Really annoying bug..

DarkScytheDarkScythe Join Date: 2012-08-30 Member: 156876Members
Hey guys,

This issue is getting pretty damn annoying, but I figured I'd ask here once more before I try emailing the devs directly. (Not sure who'd be the best to email anyway.)
My issue is that our dedicated server randomly decides to "de-list" itself from the server browser.

It happened for the first time shortly after updating to b229, and I wrote it off as a one-time random occurrence.
However, it has since happened quite a few times, and only a restart of the server process will fix it.

To describe in more detail, when this occurs, the server stops advertising itself to the in-game NS2 server browser - it simply will not show up, even with no filters active.
This means the server is empty, and remains so, because no one knows it's even up.
The server itself is up, and connectable via direct IP.
I tried all combinations of sv_reset, and changing maps within the webadmin interface, as well as logging onto the server itself to run the commands. Nothing works.
The server process itself has to be restarted.

I reported on this issue before, and someone mentioned a possibility of the server losing its link with Steam, or something to that extent.
I have no idea if this is the case (nor how to check for this) nor what even triggers this issue.
However, it is extremely annoying, as the webadmin interface will not show that there is any problem with the server until I, or one of our regulars, tries to find our server and sees it missing.

Is this a known problem? Is there a fix in the works, or am I doing something wrong?

Comments

  • krazekraze Join Date: 2012-10-26 Member: 163744Members
    edited November 2012
    Hi,

    I take it you are renting your server from a GSP? If so it is unlikely you have access to the console but you could ask them to login and check to see if they see something about the server being disconnected from the Steam servers. Server logs would also be a good place to check for this information.

    Alternatively you can use the Valve master list query;
    <a href="http://api.steampowered.com/ISteamApps/GetServersAtAddress/v0001?addr=64.94.101.185&format=json" target="_blank">http://api.steampowered.com/ISteamApps/Get...amp;format=json</a>

    Replacing the IP with yours will let you know if Valve is even picking up the server.
  • DarkScytheDarkScythe Join Date: 2012-08-30 Member: 156876Members
    Thanks for the information, kraze, I appreciate it.

    I am not currently renting a server; Our community has a dedicated box we used to run TF2 on, but we're re-purposing it for NS2, since our TF2 community has moved on.
    I am not the server operator though, I'm only the head admin for our NS2 server, but if you can get me detailed instructions, I can forward them to our server operators to get the results necessary. If everything is in the logs, I can FTP in and grab a copy, though I'm not sure what to look for or where. I'll give it a poke around in the meantime.

    As for the link you've provided, I replaced our server's IP in the URL, and the result is quite a bit sparser than yours:
    <!--c1--><div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><!--ec1-->{
        "response": {
            "success": true,
            "servers": [

            ]
            
        }
    }<!--c2--></div><!--ec2-->

    Sounds like it detects something there, but isn't getting a list of servers.
  • krazekraze Join Date: 2012-10-26 Member: 163744Members
    That means Valve is not picking up your server. Take a look at my link, it should look like this;

    <a href="http://api.steampowered.com/ISteamApps/GetServersAtAddress/v0001?addr=64.94.101.185&format=json" target="_blank">http://api.steampowered.com/ISteamApps/Get...amp;format=json</a> Make sure you didn't use a port, just the IP.

    At the moment the logs are stored in AppData > Roaming > NS2 > log.txt

    Unless you have root FTP access to the machine you may not have access.


    As usual disable any firewalls or realtime anti-virus that you may be running on the box that could block the connection.
  • DarkScytheDarkScythe Join Date: 2012-08-30 Member: 156876Members
    edited November 2012
    Thanks, I just wanted to post what it looked like when this problem occurs.

    I've gotten our server restarted, and it's looking normal again:
    <!--c1--><div class='codetop'>CODE</div><div class='codemain'><!--ec1-->{
        "response": {
            "success": true,
            "servers": [
                {
                    "addr": "75.102.34.100:27016",
                    "gmsindex": 65534,
                    "appid": 4920,
                    "gamedir": "naturalselection2",
                    "region": -1,
                    "secure": true,
                    "lan": false,
                    "gameport": 27015,
                    "specport": 0
                }
            ]
            
        }
    }<!--c2--></div><!--ec2-->

    Unfortunately, I have no idea when it'll cut out again.
    I will try and see if I can get a copy of those logs. Can it be accessed while the server is still running?
  • krazekraze Join Date: 2012-10-26 Member: 163744Members
    That would be the correct output, so it definitely sounds like your server is losing connection to the Valve servers. You could try running SteamCMD and re-updating your game or just re-installing it. Unlikely that it will help in this situation but it is always worth a try.

    Checking the server logs may provide a little bit more detail but I don't think we'll find a solution. At the very least we'll be able to confirm that the server is indeed losing connection, though.

    Yes the logs can be accessed while the server is running, might be better off to just copy and paste a decent chunk instead of the entire thing to <a href="http://pastebin.com/" target="_blank">http://pastebin.com/</a> and post a link here.
  • DarkScytheDarkScythe Join Date: 2012-08-30 Member: 156876Members
    Well, I'll have to see about getting access to the logs, but is this a normal occurrence?

    It's odd because I can't really find this issue being widely reported, so I don't know if it's just us or something.
    I also don't know if the devs know about this or not.
  • CoTTonCoTTon Join Date: 2005-02-28 Member: 42773Members
    I am currently running 3 servers.

    One is off my own pc
    One is from a GSP
    One is from a VPS

    Never had this happen before.

    Like Kraze said, Copy your admin / server / banlist files. Delete / reinstall rest.
  • RothgarRothgar Join Date: 2009-11-13 Member: 69372Members
    edited December 2012
    Have you made sure your performance filter is not set to 100% and the server is showing as less than 100% for example?

    Also if you server is not on the latest patch, it will not show up in the server browser from my experience?
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