rn_max

No problem, I have been having "fun" with my own server setup. I've ended up reading a lot of forum posts here, at the official BIS ArmA 2 OA forums, OpenDayZ because I use Pwnoz0r's private hive DayZ ... and anywhere else that the links take me. EDIT: It turns out that it is either too complicated, or simply not possible, to run a dedicated server and a client from the same computer any more. With the GameSpy server system running a server and client on the same machine wasn't an issue, but the Steam system does not like running both. As soon as I fired up one of my other machines with a server build on it, I could join it from another machine running the client.

You could try the obvoius places? Like the OpenDayZ community, where the private hive modders congregate ... or dare I say the actual DayZ Epoch forums?

All we need now is a complete and clear guide to setting up 1.8.1 servers with the latest patch ... with all the info in one place. I have no idea what has upset my previously working 124879 server just by updating to 125402 and got plenty bored with reading little bits of crap here and there, round and round in circles. What is the big fecking deal with just telling us exactly what has changed in simple language and how to use the new features. I swear coders have some form of induced autism from staring at ones and zeroes all day.

We've been blessed with another dev branch update for A2OA ... 1.63.125402 Not sure if there are any issues with this latest beta relative to 1.8.1 yet, or what versions are / are not compatible. The last couple of weeks meddling have drained my will to investigate past my own setup. I'm fast running out of public hive servers left to play on and Monday's anticipated GS shutdown will put paid to most of those still running. Need to meddle with my 1.8.1 sandbox server again, as I can't join a game on it now it's running 125402.

I've been configuring my DayZ Mod private hive sandbox server to use the dev branch of ArmA 2 OA (a.k.a. the "new" beta). ArmA 2 OA 1.63.124879 DayZ Mod 1.8.1 Pwnoz0r Server Pack 2.6.0 (DayZ 1.8.1) I'm banging my head on the keyboard with this chestnut. My build works just fine with beta expansion 1.63.116523, appearing on LAN and reporting through GameSpy to appear on the internet. However, I can't get any joy with the Address:Steam tab of the server browser in that version, or with the Steam master server browser in the Steam client (which blows goats). When I switch to ArmA 2 OA 1.63.124879, the new dev branch (instead of the "obsolete" beta expansion) my build appears on LAN, but not in the Adddress: Internet (Steam only) browser tab at all. Of course, GameSpy is removed from that version. The snippets of fragmented information available on the various forums is not helping matters. it is small wonder that there are only 19 servers listed so far on Steam in game out of the thousands running. Neither does it help that the Steam server browser system leaves a lot to be desired. One useful tool I did find, was this Steam API page that checks for server response, from which the plot thickens: http://api.steampowered.com/ISteamApps/GetServersAtAddress/v0001?addr= [your server ip address here] My server is responding to the check, so why isn't it appearing in the Steam server list? Good fecking question. Inbound and outbound firewall ports are open, the server process has been tried on two separate machines, with and without Steam running, launched as a Steam app and as a Windows program. All I know is that using the 116523 beta expansion my server build appears on the internet via GameSpy and using the 124879 dev branch it does not appear on the internet via Steam. A week of trial-and-error from ineffective fragments of conflicting suggestions has worn my patience rather thin.

Whilst sorting out this bundle of string scraps, I used Sysinternals TCPView, a network TCP-UDP endpoint viewer and invaluable tool for network monitoring. Once I had my server up and running online, I had another look at the connections and traffic. In addition to the server UDP ports, I noticed the local TCP ports between MySQL and the server process, connecting the hive. Underneath the hive ports, almost unnoticed, was another TCP connection on a similar 49000 range port ... but this was connected to an external IP. Now that was strange, because I had no outbound TCP ports mapped. My first thought was to kill the connection and see what happened, after copying the details of course. It re-established itself, four times, so I shut down the server, which severed it. One tracert and whois later, it appears my unannounced visit was from a residential connection on the CHINANET jiangsu province network. Curious. Now that connection may actually have been benign, but I have no idea at first glance and am not happy about having to punch holes in my firewall with a brick anyway. Just my two penn'th ... the requirement to have the equivalent of a door wedge permanently jammed in a sophisticated network security device, just to connect a game server to the outside world, stopped being an acceptable measure years ago. Brute force port management and deliberate leakage by edge traversal may overcome bad network communication design, but there is no real excuse for having to resort to it in the first place. All very unnecessary in this uPnP compliant day and age. GameSpy is better than most people ever gave it credit for, even when it has been reduced to an unmaintained walking corpse.

