I want to use Punkbuster to Admin my server, what commands can I use?
From AAManual
Contents |
PB Tasks
pb_sv_task <start-seconds> <optional-run-every-seconds> - This allows server admins to set a task starting from a specified time in seconds and then running again every x seconds there after. If no re-run value is specified then the task is only run once. This feature is not limited to PB functions and can run in-game functions as well. You may use more than one task if you like. Example:
- pb_sv_task 10 300 say ^3Visit us at www.yourwebsite.com
- pb_sv_task 15 305 say ^5Email server admins: admin@yoursite.com
- pb_sv_task 700 "pb_sv_bindsrch com_maxfps"
- pb_sv_task 700 "pb_sv_bindsrch m_pitch"
This will spam your two messages on screen and re run them at the specified times. The last two will run a bind-cvar check once only.
pb_sv_tlist - Shows what tasks you have running and shows you what slot number each task is assigned to.
pb_sv_taskdel <slot#> - Deletes a task in your list of tasks by slot number. This is useful in keeping multiple tasks from piling up and repeating themselves. In your pbsv.cfg you should insert this command right before your list of tasks to make sure you start off clear. Example:
- pb_sv_TaskDel 1
- pb_sv_TaskDel 2
- pb_sv_TaskDel 3
- pb_sv_TaskDel 4
Name Management
pb_sv_badname <grace-seconds> <filter> - This command will allow you to filter out certain text in names, then give the player x seconds to change the name before being removed from the server. Here are some examples:
- pb_sv_badname 30 www.
- pb_sv_badname 30 .com
- pb_sv_badname 30 UnnamedPlayer
- pb_sv_badname 30 ogc
- pb_sv_badname 30 noskill
- pb_sv_badname 30 noname
The first two lines prevent people from using your severs to advertise web sites. The others are just suggested filters and can be adjusted to your preferences. They are all set to give the player 30 seconds of warnings before they are removed from the server.
pb_sv_badnamelist - Lists all the bad names in your check list and shows you each lines assigned slot number.
pb_sv_badnameDel <slot#> - Deletes a name in your list of bad names by slot number. This is useful in keeping multiple bad names from piling up and repeating themselves. In your pbsv.cfg you should insert this command right before your list of bad names to make sure you start off clear.
- pb_sv_badnameDel 1
- pb_sv_badnameDel 2
- pb_sv_badnameDel 3
- pb_sv_badnameDel 4
- pb_sv_badnameDel 5
- pb_sv_badnameDel 6
- pb_sv_badname 30 www.
- pb_sv_badname 30 .com
- pb_sv_badname 30 UnnamedPlayer
- pb_sv_badname 30 ogc
- pb_sv_badname 30 noskill
- pb_sv_badname 30 noname
pb_sv_changePeriod 10 - Amount of seconds allowed between name changes, prevents name spamming.
pb_sv_changeMax 5 - Number of total allowed name changes per session.
pb_sv_dupNameGrace 20 - Amount of time (in seconds) that a duplicate name has to be changed before that player is removed from the server. This ensures that all players on the server have a unique name.
pb_sv_extChar 0 - Control of extended characters in names (characters and symbols that can not be produced from a single key stroke.) 0 to disallow such names. 1 to allow these names.
pb_sv_emptyname 0 - Control the option of a an empty name (no name at all). 0 will not allow an empty string to be returned for a name value. 1 will allow an empty string.
pb_sv_minName 1 - Dictates the minimum amount of actual characters a players name must have to be allowed on the server. This will double check the above pb_sv_emptyname 0 to make sure a player doesn't enter ^7^7 as a name (which satisfies the pb_sv_emptyname 0 but still returns an empty string to the console.) Set this to one to make sure that a player has at least one standard character in their name.
GUID Settings
Pb_sv_noguidgrace 30 - Number of seconds that a player with no GUID is kicked (0 - 300) We recommend giving players 30 seconds or so in case of slow communication rate with the master auth server.
pb_sv_updategrace 300 - Number of seconds that a player with a "no updated status" has to update before being kicked (300 - 600)
pb_sv_guidrelax 7 - This setting was added to server version 1.011 to set options for the locked-down GUID system. This setting is cumulative based on adding the values for the conditions desired: 1=UNKN GUID, 2=WRONGIP GUID, 4=DUPLICATE GUID’s. The current default for this setting is 7 (1+2+4) which means that PB will not kick (relax kicking) for any of the three cases. We recommend kicking for at least UNKN guides. Below are the possible combinations:
- 0= Kick for UNKN GUID, wrong ip GUID and duplicate GUID.
- 1= Kick for wrong ip GUID and duplicate GUID.
- 2= Kick for UNKN GUID, and duplicate GUID.
- 3= Kick for duplicate GUID.
- 4= Kick for UNKN GUID and wrong ip GUID.
