Server Switchover

Sorry for the delay in providing more information regarding this but we've been having major issues moving the world across to the new hosting company.

After several days of working with the new hosting company we have been unable to get the world to load without serious corruption, we have tried a number of repair tools but none have worked. The cause of these issues is complicated but seems to stem from our current hosting company using a modified version of minecraft_server.jar in place of the usual tekkit.jar (most likely to allow easier automatic installation of the mods etc). The basic result is that our world will only load correctly using that customised version of the server, which we cannot continue using with our new host.

So basically we have no choice but to start a new world :(

I know many people will be annoyed with this but you have to appreciate that we are all in the same position, for example me and DigginChickin had spent two weeks re-designing and modifying the the four 'Challenges' around spawn which will now never be used.

I do however have some good news, we will not have to completely start from scratch...

Hopefully you have all seen the announcement regarding the deleting of all alchemical bag data tomorrow (9am UK time), this is because I have figured out  a way to allow everyone to move their player inventory (including worn armour) and one alchemical bag over to the new world!

So make sure all your bags are empty for 9am UK time tomorrow (25-04-13) and do not use them again after the backup, this is important as using them may prevent you from being able to transfer a bag to the new world. I will then post instructions tomorrow on what you need to do with the items you want to transfer. 

The official switchover will take place later than planned, on Sunday 28th April, to allow everyone the maximum amount of time to ensure they get to transfer their items to the new world (once the server goes live no more alchemical bag transfers will be possible).

The delayed switchover will also allow more time for me and DigginChickin to finish building a new spawn area, luckily we had been experimenting with ideas on the new server so already have a headstart on this. On another positive note it will also allow us to make some changes to the way things work that in hindsight we would have done differently from the start and will allow a smoother transition to the new plugins.

I'll also be posting some information regarding the new plugins and some exciting new features tomorrow!

Please bear with us and we hope you'll join us in the new world on the 28th!

Further Downtime

As I announced yesterday the server is now down again and won't be up until this afternoon, I'll update here when I have a better idea of how long everything is going to take.

UPDATE: 13:00 - Server is coming back up now!
UPDATE: 17:00 - Full details of the switch-over will be announced tomorrow!

Downtime

As announced yesterday the server is now down and won't be up until this afternoon, I'll update here when I have a better idea of how long everything is going to take.

UPDATE: 17:00 - I'm having some issues with the world files, I'll update as soon as I know more.
UPDATE: 17:50 - I'm starting the server up now, sorry it took longer than planned!

More downtime will be required tomorrow in preparation for the switch-over, it will be the same sort of time to minimise the impact.

Server Downtime Tomorrow

I'm taking the server down for most of the day tomorrow, Monday daytime is always very quiet with 1-3 players most of the time so the impact should be minimal.

I will be taking it down around 8am UK time and estimate it will be back online by 4-5pm, this is to clear out a significant amount of data and test for issues relating to the hosting company switch.

If everything goes to plan this could mean that we will be switching before the 26th, so keep your fingers crossed!

New Hosting Company & Changes

I can confirm that hosting fees with our new hosting company are now paid up until 18th July!

I  spent Thursday/Friday testing various things and getting used to the new interface, which I must say is far more flexible than our current hosting company provides and has some great features which automatically deal with day to day admin and other common issues.

Me and DigginChickin spent virtually the whole of today testing the new plugin setup and tweaking the related permissions. To give you an idea of how big the changes are we have removed 9 of the plugins in use on the current server and added in 6 new ones, 4 as direct replacements for much of the functionality of ones we removed (as well as adding some new features) and two that add some entirely new features which we have big plans for and are sure you're going to love!

I know you have a lot of questions so here are some answers to common ones:

When is the switch-over taking place?

We will be moving over to the new server on the 26th at the latest, hopefully a day or two sooner.

Why is it taking so long to switch?

We decided to use this opportunity to make some significant changes to the plugins we use which means we have to do a lot of testing to make sure we don't have serious issues when we move the world & data over, we'd hate to have to roll back the world after a day or two because of a problem we missed. It'll be worth it in the long run though!

Will we loose anything when the switch takes place?

On the day of the switch the server will go down straight after the daily backup, the world and player data from that backup will then be used for the new server, which means in theory that nothing should be lost. Alchemical bag data can be temperamental though which is why we've asked everyone to empty the bags into chests, read the last couple of posts on here for more information.

What do the plugin changes mean?

That would be telling! I can confirm that ranks and their chat colours etc will be staying the same, although new benefits for Member rank and above have been added along with some new tools for Helpers & Moderators.

One big change is that banned items will be automatically removed and notifications sent to Admins & Moderators, in some cases players may even be automatically banned, if you currently have any banned items you'll want to get rid of them before the switch over to avoid this possibility.

I'll post another update tomorrow!

Changes Next Week - Update

Promotions On Hold

I've set up all the plugins on the new server using a 'dummy' world and have started to set up groups and permissions etc, to ease the transition promotions are now on hold until the switch-over meaning that no more players will be promoted using the existing system. 

We are still keeping a list though and anyone who would have been promoted this week will be immediately promoted on the new server!

Alchemical Bags

As you should know we recommend against using these for long term storage, I would strongly advise everyone to move items from alchemical bags into chests or safes for the switch-over just in case they are reset. Any items lost from alchemical bags that do reset cannot be recovered and will not be replaced.

Old Data

Their are currently over 6000 world and player data related files on the server, totalling more than 1.2 GB. 

To reduce this size, clear out unneeded data and speed up the switch-over we will be purging player data over 21 days old, this will include all data of players that have not logged in 21 days as well as transmutation tablet & alchemical bag data that has not been changed within this time. I have estimated that together with the removal of other old data this will reduce the size by around 25%.

Protection Stones

On the day of the switch-over Protection stones belonging to players who have not logged in for 21 days or longer will be automatically removed and their protection area regenerated.

If you live in a region originally protected by someone who no longer plays or has not logged in for 21 days contact DiggyWig or DigginChickin as soon as possible (preferably within the next 2-3 days in case we switch early) to remove the stone so that you can place your own.

More updates to follow over the next few days!