Well, it appears that the Steam based server browser system is even more of a throwback than I anticipated. This evening has been an exercise in regressive time travel. I didn't bump into Charlton Heston, Racquel Welch or any large stop-motion lizards, but I'm could have sworn I passed a certain Mr Berners-Lee with a new discovery at one point. The simple change from GameSpy to Steam server communication appears to have come at the expense of uPnP port management, which could be from the loss of the reporting address mechanism, acting as a fixed network tether for servers reporting through router firewalls. It could also be the primitive nature of the Steam server communication ... and perhaps the fact that this change is, for now at least, a kludge band-aid solution on ArmA 3 ports. I had to add every required port to my router by manual forwarding, including those normally traversed automatically to communicate with GameSpy. Plus some other "This software is too primitive to manage ports" tweaks. Now I can go about the rest of my server twiddling and tweaking, safe in the knwoledge there is no magic feather ... just a ropey internet server communication solution from the distant past.

Yes kichi, steamport 8766 and steamqueryport 27016. UDP 2300-2305, 8766, 27000-27030 opened inbound with edge traversal and opened outbound in the firewall rules. The API page is still returning a checked response. TCP-UDP Endpoint Viewer is showing sent and received traffic on 2302 and 8766 Time for bed, maybe some random inspiration will strike tomorrow.

It's true that it is a cinch to switch between versions and that is helpful for another quite unintentional and unfortunate reason. The "obsolete" beta expansion is not so obsolete ... 17 servers have configured their Steam ports so far and are listed in the new OA Dev Branch server browser. That's a whopping rise of 3 servers from 14 yesterday. None of those 17 Steam visible servers are listed in WithSix or DZC either, unless that has been updated to query Steam server ports. To play on any of the remaining 4183 (total visible from WithSix) servers, "play with beta patch" remains the practical option for launching DayZ mod, as they're all still on GameSpy only. Until all, or at least most, of those servers get the message and get updated, there is no point getting rid of the beta expansion ... players will most likely need it to play, unless they know the IP and port of every server they want to join by "Remote" manual connection, which would get boring and clumsy real fast. I've noticed another issue that may be additional nonsense for server owners / admins. It appears the "obsolete" beta expansion is not so obsolete for servers either. When launching my DayZ sandbox server, a vanilla private hive build, using OA server dev branch 1.63.124879, it is calling for resources from \Expansion\beta\expansion\addons\communityconfigurationproject_e.pbo The server returns the classic "Addon 'dayz anim' requres addon 'CA_CommunityConfigurationProject_E" error, unless Expansion\beta\expansion is listed as a mod in the launch options and is present in the build. I'm guessing that another future fix will be needed for the required resource (BAF Lite and PMC Lite content?) to be called from the OA Dev branch, to get rid of the requirement for the obsolete beta expansion. In which case, does the OA Dev branch carry the content required by the DayZ mod for it to be called from there? I don't see a problem client side when launching, but then I guess I wouldn't, because I have BAF, PMC and ACR installed anyway.

