terox

The OP is discussing server fps not client fps The main issue here is server fps, and its inability to run a decent number of AI while hosting a decent number of players in a coop session . As the server doesn't run graphics, gpu has nothing to do with this and I really don't understand why client side issues are taking presedence in this thread and moving the line of discussion away from the original intention of the OP

This post and the document it links to is intended as a basic guide to the ArmA2 Multiplayer environment and is aimed at newcomers to the game. The document itself can be downloaded from Previous version: 8th Jan 2010 Latest version: ArmA2 MP Guide (latest version 10th Jan 2010) and contains the following information Download centre (Links to tools and voice comms applications) Web links (Links to major community websites) Tutorials for: Finding a server Downloading, installing and running addons & mods Voice communication applications 3rd party tools [*]A dedicated server directory It is still very much "work in progress" but am sure many will find it useful in it's present state. To everybody in general I would be more than happy to accept additional content to this document, tutorials etc. If anybody finds a particular section misleading or a tutorial difficult to follow then please let me know. Please try and keep this thread constructive and clean of spam. It is afterall intended to offer information to newcomers to help them play on our servers with us. This thread is not a place to discuss an individual's preference of Teamspeak, Ventrilo, Mumble or other tools and applications. If you have a question on anything related to the content, then please ask it here, it will help me to compile a F.A.Q and update the manual to cover the queries To server admins There is a reference section at the bottom of the document which contains a dedicated server directory listing. It contains what I believe is the necessary information required by a player for a game server. I would be more than happy to list any dedicated server in the directory providing the information is supplied to me by an official representative of that server. Problems setting up a dedicated server? Kellys' Heroes have compiled a tutorial to help you with this Kelly's heroes Dedicated Server Tutorial This post has been recreated on the blessing of Placebo, so please dont lock or move

Set the enemy friendly skill as Gunter did in ther armaprofile The addon is simply a config rewrite, but it does have a large effect

Kremator you miss the point of the test mission The stress test mission is designed to consistently reproduce the low fps that high end servers are getting when running with 30 + players (ideally 40-50 players) without the added clutter of lots of scripts I do not expect any server to run with 600 AI and have a playable session. If it did, the test mission would fail in its purpose. (This is the reason why the number of AI are selectable as a param Initially I suspect something in the region of 50 - 150 AI will cause the issue we are all concerned about. (maybe 200 as you say) Having proved this over a series of servers and collated the information, we can then send all our data to BIS via a ticket. (The mission will come with a pdf with details how the test should be run and what data should be collected. For example, BIS may want any of all of the following Wireshark logs, Freds Arma monitor log, rpt files, bandwidth cfg, server specs etc. To create consistent testing we need a benchmark mission. There isn't really anything out there at the moment that we could use, as nearly all large scale missions are cluttered with scripts that could cloud our data and delay BIS's research on the issue The hope is that as BIS fix or optimise the code, the benchmark mission can then be replayed but with higher AI and achieve a better FPS for AI:Player ratio Having a benchmark mission with details of server fps's, bandwidth cfg's etc would also be very useful to other server admins who are trying to tweak their servers to their optimum performance

