From:* hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com [mailto:
 hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com] *On Behalf Of *Setup1337 ?
 *Sent:* Saturday, March 08, 2014 10:18 PM
 *To:* hlds@list.valvesoftware.com
 *Subject:* [hlds] TF2 servers disappearing from favorites and losing
 Steam connection



 Ever since we enabled sv_setsteamaccount in our servers, they have been
 randomly disappearing from the favorites list of our regulars (including
 mine).

 Also, servers are losing connection to the registered Steam account after
 only like 30 minutes or so. Connected clients also get dropped at random
 with error code 6.

 Is anyone else having this issue?

 ___
 To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives,
 please visit:
 https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds


___
To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please 
visit:
https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds

Re: [hlds] IP Changes DDOS Attacks - Do Game Server Accounts Resolve These Issues Now?

[Bottiger]

-Jan Reeuwijk mreeu...@yahoo.com; Half-Life dedicated Win32
 server mailing list hlds@list.valvesoftware.com
 *Sent:* Wednesday, 26 February 2014, 15:17

 *Subject:* Re: [hlds] IP Changes  DDOS Attacks - Do Game Server Accounts
 Resolve These Issues Now?

 It would be nicer for steam to push changes instead requiring the clients
 to pull.

 If you change ip, under the current scheme, you basically have to expect
 no/reduced favourited joins for 24hours.

 Sent from my iPad

 On 26 Feb 2014, at 8:43 pm, Mart-Jan Reeuwijk mreeu...@yahoo.com wrote:

 quote: 4. Would it be possible to increase the update rate in the future?

 Do you plan to keep changing your IP's every day? I really don't see the
 need.

   --
  *From:* Bottiger bottige...@gmail.com
 *To:* Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list 
 hlds@list.valvesoftware.com
 *Sent:* Wednesday, 26 February 2014, 2:42
 *Subject:* Re: [hlds] IP Changes  DDOS Attacks - Do Game Server Accounts
 Resolve These Issues Now?

 Thanks for the update. I have a few questions.

 1. Does the user need to be online in order to load account ids into their
 favorites?
 2. If people were already logged in right before an IP change does this
 mean they won't see the new server for another 24 hours?
 3. If we leave a notice server up without an account at the old address,
 will there be no update because there was a working server at that address?
 4. Would it be possible to increase the update rate in the future?



 On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 1:28 PM, Tony Paloma to...@valvesoftware.comwrote:

  Yes, you can change IP, port, or both and user's favorites will update
 within a day or the next time they refresh their favorites list thereafter.
 What I mean by that is, the Steam client only asks for updated IP:port
 information at most once every 24 hours. At the same time as that request,
 the Steam client will also look at all the favorites it doesn't know the
 Steam ID for and check to see if it has a persistent account and then fill
 it in if so. So you may want to wait a few days before changing your IP or
 port to ensure people get the Steam update and get a chance to get your
 game server's Steam ID in their favorites list.

 *From:* hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com [mailto:
 hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com] *On Behalf Of *Weasels Lair
 *Sent:* Tuesday, February 25, 2014 1:19 PM
 *To:* Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list; Half-Life dedicated
 Linux server mailing list
 *Subject:* Re: [hlds] IP Changes  DDOS Attacks - Do Game Server Accounts
 Resolve These Issues Now?

  Related question to this ...
  In addition to tracking what IP ADDRESS the server moved to, I *assume*
 it will track the before/after PORT?  In other words ADDRESS:PORT, not just
 ADDRESS?
  Maybe somebody from Valve could confirm?

  On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 1:16 PM, Mike Vail supp...@boomgaming.net
 wrote:
  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:supp...@boomgaming.net]
 *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

Re: [hlds] IP Changes DDOS Attacks - Do Game Server Accounts Resolve These Issues Now?

[Bottiger]

Thanks for the update. I have a few questions.

