Dbserver-protocols

dbserver listens on several ports, each one providing a different service. Most services correspond to another server which will connect. All of these services use the common Network protocol, in TCP-only mode.

account

AccountServer connects to this service. It deals primarily with the ShardAccount container, with auth_id being the container ID for this DbList.

It can receive the following commands:

ACCOUNT_SVR_CONNECT

This message has no body. If an AccountServer is already connected, dbserver will respond by closing the link. Otherwise, it will respond with DBSERVER_ACCOUNT_PROTOCOL_VERSION:

autobits protocol_version
string shard_name
autobits count
repeated count times:
  autobits auth_id
  string auth_name

protocol_version will be DBSERVER_ACCOUNT_PROTOCOL_VERSION, currently 20070925.

dbserver will send the complete list of names and container IDs for all ShardAccount containers.

If IsLoggingMaster is set in server_cfg, dbserver will also send a ACCOUNT_CLIENT_UPDATE_LOG_LEVELS message:

repeated LOG_LEVELS times:
 packint(1) log_level

These are the log levels, as managed by log.h, for all logging types in order from 0 to LOG_LEVELS. They are set in servers.cfg with SetLogLevel lines.

ACCOUNT_SVR_RELAY_CMD

autobits message_dbid
optional autobits auth_id
string cmd

auth_id is sent only if message_dbid is 0.

If message_dbid is not 0, then it is the container ID of an Ent, and dbserver will send a DBSERVER_RELAY_CMD to the MapServer where that Ent is connected:

string relay_cmd

where relay_cmd will be:

cmdrelay_dbid %d 0
conprint "%s"

filled in with message_dbid and cmd.

If auth_id is not 0, then it is the auth_id of a player, which will be used to find the link that game client has with the dbserver. If one exists, then dbserver will send it a DBGAMESERVER_ACCOUNTSERVER_UNAVAILABLE:

string cmd

with cmd unchanged.

ACCOUNT_SVR_CHARCOUNT_REQUEST

autobits auth_id
bits(1) vip

The vip flag will be applied to the ShardAccount auth_id, doing an SQL update if necessary.

Some SQL queries will be run to get the current character count, and when they are complete, dbserver will respond with a ACCOUNT_CLIENT_CHARCOUNT_REPLY:

autobits auth_id
autobits unlocked_used_count
autobits total_char_count
autobits bonus_slots
autobits server_max_count
autobits vip_only_server

ACCOUNT_SVR_CHARCOUNT_REPLY

autobits auth_id
autobits shards
repeated shards times:
  string shard_name
  autobits unlocked_used
  autobits total_used
  autobits account_extra
  autobits server_max
  autobits vip_only_server

If shards is 0 then instead the packet will contain:

autobits auth_id
autobits shards
string error_msg

dbserver finds the game client connection corresponding to auth_id and sends it DBGAMESERVER_ACCOUNTSERVER_CHARCOUNT, which is identical to the message received, except the auth_id is not included.

ACCOUNT_SVR_SLOTCOUNT_REQUEST

autobits auth_id

dbserver replies with ACCOUNT_CLIENT_SLOTCOUNT_REPLY:

autobits auth_id
autobits slot_count

Taking slot_count from the ShardAccount container for auth_id

ACCOUNT_SVR_PRODUCT_CATALOG_UPDATE

autobits timestamp
autobits auth_timeout
string mtx_environment
string playspan_domain
string playspan_catalog
string playspan_url_home
string playspan_url_categoryview
string playspan_url_itemview
string playspan_url_showcart
string playspan_url_addtocart
string playspan_url_manageaccount
string playspan_url_supportpage
string playspan_url_supportpage_de
string playspan_url_supportpage_fr
string playspan_url_upgradetovip
string coh_url_newfeatures
string coh_url_newfeaturesupdate
autobits playspan_store_flags

dbserver will send DBSERVER_ACCOUNTSERVER_CATALOG to every map server, proxying the contents of the packet.

dbserver will send DBGAMESERVER_ACCOUNTSERVER_CATALOG to every connected game client, proxying the contents of the packet.

ACCOUNT_SVR_CLIENTAUTH

autobits auth_id
autobits timestamp
string playspan_digest

dbserver finds the game client connection corresponding to auth_id and proxies this message as DBGAMESERVER_ACCOUNTSERVER_CLIENTAUTH, excluding the auth_id field.

ACCOUNT_SVR_PLAYNC_AUTH_KEY

autobits auth_id
autobits request_key
string plaync_auth_key

dbserver finds the game client link for this auth_id and proxies this message as DBGAMESERVER_ACCOUNTSERVER_PLAYNC_AUTH_KEY, excluding the auth_id.