It depends on which version of ArmA 2 OA you are running your DayZ on. In any case, when you select 'Multiplayer' from the main game menu, the server browser opens. In the lower left corner is a big tab normally labelled 'Address:Internet' when the browser has started. If you run DayZ using 'play with beta patch' and use the old beta (obsolete) expansion, which it sounds like you are running because you have a GameSpy logo: Click on that tab and it will cycle between 'Address:Internet', 'Address:LAN' (for locally hosted games) and 'Address:Steam'. How many people never realised that? The Steam selection has been there since 116523 that I know of, maybe earlier. As of last week there was one brave server showing in that tab, ELPPAC Gaming and that is still so now. Why the rest are not listed I have no idea ... there are 13 more right now (see below). In the development branch of ArmA 2 OA, that's the new dev branch 1.63.124779 or later: Click on that tab and it will only cycle between 'Address:Internet' and 'Address:LAN' (for locally hosted games). The 'Address: Internet' selection IS the Steam browser in that version of ArmA 2 OA and now there are (... fanfare ...) 14 intrepid random modded servers that have switched on their Steam ports. Of those 14 servers none are official public hive DayZ mod. Mind I've only found 12 of those left active since v1.8.1 was released and it took most of those two weeks to update. My advice, for what it's worth ... for now go back to the beta expansion until GameSpy actually pulls the plug and forces the majority of server hosts and admins to either turn on their Steam ports or die out from lack of players. All but 14 of the total DayZ mod server population are still on GameSpy only. This ArmA 2 OA version shuffling business has caused a whole heap of confusion for players and I presume amongst server hosts/admins, who are failing to keep up or stay informed. Otherwise the server population would all be running the right version and be pinging on Steam ports.

The new Operation Arrowhead beta is called the "development branch", like BIS developers themselves have referred to it all along. It is the same for ArmA 3 and DayZ SA. That way all this beta patch talk would have been far clearer far sooner. Old "beta" patches stopped with 1.63.116523 and were replaced by the development branch at 1.63.124779

"Is it worth it?" I did answer. As for why it won't authenticate, I don't know either ... apart from perhaps a fundamental difference between beta versions preventing authentication for the DayZ mod specifically.

Horses for courses I guess, nice idea.

Try the best of both worlds. Open another Steam account and buy ... or add your old retail versions of ... ArmA 2 and ArmA 2 OA, for a second DayZ character. Then you can have a record breaking Grizzly Adams AND a Groundhog Day respawn addict! Even better if you're lucky enough to have have a second PC ... you can then run one as a server with a private hive build whilst running a client on the other. You can do it on one machine, but it takes a fair bit of grunt.

Probably the best bet to go back to stable ArmA 2 OA and using the beta expansion for the time being. Many DayZ mod servers, particularly public hive, are already miles behind the curve simply keeping up with v1.8.1, let alone messing with underlying ArmA 2 stuff. Right ... now, the tricky difference ... To play with ArmA 2 OA 1.63.124779 beta development branch - change the Steam ArmA 2 OA properties betas tab and select BETA. This method will replace the beta expansion from this version onward, which is why it is tagged "(obsolete)" in Steam. In fact, the beta expansion will be older than this dev branch of OA. To return to ArmA 2 OA 1.62.95248 stable branch and use the beta expansions up to 1.63.116523 - change the Steam ArmA 2 OA properties betas tab and select NONE. Then install the required version of the beta expansion. Clear as mud eh? Not if you do a little simple homework, then it's crystal.

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?178443-ARMA-2-OA-Beta-build-124779-Steam-Mp-Lobby-%281-63-build-Steam-only%29 Posted by Dr. Hladik, BIS Developer on the official forums: Jeez, that strange arcane device that requires effort and typing might help around here ... a search engine, perhaps. So ... 124779 is in fact the dev beta branch of ArmA 2 OA at version 1.63.124779 ... and is NOT the ArmA 2 OA beta expansion that everyone knows and adores.

All you have to do to manually change OA beta versions is to delete the 'Expansions\beta' folder that contains it and drop in the new required version. I've been doing it that way for years, just keeping all the betas tucked away in a folder and swapping them in as required. The installation routine does nothing special, just copies in the folder and files, then adds an entry in the installed programs list. Steam can be prevented from interfering with the beta version, by either - not opting in to the betas listed in the Steam properties in the first place and manually installing each time ... which takes seconds - opting out of all betas in the Steam properties and manually installing any version required As for the beta version conflict between server and client ... 103718 (server) is confirmed as working with 116523 (client) and is used by the dev team. If selecting 'required build' in the server options is preventing players from joining, dare I suggest unticking it?