1. Does the user need to be online in order to load account ids into their
favorites?
2. If people were already logged in right before an IP change does this
mean they won't see the new server for another 24 hours?
3. If we leave a notice server up without an account at the old address,
will there be no update because there was a working server at that address?
4. Would it be possible to increase the update rate in the future?



On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 1:28 PM, Tony Paloma to...@valvesoftware.comwrote:

  Yes, you can change IP, port, or both and user's favorites will update
 within a day or the next time they refresh their favorites list thereafter.
 What I mean by that is, the Steam client only asks for updated IP:port
 information at most once every 24 hours. At the same time as that request,
 the Steam client will also look at all the favorites it doesn't know the
 Steam ID for and check to see if it has a persistent account and then fill
 it in if so. So you may want to wait a few days before changing your IP or
 port to ensure people get the Steam update and get a chance to get your
 game server's Steam ID in their favorites list.



 *From:* hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com [mailto:
 hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com] *On Behalf Of *Weasels Lair
 *Sent:* Tuesday, February 25, 2014 1:19 PM
 *To:* Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list; Half-Life dedicated
 Linux server mailing list
 *Subject:* Re: [hlds] IP Changes  DDOS Attacks - Do Game Server Accounts
 Resolve These Issues Now?



 Related question to this ...

 In addition to tracking what IP ADDRESS the server moved to, I *assume* it
 will track the before/after PORT?  In other words ADDRESS:PORT, not just
 ADDRESS?

 Maybe somebody from Valve could confirm?



 On Tue, Feb 25, 2014 at 1:16 PM, Mike Vail supp...@boomgaming.net wrote:

 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:supp...@boomgaming.net]
 *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


 ___
 To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives,
 please visit:
 https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds



 ___
 To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives,
 please visit:
 https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds


___
To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please 
visit:

Re: [hlds] Mandatory TF2 update released

[Bottiger]

Does anyone using the -steamport workaround have a problem with TF2
ignoring it and causing the disconnect issue it was supposed to fix now?

I have a server with -steamport 29012 and when I do netstat it is not
listening there and it randomly disconnects from Steam.


On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 4:52 PM, Mike O'Laughlen molaugh...@gmail.comwrote:

 Restarted steam and receiving it now (from South America).


 On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 7:50 PM, Valentin G. nextra...@gmail.com wrote:

 Yup. Seems to be an issue with the update getting to clients. Still
 haven't received it and looking at my servers many others still have
 not.

 On Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 1:43 AM, Silencio Delgato
 silenciodelg...@gmail.com wrote:
  It seems that steam is losing connection off and on, which is probably
 why.
  I just updated my servers, but it took about 10 minutes since their
 release
  to get them to connect and update. I'm going to assume this is also
  happening for the clients as well.
 
 
  On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 4:42 PM, Chris Oryschak ch...@oryschak.com
 wrote:
 
  My client wont update, even after 4 restarts of steam.. i just gave up
 now
  lol
 
 
  On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 7:40 PM, A Fearts joewatshis...@gmail.com
 wrote:
 
  The servers are updating however I'm getting a few reports from people
  (including myself) who aren't getting the client side update. Anyone
 else
  having this issue?
 
 
  On Tue, Feb 11, 2014 at 7:24 PM, Eric Smith er...@valvesoftware.com
  wrote:
 
  We've released a mandatory TF2 update. The notes for the update are
  below. The new version is 2112877.
 
  -Eric
 
  --
 
  - Fixed an infinite ÜberCharge exploit related to loadout presets
  - Fixed a case where players that are the target of a vote kick would
  not be banned from the server
  - Fixed a Quickplay crash for Linux clients
  - Fixed Linux servers getting disconnected from Steam when multiple
  servers are run from the same IP
  - Fixed taunts not previewing in the character loadout screen after
  being equipped
  - Fixed the High-Five! taunt not hiding the Engineer's weapon
  - Fixed some missing knobs on the level 2 dispenser
  - Fixed being able to jarate invulnerable targets with the Sydney
  Sleeper
  - Lugermorph Killstreakifier can now be applied to all Lugermorph
 guns
  - Updated several cosmetic items that were missing an item_type
  description
  - Updated several cosmetic items to count as assisters in Pyrovision
  - Updated the Medi-Mask to use equip_region beard instead of face
  - Quickplay: Added option to search for nodmgspread servers
  - Quickplay: Removed disabling of non-vanilla option radio buttons
 when
  official servers are selected
 
