The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal
Stupid, but extremely ravenous!

Name Management Plugin - Version 3.3 - User Guide

Filename: plugin_blatt_name

Offline Manual

You are reading this offline manual for this plugin. The links to the right navigate through the offline information. The links above and to the left link to www.ravenousbugblatterbeast.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk. If you downloaded the plugin from somewhere else, or downloaded it some time ago, I recomend you check for an updated plugin. Note that the on-line manual may have been updated even if the plugin hasn't.

Name based exploits

There are several exploits players can perform based on their user name of varying seriousness.

  • Players can set their name to a number in an attempt to match another players index number or their WON ID. This is in order to confusing admin mod / server commands into performing actions on the wrong player. This plugin can protect against this by setting bbname_minletters to a non-zero value.
  • Players can set their name to something extremely difficult to see, such as '.'. This means in game mods such as counter strike where the players name is displayed when you aim at them, the short name gives the player an unfair advantage, especially in dark areas. Typically, such players are also campers. This plugin can protect against this using bbname_minlength.
  • When more than one player connects to your server from the same IP address, or even the same IP subnet, it is likely that they are in position to see each other's screen or at least talk to each other, allowing a dead player to check where are opponents are for the those still alive.

    This plugin provides two features to deal with this: Firstly it can prefix the names of the offending players with "lan tags" so that everyone is aware of who could be cheating in this way. Secondly, it can automatically turn on the mp_autochasecam setting when players on the same LAN are detected.

    To configure LAN detection, see the bbname_lantagmask, bbname_lantags and bbname_autochasecam.

Non-exploit based restrictions

There are also situations not related to exploits under which you may wish to regular player names.

  • You can restrict the number of times players are able to change their name after they have connected using bbname_changes.
  • You can provide a list of names that are banned on the server. Any players that connect using these names will be renamed. To provide a ban list, create a file called badplayernames.ini in either addons/adminmod/config or your game mod's folder and list one name per line.

Choosing new names

When a player's name is banned, the plugin will pick a new name from those listed in the file newplayernames.ini. You can place this file in either addons/adminmod/config or your game mod's folder and list one name per line.

Tips

  • You should set bbname_minlength to at least 3 to ensure that all players have a fair chance of seeing an opponents name when they aim at them in the dark.
  • You should set bbname_minletters to at least 1 to ensure that players do not set entirely numeric names in order to exploit security holes in other plugins.
  • You should set bbname_rename to "on" in order for both the above restrictions to function.
  • You should not set bbname_changes to "off" unless you have a valid reason for unilaterally banning name changes - players will find it annoying.
  • If you have a LAN server, you should disable all LAN address checking by setting bbname_lantagmask 0.0.0.0. If its a LAN server, you know your all together - you don't need a plugin to tell you!