ACCOUNT_SVR_SHARDXFER

OrderId order_id
autobits step

Depending on the value of step, the layout of the rest of the packet changes. Each of these messages is a step in the process of transferring a player character from one dbserver to another. dbserver will respond with ACCOUNT_CLIENT_SHARDXFER, which begins with the same two fields:

OrderId order_id
autobits step

The rest of the messages are described below, for each possible value of step.

When step is SHARDXFER_VALIDATE_SRC:

autobits ent_id

dbserver responds with:

bits(1) exists

where exists is 1 if the ent_id is a valid Ent and 0 if it does not exist.

When step is SHARDXFER_VALIDATE_DST:

autobits auth_id
bits(1) vip

dbserver responds with:

autobits unlocked_used_count
autobits total_used_count
autobits account_max_slots
autobits server_max_slots
autobits vip_only_server

When step is SHARDXFER_FULFILL_COPY_SRC:

autobits ent_id
autobits type
string visitor_data_packet

then dbserver will send DBSERVER_RELAY_CMD to the MapServer for this Ent (forcibly loading them to a MapServer if the player is offline) with:

cmdrelay_dbid %d
shardxfer_init %s %d %d %s

populated with ent_id, order_id, type, home_shard, visitor_data_packet where home_shard is the shard_id of this dbserver in turnstile_server.cfg.

If type is XFER_TYPE_VISITOR_OUTBOUND or XFER_TYPE_VISITOR_BACK then visitor_data_packet will be suffixed by a semicolon and the name of this shard from servers.cfg.

If ent_id is not a loaded Ent, and type is XFER_TYPE_PAID, then dbserver runs SQL queries to load the Ent and continues. For all other values of type, it returns an error to AccountServer.

When step is SHARDXFER_FULFILL_COPY_DST:

string container_txt

then dbserver will run an SQL query to check the Ent table for rows where AccSvrLock is order_id (or in development mode, where AccSvrLock is kOrderIdInvalid - this probably breaks things). If that row exists, then the ID of that Ent is returned. Otherwise, a new Ent will be created from container_txt, and the ID of that Ent is returned:

autobits ent_id

dbserver will extract the AuthName from container_txt and validate that this account has free character slots. It will rename the character if there is a collision, and grant a rename token to the character if it does so. The container is then created and added to the SQL queue for writing. The container is immediately backed up into a hogg, and then unloaded.

When step is SHARDXFER_FULFILL_COMMIT_SRC:

autobits dbid
string dst_shard
autobits dst_dbid
autobits type

In this step, visitor transfers (when type is XFER_TYPE_VISITOR_OUTBOUND or XFER_TYPE_VISITOR_BACK) are handled differently: for these, dbserver finds the turnstile server for the destination shard, and sends it DBSERVER_COOKIE_REQUEST:

OrderId order_id
autobits dbid
autobits type
autobits dst_dbid
autobits auth_id
string account_name
bits(1024) auth_data
autobits home_shard_id
autobits dst_shard_id

For non-visitor transfers, dbserver instead sends AUCTION_CLIENT_ACCOUNT_SHARDXFER to AuctionServer, to begin the inventory transfer:

OrderId order_id
autobits dbid
string dst_shard
autobits dst_dbid

In development mode, dbserver skips the AuctionServer interaction and sends back a response to AccountServer with no further fields.

When step is SHARDXFER_FULFILL_COMMIT_DST:

autobits auth_id
autobits ent_id

dbserver sends an SQL update to remove the AccSvrLock field from the Ents table for ent_id, and sends ACCOUNT_CLIENT_MARK_SAVED to AccountServer:

autobits auth_id
autobits count // always 1 in this scenario
repeated count times:
  OrderId order_id

then responds with ACCOUNT_CLIENT_SHARDXFER as usual, with no additional fields.

When step is SHARDXFER_FULFILL_COMMIT_RECOVERY:

autobits auth_id

dbserver searches the Ents table for entries with AccSvrLock matching this OrderId, and then runs the COMMIT_DST procedure on those rows. It then responds with:

bits(1) found

where found is 1 if any rows matched this OrderId, and 0 if none did.

When step is SHARDXFER_FULFILL_XFER_JUMP:

autobits dbid

dbserver sends a DBSERVER_RELAY_CMD to the client (forcibly loading offline characters onto a MapServer if necessary), with this command:

cmdrelay_dbid %s
shardxfer_jump

populated with dbid.

For this step, dbserver does not send a ACCOUNT_CLIENT_SHARDXFER response to AccountServer.

