Running ArmA 2 with missing .pbo's

[i76 1]

Just wanted to be sure BI knows that ArmA 2 can be run after removing most .pbo files in the official 'AddOns' folder.

I can remove all plant, building, structures even chernarus_Data_Layers and chernarus_Data... was using spectator mode in DayZ and noticed some players with all white ground, I thought it was my end till I watched others with the same white ground.... So I tested removing pbo's and was shocked that ArmA 2 doesn't enforce its own pbos...

I knew some where removing plant pbos but didn't realise that you could remove nearly all of them.

cheers

[Tom_48_97 523]

Sure they know ;) In most cases, it'll provoke some errors, but also, still working.

Ps: not really the appropriate section BTW.

[TSAndrey 1]

I thought BE is checking for this?

[i76 1]

Sure they know ;) In most cases, it'll provoke some errors, but also, still working.

Ps: not really the appropriate section BTW.

I seem to have trouble finding the right place for obscure threads... could you tell me the appropriate section to post this?

I would go dev-heaven but I have easy to fix but quite game affecting issues there for over 3 years and not one has been fixed... some of my issues have 20+ votes so I gave up there... thought if I made it public knowledge maybe BI would pull the finger out.

I thought BE is checking for this?

Sadly no, and we are having trouble trying to enforce it from a server level.

[.kju 3245]

regularCheck is detecting this. use the forum search for more info.

[TSAndrey 1]

Isn't verifysignature = 2, for that?

[.kju 3245]

no and you need both

[i76 1]

regularCheck is detecting this. use the forum search for more info.

will do, ty again :)

[Freeborne 10]

Can you please give examples of what to put in the server.cfg file then.

"checkFiles" vs "RegularCheck"

DayZ players join without rocks.pbo, buildings.pbo, plants2_bush.pbo etc, which gives them an obvious advantage. Putting the in CheckFiles (on join) can add several minutes to the time it takes to join. Adding them to RegularCheck will hit I/O still pretty hard (especially with more than 1 server running off the same HDD)

[.kju 3245]

first please read this:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?115295-Feedback-on-regularCheck-use-in-latest-OA-CO-by-server-admins-needed

it is important to get regularCheck fully reliable and usable.

otherwise various abuses and cheating cannot be stopped.

so please provide specific feedback BI needs to improve the system.

second:

try to put these files into a ram drive on the server if you can

to your question:

checkFiles is just a workaround for one part of the system

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/server.cfg

checkfiles[]={"dta\bin.pbo","a10\config.bin"};

note the second sample is the one to use.

full pbo check is unusable and doesnt work for pbo outside the default location

however its unclear if checkfiles even works at this point. see:

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/ArmA:_Server_Side_Scripting

onDifferentData	 signed pbo detected with a valid signature, but a different version than a server has (very strict test, use sparingly, no longer supported in Arma 2 OA 95232)

may or may not be related

finally another server admin testing said that many keys caused issues for him.

so reduce them to the minimum needed for your dayZ server

[Freeborne 10]

Starting DayZ without "Buildings" is easy to do. To prevent that, you should just be able to use "CheckFiles" and not have to do "RegularCheck". I doubt most players can load addons on-the-fly after loading the mission.

I would expect RegularCheck to be more resource intensive compared to CheckFiles.

I tried adding this to server.cfg, but it didn't seem to stop the player's joining without those mods.

//checkFiles[] = {
"AddOns\buildings.pbo";
"AddOns\buildings2.pbo";
"AddOns\buildings2_Ind_CementWorks.pbo";
"AddOns\plants2_Bush.pbo";
"AddOns\plants2_Clutter.pbo";
"AddOns\plants2_misc.pbo";
"AddOns\plants2_Plant.pbo";
"Expansion\AddOns\plants_e.pbo"
};

It showed up in the console and .rpt file that practically everyone used modified data files for those PBO's.

Also in the server.cfg

verifySignatures = 2;
onUserConnected = "";
onUserDisconnected = "";
doubleIdDetected = "";
regularCheck = "{}";
onUnsignedData = "kick (_this select 0)";
onHackedData = 	"kick (_this select 0)";
onDifferentData = "";

Which above command relates to CheckFiles and/or RegularCheck and what happens to the player when the hash-check fails? (i.e kick or ban, and can I add a "say" command in front of the kick command)

I like the idea of using a RAMDrive though just for the PBO's that part of RegularCheck. Might try that out too.

[.kju 3245]

CheckFiles is certainly way more heavy than regularCheck, especially when you scan for the complete pbo.

Also again full pbo is check is meaningless as it doesnt work for custom modfolder locations.

It is a hardwired absolute location check, aka not working for any steam users ie - this is also why its outdated.

On the fly pbo loading is impossible.

Read the quote on onDifferentData again Freeborne.

You having it set to "" or the said change is most likely the reason for no for punishment to happen.

say is not possible as the file check run its own limited VM.

More here + discussion page: http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/ArmA:_Server_Side_Scripting