HamHost Dedicated Blockland servers | New poll: More free-user features?

Poll

What should happen to the price of HamHost?

Make it completely free. All features of the web control panel will br available for everybody.
Keep it free/premium, but give half of the features to free users.
Continue making more (web) control panel features for premium users, and occasionally make one for unpaid clients.
Keep adding more control panel features for premium users, but add none for free clients.
Make HamHost paid-only.

Author Topic: HamHost Dedicated Blockland servers | New poll: More free-user features?  (Read 100048 times)



Most recent update

The HamHost main server will be completely wiped before 9:00 PM EST 10/22/13!
I have discovered that the 'computer virus' was not present at all.
A hacker was spoofing packets so that they appeared to come from 'Skial.com', and they were connecting to UDP port 19 on hammereditor.net. My server kept sending random numbers or characters to the requesting client.

All I needed to do was block UDP port 19, and the hosting service is now back to normal!




I think it's time for me to give a review.
Hamhost is incredibly reliable. Hammereditor, it's hoster, treats his clients amazingly. He is on most of the time, and does his best to fix any issues you have with the service. His customer service is so reliable, in fact, that he actually added features that I asked him to. I cannot remember him ever saying "nah" or "maybe" or "no thanks". He really deserves more customers, and money.
I have been running my server for close to 8 hours now using this service and have had a few people in the server, no lag at all and no crashing. The connection is fine and fast and reliable.
Yay. <3

I went onto Pacnet2013's server to see how good the hosting is, I had 200 latency (pretty average for me) with around 10-15 players all spamming projectiles. Very nice.
Hammer is doing his very best to run this, the service is also very efficient too and he actually treats his clients as people and is always willing to help his clients whatever the time of day it may be. He is professional, and he doesn't slack. He takes the service seriously, and treats his clients more like his friends. I think that you should try the service out, it is worth a try. The service may not be a royalty 5 star service - but it serves it's purpose as being a quick and easy dedicated free server provider.
Thanks.
Nice, this has good customer service.
I think it's good seeing other hosting companies come up, I mean obviously RTB has the superior service right now, but it's good to have variety.

Wish you the best of luck, this looks alright so far
I've been using this for the past 2 days without any lag or problems,  it took me an extra 10 minutes to figure out what i was doing, and hammer is trying really hard to do this he gives me pretty good customer service given that this is free atm. So please, don't go making assumptions, and this goes for everyone.





Menu

Introduction
Features
Custom control panel
Payments
Getting a server
Our users


Introduction

What are the advantages of using a remote server?
Using a remote server has many advantages as opposed to running a dedicated Blockland server on your own computer. The largest benefit is the uptime.

If your Blockland server is hosted on a dedicated server or a VPS, you don't need to worry about keeping your computer on 24/7, so that players can always join your server. Frequently turning on your PC for long periods of time is gradually harmful, especially for gaming PC's with overclocked hardware. And even if your computer won't be slowed down, what about Internet access and electricity?

For many Blockland players, their Internet connection frequently drops and is unreliable. Is it possible to host your own Blockland server if it's impossible to forward ports? What if you're hosting a special Blockland event, and your server has 50+ players, and the power is out? Remote dedicated/VPS servers have reliable Internet connections with multiple back-up networks, and have UPSs and emergency power generators to ensure they are never down.

Another important reason is performance. A lot of PC's don't have the network and CPU performance to host a fast Blockland server without lag. Upload speed is critical to running any kind of server, but unfortunately, most consumer-grade broadband service has a higher download than upload speed. If you have a slow 600-Kbps upload rate, look at what you can get from a remote server in a datacenter:



Features

A black feature is for both free and premium users, and a green feature is only for premium users. An orange feature is currently in development.
In order for these features to work, you have to download and use the System_HamHost add-on if it's not aleady in your Blockland server.
Important:
The add-on/music management, eval access, and preferences management features provide an easy way to manage the server. If you are not a premium user, you can still manage add-ons, music, and preferences by downloading the config/server/ADD_ON_LIST.cs, musicList.cs, or prefs.cs files through FTP, editing them, and re-uploading the files.

