[0.15.32] Idle server holds unsaved progress in memory
Posted: Thu Aug 24, 2017 3:06 am
tl;dr: Main save file should be written when last player logs off, so that idle server is not holding unsaved progress in memory.
I've noticed some problematic logic with how the multiplayer server handles the main save file. From what I've observed, the autosave timer ticks by only when someone is connected (which is clever and correct), but the main save file is only written when the server is cleanly shut down. A consequence of this is that while no one is logged in, all progress since the last autosave resides in memory, unsaved.
I ran into this problem when I came home to find my server had been reset (probably a power interruption). The latest autosave was recent, but the main save was from the last time I had cleanly stopped the server (two weeks earlier). I loaded up the latest autosave to find that the latest bit of progress was lost.
As a solution to this problem, I would suggest that the main save file be written whenever the last player logs off. That way, the server is never idle with unsaved progress in memory.
I've noticed some problematic logic with how the multiplayer server handles the main save file. From what I've observed, the autosave timer ticks by only when someone is connected (which is clever and correct), but the main save file is only written when the server is cleanly shut down. A consequence of this is that while no one is logged in, all progress since the last autosave resides in memory, unsaved.
I ran into this problem when I came home to find my server had been reset (probably a power interruption). The latest autosave was recent, but the main save was from the last time I had cleanly stopped the server (two weeks earlier). I loaded up the latest autosave to find that the latest bit of progress was lost.
As a solution to this problem, I would suggest that the main save file be written whenever the last player logs off. That way, the server is never idle with unsaved progress in memory.