- 5= Kick for wrong ip GUID.
- 6= Kick for UNKN GUID
- 7= Don't kick for UNKN GUID, wrong ip GUID and duplicate GUID.
These values are bit mapped and work like the games FLAGS system, but since they are used to "relax" or disable instead of enable, they are reversed in the sense that you don't add up the numbers but rather subtract them.
Auto Kicking
pb_sv_CQC 1 - This allows admins to turn off / on the feature that shows players why they were kicked (bad name, cvar violation, hook, no GUID, etc.) We recommend leaving this ON, so people can see why they were kicked. 1 is ON and 0 is OFF.
pb_sv_KickLen 10 - When kicked from the server for a violation (bad name, cvar violation, hook, no GUID, etc.) this is the time (in minutes) that person must wait before they can re-join the server.
Manual Screen Shots
To manually take a screen shot, in game from your console of all players, the command is:
pb_sv_getss - To manually take a screen shot of a specific player, get all the players slot numbers by doing a pb_sv_plist [enter] and when you get the slot number of the person you want to take a screen shot of ( lets say its player number 4 ) type:
pb_sv_getss 4
Automatic Screen Shots
To set up your server to take automatic screen shots, you will need to use and understand the following commands in your pbsv.cfg.
pb_sv_autoss 1 - This setting tells your PB enabled server whether it should retrieve screen shots automatically. Setting to 1 will turn the auto screen shot capture ON and setting it to 0 will turn it OFF. The default is OFF.
pb_sv_autossfrom 60 - This is the MINIMUM number ( in seconds ) that PB will wait after taking a screen shot from players, before attempting to take another one. The default is 60 seconds. Remember that taking screen shots from every player every 60 seconds will rack up a nice number of screen shots in your PB's screen shots folder and use plenty of system resources, sometimes resulting in lag. If there are 10 players on your server and the map lasts 10 minutes, you will be getting 100 screen shots per map. Be careful with this setting. Some recommended settings and samples will be presented at the end of this page.
pb_sv_autossto 1200 - This is the MAXIMUM number ( in seconds ) that PB will wait after taking a screen shot from players, before attempting to take another one. The default is 1200 ( 20 minutes. ) Some recommended settings and samples will be presented at the end of this page.
pb_sv_ssfloor 1 - PB screen shots are taken and then saved numerically. This is the "starting" number that PB will use to name screen shots. Default is 1.
pb_sv_ssceiling 100 - This is the highest number PB screen shots will be saved. After screen shot #100, PB will over write the screen shots starting at your pb_sv_ssfloor setting. Default is 100 but this could easily be reached in a few hours. Some recommended settings and samples will be presented at the end of this page.
pb_sv_ssdelay 0 - Each player will have to wait a random amount of seconds ( up to the number of this setting ) before actually sending the screen shot after the request has been made. This *may* help reduce lag, as all players don't have to send their shots and then get processed and written at the same time, rather they get done randomly within the time frame set. On the other hand, it may cause more lag ( lets say set to 5 ) from screen shots being sent and processed over a longer period of time ( processing 20 players over a 5 second period, rather than an instantaneous "glitch" from all 20 being done at the same time.) Default is 0 which means there is no delay and all shots are taken at the same time.
pb_sv_sspath "" - This is where PB will send the screen shots and the helper html files. The default is "" ( empty ) and need not be specified if you want to keep the shots stored in the default PB screen shots folder.
pb_sv_ssheight 240 - The height in pixels of the screen shot. 240 is the default and the recommended value to maintain a good size while keeping file size and cpu usage at an acceptable level.
pb_sv_sswidth 320 - The width in pixels of the screen shot. 320 is the default and the recommended value to maintain a good size while keeping file size and cpu usage at an acceptable level.
pb_sv_ssSrate 1 - The sample rate ( quality ) of the shot captured. If set to "2" then only every second pixel is taken ( both horizontally and vertically. ) If set to "4" then only every fourth pixel is taken. This reduces file size and cpu usage but significantly reduces the picture quality as well, making it hard to prove those "close calls." Default is 1 and is recommended.
pb_sv_ssxpct 50 - Percentage ACROSS the screen where the center of the screen shot should be captured from. Default is 50 and is recommended to keep the screen shots centered.
pb_sv_ssypct 50 - Percentage DOWN the screen where the center of the screen shot should be captured from. Default is 50 and is recommended to keep the screen shots centered.