Remote starting, stopping, and reloading bricks
What good is your Blockland server if you can't even start it? What if you want to keep your server off while you do some maintenance? What if there are 0 bricks on your server and nobody can play? Those are the disasters which are prevented through our remote start/stop/reload bricks system. Just use the HamHost control panel.
Also, since BlocklandLauncher.exe needs to be bypassed in order for the remote console to work, there's a button on the control panel  for updating your Blockland installation to the latest version.

Remote console streaming
What if you're testing a new add-on on your dedicated server, and you don't know if it has syntax errors or logical errors? The remote console feature streams all lines entered in the Blockland console to you if you're logged in with the HamHost control panel. If you disconnect and reconnect, the stream will pick up from where you left off, so you won't miss any important output which occured while you were gone.

Advanced security
At HamHost, we strive to make your Blockland server more secure. Our hosting service has a devoted, dedicated system for making sure other users cannot tamper with your Blockland server's files or operation. This system makes sure that other users cannot inject DLLs or replace Blockland.exe and the launcher. All executable files (.exe's and .dll's) go through a filtering process before executing:
1: File names: This process checks if there are extra executable files in the server's directory. If there are extra .exe or .dll files, the user is identified as a hacker.
2: File sizes: This process checks the file sizes of all executable files against the values which genuine versions of the files would have. If there is a difference in the file sizes of any of them, the user is a hacker.
3: SHA-256 hash: It is relatively easy for a malicious user to get past the 2 methods above, but this step is far more secure. A SHA-256 hash is a string of characters which is uniquely generated according to the contents of a file. The HamHost control panel server generates a 256-bit hash of all executable files in the Blockland server's directory before launching the Blockland server. If the generated hashes don't match with those of a genuine Blockland installation, the user is a hacker.
It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for a malicious executable file to match both the file size and the 256-bit hash. Furthermore, the system salts the hashes by adding a random number to them. This way, it makes it harder for a hacker to know exactly what hash the control panel server considers genuine.
HamHost's Blockland server security makes sure that other users cannot delete, steal, copy, modify, or corrupt any of the files in your Blockland server's folder.

Remote setKey
When setting up your Blockland dedicated server for the first time, you will need to set the server's authentication key to yours, so that you own the server. There is a button on the HamHost control panel. Of course, you can connect to the server and use the setKey("XXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX"); code, but the control panel's method is more secure as it doesn't log the eval command if you type it in wrong.
You can also use this to transfer ownership of the dedicated server to one of your Blockland friends, in case you're not using it or you are feeling generous.

FTP access
How are you going to send add-ons to the server without FTP? How can you download archives and config files? With the portable Filezilla client in the HamHost tools download, you can connect to the Filezilla server.
Free users have upload/download speed limitations of 800 Kbps, and 1.5 GB of storage space. Premium users have unlimited speed, and can store up to 6 GB in their Blockland folder.

Remote eval access
Say you need to enter some emergency code into the console if you want to execute an add-on without restarting. In the control panel, you can enter multiple lines of code into the text area, and view and edit all of them easily.

Remote Add-on management
Isn't it a pain to manually download the ADD_ON_LIST.cs file from your server with FTP, disable/enable add-ons, then send the file back? With HamHost's add-on management system, all premium users can turn add-ons on and off. You need the HamHost control panel to do it.

Remote Music management
This works the same way as the Add-on management feature. All premium users are able to view a list of the music files on their server and enable / disable them.

Autosave / console archiving
Did you ever lose all of your hard building work when your last autosave.bls file was overwritten? For all premium users, HamHost's autosave archiving stores recent copies of the autosave.bls file on your dedicated Blockland server. You can specify how often you want to back up the files, with the HamHost control panel. They will be compressed and stored in your archives/autosaves/ folder for download.
Similarly, the console.log file is zipped and saved in archives/console/. Note that up to 100 saves and 100 archives can be kept before old ones will be deleted to make space for new ones.

Server preferences management
Isn't it hard to adjust your Blockland server's preference variables through eval, or have to restart it again? Using the HamHost control panel, you can use a GUI to manipulate the server preferences. Of course, all the information is not stale. Before the server sends the current list of prefs, it exports them to the prefs.cs file. When you submit the revised list, the System_HamHost add-on executes the prefs.cs file, so your changes will be applied instantly without a restart.

