Welcome to jdrgaming.com Monday, June 01 2020 @ 06:49 PM -08

JDRGaming web site upgraded

The JDRGaming web site was down for a few hours today in order to upgrade the site's underlying CMS software.

Nothing much has changed, and I've tested the site's functionality, so everything should work as before. If you do notice anything broken, please let me know: click About/Contact in the top menu.

Minecraft 1.15.2

Minecraft 1.15.2 was released on January 21.

The release notes for the new version list numerous changes and bug fixes. Many of them involve the recently-added bee and beehive features.

The JDRGaming Minecraft server is now running Minecraft (Spigot) 1.15.2.

NOTE: I also found and fixed a typo in the server's welcome message. The custom command for getting the claim tools is actually /giveclaimtools, not /getclaimtools. Sorry about that.

Full functionality returned to Minecraft server

On December 18, I upgraded the JDRGaming Minecraft server's world data. Upgrading world data can often resolve various kinds of problems, some of which cause error messages and sluggish performance.

I'm satisfied that the upgrade had the desired effect, in that the world seems less buggy and has fewer performance issues (e.g. lag). However, I failed to notice that the Skript plugin was no longer functioning normally after the upgrade.

Skript provides much of the functionality related to the new 'claims' and other anti-griefing security features. So none of that stuff was working.

I finally noticed the problem yesterday, and resolved it by upgrading Skript and deleting some out of date files. Claims and other scripting-related functions should once again be working normally.

I apologize for the screwup.

TPU stats are updating again

I found a workaround for the TPU stats problem that started on January 1, 2020. It involves changing the year of each round from 2020 to 2019. Yes, it's clunky, but it works.

None of the round, map, or player stats refer to dates, so this doesn't actually mess anything up. Well, nothing important anyway.

The only place on the stats page where year is now showing as 2019 when it should be 2020 is in the server stats section towards the bottom:

Server has logged rounds from 2019-01-01, 04:01:43 to 2019-01-05, 04:49:30

UPDATE 2020Jan07: I found a workaround for the year being wrong in that one spot on the stats page.

TPU stats are stuck in 2019

When I started the yearly rollover process for the TPU stats, I noticed that rounds from 2020 were causing errors. Investigation shows that the stats software (BFStats) is choking on the year for rounds played in 2020.

Unfortunately, I don't have access to the Java source code for BFStats, so I'm not able to fix the problem. So the stats are stuck in 2019, at least for now.

There's a small possibility that someone at bfmods.com (where I've reported the problem) will find a solution and patch the Java code. They've come through in the past.

Meanwhile, if anyone out there knows of another alternative to select(bf) and BFStats, please let me know.

Minecraft 1.15 and 1.15.1

Minecraft 1.15 was released on December 10, followed by 1.15.1 on December 17.

Minecraft 1.15.1 fixes a few bugs introduced in 1.15, and improves performance.

Minecraft 1.15 is considered a major upgrade from 1.14.x. From the release notes:

... added bees and bee-related items, such as beehives, honey bottles and honeycombs. Alongside adding bees, this update focused on fixing bugs and improving performance, as well as adding numerous features that were originally Bedrock Edition exclusives.

The JDRGaming Minecraft server is now running Spigot 1.15.1.

Minecraft server re-launch

The JDRGaming Minecraft server is back online after about a week of downtime for upgrades and enhancements.

The main reason for these changes is the amount of griefing I've observed in recent weeks. Simply banning griefers (most of whom are, sadly, children from unhappy homes), isn't enough. More protection and admin tools became necessary.

If you're one of the griefers I've been dealing with, or someone who idiotically insists that griefing is 'part of the game', please ask your parents to get you help for your mental health issues. You're almost certainly a budding sociopath.

What's new

  • It's no longer a 'vanilla' server. Vanilla servers just don't have enough tools for dealing with griefing. Instead, the server now runs Spigot, which is a set of tools that enhance vanilla Minecraft. It's the same world, with (mostly) the same rules.
  • You can (and really should) 'claim' locations in which you intend to build. You can also claim areas in which you've already built. Once you've claimed an area, nobody else can change anything there unless you explicity give them access. The server will notice when you start building and offer useful hints about claims. Use the new command /getclaimtools to get a pair of items that help with claim management. This list of GriefPrevention commands should help.
  • Several other grief prevention measure have been enabled; for example, to limit the spread and effect of fire and explosions.
  • New commands: /sethome and /home. The former allows to you remember your current location as your home location, while the latter will teleport you there.

If your constructions on the server have been damaged by griefers, I apologize. I did try to restore a version of the world pre-griefing, but wasn't able to find one that undid all the damage without also undoing legitimate building. Hopefully the new anti-griefing measures will limit griefer activity in the future.

Comments? Concerns? Suggestions? Click About/contact in the top menu to find ways to reach me.

Nintendo continues its fan-hostile ways; takes down hundreds of fan videos

Any organization, given enough time, will eventually become corrupt, or at least lose touch with the ideas of its founders. Once a company is being run by lawyers and MBAs, there's a good chance that they'll try to wring every last dollar out of their customers, in any way possible, regardless of the potential for damage.

Such is the case with Nintendo, where the desire to drain customers and treat them like criminals knows no bounds.

The latest atrocity committed by Nintendo, in a long, sad list of similar behaviour, was their recent takedown of hundreds of videos on Youtube, on a YouTube channel called GilvaSunner. The reason provided by Nintendo was unauthorized use of music from Nintendo games. This is a clear case of fair use, and if GilvaSunner had unlimited resources to spend on lawyers, they might be able to win in a legal fight against Nintento. But that's not the case, and the videos are not likely to see the light of day ever again.

What a huge win for Nintendo, right? I mean, think of all the terrible things that would happen if Nintendo allowed its fans to show their appreciation. Like... um... nope, can't think of a single one. In fact, it's been clearly demonstrated that companies that support and encourage fan endeavours always benefit. The problem is that these benefits are difficult to quantify, and in business school, one learns that intangibles are best ignored. So on the off chance that a single penny will be saved, we get this kind of hostility.

Screw you, Nintendo.

TPU stats are back

Making the old stats software compatible with PHP 7 turns out to be a non-trivial task. So I've shelved that project and switched to BFStats for TPU stats.

BFStats has a slightly smaller feature set than its predecessor, select(bf). But it has all the basics. One big difference is that each of your player names has a separate set of stats. That's either a good thing or a bad thing, depending on your perspective.

The stats will update at 3am every day, just like before, but I may increase the frequency to hourly. I had to remove the gold, silver, and bronze stars from the stats, because they were causing browser issues. And I have no idea how the 'score' column is calculated.

I'll roll the stats over in January as before. If there's interest, I'll post all previous years' stats as well.

You can find the TPU stats at the same address as before: tpu.jdrgaming.com.

Minecraft 1.14.4: lots of bug fixes

Minecraft 1.14.4 was released earlier today. The new version includes a lot of bug fixes, as outlined in the release announcement on minecraft.net.

As of about 7am July 19, the JDRGaming Minecraft server is running version 1.14.4. So far, it looks like the performance issues with earlier 1.14.x versions are mostly gone. Yay!

If you notice any new problems or performance issues with the JDRGaming Minecraft server, please let me know.

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