ACCOUNT_SVR_RENAME

OrderId order_id
bits(1) fulfill
autobits ent_id

When fulfill is false, dbserver will do some checks and then respond with ACCOUNT_CLIENT_RENAME:

OrderId order_id
bits(1) validating
bits(1) confirm

validating will be 1. confirm will be 1 if:

• The Ent is currently loaded (this may be a bug, it does not check for the renameable flag)
• There is an Ent in the SQL database with this ID, which is not locked, and the DbFlags column for that row has the DBFLAG_RENAMEABLE bit set.

When fulfill is true, the Ent will be loaded if necessary, forcibly loaded onto a MapServer if currently offline, and then sent a DBSERVER_RELAY_CMD with:

cmdrelay_dbid %d
order_rename %s

populated with ent_id and order_id

If the Ent is loaded, no response will be sent (bug), otherwise an ACCOUNT_CLIENT_RENAME will be sent with validating set to 0, and confirm will be set to 1 if the Ent was found and sent the command.

ACCOUNT_SVR_SLOT

OrderId order_id
autobits auth_id

dbserver increments the SlotCount field in the ShardAccount identified by auth_id and saves the container. It responds to AccountServer with ACCOUNT_CLIENT_SLOT:

OrderId order_id
bits(1) confirm

where confirm is 1 if the update was applied, and 0 if no ShardAccount with this ID could be found.

ACCOUNT_SVR_RESPEC

OrderId order_id
bits(1) fulfilling
autobits ent_id

When fulfilling is 0, dbserver checks the Ent identified by ent_id, and responds with ACCOUNT_CLIENT_RESPEC:

OrderId order_id
bits(1) validating
bits(1) confirm

where validating is 1 and confirm is 1 if the Ent exists and is not locked.

When fulfilling is 1, the Ent will be loaded if necessary, forcibly loaded onto a MapServer if currently offline, and then sent a DBSERVER_RELAY_CMD with:

cmdrelay_dbid %d
order_respec %s

The response will have validating set to 0 and confirm set to 1 if the Ent was found and a command sent. The response might not be sent if the container is already loaded (bug).

ACCOUNT_SVR_NOTIFYTRANSACTION

autobits auth_id
autobits2 sku
autobits inv_type
OrderId order_id
autobits granted
autobits claimed
bits(1) success

The game client link for auth_id is found. If dbserver has a direct link to that client, nothing happens. Otherwise, dbsevers send a DBSERVER_ACCOUNTSERVER_NOTIFYTRANSACTION to the player's current MapServer with the same content as this message, except the auth_id is replaced with the entity ID of the player's current character.

ACCOUNT_SVR_NOTIFYREQUEST

autobits auth_id
autobits type
OrderId order_id
bits(1) success
string message

The game client link for auth_id is found. A DBGAMESERVER_ACCOUNTSERVER_NOTIFYREQUEST is sent with the same content as this message, without the auth_id.

ACCOUNT_SVR_NOTIFYSAVED

autobits auth_id
autobits type
OrderId order_id
bits(1) success
string message

The game client link for auth_id is found. If there is a direct connection to the dbserver, nothing happens. Otherwise, a DBSERVER_ACCOUNTSERVER_NOTIFYSAVED is sent to the MapServer where that client is connected, with the same content as this message, with the auth_id replaced by the ent_id of the player's current character.

ACCOUNT_SVR_INVENTORY

autobits auth_id
autobits count
repeated count times:
  autobits2 sku
  autobits granted_total
  autobits claimed_total
  autobits expires
packint(1) shard_xfer_free_only
autobits shard_xfer_tokens
bits(128) loyalty_status
autobits loyalty_points_unspent
autobits loyalty_points_earned
autobits virtual_currency_balance
autobits last_email_time
autobits last_num_emails_sent

This data is stored in the ShardAccount container, and then either sent to the game client or MapServer as DBGAMESERVER_ACCOUNTSERVER_INVENTORY or DBSERVER_ACCOUNTSERVER_INVENTORY

ACCOUNT_SVR_FORCE_LOGOUT

autobits auth_id

The game client connected for auth_id is forcibly disconnected, notifying connected MapServer or QueueServer.

arena

This service supports the same protocol messages as the db service, documented below. It is used for ArenaServer to connect to dbserver, and the remote socket address of the ArenaServer connected on this port is used in processing DBCLIENT_REQ_ARENA_ADDRESS, but this service is not otherwise different.

auction

AuctionServer connects to this service. It can receive the following commands:

AUCTION_SVR_CONNECT (2)

The message has no parameters. dbserver will accept only a single connection, and while it has one, it will respond to all further AUCTION_SVR_CONNECT messages by closing the connection.

dbserver responds with AUCTION_CLIENT_CONNECT (2):

packint(1) protocol_version
string shard_name
bits(1) have_inactive_players
something....

