BZFS(6) BZFlag BZFS(6) NAME bzfs - BZFlag game server SYNOPSIS bzfs [-a linear angular] [-adminlagannounce milliseconds] [-admsg message] [-advertise groupname[,groupname]...] [-autoTeam] [-b] [-badwords badword- file] [-ban ip[,ip]...] [-banfile filename] [-c] [-cache worldCacheURL] [-cacheout filename] [-conf configfile] [-cr] [-d] [-density num] [-dis- ableBots] [+f {good | bad | team | | flag-id}[{count}]] [-f {good | bad | flag-id}] [-fb] [-filterCallsigns] [-filterChat] [-filterSimple] [-g] [-gndtex texture-name] [-groupdb file] [-h] [-handicap] [-help] [-helpmsg file name] [-i interface] [-j] [-jitterdrop warn-count] [-jitterwarn mil- liseconds] [-lagannounce milliseconds] [-lagdrop warn-count] [-lagwarn mil- liseconds] [-loadplugin name[,options]] [-masterBanURL URL] [-maxidle sec- onds] [-mp {count | [rogue-count], [red-count], [green-count], [blue- count], [purple-count], [observer-count]}] [-mps max-score] [-ms shots] [-mts max-score] [-noMasterBanlist] [-noradar] [-noTeamKills] [-offa] [-p port] [-packetlossdrop warn-count] [-packetlosswarn percent] [-passwd pass- word] [-pidfile filename] [-poll variable=value] [-printscore] [-publicti- tle description] [-publicaddr address[:port]] [-publiclist url] [-publickey key] [-q] [+r] [-rabbit [score | killer | random]] [-recbuf size] [-recbu- fonly] [-recdir directory] [-replay] [-reportfile filename] [-reportpipe command] [+s flag-count] [-s flag-count] [-sa] [-sb] [-set name value] [-setforced name value] [-sl id num] [-spamtime time] [-spamwarn warnLimit] [-speedtol factor] [-srvmsg message] [-st time] [-sw count] [-synclocation] [-synctime] [-t] [-tftimeout time-limit] [-time {time-limit | ending-time}] [-timemanual] [-tk] [-tkannounce] [-tkkr percent] [-ts [micros]] [-UPnP] [-userdb file] [-vars file] [-version] [-world world-file] [-worldsize world size] DESCRIPTION Bzfs is the server for BZFlag, and it must be running to play. It can be run on any system on the network (including a player's system or one with- out graphics). Terminating the server terminates the game in progress. OPTIONS -a linear angular Sets the maximum linear and angular accelerations. The units are somewhat arbitrary so you'll have to experiment to find suitable values. Positive values will set limits to the acceleration and lower they are, greater is the inertia. Zero or negative values disable acceleration limits. -adminlagannounce milliseconds Announce players that lag more than milliseconds to admins. -admsg message Define a message which will be broadcast to all players every 15 minutes. This option can be used multiple times to define a multiline message. -advertise groupname,groupname,... Allows control of who can see this server on the server list. Use: -advertise NONE to make a private server (no one will see the server, but global logins can be used). The de- fault, if -advertise is not specified, is to allow everyone to see the server. Otherwise, your server will only be listed to members of the groups which you specify, eg: -ad- vertise JOE,BOB. -autoTeam Automatically assign players to teams when they connect so that there are an equal number of players on all available teams. Players are placed on teams that have the fewest players; otherwise they will be placed on the weakest team. Weakest team is the team with the lowest combined kill ra- tio. -b When -c is supplied, this option randomly rotates the build- ings. -badwords badwordfile Specify a file that contains bad words that will be used when either -filterCallsigns or -filterChat is enabled. -ban ip[,ip]... Prohibits connections from the listed IP addresses. Trailing 255 bytes are treated as mask bytes. -banfile filename Specifies the name of a file where bzfs will store the ban- list. It will load the banlist from this file when it starts (if the file exists), and write the banlist back to the file when someone gets banned or unbanned. If this option isn't given the banlist will not be saved. -c Enables the capture-the-flag style game. By default this al- locates one team flag per team. This can be modified see +f team. By default, the free-for-all style is used. -cache worldCacheURL Specifies the URL for the world cache file. This is a binary file that clients will attempt to download before getting the world from the bzfs server. -cacheout filename Save the currently specified world into a binary cache file and exit. -conf configfilename Specifies the name of a configuration