Basic server setup questions

[John Adams]

I am no expert, but I'll give this a shot.

Originally Posted by cbodmer

- What does the server variable "PersistentZoneState" actually do when set to 1?

My best understanding is that this is like hibernating Windows XP - saves the current state of NPCs, spawns, positions, everything, when you properly DOWN a zone - so when you bring it back up, it's in the same state as before (you do not need to re-spawn the mob you fought for). I have never tried this...

- What does the server variable "disablecommandline" do? I am not understanding the cryptic description for this variable.

In net.cpp, this variable appears to be checked to allow you to do a few things ?at the command prompt of the world server dialog? (not sure):

Worldserver command line commands:
adduser username password flag    - adds a user account
flag username flag    - sets GM flag on the account
startzone zoneshortname    - sets the starting zone
-holdzones    - reboots lost zones

As for exactly what they do, or how to use them, I am not clear. I thought you could type in the WORLD.exe box, but maybe it's something non-Windows?

- What's the practical difference between running zones dynamically or statically? Are mobs being moved, corpses timeoutted etc. in static zones even if no player is in it?

Yes. Static zones are up, active, living and breathing, with NPCs going about their normal day even with no one in them. Corpses will timeout even if the zone is not static, and conditional mob spawns will happen regardless as well based on timers. The only advantage I see to static vs dynamic is access time (load time) and an ability to assign a zone a specific IP/Port.

- What kind/types of zones are best loaded statically and which zones are best served dynamically? I am looking for opinions here.

Depends on your world, really. Are your home cities most active (new players a lot)? I made all 28 home city zones static, and left only 10 dynamic zones for the rest of the game. However, if I saw my population mostly hanging out in Dawnshroud for instance, I might consider making that static as well.

Like I said, I am no expert, this is my best understanding of how this works without code diving. I'm sure there are other opinions which weigh more, so maybe we'll both learn something here. Hope this helps.