1 Topic by Asteague

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Topic: [HELP] No compatible servers listed, every Ping = 999ms

Good evening peoplz,

I'm starting this thread because I really don't know what to do anymore...
Yesterday, I could easily play on any server... today , after updating to 0.5.1 (from 0.4.3) I don't get any servers to play on...
every single Server (there are 323 listed) doesn't even give me a version number and has a ping equal to 999ms... I checked everything, there's no firewall or anything that's stopping Teeworlds from accessing the Internet... strange thing is, it does get a server listing, albeit a quite useless one...

I'm using Windows Vista x64, if it's of any interest to you...
Any ideas on the matter?

Greetings Asteague

PS: That's how it looks, btw:
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/4606/screencbm.png

2 Reply by Bee

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Re: [HELP] No compatible servers listed, every Ping = 999ms

Well try putting an [X] in the box for "Compatible Version"

Give others the respect you wish to be respected with. In the mean time, enjoy the website!

3 Reply by Asteague

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Re: [HELP] No compatible servers listed, every Ping = 999ms

Perhaps I should have mentioned it, but in the server listing there's only the IP, nothing else... that includes the version information, which is why I get a 0 of 323 if I put an [X] inside the checkbox for "Compatible Version"...

4 Reply by Magnet

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Re: [HELP] No compatible servers listed, every Ping = 999ms

Those lines you get mean you got a list from the master server but you cannot connect to the servers to get the information.

It looks like Teeworlds cannot connect to the servers (protocol is UDP, port specified for each server in the list).

Another problem is that you see only ~300 servers and there are around 600 permanent servers. I guess the problem is related to Windows, but since I don't know anything about it I can't help. Maybe someone else has a clue.

5 Reply by Asteague

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Re: [HELP] No compatible servers listed, every Ping = 999ms

This situation really couldn't get any stranger... now Teeworlds is finding those 626 servers you mentioned... and practically all of them send me the extra information I didn't get before... problem solved, without changing a single thing...
Anyway, thanks for trying to help me big_smile

6 Reply by Alexander (edited by Alexander 2009-11-07 19:13:56)

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Re: [HELP] No compatible servers listed, every Ping = 999ms

I just downloaded Teewars to try it out for the first time and I ran into exactly the same problem. My operating system is Fedora 10 (kernel: 2.6.27.37-170.2.104.fc10.x86_64). I have tried and gotten the same problem with the following versions of Teeworlds: 0.5.2 (x86_64), 0.5.2 (x86) and 0.5.1 (x86)

Right now I'm hoping that the problem will simply go away by itself like it did for Asteague, but if a known fix for the problem has been discovered since april I'd much rather try that than sit around and wait.

EDIT: Silly me! I didn't realize that the Fedora firewall blocks all UDP traffic by default. Disabling the firewall seems to solve the problem. Now I just have to reconfigure it for a more permanent solution.

EDIT2: Seems I was too quick to call that a victory. When trying to connect to one of the servers it started loading a map. I was so high on success that I immediately aborted to write the EDIT above. Now I'm back where I started. To clarify: It still doesn't work.

7 Reply by 404 Not Found

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Re: [HELP] No compatible servers listed, every Ping = 999ms

may be some problems with DNS? When I have installed Ubuntu 9.10 a week ago, my provider's DNS didn't work.

8 Reply by Alexander

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Re: [HELP] No compatible servers listed, every Ping = 999ms

I don't really see what DNS has to do with any of this. Even if DNS didn't work, shouldn't Teeworlds still be able to connect directly to the servers by IP alone? And by the way: DNS works fine, no problem there.

9 Reply by Alexander

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Re: [HELP] No compatible servers listed, every Ping = 999ms

Okay, so I got it working. I thought that maybe I should try to host a server so I forwarded the port that the server program told me in my NAT. After that I was able to see my own server in the list and connect to it. At the same time all the server info started showing and I'm now able to connect and play.

I haven't tried to disable the port forwarding rule to confirm if that was actually what solved my problem. It doesn't really make sense to me that I should have to forward any ports. It's possible that the problem went away by itself and that my actions were unrelated.

10 Reply by Alexander

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Re: [HELP] No compatible servers listed, every Ping = 999ms

Another update in this issue: After I got it working, it continued to function for several days until suddenly it stopped. Like last time, I don't know what triggered the change but something must've happened.

I got the idea to try connecting through a 3G modem, so I tried and it started working. That means I have narrowed my problem down to my router.

Then I set up a port forwarding rule in the router to forward all ports to my own computer. It immediately started working again, but since I don't even want to consider keeping that rule permanent I needed a different solution.

My current fix is to modify the client source to bind to a specific port, instead of letting the operating system decide, and set up a forwarding rule for that port only.

I don't really understand why this is necessary. Maybe my router firewall is over-protective, or maybe it's just not clever enough to understand that I have initiated a session, or is it simply misconfigured? If anyone has any thoughts on the matter I'd like to hear 'em.

11 Reply by Magnet

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Re: [HELP] No compatible servers listed, every Ping = 999ms

UDP is stateless so there is no "session" your router can rely on. SNAT still allows your router to forward to you a particular UDP socket you initiated. You have to set up your router accordingly. Most routers do this by default with a broad forwarding policy; if your router doesn't or is set up too tight, you will have to remove some restrictions.

Forwarding static UDP ports like you did when you hosted the server is not required to play the game, only to have players connect to your server (and thus appear in the masterlist).

Why don't you have an exception for your desktop computer to be nat'ed transparently? Don't you trust your own computer? smile.

12 Reply by Alexander

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Re: [HELP] No compatible servers listed, every Ping = 999ms

That SNAT function is exactly what I was getting at with "understanding that I initiated a session". I realize that UDP is stateless but in I knew that in theory a router should be able to deduce that a "session" has been initiated, I just didn't know what the function is called. Either way, my situation has lead me to believe that this function might be missing or malfunctioning in my router.

What do you mean by "an exception for your desktop computer to be nat'ed transparently"?

I had a theory that maybe my router does do that SNAT thing but only for a certain port range. Thus when the operating system happens to assign a port in that range, it works, otherwise it doesn't. That would in part explain the random behaviour, but on the other hand: Why would the manufacturer implement an incomplete feature like that?

What baffles me about this problem is that it did work for a while without my static port and forwarding rule, but then it stopped.

13 Reply by Magnet

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Re: [HELP] No compatible servers listed, every Ping = 999ms

I thought you wanted to restrict the NATing voluntarily. I meant that a true NAT should allow UDP (and thus TW) transparently.

Maybe your theory is right. My best advice is that if your fix works, stick to it or try flashing your router with an updated OS (or another OS altogether if it's possible). Personally I consider most of these so-called "routers" utter crap so I don't know much about them. Having a dumbed down interface to manage my network is like getting a lobotomy while studying rocket science smile.