file to be used to set all of the bzfs options, rather than setting them on the command line. -cr Enables the capture-the-flag style game with random map. You can optionally specify a building density by providing a number (default is 5). One team flag per team is provided, but more can be added thru +f team. By default, the free-for-all style is used. -d Increase debugging level. If more -d is given, more debug- ging info is obtained. -density num Specify density for buildings, i.e. the higher the integer number, the more buildings you will get. This applies to au- tomatically generated maps only. -disableBots Disallow clients from using the ROGER autopilot or from us- ing robots. +f {good | bad | teamflag-id}[{count}] Forces the existence of the given flag. If specified multi- ple times for the same flag-id, then that many flags will appear. The good argument is equivalent to specifying +f once for each kind of good flag. Same goes for the bad argu- ment. The team argument adds a team flag to each team, as- suming that the game style is capture the flag. The optional {count} parameter allows the specification of multiple flags of the same type. Note that the curly braces are required. -f {good | bad | flag-id} Disallows random flags of the given type. Required flags given by the +f option are still provided. The bad argument is equivalent to specifying -f once for each kind of bad flag. Same goes for good, but you probably do not want to do that. An example of running a server with 40 to 50 flags except genocide would be "+s 40 -s 50 -f G". Similarly, "+f good{40} +f bad{10} -f G{40}" would give you exactly 40 good flags except genocide and 10 of each bad flag. -fb Allow flags on box buildings. -filterCallsigns Turn on the filtering of callsigns and mottos. Callsigns and mottos are compared against bad words provided via -bad- words. -filterChat Turn on the filtering of chat messages. Messages that con- tain words listed via a -badwords file are replaced with !@#$%^&* characters. -filterSimple By default, all filtering is aggressive, matching much more than what is strictly listed in a -badwords file for conve- nience. Providing this option will make the -filterCall- signs and -filterChat comparisons exact match only. -g Quit after serving one game. -gndtex texture-name Specify the name of the ground texture. -groupdb file Load groups from file -h Buildings are given random heights. -handicap Players are given a handicap advantage based on their abil- ity in relation to the other players. Handicapped players will have faster tanks and shots. The handicap is determined by the player's score in relation to other players. -help Shows a help page and lists all the valid flag id's. -helpmsg file name Provide a message accessible by /help name, which sends no more than the first 50 lines of file to the player. -i interface Server will listen for and respond to ``pings'' (sent via broadcast) on the given interface. Clients use this to find active servers on the network. This is the TCP/UDP/IP ad- dress the server will listen on. -j Allows jumping. -jitterdrop warn-count Kicks players after warn-count jitter warnings. -jitterwarn milliseconds Send warnings to players that jitter more than milliseconds. -lagannounce milliseconds Announce players that lag more than milliseconds in public. -lagdrop warn-count Kicks players after warn-count lag warnings. -lagwarn milliseconds Send warnings to players that lag more than milliseconds. -loadplugin name[,options] Load the specified plugin. name can either be the name of the plugin, or a path to its library file. Optionally, you can provide any options the plugin requires. -masterBanURL URL Specify alternate URLs for the master ban file to be pulled from. This argument may be provided multiple times. -maxidle seconds Kick players that did not play longer than seconds. Pausing players are not kicked. If a player uttered a word recently, he will be kicked after thrice the given time. -mp {count | [rogue],[red],[green],[blue],[purple],[observer]} Sets the maximum number of players, total or per team. A single value sets the total number of players allowed. Five comma separated values set the maximum for each team. If a count is left blank then no limit is set for that team, ex- cept for the limit on the total number of players. Both forms may be provided. For rabbit chase, the "rogue" value sets the total number of non-observer player, and