Idle Kicks / Server Load Kicks (simply explained)

Fracture · Post by **Fracture** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 4:40 pm

This post is for anyone who is in need of a clear explination of
what Idle Kicks and Server Load Kicks are and how they differ.

Idle Kick is program that disconnects any player that sits still for an
extended period of time.

Recently there has been many players wishing to log on to the Void
who can not because the server is full.

If the server is full of people playing the game that is fine.
When the server is at Max Player capacity then no one else can log on. (obviously)

The idea is that if a player is sitting still for an extended period of time
then they may have forgotten to log out of the game. This then allows
an open player slot for "First Come First Serve Log In".

If you are kicked for idling, whatever your reason for sitting still,
simply log back in.
If the Max Player capacity is not full ... no problem.
If you are playing the game and moving about, Idle Kick won't see you.

Please don't confuse this with the server load and spike issues that
are an ongoing fact for any and all on-line game servers.

If you can't handle some ping time ... Play LAN !

Data Exchange Time (Ping)
Data Transmission Loss (Packet Loss)
Data Transmission Rate (Volume of Data over Time)
are all different things.

None of these have anything to do with the Idle Kick program.

In the event of High Server Load ( this is when the server
computer is working very hard ) then the program will look for ways to
lighten it's load starting with the Highest Pinging Players.
Other automatic server load reducing filters will slow NPC spawning
once a certain load threshold has been met as well.

Remember, Spikes in the server load can be caused by many things.
It is not the Void server machine that is causing the so called "Red Lag".
It is what the machine is being asked to do.

It may be starving for info one moment ( as in outside server slowness )
It may be choking on too much info another moment ( as in
detecting errors such as cheats or modding)
It may be doing both (as in doing parity checks due to packet loss )

When a player is kicked because of Data Exchange Lag ....
The Server Load must drop below a predetermined threshold before
any new player can log on.

Sometimes the server will disconnect the longest "Pingers"
Other times it just says "Phooie" and shuts down altogether.

All in all ... more kicks are due to Data Exchange issues and Server Load
issues then any other reason. (Even if the Max Player count is not met.)

Strail wrote this in response to a player thinking they had been banned.
This had not been the case. The player had NOT been banned.
Banning is done two ways.
--Automatically by FLAC for file inconsistencies.
--Manually by Administration for Rule Breaking.

Strail wrote: You will have been disconnected due to "idling" -> no activity for 20mins+ in game or you have been disconnected because your connection was lagging the server, compared to the other players on the server. You will not be able to re-connect to the server until the server load has reduced.

I have mentioned this countless times before, if you run other progs as well as FL you run the risk of being disconnected. When the server load is very high, it will look for the players which have a slower connection (data exchange). SO, if you run other progs which slow your connection/cpu down you will be disconnected in favour of other players who have a better data exchange.

When the server is busy, if you have other progs running MSN/ICQ/TS or anything else using cpu and or bandwidth etc etc you have a higher chance of getting disconnected.

These things have been somewhat confusing for many.

I hope that this helps some of you that don't eat and sleep all
things technical.

Long Live the Void !!

Scream On!

Frac

eagleone · Post by **eagleone** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 5:42 pm

question frac. how long is concidered idle? strails post would seem to indicate that it is about a 20min time period. the reason i ask is because i have been kicked 3 times in last 24 hr. once when only 30 ppl on and i was f1 out to my char page. was gone for about 5 to 7 min. one other time my trade ship was docked i went to get a drink came back and started going thru the tradable items after selecting what i wanted i went to map page and layed in my course. before i could launch i was kicked. my other question is, if we are buisy on planet buying and selling does this show us idel or buisy in game. also all of my kickes were very short periods of time i am sure none were over 10 min.

thank you in advance for your reply.

gav · Post by **gav** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 6:50 pm

regarding the being kicked while on char selection,

i know some admins will kick people if they take too long on char selection cos its keeping a place from other people who may want to join, 5-7 mins is a bit long to decide which char your going to play as so thats prob why you were kicked

Shee · Post by **Shee** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 7:09 pm

Hmmmm, another question along the lines of the one Eagle One posed...

If you are selling loot and setting waypoints etc, does it see this as activity or not? I mean sometimes, after some of the level 40+ missions it takes a bit to sell off all the loot...and I would not want to have just taken a large mission and lose it to the boot for supposedly being idle.

Sorry to be a pest, I am simply trying to be real clear on what the server *See* as *Idling* so I can avoid it in the future. (That red CONSOLE message scared me

)

Post by **Ezerharden** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 7:20 pm

Another question, what about the [Guide] chars that sit for long periods of time asnwering questions? Do we need to just move a bit avery few minutes to avoid this?

