Server Performance with High Player Count (80players)

[Party3AH 0]

nomad_man, i`ve sent you a PM, got something? I cant see it in Sent folder.

[Sibolo 10]

@Party3AH: Yes, the config could be very useful.

[J-Guid 10]

Send me too please, just interesting to look on this :)

[Party3AH 0]

OK, I see no point to send it for everyone by PM, so here what we have:

First of all - server start string:

-nosound -world=empty -nosplash -nomap -maxMem=2047 -winxp -cpuCount=4 -exThreads=1 -malloc=system -cfg=config1.cfg -port=2302 -profiles=D:\srv_pvp -name=srv_pvp -config=config2.cfg -mod=(ACE + some our mods)

config1.cfg:

language="Russian";

adapter=-1;

3D_Performance=0;

Resolution_Bpp=0;

MinBandwidth=18432000;

MaxBandwidth=100000000;

MaxMsgSend=36;

MaxSizeGuaranteed=1120;

MaxSizeNonguaranteed=768;

MinErrorToSend=0.0080000004;

MinErrorToSendNear=0.0099999998;

class sockets

{

maxPacketSize=1250;

};

MaxCustomFileSize=0;

Windowed=0;

config2.cfg:

HostName="-Arma Tushino- [serious Games] CO ACE";

PasswordAdmin="passadmin";

password="pass";

reportingIP="69.10.30.248";

logFile="ACE2CO_server-PvP.log";

motd[]={

};

motdInterval=0;

timeStampFormat=full;

checkfiles[]={

};

regularcheck="{}";

MaxPlayers=190;

verifySignatures=2;

equalModRequired=0;

voteMissionPlayers=1;

voteThreshold=0.33;

disableVoN=1;

vonCodecQuality=0;

persistent=1;

VonID=1;

BattlEye=1;

We do not use any beta patches or builds on server. Server runs under win2003, 8Gb RAM, SSD & RAMdisk used for game and system, CPU is Intel Q9550 @2.83.

WAN connection goes through Intel Gigabit CT Desktop adapter, channel width is 100 Mbit/s (full duplex)

With these settings all players move smoothly in close and far ranges. Vis.distance limited in missions by 3500 meters.

Main problem is to let all mapmakers understood that there`s no need to place huge q-ty of every second checks, triggers and etc in missions, if they want these maps to be played comfortably. Otherwise you`ll have lags, red/yelloow chains everytime.

And once more - with 140 players alive on server traffic never goes up to 30 Mbit/s, it can be 40-60 in peak when map loads.

[Sibolo 10]

Could you also share your mission so we can see what you mean.

Thanks.

[Party3AH 0]

OK, you`ll got it today.

Briefing are on Russian, and we use a platform called "SerP", it initiate freezetime on start etc.

Here it is.

Edited March 7, 2012 by Party3AH
added link

[VoRtReX-uk 10]

Update

It happened again tonight! ïŒ

But this time we got some extra information.

When the game was started the synconizing took around 4 minutes (only been an issue since the 1.60 patch, in 1.59 it used to take a few seconds). Once the map was up and running there were 15+ threads running under the arma2oaserver.exe. All was well till 45 minutes into the game when the server stopped sending messages, (monitor messages stopped, and the uaz I was in was driving through trees for around 15 second, it then stopped. All the players on my screen then froze).

At this point I looked on RDC, the treads running under arma2oaserver.exe had dropped to 13 it was still using 50% of the whole CPU, and network activity had gone down from 12-20% to 1.5%. After 20 minutes of hoping that it might come back I clicked the X on the server window, the server window closed BUT the process kept running with 0%cpu & 605mb of ram being used. I had to end the process via the task manager.

Screenshot below:

Looks to me like one or two of the arma2oaserver.exe threads stopped, and didn’t get restarted.

This looks like a BIS issue! I have tried everything I can think of including disabling the windows firewall for the game. No arma2 servers that we run on this box have ever had any issues like this, only when we get near 80 people does the problem appear. Also as far as I am aware there was no lag issues up till the point the game server stopped responding.

Edited March 7, 2012 by VoRtReX-uk

[.kju 3244]

If you were to create a CIT ticket with all the needed info, and best a net.log (-netlog) file, BI might be able to analyze it.

[algrab 1]

Have you tried above configs with the above mission (edit: mission is unplayable without certain addon)? Still problems with them? What's the '#monitor' results?

Are you completely sure that all is ok with the Win8 Server system? Any fancy M$ Windows Update lately? Or some ServicePack missing? Game corrupt? Just some thoughts... Revert to Win2K3??

What happens if you start the game server not from bat file, but from a usual shortcut?

-nosound -nosplash -maxMem=2047 -exThreads=1

why add above parameters when dedicated server console would not use any sound, video, and might like to have more than 2GB od RAM? Isn't the exthreads param obsolete since previous patches?

3D_Performance=0;

why 0 and not 93750, maybe a myth but some ppl claim it improves server performance?

Party3AH, your mission is unplayable, reqiures some addons 'balca_ce'.

Edited March 8, 2012 by Algrab
of dog

[nomad_man 10]

Партизан, thanks for the config. May i ask you how you calculated your bandwidth settings?

[Sibolo 10]

OK, you`ll got it today.

Briefing are on Russian, and we use a platform called "SerP", it initiate freezetime on start etc.

Here it is.

There seems to be some problem with your pbo, can't extract files with cPbo or PboView.

[algrab 1]

You will open it with Eliteness, but removing line I mentioned above from mission.sqm doesn't work

[Sibolo 10]

You will open it with Eliteness, but removing line I mentioned above from mission.sqm doesn't work

Eliteness did the job very well, Thanks.

[Party3AH 0]

Hello again,

we use some special addons but ACE2, if you still need them - I can give you a Yota link.

[nomad_man 10]

Party3AH,

how did you arrive at the suggested network values?

[Party3AH 0]

nomad_man, mainly empirically.

There`s not enough info and I did not find any formula how to calculate which settings will be most likely for 100 players at 20 Mbit channel or for 100 players at 100 Mbit channel. Must prevent you from trying to calculate like that: 100 Mbit / 100 players = 1 Mbit per player, so in 1 second he could receive... - its a dead end. You must set up any kind of network monitor on server to see what the actual size of packets received by players, watch the game for lags etc, and then you`ll find needed settings.

PS. are you Russian? :)

Edited March 12, 2012 by Party3AH

[J-Guid 10]

Партизан, Arma D/U speed for me is (512-614/430~-600~) on tvt Domi server (ROSTOV HARD) 20+ players

[Party3AH 0]

J-Guid, in Domi/warfare there are a lot of data to transfer caused by complicated script system used on these types of maps.

Once more, what does these digits means - bytes per second, bits per second, average packet size? And which side did you monitor - client or server?

[nuxil 2]

There is a formular somewhere in this thread.

i belive it was something like this.

Maximum server can use ""MaxBandwidth"" = MaxMsgSend * MaxSizeGuaranteed * Players * fps

altho you can never use more than what your connection allows.

but the problem with that formular is that both players and fps will always change.

MinBandwidth = 256000;  // Bits
MaxBandwidth = 10000000000; // Bits
MaxMsgSend = 128;  // Packets per client per frame
MaxSizeGuaranteed = 1024;  // Bytes
MaxSizeNonguaranteed = 256; // Bytes

you always know what MaxBandwidth is. therfor you can play around a bit with the formular adjusting MaxMsgSend,MaxSizeGuaranteed based on example average player count and average server fps.

setting thise values to give best performance is always a tail and error thingy.