Playercount recorder
With the playercount recorder built into the System_HamHost add-on, premium users view a log of how many players were on your server at certain times of the day. This will help you in monitoring how successful your Blockland server is.
You can also enable/disable the recorder through RTB preferences, and change the frequency of logging.

Remote brick loading
When this is complete, premium users will be able to upload any .bls file to their dedicated Blockland server.


Custom control panel


Since it is unwieldy to control your Blockland server through a console with no GUI, or raw TCP connections, I have spent about a month programming a client control panel for HamHost.
This is made in the language Java, and has everything you need to manage your dedicated Blockland server. It connects to the HamHost control panel server, which also is written in Java.
Remember to always get the control panel from the Web site above, and not from any other sources.
Java is an inconvenient computer programming language, isn't it?
It isn't, at least for the Windows version of the program. There is an included JRE (Java runtime environment) folder, so you don't have to install anything. Just double-click the .exe file. This application requires no administrator permissions.
In the .zip download, there is an included Filezilla FTP client. Connection information and instructions are in the readme.txt file.


Payments

Until a PayPal or Google wallet account can be created, we only accept payments in the form of the digital crypto-currency called Bitcoins.
To set up a bitcoin wallet and account, go to https://blockchain.info/wallet.
1 month


$3.50
€2.65
£2.26
Bitcoins:
       
3 months

(15% off)
$9.00
€6.82
£5.82
Bitcoins:
       


Getting a server

View the Policies and Terms of service agreement.
Free users:
To register, send an e-mail to support@hammereditor.net with the following information:
  • Your in-game name
  • Your in-game bl_id
  • Your forum name
  • Your forum bl_id
  • The e-mail address I should use to contact you
  • The desired password for your control panel and FTP account (both passwords must be the same)
I will set up your Blockland server, run it, and set the authentication key to mine. Then I will send you back a message with the control panel and FTP log-in information, and the IP address and the port of your Blockland server.
You will have to remotely set the product key. If you feel insecure doing this, PM me with when you'll next be able to play Blockland. Then, we can join the Blockland server together and I will create a function through eval which you can use to set your Blockland key. There is no way I can view it.

Premium users:
View the Payment section.

To register, send an e-mail to support@hammereditor.net with the following information:
  • Your in-game name
  • Your in-game bl_id
  • Your forum name
  • Your forum bl_id
  • The e-mail address I should use to contact you
  • The desired password for your control panel and FTP account (both passwords must be the same)
  • Your Bitcoin wallet address
  • How many months you are purchasing
Then, send your Bitcoin payment to:
1MTNg5wNihdTrNFdmynzfTrXyF5VLbWTBF
I will check my bitcoin wallet, and if I receive any payments, I will try to see if the sender’s address matches yours. If it does, and the payment is the correct amount of bitcoins, I will begin setting up your dedicated Blockland server.

I will set up your Blockland server, run it, and set the authentication key to mine. Then I will send you back a message with the control panel and FTP log-in information, and the IP address and the port of your Blockland server.
You will have to remotely set the product key. If you feel insecure doing this, PM me with when you'll next be able to play Blockland. Then, we can join the Blockland server together and I will create a function through eval which you can use to set your Blockland key. There is no way I can view it.

No dual registration
We have signed a contract with CBMhost. This contract prevents one player from having a free account on both hosting services. If you are on
this list,
you cannot get a free account on HamHost.
The no-duplicate-user contract prevents one person from hogging free hosting and not letting other users without any hosting from having an account.
If you are a premium user, this policy does not apply to premium servers. For example, you can have a free account at CBMhost and a premium account at HamHost, or a premium and a free account at HamHost.
Go to http://cbmhost.host56.com/hostingid.php to see if you are allowed a server.
Support
Frequently asked questions
If there are any problems with your Blockland server, e-mail support@hammereditor.net and I will try to respond as soon as I can.
The messages sent to you from that address will probably end up in your "Spam" section, so make sure to always check your spam mail!

