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Founded:
October 9, 1998 |
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| Please note that because of a recent bout of incredibly inane tech support questions I will expect anyone that contacts me to have fully read the documentation and this FAQ. If you have any questions about this policy please read the next question. Thank you for your support. |
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| Questions |
How do I setup a HL server? Do I have to have an RCON password? (or any other newbie admin question)
Not to be a snit but I am not your support for setting up and maintaining your HL server. If you don't understand the concepts of autoexec.cfg, server.cfg, motd.txt and mapcycle.txt then don't bother coming to me with a question. There are plenty of other websites out there that offer help, FAQs and tips on configuring and maintaining HL servers. Oh... and this app doesn't come with a HL server. Duh. You have to have your own first. Yes, someone recently asked me this question.
Is it server-side or client-side or both?
It's server-side and can be placed on the same box or a different box than your server. It is a Win32 app so it will not run on a Linux box. It can be used to monitor several servers on several different boxes across the web. I use my copy in Knoxville, TN to monitor 5 servers (4 DoD and 1 CS) in Rochester, NY. It's meant to be run and left up while your servers are running. Running it from home is possible even with a non-static IP.
If it is server-side - what do I use to log in? A regular browser?
Unless you have pcAnywhere type access to your server or it's local to you it won't be useful to you. There is limited remote access built in via Telnet. Read this.
Will it run as a service under WinNT or Win2K?
See this page for instructions on how to set it up as a service.
How does the team wounding enforcment work?
In your HL server's server.cfg file add the line "mp_logdetail 2". This will tell the HL server to log all teammate attacks. Then setup the Spy the way you'd like.
How does the mirror and reverse damage work?
If you have Admin Mod installed you can download and follow the instructions for our Admin Mod plugin. Only then will the mirror and reverse damage work. The plugin allows the Spy to give and take health from a player. So when you shoot a teammate it will take the health from you and give it back to them (if you set it up with reverse damage). It will not allow you to take health below 10 health.
How do I get the Spy to generate stats on damage inflicted on the enemy?
In your HL server's server.cfg file add the line "mp_logdetail 3" (or 1 if you're not enforcing team wounding). This will cause the HL server to log and send to you each and every single bullet hit that takes health or armor. Obviously this could be a LOT of information. Use with caution.
Will it work with my stats generator?
It uses the logaddress command on each of your gaming servers to send the logs to the box that's running the Spy. If your stats generator uses logaddress then no, it won't be compatible with the Spy. However the Spy will produce it's own stats (EXAMPLE) that are completely customizible (as far as the page layout goes). I can quite easily add another stats page if you ask.
Why does my stats page list the total time played as years when my server has only been monitored by the Spy for a month or two?
Because that is actually a calculation of the total time played by all the players on your server. If could be worded as "Total Time Wasted Playing on These Servers:".
Why do the sample stats that you link to on your TOC look different than mine?
I link to the real-time stats tool that I run for my servers. It's available to any registered user running IIS that knows how to administer an IIS webserver. It's undocumented and a VERY manual installation.
Will it work with my IRC broadcaster?
Most likely not. The ones that I've tested also use the logaddress command.
How do I get the IRC connection to work?
You no longer need mIRC to get the IRC bot to work. Just go to the IRC Settings tab for your Spy to set it up.
I have "Post to IRC" checked but it's not connecting?
As bLaCkLoTuS (gs) likes to say "Idling is lame". The Spy does not attempt to connect to the IRC server of your choice until it gets something to send. So if your server is empty it won't connect at all. Only once people are there and doing something (killing, speaking, planting the bomb, etc.) will it connect and join your channel. Patience please.
How do I send RCON commands from IRC?
Turn on "Post to IRC" and wait for the bot to join a channel. To send RCON commands the format is this: /msg <bot name> <channel> <rcon_password> <rcon command>. Or you can open a query window and use this format: <channel> <rcon_password> <rcon command> Anyone can request the scores to be updated by sending the "scores" command (no RCON password required).
The language filter doesn't seem to be working. What's wrong?
Make sure "mp_logmessages 1" is in your server.cfg. If it doesn't log it I can't check it.
How do I get the Spy to work through my firewall?
First you have to make sure that any ports you use with the Spy are opened up properly. You'll then need to make sure that the Spy IP Address on the setings page is the IP address that the Spy is considered outside the firewall. If you still have trouble getting the Spy to connect with your HL server try adding "logaddress [spyipaddress] [spyport]" and "log on" to your HL server's Autoexec.cfg. This will tell your HL server where to send it's logs instead of the Spy trying to do it for you.
Are wildcards allowed in the filtered words list?
No. However that is a substring matching list. So "ass" will catch "asshole", "asswipe", etc.
Is the filtered words list case sensitive?
No. The players nickname, spoken messages and the words you filter will be converted to lowercase before they're tested.
Your ping restrictions have always seemed to take forever to kick in. Can I make it take less time?
Yes. A person is kicked when their ping fails two consective checks. The checks occur with a status request. Simply make the status requests more frequent and people will be booted faster.
How does the password check work?
The spy will watch the logs for a password being set. It will do the equivalent of "spyoff" (or "spyon" when the password is removed).
I just saw a TKer get permanently banned with no warning. How does that happen?
Valve now logs the start of a round. Anyone who TKs in the first X seconds of a round (server configurable) is permanently banned without a warning.
