[mod]server_tuning (to reduce server lag)

[doyousketch2]

https://github.com/doyousketch2/server_tuning

The idea is that you set min / max values for your server settings.

- When there are only a couple players on, they get maximum resources devoted to their gameplay.

- When a lot of players are on, these settings get trimmed back, to reduce lag.



It's effective. We doubled the speed of Bhree's "Alone in the Wild Land" server with it. viewtopic.php?p=333415#p333415

Try it out if you have a laggy server, and let me know how it goes for you. Or try it out on a fast server, and increase the amount of players you can handle.

I believe all the numbers default to 1 for whatever reason. That's why it's placed in the (WIP) section. Not really a problem, just tap the arrows 'till you get usable values.

I could increase performance even more if I knew exactly what mods you are using on your server, so it can be specifically tuned to them.

[Lone_Wolf]

This will be a useful mod. +1

[texmex]

Need to try this out on future servers :)

[Astrobe]

The mod changes ABM timings; it might alter gameplay as ABMs are sometimes used for mob spawning.
In particular I'm skeptical about increasing to five secs those who are below five. I have one ABM in my game with that kind of "fast" timing, and fiddling with it would make a significant difference.

[doyousketch2]

Yeah it changes ABM's, 'cuz they are the bane of existence. Again, I specified that I'm asking for feedback to know what mods need custom tuning. Most won't.

[Astrobe]

That was just a word of caution for potential users, since it's not clearly specified that the mod does that (it appears on the logs and it's pretty clear in the source code, though).

The thing with ABMs is uti, non abuti|/i] (to use, not abuse)

I believe that game makers already fine-tune those timings; so I suggest an option to disable ABM/LBM tuning.

Some of those are a bit questionable in my opinion: the timing for grass spread, a very common node, is increased by 25%, while the timing for bee hives, a far less common node, is decreased by 400%?

It's a bit inconsistent to make it easier to tweak server parameters on one hand, and to "force" arbitrary choices on other things.

I'm not trying to belittle your hard work, that's just (hopefully) constructive criticism.

Actually an easy interface such as this for ABM timing/chance tuning would be welcome, as it's often a pain to track them down in the various source files. But that's a whole different mod.

[doyousketch2]

Pretty sure I put comments in the code. Surprised you hadn't seen it, if you looked that close.

When you reduce the timing, you increase the chance a small amount to make up for it.

Except for the bees, because they spawn way too much, and are rather unnecessary. You want a bee? Punch a hive.

Also it's rather safe. If things don't turn out the way you want, just tweak the settings on the fly. There's a /server command that's only available for admin's use, so you can do that.

The ABM timings are hardcoded in the script, but I suppose some sorta GUI could be added to tweak them, if I've got time. Can't imagine they'd interfere with gamepley, but if some mod had a hard time with it, you can always revert to your backup minetest.conf