  ___
  To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list
 archives,
  please visit:
  https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds
 
 
 
  ___
  To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives,
  please visit:
  https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds
 
 
 
  ___
  To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives,
  please visit:
  https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds
 
 
 
  ___
  To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives,
  please visit:
  https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds
 

 ___
 To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives,
 please visit:
 https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds



 ___
 To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives,
 please visit:
 https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds


___
To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please 
visit:
https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds

Re: [hlds] [hlds_linux] Important changes to TF2 coming soon

[Bottiger]

Can there be cvars like sv_registration_successful and
sv_registration_message for the steam account? I noticed that
sv_registration and vac can be enabled while the steam account is not
logged in.


On Fri, Feb 7, 2014 at 3:42 PM, Fletcher Dunn
fletch...@valvesoftware.comwrote:

  Yes!  The token is essentially login credentials (combination account
 and password).  If you use the same token, you are asking all the servers
 to login to the same account.  But only one server can be on an account at
 a time.



 *From:* hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com [mailto:
 hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com] *On Behalf Of *Saint K.
 *Sent:* Friday, February 07, 2014 3:39 PM
 *To:* 'Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list'

 *Subject:* Re: [hlds] [hlds_linux] Important changes to TF2 coming soon



 I'm confused.



 Do I need a unique key for each server for the sv_setsteamaccount value?



 Saint K.

 *From:* hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com [
 mailto:hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.comhlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com]
 *On Behalf Of *Fletcher Dunn
 *Sent:* Friday, February 07, 2014 10:42 PM
 *To:* hlds@list.valvesoftware.com
 *Subject:* Re: [hlds] [hlds_linux] Important changes to TF2 coming soon



 You'll need one token per server.  The logon only accepts the token, so
 the token serves as account+password.



 *From:* hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com [
 mailto:hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.comhlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com]
 *On Behalf Of *Gamers Exile
 *Sent:* Friday, February 07, 2014 1:40 PM
 *To:* hlds@list.valvesoftware.com
 *Subject:* Re: [hlds] [hlds_linux] Important changes to TF2 coming soon



 I'm unsure if this is a generate 1 token for upto 50 servers or 50
 individual tokens?



 Anyone?



 Thanks GE



 Sent Via Pigeon

 *From: *Silencio Delgato

 *Sent: *Friday, February 7, 2014 2:32 PM

 *To: *Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list

 *Reply To: *Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list

 *Subject: *Re: [hlds] [hlds_linux] Important changes to TF2 coming soon



 Thank you very much Ross, I'll be sure to use this when I finally get some
 time to myself later today.



 On Fri, Feb 7, 2014 at 1:13 PM, Ross Bemrose rbemr...@gmail.com wrote:

 er... registering a server using an API key for my last post.  Whoops.



 On Wed, Feb 5, 2014 at 6:52 PM, Fletcher Dunn fletch...@valvesoftware.com
 wrote:

 There are some changes coming that TF2 server operators should know about.

 CHANGES TO QUICKPLAY
 ---

 The next TF2 update will make two changes to quickplay:

 * Show servers button.  This runs the ordinary quickplay search, but
 instead of joining the server with the highest score, it presents the user
 with an ordered list of about 20 servers and lets them pick.  This gives
 players much of the convenience of quickplay by finding servers with a good
 ping and players on them, but also an easy way to express a preference over
 the map, server community, etc.
 * We've added an advanced options page that allows players to opt into the
 most commonly-requested non-vanilla rules changes: nocrits, maxplayers, and
 instant respawn.