all other values must be zero. -mps max-score Sets a maximum score for individual players. The first player to reach this score is declared the winner and the game is over. -ms shots Allows up to shots simultaneous shots for each player. This is 1 by default. -mts max-score Sets a maximum score for teams. The first team to reach this score is declared the winner and the game is over. -noMasterBanlist Server will not attempt to load the master ban list from the internet. -noradar Disable the use of the radar. -noTeamKills Players on the same team are immune to each other's shots. Rogue is excepted. -offa Enables the Open-Free-for-All style game. This is a teamless mode, similar to the classic deathmatch in other games. -p port Listen for game connections on port instead of the default port. Use -help to print the default port, or use -d debug printing. -packetlossdrop warn-count Kicks players after warn-count packetloss warnings. -packetlosswarn percent Send warnings to players that have more more than percent loss. -passwd password Specify a server administrator password for use in remote administration such as /kick, /ban, /mute, etc. messages. -pidfile filename Specify a file where the server will write its process ID so it may be used for remote administration. -poll variable=value Configure several aspects of the in-game polling system banTime default number of minutes player should be banned (unspecified, the default is 300) vetoTime max seconds authorized user has to abort poll (de- fault is 20) votePercentage percentage of players required to affirm a poll (un- specified, the default is 50.1%) voteRepeatTime minimum seconds required before a player may request another vote (default is 300) votesRequired minimum number of additional votes required to make a vote valid (default is 2) voteTime maximum amount of time player has to vote, in seconds (default is 60) -printscore Write score to stdout whenever it changes -publictitle description Advertise this server on the internet with the given de- scription. By default, a server will respond to broadcast queries, allowing clients to find servers running on the standard port on the local subnet. The -publictitle option causes the server to register itself with a list server, which clients can query to get a list of bzfs servers. -publicaddr address[:port] Advertise this server with the given address and port. Nor- mally a server advertises itself at the local address and port. Some servers are not accessible from the internet at this address (for example servers behind a firewall using Network Address Translation). Use this option to specify the address and/or port that internet users should use to access this server. -publiclist url Advertise this server on the list servers listed at url. Only has an effect when used with -publictitle and/or -pub- licaddr. A built-in url is used by default. The BZFlag clients use the same built-in url so, by default, clients will see public servers automatically. This argument may be provided multiple times to publicize a server to multiple list servers. -publickey key Advertise this server on the list server(s) using the speci- fied key. Only has an effect when used with -publictitle and/or -publicaddr. -q If specified, the server will not listen for nor respond to ``pings''. BZFlag sends out these pings to give the user a list of available servers. This effectively makes the server private, especially if the -p option is also used. +r Makes most shots ricochet. Super bullets, shock waves, and guided missiles do not. -rabbit [score | killer | random] Enables the rabbit-chase style game. By default, the free-for-all style is used. You must specify the algorithm used to pick a new rabbit when the old one dies. The score algorithm uses a modified wins/(wins+losses) score and picks the top scoring player to be the new rabbit. The killer al- gorithm specifies a reverse tag game where whomever kills the rabbit becomes the new rabbit. The random algorithm randomly picks a new rabbit without regard to score. (The score algorithm is the original behavior.) -recbuf size Start with the recording buffer active, with the specified size (in megabytes). -recbufonly Disable recording straight to files -recdir directory Specify the directory for record and replay files. -replay Start the server in replay mode. -reportfile filename Write messages to the server admin written using the /report command to this