GWJ Ventrilo Server FAQ

Fedaykin98 wrote:

We had a couple griefers on Monday night. They were unable to enter the majority of the channels because they are now passworded, but the BF2142 channel remains unprotected. If someone wants to take charge of getting the word out about a pw for that channel, I'll be glad to add whatever pw y'all want.

That said, the two griefers on Monday night were still able to bother people in passworded channels because Vent by default announces when someone joins or leaves the server - and it does so by announcing whatever the person has typed in. On this night, they were joining and leaving quickly, which is annoying all by itself, and also using naughty language for their announcements, which was very bothersome to a father-young daughter duo that was playing WoW at the time, which leads to:

IMPORTANT NOTE: Whatever you set as your server announcement name needs to be relatively clean. I don't think there are any problems with this within GWJ, but I figured I'd better mention it, because when trying to ban the griefers the moderators have to do it very quickly due to the speed with which the offenders log off. Monday night two people logged in with utterly pornographic announcements and I immediately banned them; I doubt they were GWJ or friends of GWJ, but there isn't enough time to ask.

All of which is not an issue if you

1) Are in a passworded channel

2) Have disabled sign-on and sign-off notices

The latter can be done through the Setup Menu, under Events - there are two settings that need to be changed from "Play Custom Wave" to "None".

I know I've said this stuff before, but I wanted to also make sure I gave people fair warning about totally inappropriate announcements.

It's step 13a in the sticky post at the top.

Yes, I found the hop-on-hop-off of particular distaste, as it appears as if they have written a macro to perform the offending task, and it's quite difficult to ban them through the normal 'right click' method.

I'm going to look into how banning works from the web admin side, and may allow a few select goodjers access to that if that's a more effective way to nail the punks.

I'm relatively sure that from the web control panel, you can access the user logs. It would be pretty easy to ban the offenders after the fact with access to those logs. Because the scripts are so fast, even if they are only griefing for a minute, there will still be a good 60ish repeating lines. It would look something akin to this;

12:01:10 08/11/07 {[[]]}FoulNamedPlayerHere{[[]]} logged in.
12:01:11 08/11/07 {[[]]}FoulNamedPlayerHere{[[]]} joined \BF2142\
12:01:11 08/11/07 {[[]]}FoulNamedPlayerHere{[[]]} logged off.
12:01:12 08/11/07 {[[]]}FoulNamedPlayerHere{[[]]} logged in.
12:01:12 08/11/07 {[[]]}FoulNamedPlayerHere{[[]]} joined \BF2142\
12:01:13 08/11/07 {[[]]}FoulNamedPlayerHere{[[]]} logged off.

With a little luck, the log would also include the IP of the connecting user for a more permanent ban.

Cool! Thanks Mmm burritos!
I'm downloading the server log right now...

Had another griefer on the 2142 channel last night. Mostly just mumbling incoherence, he rejoined the channel under a different name after I pointed out I could mute him (I just muted him a second time). Then he rejoined and just broadcast static until someone joined and booted him.

What would I need to do to get the ability to kickban griefers?

News on the Ventrilo Front!
Upgrade to 3.0 scheduled for Wednesday, November 14th!

Darkstar LLC wrote:

As you may or may not already know – Flagship Industries, Inc. is releasing the new version of Ventrilo (3.0) this Wednesday the 14th. New features include but are not limited to: User Access Rights, Guest account and restrictions, Per-channel codec(s), User authorization channels, Ranks, User complaint reporting, Private chat sessions, and much, much more. Due to new features, Ventrilo.com has asked hosting companies to remove the ability to modify users and channels via the web control panels. As such, those features will be only available via the Ventrilo 3.0 client when it is released on Wednesday.

In efforts to make this transition as smooth as possible – we ask that you tell your guild/clan members, and anyone else using your Ventrilo servers as soon as you can about the update. The new version of Ventrilo 3.0 is being released in the early morning hours of the 14th. All current servers will operate under Ventrilo 2.3.2 until the client is released.

As such, DarkStar Communications will turn up everyone's server under the new version as soon as it is made available to the public. PLEASE BEAR IN MIND – Ventrilo 3.0 is not compatible with Ventrilo 2.3. As such, when the servers are upgraded, those who do not have the new client will not be able to connect. Furthermore, the new Ventrilo 3.0 client cannot connect to previous 2.3 servers. So please, download the new client as soon as it is made available on Ventrilo.com's web site.
For those of you who have friends with servers with other hosting companies – if you bring them to DarkStar, we will give you 3 months free of Ventrilo hosting – all you have to do is have the person who signs up open a support ticket and let us know who that you referred them.

