TOPIC: Server Crashes - Lag - Too Many Players?

Hi Folks,

I've been playing on ZARP pretty regularly for a few weeks and overall it's been a pretty positive experience, but there's one thing I've noticed that probably needs some attention. Every day when the server starts getting busy with 80+ players online around lunch time (US time,) the server begins to suffer from OBSCENE amounts of lag and almost ALWAYS, without fail, ends up crashing multiple times. Everyone online takes notice and some even decide to just quit the game in order to avoid the frustration. And when the server isn't on the verge of crashing, the admins are overrun with trying to manage such a large population of players, which often results in chaos ensuing. Again, this typically only happens once the server starts nearing its 90-person player cap, and since this happens DAILY, I'm wondering if the server could perhaps benefit from lowering that player cap to 60-ish or maybe even 50-ish? Like I said, the server is fun and well-managed, and I plan on continuing to play here, but with the constant lag and crashes, it's tough to keep choosing ZARP over other servers that don't crash 10+ times a day.

Stay competent Folks,
Wonkatoad

I know nothing but my guess is that its not the amount of players, but instead certain actions players may do that lag when done in mass amounts.

Examples I can think of: Propspam, Props glitching out, mass amounts of entities

I agree props/entities may be a major factor, but that only supports my thought. Think about it.. Which is more likely to cause issues for the server? 90 player spawning props or 30? Even after server-wide prop cleanups, the lag persists.

Another thing I've noticed is how so many players like to complain about the lag/crashes, but how few actually voice any suggestions on how to solve it. It seems like the admins' only solutions are to just freeze all props or to do a cleanup, both of which do little to help.

hey pal.

O hai, pal. Perhaps you could shed some light on this topic?