Lag Problem on Server, Lag Problem when using rcbot Options

[zodiac]

I have a dedicated server, pretty beefy (New Dual Xeon 2.2, 1GB Rambus) and I am having some issues when running the rcbot. I have the dedicated server set to take in 20 people max on server but when I get to having about 12 to 15 (including 4 bots) people on the server I start to see signs of lag, not in the way of FPS but in movement, it starts to slow without hesitation though. As soon as I boot the bots off the server then everything appears fine it appears to be fine I can not suport up to 20 people. In thinking that maybe I needed some additional frames I installed Adminmod/Metamod with a Adminmod Booster product (for dual processors) and that has alievieated some of the problem depending on how many people were attached at the time. I think what I am needing is finding that happy medium in the configuration of the bot itself. I left the setting at default and that is what I am using. I know that the bot/cpu parameters can be adjusted but not sure what the best setting is for my system without losing the bot performance also. I know most people do not like bots at all, I do get some complaints (eslecially when it lags). I think that bots are good as long as they are not abused and if they are smart. I found that more people are likely to join a server that has at least 4 players on them (I tried 3 and 2, didn't work) and thats what spawned the idea of using bots to attract players. Any ideas? I also had a though of maybe setting the rcbot so that as people come in if I can automatically boot a bot until they are eventually all gone thus saving the performance. How to I do this? It ther a way to set the min bit or max bits that would do this? Please help, any suggestion woudl be much appreciated.

[Sandman[SA]]

We should rename this subject Half-Life servers 101, lol.

Lets get into details for knowing your internet connection and what you can do with it. Knowing exactly what your connection speed is, is very important. Lets start with the definitions. (please note uppercase and lowercase definitions)

k or kb = kilobit: 1,000 kilobits = 1 kilobyte
K or KB = kilobyte: 1,000 kilobytes = 1 megabit
m or mb = megabit: 1,000 megabits = 1 megabyte
M or MB = megabyte: 1,000 megabytes = 1 gigabit

(Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. These messurements are close enough to present a general idea of thier true values)

How do we translate this?

Ok, lets for an example say you have a 56k modem and you want to know what your transfer rate will be using it. Following the messurements as shown above, the 56kbps modem will transfer about 5.6 kilobytes of data per second. That's exactly 10% of what the modems rated speed is. Another example, say you have DSL or Cable connection rated at 384kbps upload. You would actually be sending 38.4 kilobytes per second. Again, notice the modems actual speed is only 10% of what it's rated for.

Now that you know how fast your internet connection speed is, how many players can it support if you was to host a half-life server? The answer is very simple. Take your figured actual internet connection speed and devide it by 4 and you will have your answer. Now by default, each user connecting to your server will pull down 4 kilobytes per second. Using 56kbps upload, you could only support 1 player. Using 384kbps upload, you could support nearly 10 players.

(note: 56kbps modems only have a 28.8kbps upload limit and there-for can not actually support another player. True 56k ISDN connections are the same speed both ways and could support 1 player)

But all is not lost. Say you do have a 384kbps upload connection hosting a 10 player server but need room for 2 more players? This can be done by tweeking your servers sv_minrate and sv_maxrate settings. By default, sv_maxrate is set to 10,000. This is fine for a T1 line or faster but a sv_maxrate setting at something like 2000 is much better suited to the adverage DSL or Cable host. This will increase lantency some-what to all players by redusing how many bits per second that each player in the server can pull down but will allow you to keep lantency with-in reason yet still have room for a few more players.