Just a heads up on the stress test mission in development So far it is 52 players (all Arms) Available params Select number of AI (In lots of 50 from 0 to 600)(Unwanted units are not being deleted, they are simply not created via a condition). Deleting them would create a lot of unwanted updating traffic at the start of the mission The following options are for FPS comparison *e.g once you know the FPS for a full blown test, restart with these options and see what effect this has on FPS) Lock AI waypoints Disable simulation on all AI units Remove all AI weapons from AI To create a more consistent test and for better comparison across a number of servers the following steps have been taken 1) Viewdistance is set within the mission (not as a param) 2) There is no randomness with the ai, waypoints etc are all fixed 4) All AI that will be in the mission are present from the start 5) Players respawn, this hopefully will maintain consistent numbers throughout the test 6) No addons, pure vanilla 7) No typical functionality scripts added, eg VAS, patrol scripts, revive scripts etc etc) There is only 1 looping script, this is serverside and is used for logging data to the rpt once per minute W.I.P Vehicle respawn via a killed event (need top be able to consistently transport troops back to the front line, or the number of testing clients will drop) Positioning of the 600 Ai to give you some fun There willl be some functions loaded into memory to give a minimal functionality to the mission For example, creation of Group Icons so that the mission commander knows where the groups are A loadout script for the vehicles sand maybe the players (not sure if i want to add this) I'm trying to create as minimalistic a mission as I can but still allow for an enjoyable testing session The hope is that as BIS address the issues, retesting should see an increase in the number of AI present for the same server FPS. The mission itself is basically a simple linear clearance of the MSR heading west of the central airbase. The A.O is split into various phase lines. Each phase line has a set number of AI within it So for example if you were to find that you could only get a playable fps with 100 AI, the mission would only take you as far as Phase line 1 if 200 AI Phase line 2 etc This way we can see what effect any fixes that BIS implement have on the playability of the mission. The end goal being to load all 600 AI with a full house of players. 52 players with 600 AI should be doable without the need for Headless client or AI despawn-respawn scripts (Am busy over the weekend, but the mission should be avaialble this coming week. Anyone have any input that I could implement into the mission that would help in the debugging of the issue ?

Hi Fred, I've lost touch with what your tool is currently capable of. Can it, or can you edit it so that it has an option to log data to a txt file. I think we will need such a log so B.I can diagnose the issue we are having, stated in the following thread. http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?168337-Multiplayer-not-in-playable-state

Only Altis Only COOP Ai v Player numbers?. It seems more like a combination of both. When a certain player threshold is achieved (For us it is in the region of 30) with moderate ai numbers, (50 to 100) it kills the server fps It also seems to depend on the location on Altis, some areas are much better than others. This has nothing to do with AI engaging with weapons, as the fps is badly effected at the start of the mission, when no contact has been established. based on A2 experience, we should be able to run a 40 player coop with say 400 AI placed on the map at the start of the mission and get decent serverside FPS. this is not the case for Altis. Wait until we can get a benchmark mission played across a few high end servers and then we can get you more feedback, logs etc I believe it is bandwidth related and will most likely not be seen if tested in a LAN environment which is why it is most likely not seen when you carry out your internal tests

isnt the issue high player numbers and high ai numbers at the start of a mission (Not dynamically created) ? for those of you who have glanced over this thread. we are NOT discussing client FPS This is all about serverside simulation cycle rate (Server FPS if you like) in a COOP (Not PvP) environment. So anything to do with graphics or clientside issues has probably no bearing here Lets discuss standardisation for the testing 1) We need a benchmark mission that we can all use (W.I.P) Hopefully the one I am creating will initiate the problem 2) We would need lets say 3 dedi servers running similar specced hardware, similar timezone than can cope with high player numbers, somewhere between 40 and 50 players i presume ..... Zeus will host if required who else ? 3) Should each of the test servers run exactly the same bandwidth config values? probably yes 4) Base vanilla only, no addons etc to cloud the results 5) I would propose that all 3 servers run a scheduled test one after the other, using the same client list (or as close to that as is possible) .... basically we run a 15 minute test on each server, one after the other When this is all done we collect all the test data, zip it into 1 file and then raise a ticket attaching the test mission and logging data to that ticket I am thinking of how we define the number of ai we use for the test. possibly find a middle ground between the 3 servers where, when only 1 player is connecting, the server frame rate is XYZ (Minor dertail) or we could just run 3 tests per server, one with 300 ai, then 400, then 500 etc What data should we collect What should we use Wireshark logs, rpt logs what else would BI find useful. Some input here from BI would be good

am actually working on a 50 player mission, with params that can set AI numbers from 100 to 600 This is gonna be pretty clean, as in minimal scripting, albeit a logging script to the rpt I should have it by tonight It should be more than adequate for stress testing this particular issue and giving the players something to do instead of being bored waiting for the server admins to log their backend data. I would also suggest that any admins who is interested in helping with this issue gets Fred's Arma3 server monitor installed http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?155881-Arma-Server-Monitor-(very-small-but-useful) Am not sure if this logs data yet (Does it?) I will also put together a simple "What to do" for any admins out there so we all follow the same testing procedure and therefore the data we send back can be compared The rpt log script at present is a 60 second continuous loop. Each pass it logs Time No. of players No. of server side AI Average FPS (over last 16 frames) The admins are going to have to manually log data in and out using #monitor (Unless anyone knows how we can log this automatically Should we all get wireshark logs ? and if so what filters should we use What other data can we collect that will be useful ?

