Updated: September 2, 2013

The update includes the following along with the normal Minecraft 1.6.2 update:
* Zombie pathfinding changed to be ~3200% more efficient in some cases -- should reduce server lag by a lot
* Zombies will very rarely drop name tags
* Horse spawning changed.
   * Default spawning mechanics replaced with allowing horses to spawn in existing chunks

   * Horses spawn in existing Plains biomes rarely
* Donkeys spawn high up in existing Extreme Hills biomes rarely
* Undead and Skeletal horses spawn in existing Hell biomes extremely rarely

* Added Undead and Skeletal horses:
   * Have fire immunity (as with other Nether-based mobs)
* Already tamed (required due to Minecraft preventing taming)
* Cannot be bred
* Cannot wear armour
* Can have up to 5 more hearts of health than normal horses

* █████ ██████ can be extremely rarely gotten from █████

The issue: lightning was creating fires that would never go out.

Pretty much lightning generates fires wherever it strikes. Normally these fires are supposed to go out due to the rain during thunderstorms, but rain won't put out the fires if FireTicks are off (no fire spread / block burn), which is how the server is configured. This meant that every single time lightning struck, an ever-burning flame would be lit on that block. I've installed a small plugin I made (which I've properly tested all logic branches and functionality on) that prevents lightning from starting fires so that we don't have this issue anymore. Existing fires will still be there, but I'll see if I can clean things up a bit in higher-traffic areas.

Hopefully this will stop the landscape from looking like the apocalypse has come and set the countryside ablaze, fire and brimstone, blablabla.

If anyone needs some help cleaning up existing fires near where they live, just let me know.

:33

Yay! Finally got my magenta circle! :33

http://steamcommunity.com/id/nurotasama

Curious if anyone has any cool ideas for devices to build using redstone (and redstone accessories) and various other blocks (e.g.: water, ice). I think its pretty fun to build these sorts of things and it'd be cool to hear some ideas. Especially functional ones. :3

I have noticed lately that not many people have been on the TF2 server. In March there were constantly 20-30 people on until around 2 AM EST even on weekdays. Lately there have been a max of around 16 players online, often only around 10, and emptying out very early compared to before.

So this has got me asking: what has caused you and/or others you know to not play on the server much lately? Do you have complaints? What do you think can be done to improve the server?

I had to cancel because the server was lagging too  much (damage not registering for 1-2 seconds, explosions often not  working correctly, certain sounds not happening, text chat messages  taking forever to display to people, voice chat being choppy to the  point of being incomprehensible). I was hoping the server would get  better, but after 1.5 hours of it being like this (and 2 resets) I don't  think that will be the case. It doesn't seem like the event would be  particularly fun given the current state of the server (and I don't want  anyone trying to dredge through this just to try to get a key), so I  think it would be best to possibly reschedule.

I'll be trying to reschedule for sometime in the future: I could either do one  sooner or wait until Christmas and do something larger; I'll be  traveling soon, though, so that means "sooner" won't be until early  August most likely. Let me know if one would be preferable. When I redo this I'll be starting at key #1 again. And hopefully the server won't completely derp out.

To try to make it up for people who were  expecting this event: if you left a post in this thread before I made  this edit and haven't gotten a key from me, send me a message on Steam or the forum and I'll give you a  key.

On a less friendly note: Art of War (the server provider) sucks ass and  has no idea how to keep a TF2 server running properly. Seriously, no  idea why we even deal with these morons given how damn incompetent  they've shown themselves to be over the past few months. If anyone asks  you about game server providers, be sure to tell them to NEVER go with Art of War.



(Outdated) Info:

Quote
So I am posting some more official, easy-to-read info for this event:

Event: (40) Key Give-away
Date: Saturday, June 15th
Time: 10 AM - 10 PM  (USA Eastern Standard Time)
Location: UA 24/7 Mario Kart server
How it works: At unknown times throughout the 12-hour time period I will  generate a random number between 1 and the number of people on red team  plus the number on blue team. This player number on the scoreboard will  receive a key. This will continue until I run out of keys.
Proof: For those who think I might be joking, here's a link to my Steam backpack... http://steamcommunity.com/id/nurotasama/inventory#440
BONUS 1: If this thread gets posts from  at least 20 different people before the event, the total number of keys  given out will double to 80.
BONUS 2: [Requirements listed if BONUS 1 is met.]

Original Post:

QuoteMy birthday is next month and I'd like to do something for it. I  don't really like receiving gifts, nor do I think it's really  appropriate for me to do so -- being born isn't a reason for me to be  given things. Rather, I really would like my existence to at least  create some sort of a net positive.

So for my birthday this year, on Saturday June 15, for people who are actively on the UA TF2 24/7 MK server at the time on that day, I will be randomly giving away (at least) 40 random TF2 keys to random people at random times... randomly. And that's as many as four tens!

Now, the problem is in determining how to randomly decide who gets a  key. I am thinking of just using a pseudo-random number generator to...  well, create a set of pseudo random numbers! I'd be keeping them to  myself, but one would determine the time of the individual key give-away  and the next one would determine the player # on the scoreboard who  gets the key.


Do people have any other ideas of how to randomly assign keys without it being unfair?

[/COLOR]

For some reason this new server setup seems to lag a lot. Most of the time when I get on lately it's getting 1 second spikes of complete lag every few minutes to every minute. I'm not sure if it is due to one of the plugins, because the server is being restarted less (doesn't seem to be the case with how often it needs restarting), or just due to the new server itself. Any idea what is up with it, Static?