Help with Sandboxvars.lua and Servertest.ini (v.41)

[Lells]

The old topic was, in my opinion, closed down by EnigmaGray with the unhelpful suggestion to look at in game tooltips on these options.  However, for many hosted dedicated servers this isn't a viable option, as we are directly editing our options within the .ini and .lua files.  And no, loading up the client, making changes there, and transferring the files over is OVERKILL or not doable as we often find ourselves having to administer remotely from locations that don't have the client installed (libraries, workplace, etc).  It's really not too much to ask for there to be better documentation of the configuration files.

 

 

The topic posted above is still one of the BEST RESOURCES for what the values and options in these files do.  I don't think it's asking too much for either:

• The above topic to be unlocked and updated so we can figure this out ourselves
• v.41 information to be added to the wiki or pinned somewhere by knowledgeable Indie Stone staff

 

The amount of undocumented config and modding options are making it hard for any progress to be made in v41 onwards, all information found online is like 8 years outdated by this point.  Since the game is experiencing a resurgence of popularity, having current information available seems like a smart move.

 

So please unlock the topic listed above, or point me to some useful CURRENT information about the config files please.  To reiterate, many of us use hosted servers where editing these files directly is the most useful way to change these settings (as admin may not be in a location where opening the client is feasible).

 

[EnigmaGrey]

The configs literally have the tooltips baked into them, if you don't somehow have access to a client. Why not just transfer them from the server or open them via SSH? You don't need the client.

 

I don't know why you feel a 8 year old thread should serve you or why you seem to want to start something over it.  A quick google will lead you to the community wiki, a place better suited for this sort of thing:

https://pzwiki.net/wiki/Server_settings
 

[Lells]

21 hours ago, EnigmaGrey said:

The configs literally have the tooltips baked into them, if you don't somehow have access to a client. Why not just transfer them from the server or open them via SSH? You don't need the client.

 

I do a lot of my server setup and admin when I'm not at home with access to the client, by directly editing the config files with a text editor.  I have an option on every line, with no comments in the file to explain what each line does.  It looks like this on my server:

 

<snip>
    StartTime = 6,
    WaterShut = 1,
    ElecShut = 1,
    -- Sandbox_MinMaxDefault
    WaterShutModifier = -1,
    -- Sandbox_MinMaxDefault
    ElecShutModifier = -1,
    FoodLoot = 3,
    CannedFoodLoot = 3,
    LiteratureLoot = 3,
    SurvivalGearsLoot = 3,
    MedicalLoot = 3,
    WeaponLoot = 4,
</snip>

 

Note the lack of tooltips or comments.  This is what my hosted dedicated server gives me, and what I edit by hand.  Are you saying the base game has better comments?  I can't check, as I'm not around my client to look.  I know there's nowhere online that actually explains ALL of the options in b41.

 

Quote

I don't know why you feel a 8 year old thread should serve you or why you seem to want to start something over it.  A quick google will lead you to the community wiki, a place better suited for this sort of thing:

 

PZWiki is horribly out of date, and has even less information than this 8 year old thread does.  Sadly, that 8 year old thread, despite its age, is still the BEST online documentation of the majority of the configuration options.  Does it have to be that we open up that old thread?  No, no not really, I doubt the original author is still around to edit the original post now that I think about it.  But we (the people running server and making mods) desperately need updated information.  I'm not trying to "start something" over it, I just want documentation. 

 

And even if we look outside of just server configuration, knowing more about each option helps in modding, like what all can I expect to be able to do when I call getSandboxVars() inside a mod .lua file, for example.  The amount of documentation since build 41 is basically non-existent, beyond some basic API reference which usually only shows what a function expects in terms of parameters, rather than useful information like what the functions actually DO.  The official Discord is hit or miss on being helpful, which basically leaves a lot of trial and error.  

 

It's possible that others use and interact with the game in ways you wouldn't think of, you know?  I'm making mods, I'm running servers, I run into all sorts of "what-ifs" and "wouldn't it be cool" situations on a daily basis that others likely hadn't thought of.  It's not really a huge ask for an updated online repository of useful information.  If I look at the wiki, and all the information is out of date, then I'm likely going to end up on the IS forums or Reddit as my next most relevant (but still woefully outdated) search results.  And if everybody who comes by looking for new information gets shot down because moderators can't see the actual need, then we're doomed to never expand our knowledge and make more cool new mods and provide great servers for people to enjoy your game.

 

TL;DR:  Just want RECENT documentation.

[EnigmaGrey]

... Are you on a much older build of the game?

The automatically generated servertest_SandboxVars.lua contains comments explaining all the settings in detail. Here's one snippet:
 

    StartTime = 2,
    -- Default = 0-30 Days
    -- 1 = Instant
    -- 2 = 0-30 Days
    -- 3 = 0-2 Months
    -- 4 = 0-6 Months
    -- 5 = 0-1 Year
    -- 6 = 0-5 Years
    -- 7 = 2-6 Months

 

The wiki is largely fine. If you find discrepancies or lapses, feel free to contribute to it.

We already provide quite a bit of documentation as part of the game, the various forums, and as hosts to the community wiki. It's your choice to ignore it and just assume "it's wrong," if it suits you, but you'll just burn yourself out from frustration if you don't adjust your expectations. It's simply very rare to find high quality documentation in this world and expecting it to be part of an indie game that's not even finished is a bit much, frankly.

 

Hopefully the wiki isn't wrong because you've playing/working with a much older build of the game, right? That'd be something after making these posts, lol.