file. If neither -reportfile or -reportpipe is used the /report command will be disabled. -reportpipe command Pipe messages to the server admin written using the /report command to this program or shell command. See -reportfile. +s num-flags The server will have an extra num-flags random super flags available at all times. The -f option can be used to re- strict which types of flags will be added. Required flags given by the +f option are not included in the num-flags to- tal. -s num-flags The server will have up to num-flags random super flags available at any time. The -f option can be used to re- strict which types of flags will be added. Required flags given by the +f option are not included in the num-flags to- tal. -sa Antidote flags are provided for players with bad flags. -sb Allow spawns on box buildings. -set name value Set BZDB variable name to value. -setforced name value Set BZDB variable name to value, even if the variable does not exist. -sl id num Restrict flag id to num shots. -spamtime time Minimum time between player chat messages that are alike. -spamwarn warnLimit Number of warnings a player/spammer gets, who violates -spamtime. -speedtol factor Override the default speed auto kick factor. The factor should not be less then 1.0. The factor is a multiplier. -srvmsg message Define a server welcome message. This option can be used multiple times to define a multiline message. -st time Bad flags are automatically dropped after time seconds. -sw count Bad flags are automatically dropped after count wins. Cap- turing a team flag does not count as a win. -synclocation Forces all clients to use the same location (longitude and latitude). -synctime Forces all clients to use the same time of day. The current time is determined by the server's clock. This disables the + and - keys on the clients. -t Adds teleporters to the game. -tftimeout time-limit If the last player in a team leaves while someone else is carrying the team flag, the team flag will not reset until it is captured, or until the player drops it and it is left alone for some time. This option specifies the number of seconds that the flag should be left alone before it is re- set. The default value is 30. -time {time-limit | ending-time} Sets a time limit on the game to time-limit or ending-time. The game will be stopped time-limit seconds after the first player connects, or at ending-time, whichever is given. The ending-time should be given in hh:mm:ss format, but does not need minute and second arguments. If only hour is given, it must end in ':'. Each unspecified argument is set to 0. -timemanual When using -time, the countdown will start when the first player joins. With -timemanual, the countdown has to be started manually using the /countdown command. This is use- ful for matches. -tk Changes the default behavior where a player dies when he kills a teammate. When using this option, he will just get a -1 score penalty for the kill but not be killed in game. -tkannounce Announce teamkills to the admin channel. -tkkr percent Kicks players whose team killing to normal kill ratio is greater than percent [1-100]. A start up grace period is given to players. -ts [micros] Include timestamp information in DEBUG output -- useful for logging. If micros is specified, microseconds will be added to the timestamp. -UPnP If enabled during build, bzfs try to communicate with the Gateway to set Port Forwarding and to supply information not specified with -i (local interface) and -publicaddr -userdb file Load group associations from file -vars file Loads values for game configurable variables from file. En- tries are one per line in the form: set variable value. For a list of variables that are configurable, in the BZFlag client, send a message with /set as the text. -version Prints the version number of the executable. -world world-file Reads a specific BZFlag .bzw world layout file for the game map. -worldsize world-size Changes the size for random maps Notes The server uses nearly zero CPU time when nobody is playing, and even dur- ing a game the server uses very little CPU, so it's not a burden on the system to leave one running and it won't interfere with a player using the same system (except on Windows 95, which really sucks at multitasking). The server will continue to run until terminated. If a game is in progress when the server goes down, all players will be kicked off and the game will be aborted without