 There are no more scoring penalties for maxplayers or rule changes; your
 server either matches their search criteria or it doesn't.

 At this time, we are keeping the default quickplay option to Valve
 servers.  However, note that if a player wants to find a server with any of
 the supported modifications, then they must land on a community server,
 since Valve servers do not run with these settings.

 We've updated the quickplay policy to more clearly specify what sorts of
 server modifications are allowed in quickplay:
 https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=2825-AFGJ-3513

 STEAM GAMESERVER ACCOUNTS
 -

 Gameserver accounts are now a Steam feature.  The feature is currently in
 beta.

 Using a steam gameserver account provides one important advantage right
 now: client favorite lists are keyed by the Steam account if present.  This
 means that you can move your server to another IP address, and clients who
 have your server in their favorites or history will follow you to your new
 location.

 CREATING AN ACCOUNT:

 Creating an account is currently only possible via WebAPI.  (Remember,
 this feature is currently in beta.  We'll add a nicer interface for this
 soon.)  Make a HTTPS POST request to the following URL:
 https://api.steampowered.com/IGameServersService/CreateAccount/v0001/

 The POST arguments should be:
   appid=440 (for Team Fortress)
   key=your WebAPIKey

 your WebAPIKey is the WebAPI key associated with the user account that
 will own the server accounts. See http://steamcommunity.com/dev for how
 to get one of these.  (WARNING: Make sure and keep this key secret.  This
 key is an authentication token in some respects and makes it possible to do
 certain actions on your behalf.  Don't feed the key into anybody's nice
 convenient web page 

Re: [hlds] An open letter to Valve about MOTDs

[Bottiger]

 Your cite Skial as an example, but what you fail to realize is that those
large server groups only have those large number of servers because they
are/were trying to use the quickplay system as a source of profit over and
above their expenses, NOT as a response to the natural growth in their
communities.

 Now,  I'm not looking down my nose at Skial (I don't really know anything
about them)

You say you aren't looking down your nose at Skial then admit you don't
really know anything about Skial, then make false claims such as being
powered by cheap VPS? We never opened more servers than we can fill, and
when they don't fill they get removed. All of our servers get filled every
day. If this isn't being grown organically then I don't know what is.

You can't say that for every other example of quickplay farms cited on
this mailing list. 15 of our servers aren't even on quickplay, and we
hosted 3 tf2lobby servers at our expense (they make pretty much nothing). So
please don't make false claims about something you don't know about. This
is why Valve can't take this mailing list seriously.

If you have some strange notion that we are stealing players that belong to
you or that we shouldn't open new servers because half the players don't
have our clan tag, you should correct that belief until someone at Valve
says that is the only appropriate way to run 3rd party servers.


On Thu, Nov 7, 2013 at 1:07 PM, Jason Tango jtrun...@outlook.com wrote:

 Your cite Skial as an example, but what you fail to realize is that those
 large server groups only have those large number of servers because they
 are/were trying to use the quickplay system as a source of profit over and
 above their expenses, NOT as a response to the natural growth in their
 communities.

 In other words - those kinds of communities did not grow organically,
 starting with just enough servers to support their current membership, and
 adding servers as their community grew. They threw up those huge numbers of
 servers as nothing more than quickplay ad farms, turning the playerbase
 into little more than disposable ad impressions. Do you honestly think any
 of those groups have the massive community membership necessary to require
 80+ servers? Of course not.

 Do you see the distinction?

 There are server operators who have slowly and consistently grown their
 server regulars, adding to their server fleets as both their membership
 and funding permitted, and there are those that simply threw up high-volume
 quickplay honey pot fleets of ad-farms/servers with the intent of turning
 the players into an easy source of profit.

 Now,  I'm not looking down my nose at Skial (I don't really know anything
 about them), or any other of these large server fleets, BUT - the fact is
 that most new players first few experiences with the game will be through
 quickplay, and the vast number of these ad-farms (many of which were hosted
 by the hundreds on cheap, under-powered VPS servers) are/were giving these
 players a very negative first impression of the game.