The other admins and I keep getting banned from our own servers for TKing. Is there a way to keep certain people from being kicked or banned?
Yes and no. Nobody is immune from the standard TK features. Immunity simply means that you can't have !punishtk used against you.
How are rankings determined?
Players are given a base ranking and each time you kill someone or get killed you gain or lose points based on your skill ranking and your opponents skill ranking. You also gain points for accomplishing or attempting to accomplish certain events (hostage rescuing, bomb planting, etc.).
I received "An Error Has Occurred" message and opened ERROR.TXT in Notepad. It recorded an "Address in Use" error. What is that?
You've given the Spy a Logging Port that is already being used. Usually this means that you've mistakenly put the server's game port (27015 for example) in as the Logging Port.
How does the Telnet feature work? Can I really access my server via Telnet now?
Yes you can access your server from Telnet. Simply run the Telnet form as indicated above. You can then connect to the Spy via Telnet on port 2000 (inbound/outbound TCP for those firewall users - turn local echo on). Once connected you should see a short welcome message. You'll then need to type in a command in this format "go;<spyport>;<rconpassword>". It should then display a message with the hostname of the server to which you're connected. Anything you type after this will be sent to the server as an rcon command.
When I type a message in the Spy console I get a message back that says "You have been banned from this server"?
That's obviously not a good thing. Stop the server and delete the listip.cfg and restart your server. This will delete all your IP bans but those aren't as effective as WONID bans anyway. To prevent this from happening in the future you should add the following to your HL servers's server.cfg file:
sv_rcon_minfailures 15
sv_rcon_minfailuretime 60
sv_rcon_maxfailures 20
sv_rcon_banpenalty 0
This basically says that if someone sends a bad challenge or rcon password more than 15 times in 60 seconds they get permanently banned by IP. If they send a bad challenge or rcon password more than 20 times altogether they'll also get permanently banned by IP. This step is especially important if you're also monitoring your server with PB from the same IP as the Spy.
Why isn't the Spy enforcing language or TKs?
The Spy will automatically turn off enforcement if a password is set on the server. This is to make it easier for clans to hold practices. Type "rcon spystatus" and you should see that the Spy is inactive. Type "rcon spyon" to activate the Spy when a password is set.
There's no password set and it still isn't enforcing language or TKs. What now?
The IP address you filled in under File->Settings is most likely not the real-world IP of the machine running the Spy. This needs to be the IP that you want the HL server to sends it's logs to. This will usually be the actual IP of the box but in the case of some users behind a firewall will be the IP of the firewall box.
In what language was this coded?
Microsoft Visual Foxpro 6.0 SP4 (VFP). I will eventually upgrade to VFP 7.0 but initial tests showed some ActiveX weirdness so this is very postponed.
How much does this cost?
There is a 15-day evaluation period. After that you'll need to purchase our $25 Standard Use license. I would like to continue giving it away but it's taking a lot of time to keep it up to date and add all the new features being requested. You can register through our registration page via PayPal®.
How does the Commercial Use license differ from the Standard License?
A commercial situation would be for example if you are a individual or company that leases gaming servers and are considering offering Server Spy monitoring to your customers HL servers. If they pay for the server and YOU setup the Spy for them then you will need to purchase the $45 Commercial Use license. You can register through our registration page via PayPal®.
Can I get a copy of the source?
This is not an open source project. However if you know VFP and want to pay the $100 Extensible Use license fee then I'd be happy to give you a copy of the source. If you twist my arm I might even help you understand my well-documented code </sarcasm>
How does the Extensible Use license differ from the other licenses?
See the previous question.
Can I get a free key?
Unless you have something to offer me that I feel is worth about $25 then NO. Yes I realize $25 isn't much but that means it shouldn't be much to you either. For me those $25 registrations add up pretty fast and make a big difference in my bottom line.
I live outside the USA. Can I still use PayPal to register?
Yes you can. See this list for details. I have also setup an account with RegSoft for the convenience of my international users.
Why do you charge the extra $5 USD when using RegSoft?
RegSoft costs me more to use. There is also a risk with this type of service in that people do not have to verify their credit cards before they use them. They also only issue a check to me once a month. Unlike PayPal which goes immendiately into my checking account.
Why are you charging for this anyway?
I realize that there are other apps out there that do part of what I do. However, I think that the entire package is quite unique and worthy of purchase. Plus I need the cash. If you're not going to use more than one feature I suggest you look around and see if there's a freeware solution first. In the long-run I hope to support more games than just HL and I'm only going to invest the time if I know it'll be profitable for me.
Do you have a link button or ad banner?
The link button is on the Table of Contents to the left. This is my ad banner:
The Server Spy is such a crappy name. Couldn't you come up with anything better?
The original name was The Server Wench. However it was pointed out to me that the word "wench" might drive people away that otherwise might want to use the language filter features. I held a naming contest for a while with the prize being a free registration key. The winning entry was "The Hired Goon". Not bad. However after realizing that I already had decent name recognition for The Server Spy I decided to keep it. Next time I'll try to come out of the gate with a better name. There are other Server Spys out there. Most notibly the project from NATO clan called ServerSpy.net. Ignoring the obvious copyright violation it's quite a cool little tool. Check it out. There was another ServerSpy out for a few months but I think GameSpy Industries (the AOL of online gaming) squashed it.
d00d...?
No d00dz allowed. Go away.
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