warning. The server resets itself when all players have quit. All players must quit to reset the server when a game is over (be- cause of a score or time limit). The following game styles are recommended starting points. -c [-b] Basic capture-the-flag game. It teaches teamwork and dogfighting skills. -s -t Free-for-all with superflags and teleporters. Teaches players how to use superflags and teleporters for maximum effect. You may want to allow players to drop bad flags with any of -sa, -st, and -sw. Notice that the maximum number of shots for these styles is one. Having low shot counts can greatly increase general playability and learning speed. However, this is not always true of every game style or game world, and a skilled player will learn to deal with a variety of shot counts. Single shot games have additional disadvantage in WAN games where lag/jit- ter can cause unfair advantage. Single shot, non-Jump games will teach valuable lessons in dodging, however, and are excellent starting points for the beginner. Networking Communication between the server and clients (i.e. between bzfs and bzflag) during a game is via TCP and UDP. Use the -help option to get the server's default port. If there's a firewall between the server and client, the firewall must accept connections from the client to this port and forward them to the server. Clients can search for servers by sending broadcast UDP packets. But they must be on the same local area network for this to work. Clients can also find servers advertised using -publictitle by querying list servers. Game information is relayed through the server. Some communication between clients, such as position and orientation information, is normally sent via UDP packets. Other data, like flag grab and kill messages, are sent to the server via TCP. The server then turns around and broadcasts these packets to all players. Since being in a game implies connection to the server, all players are guaranteed to get all messages sent via TCP. But the UDP pack- ets may be discarded. If other players can see your tank in the game but it never appears to move and shots go through it, chances are high that your UDP connection is not working. Worlds BZFlag worlds come in two varieties, randomly generated ones, and human de- signed ones. By default, bzfs uses randomly generated world unless you specify the -world command line or configuration file option. The world file specified by the -world option is a text based file that contains a list of world objects. This file can be created using programs found on github, or can be hand edited. See the bzw(5) manual page for more de- tails. GENERAL SERVER COMMANDS /clientquery [callsign] Retrieve client version info from all users, or just CALLSIGN if given. Example: /clientquery MrApathyCream MrApathyCream: Version: BZFlag 1.11.6-20040729-gnu-linux-SDL /date, /time Responds with the current server local time. /date and /time are exactly the same. Example: Tuesday September 08 06:45:54 2004 /flaghistory Lists what flags players have grabbed in the past. Example: MrApathyCream: (<-) (->) (O) (CB) (M) (B) (JM) (WA) Gerbol: (L) (GM) (L) (GM) (CL) (ST) (GM) (L) captain_macgyver: (SB) (SW) /idlestats Displays the idle time in seconds for each player. A player is idle when he is dead and has not respawned yet. Example: MrApathyCream: 0s Gerbol: 80s captain_macgyver: 13s /lagstats Lists network delays, jitter and number of lost resp. out of order packets by player. Example: MrApathyCream 335 +- 10ms Gerbol 210 +- 3ms captain_macgyver 155 +- 0ms 12% lost/ooo /me action This command displays an "action" that is conveyed to another player. It allows for a little more expressivity in the game. For example: "/me is hunting wabbits" turns into a message like "TimRiker is hunting wabbits" that gets displayed differently to other players. /msg "callsign" message This command allows a player to send a message to another player. Similar to using the "," and "." message keys in the game and then selecting your recipient, this will send some message to particular player. The quotes are optional. /part [message] Leave the server with a goodbye message (similar to IRC's /part) /part Gotta go! bye everyone! /password password Attempt to gain administrator status Example: /password supersecretpassword You are now an administrator! /poll {{ban | kick} callsign | vote {yes | no} | veto} Interact and make requests of the bzflag voting