 While I don't necessarily agree with HOW Valve has fixed the problem (as I
 think it stinks that ALL server operators have to be made to suffer due to
 the actions of those abusing the system), I'm certainly glad Valve is
 taking steps to at least insure new players don't think that these
 ad-infested servers are the way ALL servers are run.



 --
 Date: Thu, 7 Nov 2013 21:24:00 +0100
 From: sai...@specialattack.net
 To: hlds@list.valvesoftware.com
 Subject: Re: [hlds] An open letter to Valve about MOTDs


 Forced in-game ads are evil.



 You’ve already paid for the game, why watch ads?



 There never was such a problem until quickplay and motd allowing video.



 Build a good community and likable servers, and you shall have your money
 through donations. We haven’t done it any differently in the past 15 years
 and we’re still doing so today.



 People are willing to donate bits for a fun community to play at who has
 their own servers up and running.



 The whole problem here is quickplay, you have tons of people roaming
 around random servers without an real good opportunity to bind them to your
 community. Before people would search for likable servers and add them to
 their favorites. These people would then return and start to get familiar
 with other people at the servers. This allowed for great community building.



 Unfortunately I don’t expect VALVe ever to turn off quickplay. That’s why
 I think communities will slowly start to die out.



 I can remember days where 90% of the players in a server had a
 clan/community tag In front of their name, nowadays you barely ever see
 them.



 Saint K.

 *From:* hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com [mailto:
 hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com] *On Behalf Of *Supreet
 *Sent:* Thursday, November 07, 2013 7:58 PM
 *To:* hlds@list.valvesoftware.com
 *Subject:* [hlds] An open letter to Valve about MOTDs


 Valve,
 

Re: [hlds] Problems caused by connecting server favorites to IP address

[Bottiger]

For small customers (not GSPs), they don't want to deal with the hassle.

For example, we''ve talked to NFO and they said they are unable to move IPs
to a VPS because it is automated. When a server is provisioned their system
probably automatically edits the routing table to point to the proper
location.

This can of course be done manually, but they still decline to do it. This
concept extends to other hosts.

On Sat, Sep 28, 2013 at 1:51 PM, List User l...@redspeedservers.com wrote:

  If a datacenter tells you moving your IP space is impossible, they are
 flat out lying. If that was the case, how would they assign more IPs when
 you order them?

 Not a single datacenter we work with it has any issue bringing up our IPs
 anywhere on the their network.


 On 9/28/2013 11:48 AM, Spencer 'Voogru' MacDonald wrote:

  “We used to have to fight our provider pretty hard to retain our IP
 addresses.”

 I had the same experiences but ultimately got to keep the IP’s. It was a
 bit of a struggle, they’re usually saying something along the lines that
 it’s absolutely totally completely IMPOSSIBLE, which then gets changed to
 “Okay fine”.

 ** **

 I really wish they’d go by dns names, or even use the server ID through
 the server registration instead of IP’s.

 ** **

 - Spencer.

 ** **

 *From:* hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com [
 mailto:hlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.comhlds-boun...@list.valvesoftware.com]
 *On Behalf Of *Kyle Sanderson
 *Sent:* Friday, September 27, 2013 9:04 AM
 *To:* Half-Life dedicated Win32 server mailing list
 *Subject:* Re: [hlds] Problems caused by connecting server favorites to
 IP address

 ** **

 We used to have to fight our provider pretty hard to retain our IP
 addresses. Management would say it's alright, then the rest of the company
 would deny it ever occurred and would just close the ticket feigning
 ignorance. The whole process would take about two days to get the addresses
 transferred to the new, in limbo server. Now they just charge everyone $20
 per /29 block to move. I'm sure there are other horrible providers, that
 still do the former.

 Thanks,

 Kyle.

