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BZFS
BZFS is the BZFlag server. To be lazy, the man page is located at [1]
The man page is pasted below for your convenience (it is in need of heavy wiki formatting).
Man Page
SYNOPSIS
bzfs [-a linear angular] [-admsg message] [-advertise GROUPNAME,GROUP-
NAME,...] [-autoTeam] [-b] [-badwords badwordfile] [-ban ip{,ip}*]
[-ban ip[,ip]...] [-banfile filename] [-c] [-cache worldCacheURL]
[-cacheout filename] [-conf configfile] [-cr] [-d] [-density num]
[-disableBots] [+f {good|bad|team||flag-id}[{count}]] [-f
{good|bad|flag-id}] [-fb] [-filterCallsigns] [-filterChat] [-filterSim-
ple] [-g] [-groupdb file] [-h] [-handicap] [-help] [-helpmsg file name]
[-i interface] [-j] [-lagdrop warn-count] [-lagwarn time/ms] [-master-
BanURL URL/s] [-maxidle time/s] [-mp
{count|[rogue-count],[red-count],[green-count],[blue-count],[pur-
ple-count],[observer-count]}] [-mps {max-score}] [-ms shots] [-mts
{max-score}] [-noMasterBanlist] [-p port] [-passdb file] [-passwd pass-
word] [-pidfile filename] [-poll variable=value] [-printscore] [-public
description] [-publicaddr address[:port]] [-publiclist url] [-q] [+r]
[-rabbit [score|killer|random]] [-recbuf size] [-recbufonly] [-recdir
directory] [-replay] [-reportfile filename] [-reportpipe command]
[-requireudp] [+s flag-count] [-s flag-count] [-sa] [-sb] [-set name
value] [-sl id num] [-spamtime time] [-spamwarn warnLimit] [-speedtol
factor] [-srvmsg message] [-st time] [-sw count] [-synctime] [-t]
[-tftimeout time-limit] [-time time-limit] [-timemanual] [-tk] [-tkkr
percent] [-trackplayhistory] [-ts [micros]] [-userdb file] [-vars file]
[-version] [-world world-file] [-worldsize world size]
DESCRIPTION
Bzfs is the server for BZFlag, and it must be running to play. It can
be run on any system on the network (including a player's system or one
without graphics). Terminating the server terminates the game in
progress.
OPTIONS
-a linear angular
Sets the maximum linear and angular accelerations. The units are somewhat arbitrary so you'll have to experi- ment to find suitable values. Positive values will set limits to the acceleration and lower they are, greater is the inertia. Zero or negative values disable accel- eration limits.
-admsg message Define a message which will be broadcast to all players
every 15 minutes. This option can be used multiple times to define a multiline message.
-advertise groupname,groupname,...
Allows control of who can see this server on the server list. Use: -advertise NONE to make a private server (no one will see the server, but global logins can be used). The default, if -advertise is not specified, is to allow everyone to see the server. Otherwise, your server will only be listed to members of the groups which you spec- when either -filterCallsigns or -filterChat is enabled.
-ban ip{,ip}* Prohibits connections from the listed IP addresses.
Trailing 255 bytes are treated as mask bytes.
-banfile filename
Specifies the name of a file where bzfs will store the banlist. It will load the banlist from this file when it starts (if the file exists), and write the banlist back to the file when someone gets banned or unbanned. If this option isn't given the banlist will not be saved.
-c Enables the capture-the-flag style game. By default this
allocates one team flag per team. This can be modified see +f team. By default, the free-for-all style is used.
-cache worldCacheURL
Specifies the URL for the world cache file. This is a binary file that clients will attempt to download before getting the world from the bzfs server.
-cacheout filename
Save the currently specified world into a binary cache file and exit.
-conf configfilename
Specifies the name of a configuration file to be used to set all of the bzfs options, rather than setting them on the command line.
-cr Enables the capture-the-flag style game with random map.
You can optionally specify a building density by provid- ing a number (default is 5). One team flag per team is provided, but more can be added thru +f team. By default, the free-for-all style is used.
-d Increase debugging level. If more -d is given, more
debugging info is obtained.
-density num Specify density for buildings, i.e. the higher the inte-
ger number, the more buildings you will get. This applies to automatically generated maps only.
-disableBots Disallow clients from using the ROGER autopilot or from
using robots.
+f {good|bad|teamflag-id}[{count}]
Forces the existence of the given flag. If specified multiple times for the same flag-id, then that many flags will appear. The good argument is equivalent to specifying +f once for each kind of good flag. Same goes for the bad argument. The team argument adds a team be "+s40 -s50 -f G". Similarly, "+f good{40} +f bad{10} -f G{40}" would give you exactly 40 good flags except genocide and 10 of each bad flag.
