SixMarbles

Is it a version/localization problem? I know it's not likely but what else could cause this problem for some servers but not others?

Sigh. If my server's heartbeat is sent on port 18308 UDP (which I have confirmed using a packet analyzer), why does the master server list my server with a randomly selected port (60000-64000)? Upon further reflection, if the problem is in the code on the master server, it is not likely to me that the server's logs will show anything wrong. They will likely indicate that my server simply hosted on such-and-such random port. I don't understand what is going on here, and I have exhausted every analytical option I can think of on the client/server side with the help of Graywo1f. I can't think of anything else to do from here... I can confirm my server is throwing traffic at the master server on port 10308...

Yeah, I use wireshark :D that's how I was able to determine all the juicy info I have about server browsing in DCS. As far as browsing servers goes, there is an ED master server which all clients poll for server listings. The master server does not disseminate any server info besides the IP address and port of servers. When you click on 'client' and begin browsing servers, you send a 'getservers' packet to the master server after a DNS check for the master server's IP. The master server responds with a small UDP packet with all server IPs and ports, each server in the packet data being separated by a "|" ASCII character. Initially, you don't see the server names or map names. For this, you have to press "Refresh". This causes your game client to send a small 'getinfo' packet to each and every server you see on the list, and then the servers all respond (or not) and your server info fills in. The servers still listed as only IP/port are either shut down, or aren't responding on that port because the master server has erroneously assigned them a 60000-64000 random port. This is the problem we've been experiencing >:(

Understand also that I do not have this issue with other programs. I routinely set up my NAT to handle various games as well as FTP and have been able to fully implement server browser functionality. Ask Graywo1f! Not that it matters, as mentioned before the ED master server doesn't seem to use server info (except ip and port) from the session server's heartbeat. Session info is parsed directly from the session server to the clients upon request, not from ED master server.

Maybe I should avoid the word translation, I don't mean it in the generic context of NAT; I mean when an IP header is changed so that the destination port of an incoming packet on the LAN (private) side is changed from the destination port the packet carried on the WAN (public) side. This is a useful workaround to the port problem we're having, but it only works for so long; if I forward the port the master server assigns me (say for example 60144) people can see my game's info for about 5 minutes on the client's server browser. After this time, the port clients will see associated with my server will change to a different port (for example 60159) and of course this new, randomly chosen port will not get them connected, nor will my server information be displayed on the server list after a timeout of a few minutes. Clients can still connect if they manually change the port to the original one I forwarded (60144) but the only way they know that is if we're on voice comms. EDIT: bear in mind this all occurs even when I start the server using the default 10308, or any other port for that matter. And when I say forward the randomly generated port, I mean forward the 60k-64k port (WAN) to 10308 (LAN). By DMZ I mean such that all incoming traffic is forwarded to a local (in my case static) IP behind the NAT while maintaining the same destination ports. This way, all incoming traffic is forwarded to my server. I don't do this habitually of course, unless I'm troubleshooting.

DarkWanderer your post has me thinking, if there is a NAT problem then ED's master server logs will not show anything wrong. They will show us hosting a server on port 60k something... but I can't understand why the port would be translated if an appropriate forwarding profile has not been set up on the router, especially with a DMZ up. And especially if the WAN side port is randomly selected. A mystery!

I thought so at first too, but the port of a server is acquired from the master server, not from the session server. Don't understand where the 60k-64k random port is coming from. But yes you are correct, the IP and port are not sent from your game server to the master server in the packet data, but in the header.

I dunno if that's the problem. Could be wrong but... if it were, then a DMZ should fix all associated problems. Unfortunately, that's the case. I know some ISPs block certain incoming ports whether you forward them or not. Maybe that's why some people have problems and not others?

Okay, done a little project and I have determined a few things about the server browsing behavior. The master server does not disseminate server info to browsing clients beyond the ip address and port of the server. All specific server info is parsed directly from game servers when a client sends a UDP "getinfo" packet to each server on the master list by pressing the REFRESH button. The servers respond individually by sending back a UDP "serverinfo" packet directly to the browsing client on the same port. If the port the client sends "getinfo" on is not the same port the game is being run on, the server will respond with an ICMP (ping) "host unreachable" packet, even though it has not received a ping, exactly. In this case, the client will not see server info beyond the ip and (incorrect) port. However, if the host's router/gateway is set up to translate incoming traffic from the wrong port to the correct port, it will respond with the correct UDP "serverinfo" packet instead of ICMP. When a server is started, and also every 300 seconds thereafter, a game server will send a UDP "heartbeat" packet to the ED master server. The master server responds with a UDP "getinfo" packet on the same port, and then the game server sends back a UDP "serverinfo" packet. This is strange, since the ED master server does not need this information; it only shows the IPs and ports to browsing clients. The problem arises when the master server tells browsing clients the correct IP but incorrect port for a server. This incorrect port seems to always be between 60000 and 64000 and appears to be selected randomly. I have not managed to find any packets my server has sent to the master server on one of these ports, nor in the packets sent to me by the master server. The data sent between my server and the master server are always on either 10307 or the session port (default 10308 ) even after the master server has been telling browsing clients the incorrect 60k-64k port. In short, this all means that the 60k-64k port is generated completely on the master server. Ball's in your court guys :smilewink: Hope this helps a bit

LOL Gray, you suck at lightsabers Cool beans, I'm curious as to whether the problem arises because the hosts' ports are not open when the master server looks for an update... or maybe it works the other way around with a heartbeat, I dunno. In any case, the people who don't have problems hosting all seem to use DMZ so maybe it's a port problem.

That's pretty extreme. I haven't noticed the sudden onset at a particular altitude on my system, but I have noticed that objects such as trees aren't occluded at all by the fog, while the ground is obscured.

It's hit or miss for me. Sometimes I have no problem at all, yet sometimes in an external view I see the wheels pulled completely or partially below the ground. When I try to take off, one or more wheels will often become stuck. This also happens occasionally on paved parking areas in front of hangars at the airfields, but never on taxiways, runways or aircraft parking ramps. Oh, and taxiing on anything but airfields usually results in my helicopter flipping over, even with collective bottomed out.

Okay, I ran a netstat again about 20 minutes after starting a server, and the application still had the default UDP/TCP 10308 port bound. There were no other ports in use by that PID, and no applications were using ports in the 60000-64000 range even though the game was allegedly hosting on another random 60k port. Thus, I believe the master server is to blame, and not the game clients/servers or router configurations. Side note: When a player joins my server, he joins on another random port. The most recent one was in the 50k range, but again no activity on the server app's PID in netstat except the default 10308. Spooky voodoo!

I was able to host a two-player server today using the default port of 10308. My server did not immediately show on the master server list, but a buddy on vent (=DFA=Dozer) was able to connect directly by IP address using 10308. After about an hour, I shut down the server. Out of curiosity I checked the server list again and noticed my server showing up, but with only the IP and port listed, with no mission info or server name. This listing persisted for several minutes after I had shut down the server. Also, the port was listed as 60104, which is completely random. It seems the port chosen is typically within 60000-64000. I do not use any kind of WAN to LAN port translation (different public and private ports). I am forwarding port 10308 TCP and UDP to my server's local IP. I recently tested all this nonsense by starting an internet server. While the server was running, I opened a command prompt and ran netstat with arguments -a -n -o and found that the DCS PID was using only port 10308 TCP and UDP. I'll try this again by allowing my DCS server to run for a good 20 minutes and then running netstat again to see if it has picked up a different port, since Graywo1fg has reported to me that the program seems to randomly switch ports every 10-20 minutes on its own.