Questions about my new Battlefront II server.

[Auggie]

I just bought a VPS through NFOServers.com and got the dedicated server software up and running. The server is called, "SWBF Community Server." I saw that there was a lack of good public servers, so I decided to create one and have it set up in Chicago so that most people in the continental U.S. can have good pings. I just got done playing a 4 player match (I know, it's not a lot but still!), and I can already tell that SWBFSpy is leaps and bounds better than GameRanger. The hit detection is way better (but still not perfect), and there is no FPS lag. I just have a few questions and minor issues with my server.

First let me give you the specs of my server:
Company: NFO
CPU: 2 core
RAM: 2 GB

• Are these specs good to host a full 64 player server (even though it will likely never go that high), or should I think about upgrading? I want no lag whatsoever, even at 64 players.
• My ping to my server in the server browser ranges from 60ms to 110ms, but in-game, my ping ranges from 100ms to 120ms. Also, on NFO's website I checked my ping to Chicago (premium), and it was 60 ms consistantly. What's up with all these vastly different pings?
• I keep getting this announcement: "This server is managed by SWBF2SM from blackbagops.com" even though I never set this. How can I get rid of it?
• What happens if I turn the Host Sim Rate up to 30? I want the best hit detection possible, but I heard that this might cause other problems. Is this true?

[strohhut]

Hello,

I guess I can answer you a few questions.

1.
From my opinion a 2 core CPU and 2 GB RAM are not enough to host a server for 64 players without lag.
I was hosting on a 2 core CPU + 2 GB Ram server myself, when players where more than 8, some started complaining, distance lag was really hard as well.. Maximum players that played there at the same time was 14, that did not work out thaaaat good, but still playable and for me no that much lag.
-> I would recommend getting better specs for that much players from my point of view :b

2. no answer sorry

3. The message is set by default by blackbagops, the server manager you are using was created by them. I do not think that you can get rid of it. You would need to edit the source code of the manager itself to get rid of it.. I guess it is implented there somewhere so they get credit.
But maybe someone here on swbfgamers is or was able to manage that, they are genius. xd

4. I can not answer you that question, all I know or read somewhere, the higher the better..

best regards,
strohhut

[Led]

1. server is fine.  If you get 64 players, i will buy a new server for you 

4. crank it up.  no one will play it at 20 and the server will work fine

[Anyder]

1. The server specs are okey to host a single server for 64 players. But let me tell u, u're never getting more than 30 players, and if u do, i'll congratulate u

2. Have u tried this tool ? http://winmtr.net/download-winmtr/ Maybe u have an internet problem

3 & 4. I got rid of it substituting it with my own message. http://www.swbfgamers.com/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=1316
The "upgrade" I made to that tool was basically to enable constantly /tps40 and /waitlate which is supposed to improve the shots registry.
@Strohhut, not really. If there are more than 32 players in a 40tps server, it will make the game unplayable.
You do not need to edit the source code and besides, they never released it...

[Auggie]

@Anyder My WinMTR results are attached. I pinged my server IP. I don't really know how to interpret the data though.

I assume the last line is the server, and the ping (or latency or whatever) is 66 ms Avg which what I got when I test pinged Chicago (premium) before buying the VPS?

1. Are these results good or bad? If bad, how to I fix it?

2. Why is my in-game ping so much higher than when I ping Chicago (premium) on NFO's website?

3. How do I replace the announcement? Where do I edit it? I couldn't find it when I pressed the "Edit Announcements" button in the SM.

[Led]

I assume the last line is the server, and the ping (or latency or whatever) is 66 ms Avg which what I got when I test pinged Chicago (premium) before buying the VPS?

Ping through the game has the game overhead associated with it.  You will not get a better ping for yourself unless you live in one of NFO host cities.  It is not an issue with NFO, it is your home network through your ISP network to NFO that determines your ping.  If you lived in Chicago, your ping should be 45-55 ms in the game.

[Auggie]

@Led Okay, that makes sense. The game is adding about 30ms to my ping. I could've easily put the server in Atlanta and would've gotten a lot better ping, but doing that would mean people in the western U.S. would get significantly worse ping. I think I made the right decision because all of us playing had a similar ping of about 90ms. Therefore, the experience was very smooth, and no one had a connection advantage.

After installing Anyder's updated server manager, and bumping the Host Sim Rate from 20 Hz to 40 Hz, my in-game ping has dropped from 100ms-125ms to 90ms-100ms. I don't know if this improvement is because I restarted the server (not the VPS, just the Battlefront II server) or because I doubled the tick rate. Either way, the hit registry is better than it was before, and my average ping and jitter has been improved greatly.

