Factorio Forums

I have been playing some multi player public games and have found that there are times that multiple people attempt to connect to the server at the same time and it causes lag in the game and also takes forever for them to join,
this is especially true if the connection to the host is slow and/or the map file size is huge.

suggest that a queue based system be implemented
where the server can set up a maximum simultaneous connections attempting to connect
example: if the network is slow you can set it to one connection at a time where the next person attempting to connect will be added to a queue and they will be next in line to connect and download the game.
where multiple people could be added and there forms a line 2/2 in queue to download.

EDIT:

looks like there may already be a suggestion in this exact regard:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=31631

i see my posted suggestion was moved to the implemented section, i guess in 0.15 it has been added, i haven't seen any of the what we have/intend to add, items, thanks however.

The topic wasn't moved there, you probably made it in Implemented Suggestions by accident.

It's true that multiple players joining (downloading the map) at the same time can cause lag for players already in the game, because the upload of the host is not fast enough to provide both map download and in-game data fast enough.

However Factorio already has a way around that: In the multiplayer lobby (where you set the game settings) you can set a Max upload rate to limit the upload for map downloads so the game can continue lag-free for players in the game.
This also has another benefit: If Factorio would work queue-based and you set a queue size of 2 and both of the currently connecting peers have a very slow speed they would effectively block more players from downloading the map although bandwidth would still be available (or if they had very fast connections they might still impact the running game). This can't happen with Max upload as the bandwidth can never go above a set limit and bandwidth is distributed among all connecting peers.

I would like to bump this topic again as for my server, it really would mean the difference between an active and a dead server. I also disagree with daniel34 but I do understand the logic. I just don't think that would happen more than what is actually happening, which is too many players joining at once and not being able to join at all.

This is the consistent issue:
1. My scenario creates large map sizes (this is inherently part of the scenario design) so map sizes can reach 80mb pretty easily after 1-2 days of playtime.
2. My upload speed is 10-12mbits. This is a very common upload speed for a lot of households (at least in the US). Fiber isn't universal yet.
3. It is very common for players to join around the same time as we tend to play together.
4. It has NEVER been an issue that one player has a very slow download speed. Even if it was, as an admin we could kick/ban if needed.

I believe adding this feature as a server option would would provide more players the ability to be better hosts. I know it would make a world of difference for me.

The queue should work like this:
Set the overall max rate shared by those in who are "active" in the queue. (this already exists)
Set number who are allowed to download. (first come first server get the slots)


I host a lot, and as I love to help test the latest experimental versions, desyncs can happen and that will kill the server because as several people try to join at once, nobody is able to connect. A queue would fix this.

Please devs? <3

Also, shouldn't this be moved to ideas/suggestions. Not implemented?

Added to viewtopic.php?f=80&t=32968 Collection of Of Ideas around Multiplayer: Lobby-Features, Joining, Mod&Game-Loading, ...

Thanks for the addition to the suggestions group

and I hope this can be added, as when you have a 1MB upload limit then if 2 people try to connect at the same time you suddenly have only 500KB and it takes twice as long to download, sometimes when it gets to 3 people you can no longer connect because the connection rate shows 0KB/Sec and everyone gets 0KB/Sec and no one gets in the server. we have to communicate that people are trying to connect and limit it to 1 or 2 people at a time, lest people give up or be unable to connect.