-fb Allow flags on box buildings.
-filterCallsigns
Turn on the filtering of callsigns and email addresses. Callsigns and addresses are compared against bad words provided via -badwords.
-filterChat Turn on the filtering of chat messages. Messages that
contain words listed via a -badwords file are replaced with !@#$%^&* characters.
-filterSimple By default, all filtering is aggressive, matching much
more than what is strictly listed in a -badwords file for convenience. Providing this option will make the -filterCallsigns and -filterChat comparisons exact match only.
-g Quit after serving one game.
-groupdb file Load groups from file
-h Buildings are given random heights.
-handicap Players are given a handicap advantage based on their
ability in relation to the other players. Handicapped players will have faster tanks and shots. The handicap is determined by the player's score in relation to other players.
-help Shows a help page and lists all the valid flag id's.
-helpmsg file name
Create a help message accessible by /help name, which prints the contents of file. Restricted to 10 lines per help message.
-i interface Server will listen for and respond to ``pings (sent
via broadcast) on the given interface. Clients use this to find active servers on the network. This is the TCP/UDP/IP address the server will listen on.
-j Allows jumping.
-lagdrop warn-count
Kicks players after warn-count lag warnings.
-lagwarn time/ms
Send warnings to players that lag more than time. A single value sets the total number of players allowed. Five comma separated values set the maximum for each team. If a count is left blank then no limit is set for that team, except for the limit on the total number of players. Both forms may be provided.
-mps max-score Sets a maximum score for individual players. The first
player to reach this score is declared the winner and the game is over.
-ms shots Allows up to shots simultaneous shots for each player.
This is 1 by default.
-mts max-score Sets a maximum score for teams. The first team to reach
this score is declared the winner and the game is over.
-noMasterBanlist
Server will not attempt to load the master ban list from the internet.
-p port Listen for game connections on port instead of the
default port. Use -help to print the default port, or use -d debug printing.
-passdb file Load passwords from file
-passwd password
Specify a server administrator password for use in remote administration such as /kick, /ban, /mute, etc messages.
-pidfile filename
Specify a file where the server will write its process ID so it may be used for remote administration.
-poll variable=value
Configure several aspects of the in-game polling system
banTime default number of minutes player should be banned (unspecified, the default is 300)
vetoTime max seconds authorized user has to abort poll (default is 20)
votePercentage percentage of players required to affirm a poll (unspecified, the default is 50.1%)
voteRepeatTime minimum seconds required before a player may description. By default, a server will respond to broadcast queries, allowing clients to find servers run- ning on the standard port on the local subnet. The -public option causes the server to register itself with a list server, which clients can query to get a list of bzfs servers.
-publicaddr address[:port]
Advertise this server with the given address and port. Only has an effect when used with -public. Normally a server advertises itself at the local address and port. Some servers are not accessible from the internet at this address (for example servers behind a firewall using Network Address Translation). Use this option to specify the address and/or port that internet users should use to access this server.
-publiclist url
Advertise this server on the list servers listed at url. Only has an effect when used with -public. A built-in url is used by default. The BZFlag clients use the same built-in url so, by default, clients will see public servers automatically. This argument may be provided multiple times to publicize a server to multiple list servers.
-q If specified, the server will not listen for nor respond
to ``pings. BZFlag sends out these pings to give the user a list of available servers. This effectively makes the server private, especially if the -p option is also used.
+r Makes most shots ricochet. Super bullets, shock waves,
and guided missiles do not.
-rabbit [score|killer|random]
Enables the rabbit-hunt style game. By default, the free-for-all style is used. You must specify the algo- rithm used to pick a new rabbit when the old one dies. The score algorithm uses a modified wins/(wins+losses) score and picks the top scoring player to be the new rabbit. The killer algorithm specifies a reverse tag game where whomever kills the rabbit becomes the new rabbit. The random algorithm randomly picks a new rab- bit without regard to score. (The score algorithm is the original behavior.)
-recbuf size Start with the recording buffer active, with the speci-
fied size (in megabytes).
-recbufonly Disable recording straight to files
-reportfile.
-requireudp Require clients to use parallel UDP. If players fire
before opening a UDP channel, kick them off the server.
+s num-flags The server will have an extra num-flags random super
flags available at all times. The -f option can be used to restrict which types of flags will be added. Required flags given by the +f option are not included in the num-flags total.