Getting this back on topic Thanks for getting involved with this thread Dr. Hladik The issue is with high numbers of AI on Altis and high player numbers. I run a server with the following specs Dual Xeon X5570, 16 GB ram Colocated at a data centre with 100Mb connection Although, unfortunately its been many weeks since we had to deal with the issue (Numbers of players have dropped significantly making it impossible for us now to run with more than 20 players) When i did get a simulation cycle rate of 0 FPS, the cpu was only running at 12% However the bandwidth was through the roof. (I cant remember the actual values, or whether it was data in our out, but it was very high) So it would appear the actual issue is with data transfer and this is what was grinding the server to a halt. This was not just with the public domain missions, but also with custom made missions by members of our community with very little scripting So this isn't a mission issue, although ofcourse they must have some bearing on it. To reproduce this i would just create a very simple linear mission with (for testing purposes) a set of params that allows you to remove numbers of AI prior to mission start For example Number of AI present a) 100 b) 200 c) 300 d) 400 e) 500 f) 600 That way you can find the limit threshold Create a very simple linear mission, eg walk down a road clearing ai in your path have at least 40, better 50 players No triggers, scripts, modules etc Make sure its done in a real MP scenario, not via a LAN, so that the data has to be sent and received from a remote location that isnt on your local network (If i could get that may players together I would do it for you) and you should see a massive degradation in performance the more AI and players you run with. For most server admins that I know, they state numbers between 30 and 50 players where the effect starts to be seen At this stage of the game we should at least have the same performance we had in A2, sadly that is not the case

I totally agree with Dorph The issue is when playing coops on Altis. PVP is not effected If the AI are present at the start of the mission in decent numbers, then the mission will become unplayable relatively quickly when having more than 20 players (For us anyway) While we were running the DEV branch I regularly saw a server simulation cycle rate at 0 FPS for at least 5-10 mins. It was destroying our community so we had to switch to stable, just to play (No more DEV feedback from us) I never had that issue with OFP, A1, A2 In A2 our server could run 30-40 players with 700 AI on Chenarus and an FPS of 15-20 We cant even run 1/4 of that on Altis. The only missions that seem to work for us now are custom missions made by our members where the AI are dynamically created and in fairly low numbers We ran a test of Eightysixes Patrol Ops mission on our server. This is the only mission that has good frame rates with high numbers of players, infact its pretty well optimised. The orginal I&A is far from optimised, we run a heavily modified and rewritten version of it with some success I have tried numerous edits to the server bandwidth configs and have improved things a little, but we are certainly nowhere near A2 AI numbers. (Our bandwidth settings for A3 are very different to our A2 values) So yes there is a big issue here and its killing the MP Coop side of things. Our numbers have gone from a constant 40 players a night 7 days a week to 20 players, 2 to 3 times a week Other communities must be suffering too. Even our hardcore vet players are fed up with it So to answer one of Dorph's questions. Eightsix's Patrol ops is a must have for you when it is released. It really is a smooth mission with high player numbers and it is very polished) http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?168315-A3-Patrol-Operations-Official-Thread

this is a must addon for every coop server

after logging in as admin, type #missions (into the same chat box you used for #login) to get the current mission list available on the server

every server restart creates a new rpt If you are starting your server as a service, for example starting it with firedeamon, then as part of the start up process have a cmd/bat file delete all files in the folder with extension .rpt

