To Whitelist or Not To Whitelist...

[novogeek 253]

I am currently hosting a Private Hive Server (details at the bottom of the post) and I am keen to find out what the consensus is on White Listing and/or Password Protecting servers. I have forums set up for the server (including the Public Hive one I also host) but there doesn't seem to be much activity on those forums ... despite the Public Server having max players on line a large percentage of the time.

Obviously I want people to play on the Private Hive, but I also want them to feel a little safe from "Skiddies" and hopefully enjoy themselves. using a Whitelist seems the answer, but will this not limit attracting new players to the server?

Should I even care?

How do you go about promoting your server?

Should I just implement the Whitelist system and let the server growth happen organically? How do I inform people that they need to go to the forums to be Whitelist?

Too many questions ... I am in a bit of a quandary on what to do and I am hoping someone here can share some insight or their experiences.

Anyway, thanks for an awesome mod and having an awesome community around it. :)

Address: 62.75.216.74

Port: 2362

Max Players: 40

Map: Chernarus

Vehicles: Normal Spawns

Version: v1.7.5.1

Other: No custom loadouts. Active admins. BE Extended Controls. Server is constantly monitored.

Server Location: Germany/France

Server Hoster: DayZ Priv (http://www.dayzpriv.com)

Edited February 23, 2013 by novogeek

[knifely 34]

My group and I hop around servers from time to time (when desync, etc gets bad on our home server) and a server having a Whitelist has never been a turn off for us. We almost prefer it, sure it's a bit of a hassle when you want to play RIGHT THEN, but usually it's worth the couple hours to a day to get accepted. As long as you keep it within that time period

[Welch (DayZ) 756]

If you're going whitelist, you better get used to having a low population.

[taco241 393]

I vote whitelist. Playing on an open server is too much of a gamble at this point in the mod.

That, combined with admin presence, regular restarts, reasonable loadouts (no starting with gold pistol, DMR, no 1K vehicles, etc) is what I'm looking for. hopefully that applies to others. If you have a good server, word should spread and people will come.

[novogeek 253]

Thanks for the input. I have decided to go ahead with the Whitelist option. Some of the regulars on my Public Server have expressed an interest in the Private Hive ... so that is a start.

My server does not use any custom loadouts and use the standard vehicle spawns. I don't do contributors and my admins all have to be Hero Status on a Public Server before I will give them Admin status on any of the Servers.

I plan on expanding the Private Hive to included linked servers with other maps, but I am currently starting off with Chernarus. The idea is to have a fairly standard server that has the extra support of frequent DB backups and provides a safe (as safe as can be on DayZ) playing experience for players.

The population on the server doesn't bug me too much ... it is more about how do I tell people wanting to connect to the server that they have to go to the forums to get Whitelisted?

[Twosheds 22]

server name?

The population on the server doesn't bug me too much ... it is more about how do I tell people wanting to connect to the server that they have to go to the forums to get Whitelisted?

Server name is a good approach, list the website they need to go to, i believe you can make a box up with a link to then they try and connect?

[Fraggle (DayZ) 15720]

If you want to Whitelist be prepared to spend a month or two building up a steady playerbase. IMO it's by far the best way to do it but it takes time and initially more effort as you have to encourage people to come to your server to get on the list, after that it's plain sailing.

If you want instant success then whitlisting isn't for you but be prepared to have daily headaches dealing with hackers and you're gonna need to know your way around the logs to keep your server clean.

[novogeek 253]

If you want to Whitelist be prepared to spend a month or two building up a steady playerbase. IMO it's by far the best way to do it but it takes time and initially more effort as you have to encourage people to come to your server to get on the list, after that it's plain sailing.

If you want instant success then whitlisting isn't for you but be prepared to have daily headaches dealing with hackers and you're gonna need to know your way around the logs to keep your server clean.

Yeah ... I already deal with Skiddies on my Public Server and I have become quite familiar with the Logs. :)

Thanks to everyone for the input, I am going to go the Whitelist route ... and take it from there.

[taco241 393]

What Fraggle said.

Also, when people try to join a whitelisted server, they'll get kicked before they get to the lobby.

the kick messagen should inform them where to go to get whitelisted.

Some have an automated process where people apply by pasting their GUID, some need a site admin to manually enter their GUIDs which can be a hassle for players waiting to join. If you can somehow automate it so it's instant whitelist, that's always nice...I do wait for some servers though.