BZFlag Administrator Help

Bans are global and affect all servers. There is a script that propagates ban changes to the webserver which in turn distributes the new ban file to all of the game server hosts. Each bzflag server uses the serverControl plugin to synchronize the ban list with other servers on the host. Ban propagation to all servers takes less than 30 seconds normally. You'll see a Ban list updated message broadcast when the server responds to a ban file change.

Master ban changes are synchronized every 30 minutes and display a Master Ban List updated message broadcast by the server when it changes.

You can display the current banlist with /banlist. Master ban entries (from bzflag.org) are flagged with an (m).

• Ban Command Format
  

  On any bzflag server you can get the correct format for the /ban command by simply issuing the /ban command with no parameters. This works for most server commands.

  Server help from the /ban command is:

  [SERVER->] Syntax: /ban <#slot | PlayerName | "Player Name" | ip> <duration> <reason>
  [SERVER->]  <duration> can be 'short' or 'default' for the default ban time
  
  [SERVER->]  or 'forever' or 'max' for infinite bans
  [SERVER->]  or a time in the format <weeks>W<days>D<hours>H<minutes>M
  [SERVER->]  or just a number of minutes
  [SERVER->]  Please keep in mind that reason is displayed to the user.
  

  You read < a | b | c | d > in the format above as 'or' so it is:

  /ban followed by one of #slot or PlayerName or ="Player Name"= or ip followed by duration and then reason

  Example ban command formats:

  • Ban player in slot #3 for 10 minutes with reason 'Lag is too high - please rejoin later'

  /ban #3 10m Lag is too high - please rejoin later
  

  • Ban player with IP 1.2.3.4 for 10 minutes with reason 'Lag is too high - please rejoin later'

  /ban 1.2.3.4 10m Lag is too high - please rejoin later
  

  • Ban a player with a callsign Freddie - simple callsign (no spaces) for 10 minutes with reason 'Lag is too high - please rejoin later'

  /ban Freddie 10m Lag is too high - please rejoin later
  

  • Ban a player with callsign 'Freddie Frazier' - callsign with spaces for 10 minutes with reason 'Lag is too high - please rejoin later'

  /ban "Freddie Frazier" 10m Lag is too high - please rejoin later
  

  • Ban a player with bzid 1234 for 1 day with reason 'Language. Kids play here. Keep it clean.'

  /idban +1234 1d Language. Kids play here. Keep it clean.
  

  • Ban a player's ISP

  /hostban *.norang.ca 7d You need to put better help on the website instead of playing
  

  Player IP and host information is normally displayed with the /playerlist command or alternatively you can get it from the website logs and PlayerInfo function.

  It's possible to ban IPs with wildcards but that's not recommended since it's way too broad normally.

  hostbans are used as a last resort for dealing with problem players on a dynamic IP connection.

  If necessary the servers will temporarily switch to registered only play to deal with players that constantly change their IP to bypass bans.

• Ban Durations
  

  The default duration is in minutes. If you don't specify a unit the ban command will use minutes.

  Permanent bans (ones that will not expire) are specified with a duration of 0 (zero), 'max', or 'forever'.

  Here are some ban duration examples:

  Duration	Description
  0	Permanent non-expiring ban
  10	10 minutes
  20m	20 minutes
  3h	3 hours
  1d	1 day
  2w	2 weeks
  default	5 hours (short ban duration - maximum for JRADMINS)
  max	permanent ban (same as 0)
  forever	permanent ban (same as 0 )

  Normally I ban for 10 minutes for lag issues - which tends to make players go find another server to play on. The ban expires quickly and the player can try again later since lag can depend on Internet usage and time of day.

  For rule offences (language, Team Killing, etc) I issue a 1 day ban. Junior Admins are restricted to 5 hours max mainly to keep themselves from accidentally banning large portions of the Internet (or themselves) forever :D

  Repeated rule offences earn longer bans (2 days, 3 days, 7days, 30 days, forever). In general that policy seems to work well. Non-admin players are now warning other players about language offences when admins are not around. :D

The following plugins are standard and should always be loaded on every server:

Plugin	Function
serverControl	Stops or restarts a server, Synchronizes banlists. Unloading this plugin will make the server no longer respond to commands from the website and will make its banlist go out of date.
logDetail	Logs player events and conversations. Unloading this plugin will stop all logging on the server which will effectively kill the interface to the website for tracking what is going on

Do not unload these plugins.

These plugins keep the website up-to-date and functioning properly.

Plugins are displayed with the /listplugins command. Plugins are loaded and unloaded with the /unloadplugin and /loadplugin commands.

The standard plugins are loaded on every map automatically when the server starts. Additional plugins are available.

The table below details available plugins. I'll be keeping this table up to date as new plugins are added.