-s num-flags The server will have up to num-flags random super flags
available at any time. The -f option can be used to restrict which types of flags will be added. Required flags given by the +f option are not included in the num-flags total.
-sa Antidote flags are provided for players with bad flags.
-sb Allow spawns on box buildings.
-set name value
Set BZDB variable name to value
-sl id num Restrict flag id to num shots.
-spamtime time Minimum
alike.
-spamwarn warnLimit
Number of warnings a player/spammer gets, who violates -spamtime.
-speedtol factor
Override the default speed auto kick factor. The factor should not be less then 1.0. The factor is a multiplier.
-srvmsg message
Define a server welcome message. This option can be used multiple times to define a multiline message.
-st time Bad flags are automatically dropped after time seconds.
-sw count Bad flags are automatically dropped after count wins.
Capturing a team flag does not count as a win.
-synctime Forces all clients to use the same time of day. The
current time is determined by the server's clock. This disables the + and - keys on the clients.
-t Adds teleporters to the game.
first player joins. With -timemanual, the countdown has to be started manually using the /countdown command. This is useful for matches.
-tk Changes the default behavior where a player dies when he
kills a teammate. When using this option, he will just get a -1 score penalty for the kill but not be killed in game.
-tkkr percent Kicks players whose team killing to normal kill ratio is
greater than percent [1-100]. A start up grace period is given to players.
-trackplayhistory
Has the server track players with good runs of kills and anounces them. Also anounces those players that stop the runs of good players.
-ts [micros] Include timestamp information in DEBUG output - useful
for logging. If micros is specified, microseconds will be added to the timestamp.
-userdb file Load group associations from file
-vars file Loads values for game configurable variables from file.
Entries are one per line in the form: set variable value. For a list of variables that are configurable, in the BZFlag client, send a message with /set as the text.
-version Prints the version number of the executable.
-world world-file
Reads a specific BZFlag .bzw world layout file for the game map.
-worldsize world-size
Changes the size for random maps
Notes
The server uses nearly zero CPU time when nobody is playing, and even
during a game the server uses very little CPU, so it's not a burden on
the system to leave one running and it won't interfere with a player
using the same system (except on Windows 95, which really sucks at mul-
titasking). The server will continue to run until terminated. If a
game is in progress when the server goes down, all players will be
kicked off and the game will be aborted without warning. The server
resets itself when all players have quit. All players must quit to
reset the server when a game is over (because of a score or time
limit).
The following game styles are recommended starting points.
games where lag/jitter can cause unfair advantage. Single shot, non-
Jump games will teach valuable lessons in dodging, however, and are
excellent starting points for the beginner.
Networking
Communication between the server and clients (i.e. between bzfs and
bzflag) during a game is via TCP and UDP. Use the -help option to get
the server's default port. If there's a firewall between the server
and client, the firewall must accept connections from the client to
this port and forward them to the server.
Clients can search for servers by sending broadcast UDP packets. But
they must be on the same local area network for this to work. Clients
can also find servers advertised using -public by querying list
servers.
Game information is relayed through the server. Some communication
between clients, such as position and orientation information, is nor-
mally sent via UDP packets. Other data, like flag grab and kill mes-
sages, are sent to the server via TCP. The server then turns around and
broadcasts these packets to all players. Since being in a game implies
connection to the server, all players are guaranteed to get all mes-
sages sent via TCP. But the UDP packets may be discarded. If other
players can see your tank in the game but it never appears to move and
shots go through it, chances are high that your UDP connection is not
working.
GENERAL SERVER COMMANDS
/lagstats
Lists network delays, jitter and number of lost resp. out of order packets by player. Example: MrApathyCream 335 +- 10ms Gerbol 210 +- 3ms captain_macgyver 155 +- 0ms 12% lost/ooo
/idlestats
Displays the idle time in seconds for each player. A player is idle when he is dead and has not respawned yet.
MrApathyCream: 0s Gerbol: 80s captain_macgyver: 13s
/flaghistory
Lists what flags players have grabbed in the past. Example: MrApathyCream: (<-) (->) (O) (CB) (M) (B) (JM) (WA) Gerbol: (L) (GM) (L) (GM) (CL) (ST) (GM) (L) captain_macgyver: (SB) (SW)
/clientquery [callsign]
Retrieve client version info from all users, or just CALLSIGN if given Example: /clientquery MrApathyCream MrApathyCream: Version: BZFlag 1.11.6-20040729-gnu-linux-SDL
/report {message}
Write a message to the server administrator. Example: /report I like this map!
/part {message}
Leave the server with a goodbye message (similar to IRC's /part) /part Gotta go! bye everyone!