system via the /poll command. The ban and kick subcommands request a vote to respectively ban or kick some player. The playername is expected as the next argument. The vote and veto commands behave identical to the /vote and /veto command counterparts, expecting the same arguments in following. By default, you must be registered to request or vote on a poll, and an admin to veto. /quit [message] Quit the game with a goodbye message (similar to IRC's /quit) /quit Gotta go! bye everyone! /report message Write a message to the server administrator. Example: /report I like this map! /uptime Prints server's current running time in days, hours, mins and secs. /vote {yes | no} If there is a poll active, this command will place a vote in favor or in opposition to the poll. Multiple languages are supported as a vote argument in addition to "yes" and "no". By default, you must be registered to vote on a poll. SERVER ADMINISTRATIVE COMMANDS /ban {ip | ipList | #slot | "Player Name" | playerName} duration reason Ban players using the specified IPs for certain length of time from using this server. <duration> can be: 'short' or 'default' for the default ban time 'forever' or 'max' for infinite bans a time in the format <weeks>W<days>D<hours>H<minutes>M just a number of minutes Examples: /ban 35.23.43.66 2 cheating bans player with specific ip for 2 minutes /ban 35.23.*.*,47.23.17.* 0 Cheaters bans all ips in this range forever /ban 36.37.2.8 2h30m "ShootMe" was abusing players bans specific ip for 2.5 hours with given reason /ban #5 60m Rejoining bans player using slot 5 for 60 minutes with given reason /ban "Tanker" max cheating bans the player Tanker forever because cheating Note: Slots numbers are only displayed in admins clients. Duration and reason are required. /banlist List all of the IPs currently banned from this server. Example: /banlist IP Ban List ------------ 35.23.43.66 (2 minutes) banned by Tankmaster reason: Cheaters 47.23.17.* banned by Tankslave /checkip ip Check whether the IP is banned and print the corresponding rule. This does not cover hostbans. Example: /checkip 35.23.43.66 35.23.43.66 is banned: 35.23.43.66 banned by Tankmaster reason: Cheaters /countdown [seconds] Starts the countdown sequence for a timed game. The countdown sequence length can optionally be specified in seconds. Examples: /countdown /countdown 3 /flag reset {all|unused|team|FlagId} Repositions flags. If unused is specified, flags carried by tanks are not affected. Using the team option only resets team flags, whereas specifying a flag id (such as GM) only repositions flags of this type. If noteam is specified, team flags will not be reset. Examples: /flag reset unused noteam /flag reset G /flag show Shows all flags with information. Example: 0: p:-1 r:1 g:1 1:V s:1 p:159.1x43.2x0.0 1: p:2 r:1 g:1 1:SW s:1 p:209.1x143.2x10.0 2: p:-1 r:1 g:3 1:L s:1 p:-29.1x301.2x0.0 /flag up Removes all flags from the game /gameover Ends the current game /handicap Shows the handicap boost percentage for every player /hostban hostpattern duration reason Ban players using the specified hostnames for a certain length of time from using this server. Example: /hostban *.foo.com 2 cheating bans all players from foo.com for 2 minutes /hostbanlist List all of the host patterns currently banned from this server. /jitterwarn [time] Change the maximum allowed jitter time. Example: /jitterwarn 50 /jitterdrop [count] Change the number of jitter warnings given before a player is kicked. Example: /jitterdrop 3 /kick {"Player Name" | playerName | #slot} reason Kick a player off the server. Example: /kick Gerbol You were kicked off the server by MrApathyCream /kick #1 Team killing Kick the player using slot 1 because Team Killing Note: Slots numbers are only displayed in admins clients. A reason is required /kill {"Player Name" | playerName | #slot} [reason] Kill a player just like when shooting. Example: /kill Gerbol kill the player named Gerbol /kill #4 teamkilling Kill the player using slot 4 because teamkilling /lagwarn [time] Change the maximum allowed lag time. Example: /lagwarn 300 /lagdrop [count] Change the number of lag warnings given before a player is kicked. Example: /lagdrop 3 /modcount [seconds] Change the time on the clock by the specified number of seconds. Example: /modcount +320 /mute {#slot | callsign} Allows a server admin to remove the ability for a player to communicate with other players. Once muted the