If you run a dedicated public server...

[Whane The Whip 99]

Please include the following information in your server name so that when users are browsing the MP list in Ylands, they can find a server more relevant to what they are looking for:

1. Include the location of your server. Filter by region is not good enough. For example, the distance between NYC and L.A. is 2800 miles so there is a difference in performance based on proximity.  I can't rely on the region filter alone for the best possible connection. It's easy enough for example to include NYC or L.A. within your server name, or perhaps something like "West Coast" or "US West"  for example.
2. Indicate that your server is dedicated. I think the abbreviation "dedi" is fairly known.

Also, please stop and start your server at least once every 24 hours. I have found some servers that were running great at first and then slowly start to degrade with lots of freezing, item bugs,  and skipped frames (esp at sea while on a ship or boat). You may also consider taking the server offline and removing the dead bodies of players that have not returned, especially at spawn as this seems to greatly delay logging in which also lags the server for all players. Also consider replenishing core mats (clay, iron, cotton/flax) on the starter island, a lack of these items will often send people away.

I'm not trying to tell you what to do with your server, but given the current state of the dedicated game, the odds are already stacked against you. If you do these few things then you will probably have a more successful public server.

Edited January 14, 2018 by Whane The Whip

[Baz Foobar 102]

Good idea.  Hope we get some improved server admin tools, but in the meantime, this should help people out.

[6Cowa6Bunga6 55]

The server i run I have been playing an admin role in and have taken the starter island ideas into account. I have been watching the core resources so they do not become depleted and also been leaving treasures behind for some lucky Ylandiums to find

MY server is called Yland Adventures! DS 1/12/18

I havent put the server location in the name but it is located in Seattle  

[kimbuck 746]

I don't   use  MP, but the  server maintenance   suggestions  are welcomed and necessary.  With a  fresh clean welcome mat on  display each log in,  you will get more  happy   visitors

[NYGTarHeel 8]

I heard someone make the same suggestions about the bodies at spawn, and they said they weren't able to remove them. Maybe something that will be fixed in a future update.

[Whane The Whip 99]

53 minutes ago, NYGTarHeel said:

I heard someone make the same suggestions about the bodies at spawn, and they said they weren't able to remove them. Maybe something that will be fixed in a future update.

They can't be removed within a game session, not even when using the Annihilator tool.

However, they can be removed using the editor. I will note though that it's not obvious at first because when you click to select a corpse, nothing happens leading one to believe it cant be edited. It's the lower legs of the corpse that can be clicked to select the body. You can also drag a selector box around the area of the corpse to select it, then delete it, then save it and relaunch the server. The fact that bodies can't be remove in-game is an issue for a few reasons:

1. They cause lag.
2. They prevent placing block where the body lays. Some people will intentionally get themselves killed inside someones base just to troll the base owner. The base owner, wanting to build at the spot of the corpse, will sometimes dig down to try and get rid of the body but this causes terrain issues and unless the ground is covered with panels or something, this wont work.
3. If the base owner can get the body hidden under panels, then that's a body that the admin cant see to remove during a clean up. Even if the base owner does not need to build on that spot, it's still annoying to see dead bodies in your base... forever.

In an ideal world, the body should only persists for maybe 5 minutes and then the server should remove it, I'd like to see the same thing happen with junk items, like wood chunks and bark for example that often are left on the ground after chopping down a tree. With a standard Explore map used for MP, it can be impossible to find all bodies on all islands. But at the very least, a server admin can remove the bodies at spawn and look around the starter island for more as this is where most of them will be.