Miscellaneous
pb_ver - tells the PunkBuster version
pb_load - load a script of PunkBuster commands (untested)
pb_plist - list of all players on the server and their "PunkBuster status" (Unsure of what this means)
pb_power - list of all players on the server and the different PB status' then pb_plist
pb_kick # - # is the number of a player. Use "pb_power" or "pb_plist" to find the number. It needs 10 people to kick (vote) the player off the server for about 2-5 mins. The votes only count for one round like the regular kick.
pb_myguid - the "unique identifier" PunkBuster has assigned you for this server.
pb_sslog - controls whether any ScreenShots taken of you are logged to the System/pb/scrnshot directory. Default is 1 (yes).
pb_sssave - controls whether additional information is saved (?) whenever you are investigated (? again). Default is 0 (no).
pb_msgprefix - The prefix before any punkbuster messages. Default is "PunkBuster Client". You could change it to "PB Client", for example. (On ET you can apparently change the color, but I don't know how to do this in AA.)
pb_system - apparently you can change this (from 0 to 1 or vice versa) if you are having lockup problems
pb_lan - setting defaults to 0; when set to 1, PB will behave as though it has no internet access
pb_webupdate - command adds the PBWEB functionality directly into the PB client; PBWEB should no longer be required to manually update PB clients; PunkBuster will automatically issue this command when necessary to auto-update during gameplay before going into distress mode
pb_sv_maxConUpdates - setting defaults to 12; PB Server will not send updates to more than this number of clients simultaneously in an effort to cut down on update timeouts after a recent PB update
pb_sv_homepath - command to display PB's home path
pb_sv_specname <playername> - Spectates the specified player
pb_sv_update - Attempts a PunkBuster server update.
pb_sv_rcon - If you have server admin on a specific server and want extra admin privileges, you can use PB Rcon. This works with PB Power so you will need to know how to do that also. When under admin issue the command: admin pb_sv_rcon [min PB power points needed] [Server command] min PB power points needed is where when you give power, you needed that number they're min. to be able to run that command. For server command you can put specific commands <pb_sv_badname, pb_sv_specname..> or if you trust your Power and Rcon people you can do pb_sv_ and they will be able to run all pb_sv_ commands on PB server from in the game. This does not execute regular in game commands.
pb_sv_kick [PB slot number] [minutes] [Displayed reason] || Optional: [Private Reason] -
"Ex. admin pb_sv_kick 4 25 No advertising other clans please."
pb_sv_ban [PB slot number] [Displayed reason] || [Private Reason] - To empty that ban list, or any other time bans, etc. on the server type..
- pb_sv_banempty
- pb_sv_banmask [IP Mask]
- Ban a whole mask.
- Ex. admin pb_sv_banmask 152.65.
- No asterisks go in for wildcards. Just the dot and stop there.
pb_security 0/1 - Can be used to alleviate the *WARNING*: PunkBuster Reports PB Server Running Old Version error (use 0 if u are receiving that error). pb_writecfg can be used 2 write a change the punkbuster configuration so it is autoloaded.
pb_sleep 20-500 - Can be used to set the number of milliseconds between pb scans. 500 to reduce lag caused by frequent scans. 20 to increase lag by more frequent scans, though I don't know why anyone would even use a higher number.
PB Power Tips
This is all about the PunkBuster Player Power System, a system similar to votekick. The only thing different about is certain people can have more weight to a votekick than others. The cool thing is that certain players on their own server can be designated "Deputy" allowing them to remove players from their server (and ban them for 5 minutes[default]).
To do this: 1) Log in as admin 2) Type in the console pb_power and retrieve the player's slot number you wish to make a deputy. 3) Type in the console admin pb_sv_power XX 100 where XX=desired deputy player's slot number.
Nothing will come up in the console if done correctly.
It's good to do another pb_power to check that the right person got the correct votekick power.
Then, as that player (in the game), he can easily kick people without logging out and then re-logging in as admin.
Also, if a Deputy with 100 is in the server, players cannot kick other players with the pb_kick command, even those with enough points to kick, example being if someone has 10 power, and to kick someone (by default anywho) is 0/10, that player cannot kick. Once the deputy (with 100) has left the server, that player can kick.
To do this: 1) Open console 2) type pb_power and retrieve desired player's slot number 3) type into console pb_kick XX where XX=kicked player's slot number
The player will be kicked from the server and will be banned for 5 minutes(default). This is usually good enough to keep the undesirables from ruining the game for your other players. They will typically get tired of waiting and go play somewhere else instead of waiting that long just to irritate you again. The "deputy's" weighted kick will last until the server is rebooted. (If an SCI server, otherwise files should be saved and kept perm.)
The kick does not cause any honor loss to the player who is kicked. The message they get when being punted is a little misleading in that you might think he is loosing 100 experience points for being kicked, but actually that 100 refers to the 100 points of "deputy weight" that the kicker had.
The pb_sv_powerdef # setting is used to set the number of power points allocated to players who are not in the local
PB Player Power database
Use the pb_sv_powermin # setting to specify the number of power points required to be applied to a given player before that player is removed from the game. The pb_sv_powerkicklen # setting holds the number of minutes that players must wait before being allowed to rejoin when removed via this facility. To completely disable this facility, set pb_sv_powerkicklen to 0.