Last night, my ping was rapidly fluctuating between 100ms and 125ms, but after playing for 2 hours today, my ping stayed LOCKED at about 93ms. Only occasionally did it spike to about 97ms-100ms.

I don't wish to be a burden, but I still have some more questions:

1. What is the recommended amount of CPU cores and RAM to sustain 64 players with no lag whatsoever? I know it's hard to imagine 64 players on one server on SWBFSpy, but if we could just get people off GameRanger and onto SWBFSpy, it could happen.

2. I heard somewhere that full-machines are a lot smoother for FPS games (i.e. better pings or something). Is this true? If the community ever moves from GR to SWBFSpy, and I need to get better specs, I might as well buy a full machine if the pings are better on full machines. I've seen the prices and I can do it if it's necessary.

[Anyder]

@Anyder My WinMTR results are attached. I pinged my server IP. I don't really know how to interpret the data though.

I assume the last line is the server, and the ping (or latency or whatever) is 66 ms Avg which what I got when I test pinged Chicago (premium) before buying the VPS?

1. Are these results good or bad? If bad, how to I fix it?

2. Why is my in-game ping so much higher than when I ping Chicago (premium) on NFO's website?

3. How do I replace the announcement? Where do I edit it? I couldn't find it when I pressed the "Edit Announcements" button in the SM.

This is what the second line says:
   No response from host -  100 |   26 |    0 |    0 |    0 |    0 |    0 |

And it pings a ping route isnt working properly there.
As far as I know it means that the route ur inet follows to reach the IP of ur VPS has some issues, and those have nothing to do with NFO but with ur internet provider, therefore I'd recommend u to contact them cause from what I can see its a routing point close to ur home (the 2nd one on the list).

3 If u wanna edit the announcement u'd have to learn how to hexedit and find the lines u wanna edit

After installing Anyder's updated server manager, and bumping the Host Sim Rate from 20 Hz to 40 Hz, my in-game ping has dropped from 100ms-125ms to 90ms-100ms. I don't know if this improvement is because I restarted the server (not the VPS, just the Battlefront II server) or because I doubled the tick rate. Either way, the hit registry is better than it was before, and my average ping and jitter has been improved greatly.

Last night, my ping was rapidly fluctuating between 100ms and 125ms, but after playing for 2 hours today, my ping stayed LOCKED at about 93ms. Only occasionally did it spike to about 97ms-100ms.

I don't wish to be a burden, but I still have some more questions:

1. What is the recommended amount of CPU cores and RAM to sustain 64 players with no lag whatsoever? I know it's hard to imagine 64 players on one server on SWBFSpy, but if we could just get people off GameRanger and onto SWBFSpy, it could happen.

2. I heard somewhere that full-machines are a lot smoother for FPS games (i.e. better pings or something). Is this true? If the community ever moves from GR to SWBFSpy, and I need to get better specs, I might as well buy a full machine if the pings are better on full machines. I've seen the prices and I can do it if it's necessary.

It's not Hz but TPS (Tick Pers Second), just wanted to let u know.
Im glad it improved the gaming experience 

To be honest i do not think u need to improve the specs.
See, I have a full rootserver, 2 VPS and 1 ubuntu VPS (single core). My clan uses the VPS to host whatever we need and it has never given any of us a single problem.
The rootserver is mainly used for the website and other stuff which is not hosting gameservers, so yeah, I do not think u need to upgrade ur VPS....

[Auggie]

therefore I'd recommend u to contact them cause from what I can see its a routing point close to ur home (the 2nd one on the list).

I'll try, but I'm almost positive that the first person I talk to will have NO idea what I'm talking about.

If u wanna edit the announcement u'd have to learn how to hexedit and find the lines u wanna edit

Oh. No thanks. lol You can have the credit.

It's not Hz but TPS (Tick Pers Second), just wanted to let u know.

Oh. I said "Hz" because I think that's what BF4 denotes Tick Rate as. In the bottom left-hand corner when a server is loading, it'll either say 30 Hz or 60 Hz. Is that not the Tick Rate? I always thought "Hz" meant "updates per second."

[Anyder]

1. I'll try, but I'm almost positive that the first person I talk to will have NO idea what I'm talking about.


2. Oh. No thanks. lol You can have the credit.


3. Oh. I said "Hz" because I think that's what BF4 denotes Tick Rate as. In the bottom left-hand corner when a server is loading, it'll either say 30 Hz or 60 Hz. Is that not the Tick Rate? I always thought "Hz" meant "updates per second."

1. If he works there and doesnt know about it, I'd fire him instantly.
3. Not in swbf1/2 AFAIK