Laggy/tickrate issue after server left running for a while

AussieKidAussieKid Join Date: 2012-08-07 Member: 154896Members, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Gold, Reinforced - Shadow
in Server Discussion
I've noticed that my dedicated servers (and others) suffer from a strange symptom after they have been left running for more than 24 hours or so. You will notice you connect to some servers and it feels like the tickrate is running at about 5, however when you look at net_stats the tickrate displayed is fine sitting at 30 ticks.

The only way to resolve this seems to be to kill the server process and start it again.

This symptoms in this issue feel very similar to the "32 tickrate" bug if anyone remembers that from earlier builds. Since it doesn't appear to happen to all servers across the board, I'm wonding if it has something to do with intel core parking perhaps?

Would like to know if any other admins out there have experienced this.
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Comments

  • invTempestinvTempest Join Date: 2003-03-02 Member: 14223Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
    Yes - It is advisable to restart your server every 24 hours for NS2. It used to be as frequently as every 4 hours when the 32 tick rate bug existed but there are still issues with leaving the server run for extended periods of time on the same map.

    A server with players that changes maps doesn't appear to degrade as fast but it still does over time. Best bet is just to set up a nightly restart until the server process gets some love from UWE.
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  • AussieKidAussieKid Join Date: 2012-08-07 Member: 154896Members, Reinforced - Supporter, Reinforced - Silver, Reinforced - Gold, Reinforced - Shadow
    Thanks for the reply, it would be wonderful if we didn't have to this however. Just wondering if there's any priority being placed on having this looked into as it's clearly a bug which would have a widespread positive impact if it was fixed. It was really disappointing to see brand new NS2 players jumping onto an affected server for the first time thinking that this was how the game runs and thinking that it was their clients not being powerful enough when in fact it was the server causing their framerate issues.
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  • invTempestinvTempest Join Date: 2003-03-02 Member: 14223Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
    Running a server for NS2 has never really been "ideal" (The need for overclocked servers to run 24 slots effectively comes to mind) but it is manageable.

    The NS2 server hasn't seen any love for quite some time now and there are a lot of ways in which it can be improved and the animation hitching / frame rate bug after X hours of being idle is one that I would love to see fixed.

    Now I'm not one for band-aid fixes, but until the server process gets some love by UWE, there isn't much that can be done other than setting up a 24 hour restart schedule.
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  • matsomatso Master of Patches Join Date: 2002-11-05 Member: 7000Members, Forum Moderators, NS2 Developer, Constellation, NS2 Playtester, Squad Five Blue, Squad Five Silver, Squad Five Gold, Reinforced - Shadow, NS2 Community Developer
    This will hopefully be patched up in 238 - the server will automatically reset its time every now and then if its been idle for too long.
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  • mbrickmbrick Join Date: 2013-01-24 Member: 181869Members
    <!--quoteo(post=2066623:date=Jan 25 2013, 12:45 PM:name=matso)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (matso @ Jan 25 2013, 12:45 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=2066623"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->This will hopefully be patched up in 238 - the server will automatically reset its time every now and then if its been idle for too long.<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    When is 238 due? Any workarounds to have it automatically restart nightly now?
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  • WhosatWhosat Singapore Join Date: 2006-11-03 Member: 58301Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    <!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->Due to how we synchronize time over the network, servers will experience errors if left running on the same map for many hours without any reload.

    So in 238, the server will reload the current map if:

    1. At least 10 hours have passed.
    2. There is no active game being played.

    So this will happen either between rounds or when nobody is currently playing on the server.

    Nothing else should be affected by this.

    Thanks<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
    -Brian

    <a href="https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups=#!topic/uwe-server-ops/1E7efA7AV7s" target="_blank">https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups...ops/1E7efA7AV7s</a>
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