player may only talk to admins on the server. This command removes the TALK permission that is enabled by default for all players. (disabling TALK by default would let you run a "silent" server) /packetlosswarn [time] Change the maximum allowed packetloss. Example: /packetloss 1 /packetlossdrop [count] Change the number of packetloss warnings given before a player is kicked. Example: /packetloss 3 /playerlist List player names and IP addresses. Example: /playerlist [0]MrApathyCream: 35.23.65.44:4808 udp id [1]Gerbol: 130.123.1.55:4909 udp id [2]captain_macgyver: 15.32.122.51:3201 udp id /record file filename Start recording directly to a file /record list List all files in the recordings directory /record rate seconds Set the time between game state updates stored in the recording. This will affect the granularity of the 'skips' you can do while replaying a file. It will also make the recording files bigger if it is set to a faster update rate. /record save filename [seconds] Save the recording buffer into a file. If seconds is specified, then only save that many previous seconds into the file. /record size megabytes Set the size of the recording memory buffer /record start Start recording into the memory buffer /record stats Display the statistics for the current recording (file or buffered) /record stop Stop recording into the memory buffer /replay list List all files in the recordings directory /replay load {filename | #index} Load the specified recording file by name, or by index (same indices as produced by the 'replay list' command) /replay loop Start looping the recording. This will oftentimes require that all players connected to the server rejoin (to reload the map, etc...) /replay play Start playing the recording. This will oftentimes require that all players connected to the server rejoin (to reload the map, etc...) /replay skip [{+ | -} seconds] If seconds is specified, then skip that amount of time in the recording. Otherwise, skip forwards until there is activity. /replay stats Show the current replay status (filename, position, etc...) /say message Generate a public message sent by the server. Example: /say This is a servermessage /sendhelp {"Player name" | playerName | #slot} help page Send the specified help page to a user /sendhelp register "Foo" Send the the help page 'register' to the player Foo /shutdownserver Stop serving BZFlag on this server /superkill Kick all players off the server /unmute {#slot | callsign} Allows a server admin to restore the TALK permission to a previously muted player. /veto If there is a poll active, this will cancel the poll. By default, you must be an admin to veto a poll. /viewreports View the server's report file. USER MANAGEMENT Generally, you start with empty files for the user and password databases. These are maintained by the server, and modifiable through server commands. Users in turn belong to groups. Groups are generally customized to perhaps allow administrative control to trusted users. There are both local and global groups, i.e. groups that are available across the entire BZFlag network. In setting up a server, you may want to specify global groups that will allow already well known and trusted users to police your server and help maintain control against cheaters and abuse. The server will automatically create three groups: EVERYONE, VERIFIED, and LOCAL.ADMIN. EVERYONE has ACTIONMESSAGE, ADMINMESSAGESEND, CLIENTQUERY, DATE, FLAGHISTORY, IDLESTATS, LAGSTATS, PRIVATEMESSAGE, SHOWMOTTO, SPAWN and TALK by default. VERIFIED has LISTPLUGINS, POLL, POLLKICK, POLLBAN, POLLKICK, POLLSET, POLLFLAGRESET, REPORT and VOTE. The LOCAL.ADMIN group has almost every permission possible (similar to granting admin powers via /password). Once the server is running, users can register their callsigns and admins can set their group memberships. Users can use any command that their per- missions allow. Every user, registered or not, is part of the EVERYONE group. When a user identifies, they become part of the VERIFIED group. In addition, there are global groups available that persist network-wide. Users that register their callsigns on the BZFlag website at https://fo- rums.bzflag.org/ have the ability to globally authenticate by providing a password from within the client. When they authenticate, bzfs will ask the list server if they belong to any of the groups listed in your group data- base file that are not prefixed with "LOCAL.". If