Continued on next post...
« Last Edit: October 24, 2013, 09:20:23 PM by hammereditor² »

Pingdom report
(Pings are high since the check type is HTTP, not ICMP).
Good games today Hammereditor, hope you enjoyed what my server had to offer. I asked the other admins since I wasn't feeling too much of a difference from when I host but idk if being host affects that like when I hosted it before. They said that it was much better. I barely got lag at all outside of when I finished loaded my map (41k bricks) as well as when you joined and noticed a bit of lag.  Other than that no problems at all and the server reached over 20 people and some matches had a lot of projectiles flying.
Out of nowhere I would like to congratulate you on your progress as a dedicated hosting provider. Your competition is full of jerks that make me cringe at the idea of their own success.
I wish you the best of luck with your service--You might have me as a client in the future!
After almost of a week of using HamHost, I would like to give a review


This service has done me and momentum very good with nice connection, reliable speeds and good service. Hammereditor helped me when I had issues setting up my server, and getting addons to work. We are going to use the server for near Christmas for something big that we have been planning. Right now we are using it to build structures for what we have been building all summer and now we have a service that can do us well. For the most part, the hosting is good and the panel can crash sometimes, but I will be awaiting the web panel for the future. I would recommend this service to anyone who wants a free server for blockland due to it being well made. This actually surprised me when I tried this, because momentum's internet isn't good at all. His Latency was under 100, when compared to my server, around 600. I will plan on buying the service in the future when the web panel comes out I give this service a solid 8/10. Some of the best hosting I've used with good speeds even to Canada.

Our users

Not all clients are listed here.
Free:
Premium:
Other:



Latest HamHost control panel update: 8/22/13
Server improvements:
  • Detects out-of-control Blockland processes and terminates them
  • Stronger password encryption
  • Playercount recording added
  • Spam prevention
Client improvements:
  • New preference management feature!
  • Fixed config loading/saving bug


News


Ravencroft's 2 vs. 2 Basketball Tournament will be hosted on HamHost. Here's a picture:

I recommend that you join the tourney. Although I've never played on any kind of a Blockland tournament before, it looks exciting.
« Last Edit: October 28, 2013, 04:44:29 PM by hammereditor² »

Watch this get drama'd


Advanced security
At HamHost, we strive to make your Blockland server more secure. Our hosting service has a devoted, dedicated system for making sure other users cannot tamper with your Blockland server's files or operation. This system makes sure that other users cannot inject DLLs or replace Blockland.exe and the launcher. All executable files (.exe's and .dll's) go through a filtering process before executing:
1: File names: This process checks if there are extra executable files in the server's directory. If there are extra .exe or .dll files, the user is identified as a hacker.
2: File sizes: This process checks the file sizes of all executable files against the values which genuine versions of the files would have. If there is a difference in the file sizes of any of them, the user is a hacker.
3: SHA-256 hash: It is relatively easy for a malicious user to get past the 2 methods above, but this step is far more secure. A SHA-256 hash is a string of characters which is uniquely generated according to the contents of a file. The HamHost control panel server generates a 256-bit hash of all executable files in the Blockland server's directory before launching the Blockland server. If the generated hashes don't match with those of a genuine Blockland installation, the user is a hacker.
It is extremely difficult, if not impossible, for a malicious executable file to match both the file size and the 256-bit hash. Furthermore, the system salts the hashes by adding a random number to them. This way, it makes it harder for a hacker to know exactly what hash the control panel server considers genuine.
HamHost's Blockland server security makes sure that other users cannot delete, steal, copy, modify, or corrupt any of the files in your Blockland server's folder.
Are you loving serious?

Never mind, I read that wrong.

This is interesting.

"advanced security"

are you high or something

"advanced security"

are you high or something
No, I am serious. HamHost does have those security measures.

Couple of questions,

If BL directories are correctly jailed, how would EXEs or DLLs ever get changed?
Where's the server located?

Couple of questions,

If BL directories are correctly jailed, how would EXEs or DLLs ever get changed?
Where's the server located?
On C:\HamHost\somefolder appearantly

Couple of questions,

If BL directories are correctly jailed, how would EXEs or DLLs ever get changed?
Where's the server located?
The server is located in München, Germany.
The hashes and file size verification is extra security.

Quote
This process checks if there are extra executable files in the server's directory. If there are extra .exe or .dll files, the user is identified as a hacker

?

Btw can you stop sending millions of error messages to my client

?
By "server's directory", I mean the Blockland server's folder (which contains the Add-Ons, config, base, etc. folders).

Btw can you stop sending millions of error messages to my client
Those messages are being sent since you didn't enter a genuine username and password.