/quit {message}
Quit the game with a goodbye message (similar to IRC's /quit) /quit Gotta go! bye everyone!
/me
This command displays an "action" that is conveyed to another player. It allows for a little more expressivity in the game. For example: "/me is hunting wabbits" turns into a message like "TimRiker is hunting wabbits" that gets displayed differently to other players.
/msg some player some message
This command allows a player to send a message to another player. Similar to using the "," and "." message keys in the game and then selecting your recipient, this will send some message to particular player. The quotes are optional.
SERVER ADMINISTRATIVE COMMANDS
/viewreports
View the server's report file.
/record list
List all files in the recordings directory
/record start
Start recording into the memory buffer
/record stop
/record file <filename>
Start recording directly to a file
/record save <filename> [seconds]
Save the recording buffer into a file. If seconds is specified, then only save that many previous seconds into the file.
/replay list
List all files in the recordings directory
/replay load <filename|#index>
Load the specified recording file by name, or by index (same indices as produced by the 'replay list' command)
/replay play
Start playing the recording. This will oftentimes require that all players connected to the server rejoin (to reload the map, etc...)
/replay loop
Start looping the recording. This will oftentimes require that all players connected to the server rejoin (to reload the map, etc...)
/replay skip [+/- seconds]
If seconds is specified, then skip that amount of time in the recording. Otherwise, skip forwards until there is activity. /replay stats Show the current replay status (filename, posi- tion, etc...)
/shutdownserver
Stop serving BZFlag on this server
/superkill
Kick all players off the server
/gameover
Ends the current game
/flag reset {unused}
Repositions flags. If unused is specified, flags carried by tanks are not affected.
/flag up
Removes all flags from the game
/flag show
Shows all flags with information. Example: 0: p:-1 r:1 g:1 1:V s:1 p:159.1x43.2x0.0 A reason is required
/kill <"Player name" | playerName | #slot> [reason]>
Kill a player just like when shooting.
Example: /kill Gerbol kill the player named Gerbol /kill #4 teamkilling Kill the player using slot 4 because teamkilling
/playerlist
List player names and IP addresses. Example: /playerlist [0]MrApathyCream: 35.23.65.44:4808 udp id [1]Gerbol: 130.123.1.55:4909 udp id [2]captain_macgyver: 15.32.122.51:3201 udp id
/ban <ip | ipList | #slot | Player name | playerName > <duration> <reason>
Ban players using the specified IPs for certain length of time from using this server. <duration> can be: 'short' or 'default' for the default ban time 'forever' or 'max' for infinite bans a time in the format <weeks>W<days>D<hours>H<minutes>M just a number of minutes
Examples: /ban 35.23.43.66 2 cheating bans player with specific ip for 2 minutes /ban 35.23.*.*,47.23.17.* 0 Cheaters bans all ips in this range forever /ban 36.37.2.8 2h30m "ShootMe" was abusing players bans specific ip for 2.5 hours with given reason /ban #5 60m Rejoining bans player using slot 5 for 60 minutes with given reason /ban "Tanker" max cheating bans the player Tanker forever because cheating
Note: Slots numbers are only displayed in admins clients. Duration and reason are required.
/banlist
List all of the IPs currently banned from this server. Example: /banlist IP Ban List ------------
/hostbanlist
List all of the host patterns currently banned from this server.
/say {message}
Generate a public message sent by the server. Example:
/say This is a servermessage
/sendhelp <"Player name" | playerName | #slot> <help page>
Send the specified help page to a user
/send register "Foo" Send the the help page 'register' to the player Foo
/countdown [seconds]
Starts the countdown sequence for a timed game. The countdown sequence length can optionally be specified in seconds. Examples:
/countdown /countdown 3
/lagwarn
Dynamic change the maximum allowed lag time. Example:
/lagwarn 300
USER MANAGEMENT
Generally, you start with empty files for the user and password data-
bases. These are maintained by the server, and modifiable through
server commands. Users in turn belong to groups. Groups are generally
customized to perhaps allow administrative control to trusted users.
There are both local and global groups, i.e. groups that are available
across the entire BZFlag network. In setting up a server, you may want
to specify global groups that will allow already well known and trusted
users to police your server and help maintain control against cheaters
and abuse.
The server will automatically create three groups: EVERYONE, VERIFIED,
and LOCAL.ADMIN. EVERYONE has ACTIONMESSAGE, ADMINMESSAGESEND, DATE,
FLAGHISTORY, IDLESTATS, LAGSTATS, PRIVATEMESSAGE and SPAWN by default.