Tough call to make on playing at the moment. My regular haunt is still on 1.8.0.3, as are many of the remaining public hive servers, particularly the German providers who make up a sizeable chunk of the public pool. I'll try to drop in on some of the populated ones before I make a decision on the one way character trip to 1.8.1, as I'm sure the news of release will not have spread to all the bazaars yet. If anybody else wants to chip in and spread the word before updating to 1.8.1, I'm sure a group effort would be appreciated by all, to keep our player base and providers together on the same page. Changing DayZ Mod and Op. Arrowhead beta versions in Steam is as easy as selecting from a drop down list in the game Properties > Betas tab. However, once 1.8.1 has been played, as previously posted, there is no going back for character data.

Playing public hive DayZ mod in between updates, as it doesn't take long to find Crystal Ken's latest outfits in SA

Ok, thanks for the update R4Z0R. Not quite on topic, but that "other story" I mentioned about adding ArmA 2 series retail keys to Steam ... http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/198037-arma-2-and-operation-arrowhead-retail-activated-on-steam/

Great stuff ...stealth release eh? I've just dropped in after adding my retail ArmA 2 games to a new Steam account (another story) and shazam! 1.8.1 is on the doormat B) Now to wait a wee while for the servers to catch up. On a related note, quick questions regarding the release files and servers ... Is there a @Hive patch for 1.8.1? What are the package 1.8.1-SQL.rar and dayz_1337.chernarus.pbo for?

:emptycan: Don't presume to tell me what I did and didn't see. On several occasions when I sorted the server list by ascending numbers of players, the one consistent provider name above all others with empty servers that didn't start was gamingdeluxe. So it does have something to do with them, because they had more unresponsive servers than anyone else. As for staff checking every server individually, if they choose to return to last century and do it that way ... I very much doubt it. Weak excuse. All that has to be done is to monitor a list of servers in software and check their status. If I can see servers are stuck from a couple of button clicks in the game client, they can sure do better. What do they take money for if not to provide a service? That kind of attitude just lets providers off the hook with what should be a basic level of support. It's not a particularly good PR exercise having all those servers empty and unresponsive either. As for the devs, same thing again. They've taken two million customers' money, I'm sure part of the alpha is to monitor server reliability. Seeing something happen about it is at least in part triggered by feedback, not excuses.

Like it says on the tin, a simple appeal. If we can be spammed with provider adverts and nanny state BattleEye "don't give away your CD key" messages in game, would it be so much to ask for providers to set up restart time warnings? Or even a message with standard restart times and ensure servers are restarting at those times advertised. I know some servers do, but plenty don't. Given that so many servers are on a rather brutal 2 hour cycle ... and many do so at a random minute and not on the hour ... restart warnings would go a long way to prevent getting arbitrarily dumped back in the game browser looking at a session lost message.. Being booted off a server suddenly when you're swapping back packs, or have just put gear down, or at any other inconvenient moment, is not an alpha test feature ... it is bloody annoying and quite avoidable. Dev team ... any chance of making restart warnings a standard feature, or at least a server requirement? It's not that big an ask and would do much to improve the player experience.

I noticed quite a few dead servers, mostly gamingdeluxe.co.uk and all empty. I got curious and it seems that if a server is unpopulated there is a high probability it is broken. Makes you wonder who's got all that money to burn, by renting or running all those badly staffed and maintained servers nobody can play on. Still ... not my coin going down the pan.

I just fired up for an evening session and all the public hive servers appeared to be missing from the in-game browser. A handful of my bookmarked public hive favourites are showing in WithSix, but they are all in the briefing state and all reported as "no active server to join". Direct IP connection is not working either, so it is unlikely to be the browser alone. R4Z0r49 posted about a possible public hive loss in Announcements & Info: http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/149928-dayz-mod-1803-hotfix/page-25#entry1983568 The servers won't start up or get past briefing without hive connection established, which would have a knock on effect with browser visibility. In any event, they're all out of action.