Version 1.1.40

[valneq]

Is there a way for players to find out if they are on the list, e.g. a URL to the auth server that shows the account status?
Is there a different error message when a connection is refused based on the auth server ban list vs the local ban list?

Today I saw new locale strings to be translated. This one looks like it does what you ask about:

You are banned in this game by authserver recommendation. To appeal contact support@factorio.com.

[henke37]

Some criteria to feed into the algorithm:

• how the license was bought
• how old the account is
• ip addresses involved
• ban status on linked platforms
• forum activity

[NotRexButCaesar]

Some criteria to feed into the algorithm:

• how the license was bought
  …
• forum activity

Why should the way the license was bought or forum activity affect the trustworthiness of an account?

[ssilk]

Exactly. Data privacy is here an very important thing; Only things that matter/help to decide the recommendation should be stored on the server. Which brings me to the question: What information about the player is stored on the ban-server?

I guess:
- player(id)
- date
- ban/unban-commands
- server

That’s it, or? Any recommendation is then not stored, but always based on that entries?

Other question: what if the server is not accessible? I guess: everybody can come into a server.

Which leads me to the next question: because of that, this new service could be the target of griefer-attacks. How do you protect it from being attacked (I think most common would be DoS)? Is it big enough to handle the requests? Can you automatically filter out attacking IP’s? Is it separated enough from the other (Auth) systems?

[vinzenz]

Exactly. Data privacy is here an very important thing; Only things that matter/help to decide the recommendation should be stored on the server. Which brings me to the question: What information about the player is stored on the ban-server?

I guess:
- player(id)
- date
- ban/unban-commands
- server

That’s it, or? Any recommendation is then not stored, but always based on that entries?

Other question: what if the server is not accessible? I guess: everybody can come into a server.

Which leads me to the next question: because of that, this new service could be the target of griefer-attacks. How do you protect it from being attacked (I think most common would be DoS)? Is it big enough to handle the requests? Can you automatically filter out attacking IP’s? Is it separated enough from the other (Auth) systems?

That list is correct plus some secret attributes We'll introduce new attributes if we find them to be a more precise signal for a good ban recommendation.
Ban recommendation is recalculated when a new ban/unban signal is received.

The ban recommendation check is async, so if the auth server is not reachable, the connecting user is not disconnected. It will also not block the main thread when the auth server is slow to respond.

Our existing auth server setup should scale well and I think we'll able to protect it. Of course given enough monetary ressources you can DoS any service...

[Dupl3xxx]

I use a VPN, and IP based restrictions on other services hits me fairly often. Is this an issue you're aware of?
Though with UserID, I guess that's much more accurate anyway, so IP might be ignored? /speculation

[vinzenz]

I use a VPN, and IP based restrictions on other services hits me fairly often. Is this an issue you're aware of?
Though with UserID, I guess that's much more accurate anyway, so IP might be ignored? /speculation

Aware of the issue and thanks to username verification auth server bans are not based on IPs as of now. Other parts of our services have IP blocklists though.

[luc]

Thanks for that ban FAQ post, that is very helpful! I have one question to add, perhaps near the appeal one as it is related:

Is it made clear to the user that they were banned by a decision of Wube's system and not merely by the individual servers, or how would one know to appeal?

(I sometimes got banned before the map even loaded, presumably someone was trying to have a private game with friends or idk, and now that this system exists I would not be sure who made the ban decision, depending on what the user is shown.)

I might also suggest updating the phrasing "it will also query the authentication server for a ban recommendation", as the FAQ makes clear that it is not a recommendation at all: when enabled (opt-in, it sounds like?) the game server applies the state from Wube's server. It is a system working fully in the background without server-admin-tweakable parameters (nothing on the game server will make the game server deviate from Wube's system's decision) and not a 'recommendation' presented to be considered by the server admin or anyone else. Unless you built an AI into the game server that "ponders" decisions the way dpkg does sometimes

The ban recommendation check is async, so if the auth server is not reachable, the connecting user is not disconnected. It will also not block the main thread when the auth server is slow to respond.

That is super neat actually. Well thought-out implementation!

[Dev-iL]

Is it made clear to the user that they were banned by a decision of Wube's system and not merely by the individual servers, or how would one know to appeal?

This is the message a user sees:

You are banned in this game by authserver recommendation. To appeal contact support@factorio.com.

[Jon8RFC]

I like this idea a lot.

Hopefully the system weighs griefing admins and client account longevity. I always have a fear of irresponsible admins in games who have great power--the type who cause havoc for fun or who have small-man syndrome. Both types can abuse great ban systems like this.

For example, I recently joined a public server and they didn't want me there. How did they let me know? They griefed and started shooting at me and did the same to another player who joined shortly after I did, then kicked us. That type of person is the havoc-causer who would think "hey, let's just ban people under 'griefing' because we don't like the color shirt they're wearing and/or because they joined our public server available to all Factorio players".

I'm no expert, but one way to tag a griefing admin who is abusing the system would be to keep track of their bans and see if other admins also ban that player. You likely have that in place as mentioned to track the validity of a ban, but you probably don't have it in place to track the notoriety of the person(s) placing the bans. So if an admin bans regularly and those banned players play without a problem on other servers, then the weight of that admin's bans should be lowered/disabled.
There are not only stupid players (clients), but stupid people in charge (admins) as is the case for everything in this world.

[BlueTemplar]

I assume that admins that abuse their ban powers will end up getting put themselves by Wube on this "recommendation to ban" list ?

[BlueTemplar]

Bugfixes

• Fixed that items with fuel value would be put into furnace fuel inventory when there was enough fuel but item could be smelted. (99924)

Ah, happy to see this longstanding annoyance to be gone finally !

[ssilk]

There are not only stupid players (clients), but stupid people in charge (admins) as is the case for everything in this world.

There should not only be a ban command, but also a “keepoff” command. So that someone can put a server onto a list of “not so recommended” servers.

Not sure if that’s really so useful (I bet it’s not), because the number of stupid admins is still lower (by percentage) compared to the number of stupid players.

[voski]

What are the steps to enable the "Auth server bans feature" ?

I am hosting a headless server and would like to enable this feature. Where can I find documentation or instructions on how to use this feature?

Thank you!

[vinzenz]

What are the steps to enable the "Auth server bans feature" ?

I am hosting a headless server and would like to enable this feature. Where can I find documentation or instructions on how to use this feature?

Thank you!

The commandline flag is --use-authserver-bans and the config option is enable-authserver-side-bans=true

[voski]

Is there a way for players to find out if they are on the list, e.g. a URL to the auth server that shows the account status?
Is there a different error message when a connection is refused based on the auth server ban list vs the local ban list?

Looking at the logs the game queries https://auth.factorio.com/bans/query-user to figure out if you are on the banlist. It's fairly straight forward to figure out how to interact with the endpoint if you have any development experience with HTTP

[Atraps003]

A blacklist that is enabled by default can be influenced by noob admins that ban players for joining their game that was intended to be private?

[Koub]

A blacklist that is enabled by default can be influenced by noob admins that ban players for joining their game that was intended to be private?

viewtopic.php?p=553322#p553322
The banlist features are opt-in, they're not enabled by default.

[Atraps003]

In my game (not headless) the box was ticked automatically in the host new game gui.