SWBF2 GameRanger Server Crashing.

[Auggie]

I decided to try out hosting a server on GameRanger, but the server keeps crashing at the higher player counts. Last night, there were about 22-25 players on my server. Everything went smoothly for a while until it finally crashed. There was no lag whatsoever, not even right before the crash. Then today, at about 14 players, the server crashed again, unexpectedly. What's going on? How do I fix it? Other servers on GameRanger have 32 players on them and don't crash, so why does it do it to me? Please help. Everyone is having a good time, and boom. The server crashes, and everyone's game closes. It's disappointing for everybody.

[Led]

Sometimes players will crash a server just to cause trouble.  Check your chat logs and see if there is any chat spam.  Sometimes it is a memory issue.  You might try hosting a smaller server and see if it still happens.

[Auggie]

I have a feeling it's the former. I'm have 4 cores, 4 GB RAM on my VDS. That should be enough, right? Isn't there a server patch that stops people from crashing your server?

[Anyder]

I have a feeling it's the former. I'm have 4 cores, 4 GB RAM on my VDS. That should be enough, right? Isn't there a server patch that stops people from crashing your server?

Yes there is --> http://www.swbfgamers.com/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=1258

[Auggie]

But that's for SWBFSpy right? I need a 1.5 patch that will work with GR.

[Anyder]

Attached the non-patched file

[Auggie]

I love this website.

[Auggie]

Okay, I installed the 1.5 patch, but people were still able to crash it. I know someone is crashing it because a bunch of other servers were crashed today as well.

Are they crashing the servers in a different way that the 1.5 patch doesn't prohibit? Does a new patch need to be made?  How long would it take to create such a patch? Does anyone even know what they're exploiting in order to create the patch?

[William]

Okay, I installed the 1.5 patch, but people were still able to crash it. I know someone is crashing it because a bunch of other servers were crashed today as well.

Are they crashing the servers in a different way that the 1.5 patch doesn't prohibit? Does a new patch need to be made?  How long would it take to create such a patch? Does anyone even know what they're exploiting in order to create the patch?

I know it's possible certain network configurations can cause a crash on accident because I've seen it happen before to the Ryza server hosted by Ryza Sr. Not to mention a German that goes by Blokk has been using modified VA crash tools that send a massive packet to a specific server to crash it entirely. It could either be Blokk having fun, or a random crashing it on accident, or maybe both.

[Auggie]

I know it's possible certain network configurations can cause a crash on accident because I've seen it happen before to the Ryza server hosted by Ryza Sr.

This is it. A guy with the in-game name of "Count of Sereno" was bragging about how he accidentally discovered a way to crash servers using a certain network configuration. I was told this by another player, so I checked the logs, and he was telling the truth. Apparently, he was IP banned on Ryza's server. He joined the server later just to play, and I IP banned him. I have his IP written down just in case anyone needs it. The unfortunate part is that he told a server of about 20 players how he did it.

[Anyder]

This is it. A guy with the in-game name of "Count of Sereno" was bragging about how he accidentally discovered a way to crash servers using a certain network configuration. I was told this by another player, so I checked the logs, and he was telling the truth. Apparently, he was IP banned on Ryza's server. He joined the server later just to play, and I IP banned him. I have his IP written down just in case anyone needs it. The unfortunate part is that he told a server of about 20 players how he did it.

Hopefully those other 20 players will be wise and wont use it.

[William]

This is it. A guy with the in-game name of "Count of Sereno" was bragging about how he accidentally discovered a way to crash servers using a certain network configuration. I was told this by another player, so I checked the logs, and he was telling the truth. Apparently, he was IP banned on Ryza's server. He joined the server later just to play, and I IP banned him. I have his IP written down just in case anyone needs it. The unfortunate part is that he told a server of about 20 players how he did it.

He was told that by me.... He's reset his router completely since then though so he can't do it anymore. I saw him playing on UnityGaming server on GameRanger recently so I know for a fact he can't anymore. Most people who have this "certain network configuration", are usually doing it on accident and end up getting banned for no reason, but Serano should be kept banned regardless.

[CountOfSerenno]

He was told that by me.... He's reset his router completely since then though so he can't do it anymore. I saw him playing on UnityGaming server on GameRanger recently so I know for a fact he can't anymore. Most people who have this "certain network configuration", are usually doing it on accident and end up getting banned for no reason, but Serano should be kept banned regardless.

That hurts, it wasn't my fault.   I knew about the bug but had no idea it was due to a "certain network configuration."  Is it truly that?  More testing is needed, which I'm doing.  I've met this Blokke player, and he threatened to crash our server so he can go ahead and do so if he wants.  That will only expose him and his methods.  We have a network expert and the GameRanger admin working on the issue, though who knows if they'll find anything.