Debunking the recent network instability, AS/CA hub news, and Catching Fire update

[Alpha]

• We can update NoCheatPlus to a supported 1.7 version, reducing the rubber band effect for people using 1.7's new sprint mechanism.

You deserve sainthood.

 

[KodyXtreme]

Hello,

You've probably noticed that ever since we updated to 1.7 back in late October/early November, people have been experiencing a lot more network instability, including random disconnections, timeouts, lag, and a plethora of other issues. We've been looking into these issues over the past nearly 2 months since 1.7 has come out. However, it appears a lot of the issues are actually caused by the dual 1.6/1.7 version support.

Some statistics:

• 96.8% of MCSG players now use Minecraft 1.7
• 3.2% of MCSG players still use Minecraft 1.6

Over the past week, we've also been alerted to the fact that there is a memory leak in the dual protocol version of BungeeCord that we use, which has the potential to cause a lot of this network instability (and lag!); however, we have not, as of yet, been able to identify the root cause. Because of this, we have decided that the best course of action is to drop Minecraft 1.6 support and return to a stable version of BungeeCord sooner than we really wanted to. Ideally, we were going to wait until OptiFine was released for Minecraft 1.7; nonetheless, as Minecraft 1.7 has been out for 58 days now and we have not seen a release, our choices are either to continue waiting for OptiFine and risk the stability and playability of our network and gametypes, or drop 1.6 support and hopefully return to stability as soon as possible.

Here's only a few of our primary reasons for dropping 1.6 support:

• We can update NoCheatPlus to a supported 1.7 version, reducing the rubber band effect for people using 1.7's new sprint mechanism.
• We can update our core network backbone to 1.7, allowing us to fully utilize 1.7's new features (such as the new biomes for use in maps, new chat features, etc.) and fixes.
• Our hub will be able to "talk to" 1.7 servers, meaning when Survival is ready (soon! Antster360), we can add it to the hub.
• We can work on a more stable version of BungeeCord, as the dual protocol version we (and many other major networks) use isn't exactly the most stable version to use - meaning that the random disconnections, timeouts, and lag can likely be fixed

Minecraft 1.7 was not an easy update for any servers to handle, as evidenced by the fact that a supported CraftBukkit version was not released for over a month after 1.7's release. A large portion of the game's code changed drastically, making it difficult for server modifications to update, and even harder for client modifications to update. Within the next few days, we will post a maintenance notice with more information on when we are updating to drop 1.6 support. In the meantime, you may want to upgrade to Minecraft 1.7.4 now if you are still on 1.6.2/1.6.4.

Regarding the Catching Fire map/plugin, development has been a bit slow over the past week or two. Most of our developers (myself included) had final exams to deal with, and over the past few days we've been focusing our attention on fixing the network instability issues. We'd rather have our network stable and playable before we release new features. We will hopefully have more details regarding VIP test games (and teasers!) within the next week once we drop 1.6 support.

We're aiming for a release of the AS/CA hubs around the same time we update the rest of our network to be 1.7 only.

TL;DR: We're dropping 1.6 support soon and going 1.7 only, so updating now is the best idea if you're still on 1.6. More Catching Fire updates coming once we go 1.7 only. AS/CA hubs coming around the same time we go 1.7 only.

In 1.7.4 i drop from 60+ FPS from 1.6.4/1.6.2 to 20- FPS in 1.7.4/1.7.2! Pls dont't just allow 1.7.4/1.7.2... Some people in 1.7 have lag issues. I have lag in 1.7 I drop to 20- FPS and i cant play in 1.7 well without OptiFine. Don't Update until OptiFine for 1.7 is released. Until then still allow 1.6 Support & 1.7 Supoort.

 

[Lucidictive]

Not sure if I mentioned this in the post, but this is not a final decision yet. We're still actively looking into the issue, as the last thing we want to do is drop 1.6 support without a stable OptiFine.

Well, like I said, run a petition. It helps both parties, you with your decision, and the community is going to feel like they are involved in more choices. It's a win-win for the staff team in my eyes.

 

[Ava]

Well, like I said, run a petition. It helps both parties, you with your decision, and the community is going to feel like they are involved in more choices. It's a win-win for the staff team in my eyes.

That's true, but we're still looking into the recent issues. Although we still would hate to drop 1.6 support this early on, we will always place our network stability over support for mods if it comes down to that.

 

[Blockerville]

I might cry if I lose 1.6 support...

 

[Upperbyte]

That's because AS/CA are not on the "real" 1.7 yet. Once we update them to the "real" 1.7, this issue will disappear.

Why not you change AS/CA to the "real" 1.7 so that the issue will disappear. Many players are finding this issue irritating and some hard to play.

 

[Ava]

Why not you change AS/CA to the "real" 1.7 so that the issue will disappear. Many players are finding this issue irritating and some hard to play.

That's actually being worked on now (the coding to do that, not the updating yet).

 

[Upperbyte]

That's actually being worked on now (the coding to do that, not the updating yet).

How long would it take, probably?

 

[Ava]

How long would it take, probably?

No estimate, as we're prioritizing fixing the lag that has been making US/EU unplayable first, but it won't be too long as I've actually done a lot of work for that tonight.

 

[Fox]

So basically getting rid of the compatibility between 1.6 will finally end all the lag? I think thats the best. Also, not only bye-bye lag, but also, survival server will be up again. It will make the developers job easier c:

 

[Vinyl]

I'm having a hard time believing that only 3% use 1.6... Either way I'll definitely be leaving until optifine updates because 8 fps really doesn't cut it for me.

 

[Ava]

I'm having a hard time believing that only 3% use 1.6... Either way I'll definitely be leaving until optifine updates because 8 fps really doesn't cut it for me.

I had a hard time believing that too - originally, I thought it'd be more along the lines of 40% using 1.6; however, those are the stats. As the first post says in big bold letters, this is not a final decision yet, we're still looking into resolving the current issues and going 1.7 only as a last resort.