AUCTION_SVR_SEND_INV (3)

autobits entity_id
string inventory

dbserver finds the mapserver for entity_id, and proxies the message there as DBSERVER_AUCTION_SEND_INV

inventory is eventually decoded by AuctionInventory_FromStr in the mapserver, but dbserver proxies it without inspecting its value.

AUCTION_SVR_SEND_HISTORYINFO (4)

autobits entity_id
string identifier
autobits buying_count
autobits selling_count
autobits history_count
repeated history_count times:
  autobits date
  autobits price

dbserver finds the mapserver for entity_id, and proxies the message there as DBSERVER_AUCTION_SEND_HIST.

AUCTION_SVR_BATCH_SEND_ITEMINFO (5)

autobits entity_id
zipped data

dbserver finds the mapserver for entity_id, and proxies the message there as DBSERVER_AUCTION_BATCH_INFO. The zipped data is not inspected by dbserver.

After this output packet has been queued, dbserver sends AUCTION_CLIENT_DATAOK to the AuctioServer, with no both. This is a primitive form of flow control. It does not wait for the message to be sent to the mapserver before doing this.

AUCTION_SVR_XACT_CMD (7)

autobits entity_id
autobits type
XactCmd cmd

dbserver finds the mapserver for entity_id. If there is one, it proxies the message there as DBSERVER_AUCTION_XACT_CMD. If there is no mapserver, then dbserver responds to AuctionServer with AUCTION_CLIENT_XACT_UPDATE, sending:

autobits xid
autobits subid
autobits result

Where xid and subid are taken from cmd, and the result is set to kXactCmdRes_No.

AUCTION_SVR_RELAY_CMD_BYENT (9)

packint(1) entity_id
packint(1) force
string msg

dbserver finds the mapserver for entity_id. If there is one, it sends DBSERVER_RELAY_CMD there with msg as the body. If there is no mapserver, and force is set to 1, then the message is queued for relaying when the entity is available, and dbserver begins attempting to load the entity into a mapserver.

AUCTION_SVR_THROTTLE_ON (10)

This message has no parameters, and dbserver sends no response. It enables throttling, which prevents some (???) messages from being sent to the AuctionServer.

AUCTION_SVR_THROTTLE_OFF (11)

This message has no parameters, and dbserver sends no response. It disables throttling.

AUCTION_SVR_ACCOUNT_SHARDXFER (12)

OrderId order_id
autobits dbid

dbid is interpreted as an Ent id. dbserver will offline (???) and delete (???) the player, and then send AccountServer an ACCOUNT_CLIENT_SHARDXFER with:

OrderId order_id
autobits SHARDXFER_FULFILL_COMMIT_SRC

beacon

This service is used for the beacon servers and clients to connect to dbserver. It consists of two network ports, one for clients and one for servers.

All messages on the beacon client port are ignored.

Only one message is handled on the beacon server port. It is:

BEACON2DB_BEACONSERVER_STATUS

packint(1) version
packint(1) longest_wait

version is ignored. When dbserver receives this packet, it records longest_wait and the time when this message was received.

This information is not used for any purpose other than relaying to ServerMonitor.

client

This service is used for the game client to communicate with dbserver.

It is documented on Client-to-dbserver

db

This service is used to communicate with MapServer and RaidServer.

It is documented on Dbserver-to-mapserver

launcher

This service is used for launchers to connect to dbserver and receive instructions on what processes to start. It forms a primitive job scheduler, attempting to start processes on launchers which have spare capacity.

mission

This service is used for the MissionServer to connect to dbserver. Only one MissionServer is allowed to connect.

queue

This service is used for the QueueServer to connect to dbserver. Only one connection is allowed.

The use of the QueueServer is optional. When it is used, game clients connect to QueueServer instead of dbserver, and QueueServer proxies all the usual Client-to-dbserver messages.

Proxied messages for clients, sent from dbserver to QueueServer, will be prefixed with these fields to identify the client they are for:

string client_name
autobits link_id

Proxies messages from clients, send from QueueServer to dbserver, will be sent in QUEUECLIENT_CLIENTCOMMAND messages.

stat

This service is used for StatServer to connect. It is used to identify the StatServer in order to send messages to it. It supports the same messages as the db service, and is not otherwise different.

svrmon

This service is used for ServerMonitor to connect to dbserver. Many ServerMonitors can connect to the service simultaneously.

Unusually, this service reuses command numbers for requests and responses, instead of having two distinct namespaces for messages in each direction.

turnstile

This service is used for the TurnstileServer to connect to dbserver. It assumes that only one TurnstileServer will connect at a time, but does not enforce this; the most recently registered one will receive messages intended for TurnstileServer.