Name	Required	Description	Parameters	Example
airspawn	No	Tanks spawn in the air	Height above ground to spawn	/loadplugin plugins/airspawn,50
hiddenAdmin	No	Hides admin @ signs on the score list		/loadplugin plugins/hiddenAdmin
HoldTheFlag	No	New command /htf	TEAM=color	/loadplugin plugins/HoldTheFlag,TEAM=Red
RogueGenocide	No	Kill a Rogue with genocide and they all die.		/loadplugin plugins/RogueGenocide
playHistoryTracker	No	Server prints amusing messages during play		/loadplugin plugins/playHistoryTracker
serverControl	YES	Allows remote control for server shutdown		/loadplugin plugins/serverControl
shockwaveDeath	No	A shockwave fires at position of dying player.	usevictim	/loadplugin plugins/shockwaveDeath[,usevictim]
logDetail	YES	Logging player events for the website		/loadplugin plugins/logDetail
nagware	No	Bug unregistered players about registering. New command /nag	config file	/loadplugin plugins/nagware,plugins/nagware.cfg

If you want to play with any of these please use a test server. Maps you upload to servers can specify the plugin to load with:

options
  ...
  -loadplugin plugins/shockwaveDeath,usevictim
  ...
end

To save a recording use:

/record save <filename> <seconds>

For example:

/record save thumper 120

saves the last 120 seconds of the recording to a file named thumper. I suggest you use your callsign (or part of it) as the filename so you do not overwrite someone else's recording.

Only one recording can be played at a time. If the map changes when a recording is loaded the server will prompt you to reconnect. Failing to reconnect will probably crash your bzflag client.

To show available recordings use either

/record list
/replay list

To play a recording you need to connect to the Administrator Replay Server listed on the server list. There is one replay server per bzflag server host.

On that server issue:

/replay load FILENAME

to load recording.

Next start playback with

/replay start

Now you are in observer mode and can view the play from any angle. You can skip ahead or back in the recording with

/replay skip +10
/replay skip -30

to skip forwards 10 seconds or back 30 seconds respectively.

You can get additional commands from the

/record
/replay

A test map file has the following basic layout:

options
       #map options go here
       #server options (jumping, ricochet etc)
       #flag settings
       #max players
       #max shots
end

world
       #size how big do you want it?
end

#followed by constructors to build the world
...

Here is an example map file from LouMan's TimeTrial:

options
       -mp 4,4,4,4,4,10
       -set _tankSpeed 35
       -set _wingsJumpCount 12
       -j
       -ms 8
       -st 4
       -fb
       +f V{2} +f QT +f OO{2} +f F{2} +f MG +f GM{2} +f L{2} +f R{2}
       +f SB{2} +f IB{2} +f ST{2} +f T{2} +f N{2} +f SH{2} +f SR{2}
       +f PZ{2} +f G{2} +f ID{2} +f CL{2} +f US +f MQ +f SE{2} +f TH{2}
       +f BU +f WG{4} +f CB +f LT +f RT +f FO +f RO +f M +f B +f JM +f WA 
       +f NJ +f TR +f BY +f RC +f A{2}
end

world
       size 500
end

. . .

Use the Upload New Map website link to upload a new map to a test server. If the server is empty the server should reset automatically and use your new map. All admins have /shutdownserver privs on the test servers so they can force a map change.

When you upload a new map please include all map settings inside the map file including server options for max players etc. as described above and a map name.

Always specify the max players (-mp n,n,n,n,n,10 line in the map options). You can specify all 6 player limits separately (Rogue, Red, Green, Blue, Purple, Observer) or a single maximum value (-mp 20). For CTF-style maps you must specify individual team limits unless you including all four bases on the map.

Please do not upload a map with a player limit over 20 players and please always include an observer limit of 10 so the bots can reload the banlists - they connect as observers to do their job.

The map name is specified in the map file options section with the -publictitle option as follows:

--- map.bzw ---
...
options
...
    -publictitle "Map Name Goes Here"
...
end

Please use reasonable values! Do not include 'test server' in the public server name.

The admin page now displays:

• The name of the admin that uploaded a map to a server
• The name of the admin that last controlled the server with a Start or Stop command

This information appears in the Details section of the server table in square brackets (eg. Thumper). This information is intended to help with communication when two admins want to control the same server. You'll be able to figure out who is using the server and talk to them before you load the server with a new map.

bzbb PMs are recommended for contacting admins that are not currently online.

Servers that go down due to bandwidth limits now display Temporarily Down. This lets you distinguish between servers that are supposed to be running and those that are down on purpose.

Servers with an Upload New Map link are available to use for map testing. Some servers require passwords for map uploads. If you want to use a server that requires a password please contact Thumper. The intention here is to restrict the changes for that server to a specific admin. Server upload passwords are private. Please do not give them out to anyone else.

When selecting a server to use please try to pick a server that is Down first. If you are done playing with a server and no longer need it please turn it off by selecting the Stop link for that server on the admin page.

Message flooding and ALL-CAPS in chat text are annoying. Repeated flooding is not meaningful conversation and tends to obscure any real conversations.

Kick or ban offenders that don't comply after a warning.

The language chat filter is used for the following reasons:

• It catches most of the foul language before any kids connected on the servers see it
• It prevents players from joining with vulgar callsigns or email strings

The BZFlag spam filter is not used for the following reasons:

• It doesn't know the difference between chat and commands

Issuing /lagstats 3 times fast will be considered spam by the server and that's just wrong.

• Sending a message to the wrong player in private chat and then resending it to the correct player also is treated as spam by the server