they are a member of a group in question, then they are granted the permissions you specify for that group. A group database file is set up to contain the specific local and global groups you care to have on your server in addition to default groups and exactly which permissions are granted by each. These files are laid out with one line per group, using the following format: GROUP_NAME: [*Group] [ +| -| !]perm1 [ +| -| !]perm2 ... permN *Group: inherit permissions from existing group "Group" +perm: add perm to this group -perm: remove perm from this group !perm: forbid perm for this group. makes perm inaccessible whether it's granted from another group or not If no operator is given with a permission it is handled like +perm. A group line for a previously existing group adds to already granted permissions. That way you can spread a group's definition over several lines: GROUP_NAME: +perm1 +perm2 GROUP_NAME: +perm3 +perm4 -perm5 Group names cannot have spaces, quotes, or other special characters in them. This would be a sample line defining a "cop" group: COPS: +KICK +SHORTBAN +BANLIST Now a group USERADMIN with all permissions granted to COPS plus some addi- tional could look like this: USERADMIN: *COPS +BAN +UNBAN Probably you want to define customized permissions for the default group "VERIFIED" instead of those automatically assigned by the server: VERIFIED: -ALL +perm1 +perm2 ... Or you want to disable the /poll command entirely? EVERYONE: !POLL To distinguish between a group that is local and one that is global, use the "LOCAL." prefix as part of the group name, e.g.: LOCAL.OPERATOR: BANLIST The available permissions are as follows: ACTIONMESSAGE /me ADMINMESSAGERECEIVE player receives messages sent to admin channel ADMINMESSAGESEND player may send messages on the admin channel ALL all permissions available ANTIBAN player is immune to /ban ANTIKICK player is immune to /kick ANTIKILL player is immune to /kill ANTIPOLL player is immune to /poll ANTIPOLLBAN player is immune to /poll ban ANTIPOLLKICK player is immune to /poll kick ANTIPOLLKILL player is immune to /poll kill BAN /ban /hostban BANLIST /banlist /hostbanlist CLIENTQUERY /clientquery COUNTDOWN /countdown ENDGAME /gameover FLAGHISTORY /flaghistory FLAGMASTER /flag FLAGMOD /flag reset /flag show /flag history HIDEADMIN player doesn't show the @ sign IDLESTATS /idlestats INFO not implemented JITTERWARN /jitterwarn /jitterdrop KICK /kick LAGSTATS /lagstats LAGWARN /lagwarn /lagdrop LISTPERMS not implemented LISTPLUGINS /listplugins MASTERBAN /masterban MODCOUNT /modcount MUTE /mute PACKETLOSSWARN /packetlosswarn /packetlossdrop PLAYERLIST /playerlist PLUGINS /listplugins /loadplugin /unloadplugin POLL /poll POLLBAN /poll ban POLLFLAGRESET /poll flagreset POLLKICK /poll kick POLLSET /poll set PRIVATEMESSAGE /msg RECORD /record REJOIN allows instant rejoin, regardless of _rejoinTime REMOVEPERMS /removegroup REPLAY /replay REPORT /report REQUIREIDENTIFY user must use global registration SAY /say SENDHELP /sendhelp SETALL use of all set/remove commands SETPERMS /setgroup SETPASSWORD not implemented SETVAR /set /reset SHORTBAN /ban (with a limited duration) SHOWADMIN player shows an @ regardless of having 'shortban' perm SHOWMOTTO player is allowed to display their motto on the score- board SHOWOTHERS /showgroup /showperms (on others) SHUTDOWNSERVER /shutdownserver SPAWN join game as a player. observers don't need this flag. SUPERKILL /superkill TALK allows all players to send messages UNBAN /unban /hostunban UNMUTE /unmute VETO /veto VOTE /vote /grouplist Lists the available user groups /groupperms Lists the permissions for each group /masterban {flush | reload} Forces the server to flush any bans from the master server. If re- load is specified instead of flush, also reloads bans from the the internet. Local bans are unaffected. This command requires the UN- BAN permission. /reload Reloads the user, group, and password files (for synchronization be- tween multiple servers on the same machine) /removegroup callsign group Remove a user from a group /setgroup callsign group Add a user to a group /showgroup callsign Lists the groups that a registered user is a member of SEE ALSO bzflag(6), bzadmin(6), bzw(5) BZFlag 2.4.26 2026-08-27 BZFS(6)
NAME | SYNOPSIS | DESCRIPTION | OPTIONS | GENERAL SERVER COMMANDS | SERVER ADMINISTRATIVE COMMANDS | USER MANAGEMENT | SEE ALSO
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