VERIFIED has POLL, POLLKICK, POLLBAN, POLLSET, POLLFLAGRESET, and VOTE.
The LOCAL.ADMIN group has almost every permission possible (similar to
granting admin powers via /password).
A group database file is set up to contain the specific local and
global groups you care to have on your server in addition to default
groups and exactly which permissions are granted by each. These files
are laid out with one line per group, using the following format:
GROUP_NAME: [*Group] [+|-|!]perm1 [+|-|!]perm2 ... permN
*Group: inhert permissions from existing group "Group"
+perm: add perm to this group
-perm: remove perm from this group
!perm: forbid perm for this group. makes perm inaccessable whether it's
granted from another group or not
If no operator is given with a permission it is handled like +perm. A
group line for a previously existing group adds to already granted per-
missions. That way you can spread a group's definition over several
lines:
GROUP_NAME: +perm1 +perm2
GROUP_NAME: +perm3 +perm4 -perm5
Group names cannot have spaces, quotes, or other special characters in
them. This would be a sample line defining a "cop" group:
COPS: +KICK +SHORTBAN +BANLIST
Now a group USERADMIN with all permissions granted to COPS plus some
additional could look like this:
USERADMIN: *COPS +BAN +UNBAN
Probably you want to define customized permissions for the default
group "VERIFIED" instead of those automatically asigned by the server:
VERIFIED: -ALL +perm1 +perm2 ...
Or you want to disable the /poll command entirely?
EVERYONE: !POLL
To distinguish between a group that is local and one that is global,
use the "LOCAL." prefix as part of the group name, e.g.:
LOCAL.OPERATOR: BANLIST
The available permissions are as follows:
KICK /kick
LAGSTATS /lagstats
LAGWARN /lagwarn
LISTPERMS not implemented
MUTE /mute
PLAYERLIST /playerlist
POLL /poll
POLLBAN /poll ban
POLLFLAGRESET /poll flagreset
POLLKICK /poll kick
POLLSET /poll set
PRIVATEMESSAGE /msg
REJOIN allows instant rejoin, regardless of _rejoinTime
REMOVEPERMS /removegroup
REQUIREIDENTIFY user must /identify when using this locally regis-
tered callsign
SAY /say
SETALL use of all set/remove commands
SETPERMS /setgroup
SETPASSWORD not implemented
SETVAR /set /reset
SHOWOTHERS not implemented
SHUTDOWNSERVER /shutdownserver
SPAWN join game as a player. observers don't need this
flag.
SUPERKILL /superkill
TALK allows all players to send messages
UNBAN /unban /hostunban
UNMUTE /unmute
VETO /veto
VOTE /vote
/register {password}
Register your current callsign to the specified password. Pass- words must be at least 3 characters long, and the callsign may not contain quotes or other non-alphanumeric/space characters
/identify {password}
Log in to a registered callsign
/setpass {password}
Changes your password
/ghost {callsign} {password}
Lists the groups that a registered user is a member of
/setgroup {callsign} {group}
Add a user to a group
/removegroup {callsign} {group}
Remove a user from a group
/reload
Reloads the user, group, and password files (for synchronization between multiple servers on the same machine)
/deregister [callsign]
With an argument, it deregisters another user's callsign. With- out, it removes your own registration.
/poll ban|kick|vote|veto [...]
Interact and make requests of the bzflag voting system via the /poll command. The ban and kick subcommands request a vote to respectively ban or kick some player. The playername is expected as the next argument. The vote and veto commands behave identical to the /vote and /veto command counterparts, expecting the same arguments in following. By default, you must be registered to request and vote on a poll.
/vote yes|no
If there is a poll active, this command will place a vote in favor or in opposition to the poll. Multiple languages are sup- ported as a vote argument in addition to "yes" and "no". By default, you must be registered to vote on a poll.
/veto If there is a poll active, this will cancel the poll. By
default, you must be an admin to veto a poll.
/masterban flush|reload
Forces the server to flush any bans from the master server. If
Allows a server admin to restore the TALK permission to a previ- ously muted player. usage: /unmute <#slot> | <playername>
Worlds
BZFlag worlds come in two varieties, randomly generated ones, and human
designed ones. By default, bzfs uses randomly generated world unless
you specify the -world command line or configuration file option. The
world file specified by the -world option is a text based file that
contains a list of world objects. This file can be created using pro-
grams found on sourceforge.net through cvs, or can be hand edited. See
the bzw(5) manual page for more details.
SEE ALSO
bzflag(6), bzadmin(6), bzw(5)
bzfs-2.0.4 2006-04-17 bzfs(6)