T-Bolt · Post by **T-Bolt** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 9:57 pm

The auto boot will kick you (this happend to me on colours and is probabley the same here) if you are docked for along time buyeing and selling stuff,

as for guides i beleave talking is recored as movement but if you just tap the L/R strafe you should be good

Fracture · Post by **Fracture** » Sat Mar 25, 2006 11:08 pm

All good questions guys.

1st The Idle Kick time is being tweeked as this is a new feature and
needed to be optimized.

2nd The movement needed is in space. Lack of activity in the player
colision files will be seen as Idle.

The AT (Admin Team) is testing different time lengths for this.

Please give us feedback on the time frame.
Yesterday was actually set around 5 minutes.

Please bear in mind ... Most will be kicked due to the Data Exchange
Rate Monitor ... NOT the Idle Kick program.

The console shows Idle Kicks.
The Server Load Threshold Utility kicks the longest "pingers"
without warning.

@ gav1984 The Admins will not Ban a player for anything other then Rule Breaking.
Never for being docked or even spamming.
A kick if a player is out of line can happen at anytime.

Frac

gav · Post by **gav** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 2:23 am

sorry if i wasnt clear i didnt mean a player would be banned for just sitting in the char selection screen, was just sayin that i was talking to an admin not so long ago who said they sometimes kick a player off the server if they see they are still in char selection for long periods of time in case they are just saving the space while they do something else as its not fair to others who may want to join. thought it might be relevent to eagles question.

sorry for misunderstanding

Shee · Post by **Shee** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 2:24 am

FEEDBACK:

I think that the time needs to be bumped up a bit, as oftentimes when doing weapons selection or choosing missions, selling weapons after a mission, etc., the time needed to do these things is higher than 5 minutes. Or at least it often is for me, but maybe I am very particular about my choices?

Anyway, please keep us posted about this.

I was actually *docked* and looking over missions, while chatting in Sys chat when I was Console Kicked for *Base Idling*

gav · Post by **gav** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 2:30 am

maybe it should be set for 15/20 mins to give time to read all missions etc maybe little more cos if it does take a while to sell all loot etc then you go to read the missions it would take a while. otherwise you'd have to undock and then dock again to reset you time.

have also got to think about the people who find it hard to read english or dont read it as well as others or just people that dont read very fast. will take them longer to read and so they'll need more time or will have to keep docking and un docking

TIODS · Post by **TIODS** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 2:54 am

I think that the time needs to be bumped up a bit, as oftentimes when doing weapons selection or choosing missions, selling weapons after a mission, etc., the time needed to do these things is higher than 5 minutes. Or at least it often is for me, but maybe I am very particular about my choices?

As stated in Fractures post, this time is set at 20 mins.

TIODS

Shee · Post by **Shee** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 3:01 am

As stated in Fractures post, this time is set at 20 mins.

TIODS

Hmmm, well this is what I actually read in Fracture's post:

Please give us feedback on the time frame.
Yesterday was actually set around 5 minutes.

So maybe I need to read it again...or has it now been bumped up time wise?

I know I honestly wasn't sitting docked at New Berlin for 20 minutes...lol...really I wasn't. Now 5 minutes, yes that was definitely possible and more than probable too.

Thanks for all the hard work you guys are doing to make this a better place to play, just needed to say that so you realize I am _trying_ to be helpful and not a PITA.

Fracture · Post by **Fracture** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 3:04 am

15-20 min seems to be the concensus of most players thus far.
Keep that input coming gang.
Thank You !!

Frac

eagleone · Post by **eagleone** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 3:31 am

thank for answering my question. couple of note first when i go to f1 page it is so other can take mission from the base, that is the respectful thing to do for your fellow players. also when i did this there was only 30 ppl on i dont even play when it gets over 70. i do know that admin can kick if someone sets in f1 page when it is crowded. the 3 times i have been kick have always said idel player kick, i am glad to hear that the time has been increased. lets be honest you fly a mission you sell everything you select new mission ,run to restroom and grab anouther coke. this is going to take 5 min so it should stay around 15 to 20 min.

The_Horned_One · Post by **The_Horned_One** » Mon May 29, 2006 4:24 am

I agree on the 15-20 minutes for base time - I, too, have been kicked for base idle-ing, especially when changing ships and decking the new one out. Once lost a ton of stuff by launching to reset my time, only to get whacked, gunless, by someone sitting outside.

just my 2 straws of Timothy hay...

Tribble