Editing Common Support Issues

This is a list of common problems in the game and their resolutions.

==Global Login Not Identifying==
If you get the following error upon entering or finding servers...
 ERROR: Did not get token:
 NOTOK: Invalid callsign or password
It may be caused either by the global login system being down (which you can check by going to [http://my.bzflag.org/bb/ the BZBB]) or your ISP putting a caching proxy on port 80. This means that when your client goes to get a token from global login, your ISP returns an old cached token which will not work. If there is a proxy, then the following steps will allow you to bypass it.

*Open your [[Config File|configuration file]]
*Locate the line that reads:
 #set list <nowiki>http://my.bzflag.org/db</nowiki>
*Change the line to read:
 set list <nowiki>http://my.bzflag.org:81/db</nowiki>
*Save the file and restart BZFlag

If you continue to get the error above then either global login is down or there is a more serious problem (in which case you should get [[:Category:Support|support]]).

==Kicked for not using UDP==
BZFlag always tries to use UDP networking. If you are getting kicked from servers for not using UDP, it could be caused by your anti-virus, firewall, router, modem, or ISP. The easiest thing to try is to disable your firewall and/or antivirus for a few minutes and see if you can play.

There was recently an issue fount with the anti-virus program Nod32. It identifies BZFlag as a browser, causing it to block UDP communication. To fix this, right click on Nod32 in the system ray, go to Advanced Setup. From there, go to Web access protection > HTTP, HTTPS > Web browsers, and uncheck BZFlag.

If you still have issues and you use a router, try connecting your computer directly to your modem. If it works now, then it might be caused by your router. See if there is a newer firmware for your router, or try to determine if a setting in the router configuration might be causing the problem.

==Slow Performance==
The performance of the BZFlag client is very dependent on the performance of the system's video card. Slow performance is often a problem when the host OS does not have the proper video card drivers to provide the needed acceleration for the 3D drawing the game does.

It is always a good idea to get the latest video drivers from the chipset manufacturer for your card.
This is almost always either [http://www.nvidia.com nVidia] or [http://www.ati.com ATI].

==I can't kill anyone!==
If your shots seem to go right through other tanks without exploding them, you are probably experiencing [[lag]].  Tip: shoot slightly ahead of where other tanks appear to be.

==Starting A Server==
Refer to [[Creating A Server]] for help on starting your own server.

==Router Setup==
If you are setting up a server, you may need to unblock/forward ports on your router. This is done through the router's settings. You pick a range of ports to forward to a local IP Address (IE: Forward ports 5154-5200 to local address 192.168.1.101). 

An excellent resource to assist you in doing this is available here: http://portforward.com/


Here is an example of port forwarding on one router

[[Image:Forwardports.jpg|Port Forwarding]]

==Crashes==
If your client crashes on startup or some key mappings don't work you might try removing your [[Config File|configuration file]] and restarting BZFlag. You will have to set things like video mode and username/password again after removing it.

If you are running Linux and get segmentation fault errors when trying to connect to a server, update libcurl3 to 7.15.5 or greater.

[[Category:Support]]