One of the new features of 2.4.0 is the possibility to know who is responsible for a server (as long as it appears in the official public server list). So I used that chance to grab this information too. That means the server owner and a link to BZstats' BZBB member search is placed at the bottom of the block with "common server information".

If you know further new features that could be included into BZstats - you are welcome to let me know. :o)

Due to a script update problem all 2.4.0 server disappeared from BZstats during the last 13 hours. Well, they (32 servers) are back again.

Routine is a concentration killer... :o)

BZFlag 2.4.0 "Wake the Dead"

Believe it or not, due to the reorganization of the development process and the countless hours the devs invested into it, the working pre release 2.3.x "Born Again" reached the point to become the final release 2.4.0 "Wake the Dead". Check www.bzflag.org for sources and binaries!

Enjoy playing!

It's pretty exciting - the closer we come to the first 2.4.x release the more test servers are running. At this moment, there are exactly 40 test servers of eight different domains. Download a client, put them to the acid test and report bugs!

Good news for 1vs1 League players because catay ported the 1vs1 plug-in for the new server version.

For the stats: There were seven different server query protocol / behaviour changes since the devs started working on 2.4.x (declared as 2.3.x on BZstats' pages).

The Xleague players and teams listing update problem has been solved since Sunday because Murielle was so kind and offered an plublicly available export script page.

Believe it or not but the new BZFlag release 2.4 is near. Now, all willing testers are welcome to check it for bugs. Windows binaries (32 and 64 bit) and source code packages are available: http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?f=62&t=17459
If you find bugs or anything else that seems to be problematic, report them in the forums, please!

Since a little longer than one week it isn't possible to access Xleague's teams and players listing without special user authentication. Therefor, BZstats users have to live with a player name matching that bases on outdated Xleague data sets until I get access to the necessary information again.

Gah...
...as result of an untested modification of my server query code, there were no player information for the last 100 minutes. Fortunately, my faux pas didn't affect the data collection process during the most active time.

Well, hopefully there aren't further query code changes necessary since the BZFlag source fro 2.4.0 looks pretty much done (considering the official ToDo list). :o)

The rapid development on version 2.4 keeps me on the go. Until now, I had to implement 6 different query script versions to support the development builds.
If someone is doing the same and wonders about connection problems with protocol versions BZFS0203, BZFS0204 and early builds of BZFS0205 - don't care about that because a bug caused that. (Afaik it was JeffM who fixed it for later BZFS0205 builds.)
Something else which is important to know is the extremely decreased timeout limit for clients (to 2.5 seconds). In case of a "long" server query execution process it may happen the bzfs sends a "\r\n\r\n" to signalize a reconnect has to be done. The connection itself won't be closed by the bzfs. So, never forget to check for the timeout signal!

You might have noticed or not - the BZFlag developers decided to continue development via some kind of restart. In short: they snapped off the 2.99.x code branch, used the latest 2.0.x code and (actually) backport many features from 2.99.x into the 2.0.x code base. The new release will be incompatible to the 2.0.x servers/clients, called "Born Again" and released as version 2.4.

For further information about the backporting process read http://my.bzflag.org/w/BZFlag_2.3

Well, this backport has the funny side-effect that I can continue to blow my scripts with code to support the pre 2.4 releases. They'll show up as 2.3.x in the version column. In case you recognize "obscure" server or player information, feel free to send me a notice because it surely will be a bug in my code and/or a new and unsupported protocoll version.

Finally, a big thank-you to all the BZFlag developers for spending their resources (time, money, soul,...)!

Even the non-regular players might have noticed the websites of the Pillbox League and the BZSoccer League went offline a long time ago and never found a new home/host. As a result it was time to remove them from the BZstats league listing...finally.
These were the leagues eight and nine that left us...

As compensation the Xleague has been added. It isn't a league like all the others but since it has many active players (and three requests by different players to list it) I felt it's time to list the Xleague.