add something from the addon that creates addon dependancy, for example, if this is a weapons addon, it will most likely have a custom addon crate, place this somewhere on the map. It doesnt have to be anywhere where a player can find it, all you are after is adding to the mission.sqm addons or addonsauto. Alternatively manually add the required addon The only way to do it scriptwise is to do something like the following if !(IsDedicated) then { If(isclass (configfile >> "cfgweapons" >> "classname")then{player setvariable ["HasAddon",TRUE,TRUE]}else{player setvariable ["HasAddon",FALSE,TRUE]}; }; Then on the machine you want to report on any clients that do not have the addon loaded, do something like this { if((Isplayer _x)&& !(_x getvariable "HasAddon"))then{player sidechat format [" %1 does not have the required addon",name _x]}; }foreach playableunits;

the bikeys define what is allowed on the server the actual addons that are required is done on a per mission basis and is defined in the mission automatically when developing the mission in the editor

@ Andym12 You are not loading addons that the mission requires, namely mas_usa_rang_r mas_usa_usoc_veh mas_usa_rang_r mas_usa_usoc_veh look for these pbo's in the mod \addons folders @Tacticool. The missions that arent loading are broken, could be any number of issues, first check your .rpt file

You either havent got the correct addons on the server or you arent loading them. Your .rpt file lists the addons you are running. To find the info easier, shut down the server, delete all the .rpt files and then restart. You are looking for the following type of info in your .rpt file This will indicate whether you are actually running the mod folders you think your are ===================================================================== == ****************arma3server.exe == "*************************arma3server.exe" -port=****2 "-profiles=********" -config=*****.cfg [b][color="#FF0000"]-mod=******************[/color][/b] Exe timestamp: 2013/10/03 22:28:27 Current time: 2013/10/27 19:24:06 Type: Public Branch: Stable Version: 1.02.110654 and then further into the .rpt it will also list the addon pbo's Make sure your mod folders are configured as follows (Addon folder containing addons within the Mod folder) MOD FOLDER \ ADDONS \ addon1.pbo example @CBA\addons\cba_extended_eventhandlers.pbo

All missions in mpmissions are checked on server start up. if there is a config, or description.ext issue with one of them, the server will stop loading 1) Remove any missions that have errors listed in your .rpt 2) Failing that, remove all missions and re-add them one at a time or in small batches, restarting the server each time until you find the mission that is causing the issue

Post your arma3.cfg (bandwidth settings). That will be the most likely cause Are you a coop or a Pvp server ?

Excellent well polished mission, good quality work and much better than the other counterparts out there. Kudos to Eighytsix Could i suggest 2 things that may be worth adding to the release candidate 1) A mission commander group 2) An additional param that will allow a server admin to restrict players to role playing. What I mean by this is for example Only pilots can fly Only crewman can operate IFV's etc All infantry slots have restricted weapons, specific to their role so that for example, only a marksman/sniper can take sniper weaponry Only AT can take AT launchers etc. It would help the more organised servers to play this mission (Dare I say it) "correctly" and not as is typical on badly administered servers, a free for all looking forward to the public release

if you check your server browser, sort by ping then highlight each server individually, you will see additional info for that server. That will detail the mods/addons then run There isnt as yet a full blown mod like ACE, so all you are going to get is addon packs made up of all sorts of mixes

Firstly you will need to be voted in as admin then once you have admin then you can type into the chat box the following command #missions which will then display the current mission list the server has

There are good servers out there, well adminned and well organised. Most of them are passworded as trying to create any form of discipline in a public environment is hard work, but it is doable with the right admins onboard If you can do Euro time zones and you are coop oriented Try Zeus Our admins have zero tolerance to idiots, we are not anal in our approach to milsim and we do manage organised coop sessions in the public domain Best nights to see us are Thursdays and Sundays, although we run sessions every night. For an insight into how we do things, check out the following video (This was a relaxed squad sized mission, for platoon size we use more discipline especially on comms) http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BDkkEUTO9nw#t=315 for more info, read the first post in the following thread http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?151063-Zeus-gaming-Nights

In the file that is your equivalent of the Config_Vanilla.cfg as stated in the first post of this thread You should have the following lines.... // VOTING voteMissionPlayers = 1; // Tells the server how many people must connect so that it displays the mission selection screen. voteThreshold = 0.33; // 33% or more players need to vote for something, for example an admin or a new map, to become effective