 ** **

 On Thu, Sep 26, 2013 at 11:33 PM, ics i...@ics-base.net wrote:

 upgrading hardware doesn't always mean IP change. We have retained our
 IP's for years. But i'm all in for keeping my servers in users favorite
 lists in other methods too.

 -ics

 Jason Tango kirjoitti:


 I would definitely be curious to know how many server operators have
 decided against upgrading their hardware (which would be better for the
 overall game's userbase in the long run) for this very reason.

 Is it simply the difficulty of implementation? Or is Valve so close to
 releasing Source 2 (that may already have this implemented) that they think
 it's a waste of time?

 All I DO know is that I would have to recommend against changing IP's to
 anyone that doesn't absolutely have to. It's a disaster to your traffic.

 

 **
 **


 Date: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 14:33:59 -0700
 From: thepauls...@gmail.com
 To: mreeu...@yahoo.com; hlds@list.valvesoftware.com
 Subject: Re: [hlds] Problems caused by connecting server favorites to IP
 address

 I said this a month ago and I explained why it would be much easier and
 better for Valve to implement DNS instead of tying it to the server
 registration system.

 When people upgrade you usually change hosts because the old ones have
 gone bad so you cannot keep IPs. My experience with most hosts is that they
 may let you upgrade your server, but they will not fix their network
 providers, add ddos protection, or reduce your costs so you stop paying
 $200/month because that was the standard price 4 years ago.

 I think what we need to do in order to get this implemented is to
 understand why Valve has ignored this request for so long.

 This isn't rocket science or as difficult as implementing Source3, so the
 problem must be because Valve doesn't think this will improve anything.

 

 On Thu, Sep 26, 2013 at 2:23 PM, Mart-Jan Reeuwijk mreeu...@yahoo.commailto:
 mreeu...@yahoo.com wrote:

 The only way to truly move is keeping the old servers for a
 while, and point those to the new servers so they can connect and
 favorite them. having a turnover time without paralel, would give
 no incentive to the players to add those IP's.

 I do agree a solution would really be nice to keep your playerbase
 of a server. I even proposed various workings for that (via steam
 group memberships to have a specific tab / option to show them in
 favs). But its been on deaf ears for years now.

 Also, I never hear anybody about having a chat with the hoster /
 datacenter to move the IP's to the new machines.


 
 *From:* Jason Tango jtrun...@outlook.com
 mailto:jtrun...@outlook.com
   

Re: [hlds] Problems caused by connecting server favorites to IP address

[Bottiger]

IPs are assigned individually as far as I know on every OS. It is trivial
to add and remove them individually and without rebooting the server. I
have a server right now that has an IP in the 188.x.x.x netblock and
another at 5.x.x.x.

The issue is because hosts like to use /28 ip blocks in their internal
routing table and having /32 blocks makes it look bad. That same line of
reasoning has also been told to us for dedicated servers.


On Sat, Sep 28, 2013 at 4:28 PM, List User l...@redspeedservers.com wrote:

 * VPS = VDS *

 In a typical VPS setup, each host is assigned a block of IPs, and you are
 issued an IP from that block. So if you wanted to move your IP, they would
 need to move the whole block, and since they have other customers on that
 block, it's not happening. You could setup your network to where you can
 bring any IP, in any block, on any server, but as far as I know only
 SoftLayer runs that type of network.


 On 9/28/2013 5:57 PM, Bottiger wrote:

 For small customers (not GSPs), they don't want to deal with the hassle.

 For example, we''ve talked to NFO and they said they are unable to move
 IPs to a VPS because it is automated. When a server is provisioned their
 system probably automatically edits the routing table to point to the
 proper location.

 This can of course be done manually, but they still decline to do it.
 This concept extends to other hosts.
 __**_
 To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives,
 please visit:
 https://list.valvesoftware.**com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/**hldshttps://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds



 __**_
 To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives,
 please visit:
 https://list.valvesoftware.**com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/**hldshttps://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds

___
To unsubscribe, edit your list preferences, or view the list archives, please 
visit:
https://list.valvesoftware.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/hlds