Also – if you haven't seen the new web site, check it out. It's a big improvement over our old one and we really hope you enjoy it. As such – we are currently running a game server special – all game servers (excluding Ranked/Honor) are $1.49 per public slot, and $0.99 per private slot. This is for ALL games, including Team Fortress 2, Call of Duty 4, Unreal Tournament 3, and Crysis! These prices will not last long, so tell your friends!

Should you have any questions about the newly released Ventrilo version or our new web site, please open a support ticket or visit Ventrilo.com's web site.

Thank you!

DarkStar Communications
http://www.darkstarllc.com

Spread the word. I'm going to update the thread title, so I may need to get this thread re-stickied (I *think* whenever the title is edited, the stickyness goes away)

Darkstar LLC wrote:

New features include but are not limited to: User Access Rights, Guest account and restrictions, Per-channel codec(s), User authorization channels, Ranks, User complaint reporting, Private chat sessions, and much, much more.

TheWalt - are you going to turn any of these features on initially?

I haven't read through any of the details, but if any of the features look like a must-have, let me know and I can make it work.

Sounds like the 3.0 thing is happening no matter what, so I wanted to get the word out pronto. User complaint reporting sounds promising...

Thanks,
TheWalt

Here's what I found in the Flagship forums (makers of Ventrilo)

Pre-release announcement for Ventrilo 3.0

On Wednesday, Nov 14th 2007, we will be releasing version 3.0 of the Ventrilo communications system. While the actual change log is still being worked on we can give you some clues here as to what you will be getting.

User Access Rights (UAR)
Guest account and restrictions
Per channel codecs
User authorization channels
Ranks
User complaint reporting
Private chat sessions

Oh, and the "Move User To" menu option has been resurrected from the dead. But we also have an auto scrolling drag-and-drop system so it might not get used much.

And this is just to name a few. The change log in DOC format is already 13 pages long so this little snippet really doesn't do justice to how many new features have been added. So be sure to read the change log, found on the main download page, once 3.0 is available for download.

An official announcement will be posted on the main page of Ventrilo.com when everything is available.

Thanks,
Flag

It's good software, but seems like it's also a small company, since the release notes will be getting released at the same time as the release. Hopefully (with the lack of information on the main website) they're spending their time to meet the Nov. 14th deadline... I have faith in Flagship based on the quality of their product, and this release sounds like it will have some nice upgrades...

Here's the Version 3.0.0 Release notes:

Version 3.0.0

General:

Added support for automatic scrolling when dragging a user or channel around.

Modified "Is window visible" test so that it doesn't think the position is invalid if the window coordinates are negative. This is a valid value in multi monitor configurations if the primary screen is to the right of the secondary screen.

Added Error Message List window. Keeps a running log of errors and warning messages that the program is generating. Allows for more detailed explanations as well.

Server Editor: Added new option called "Show login name in remote status requests". See Server Properties "Require remote status Show login name" option.

Server name is always the first visible item in the list after connecting, if no default channel is defined locally or on your account.

Modified so that the first visible item in the main window doesn't change when a person joins / leaves the server or if a person joins / leaves a channel above the one you are currently looking at.

A new login account now defaults to PTT mode and the Hotkey defaults to Left Control. Since most people use PTT anyway this made more sense.

Modified comment button to give the user two different fields, a text comment and a URL comment. If a URL comment is entered it causes the clients to display a U: in the braced comment field next to the user's name. This is very beneficial for those users who feel the need to send URL's and uncheck the "Send silently" option. Note: The URL comment does not show up in remote status requests nor is it pronounced via TTS.

Comments are auto restored after an automatic reconnect occurs.

An existing comment will be displayed in the comment editor window.

All (X) close window buttons are now properly handled. In the case of the Setup window clicking the (X) is the same thing as clicking the OK button.

Rcon window now uses a little bit of color to make the info easier to read.

User-2-user, cross channel, etc limits have been increased from 4 to a maximum of 16. Voice Targets should be used as a better solution and globally configurable. See below.

Modified all password entry fields to use Bullets instead of Asterisks.

Login names now support every character except those below Space and a few select characters. This will enable European names that use characters above the standard ASCII 127.

Fixed client crash if you start a drag operation and the source item moves from its last known location.

Fixed auto-restore from systray on disconnect not removing the systray icon.

TTS will now attempt to filter out URL's.

Sound:

Modified sound system to remove 99% of clicks at the start and stop of a voice stream. Carry over from 2.3.2.Beta.3

Modified sound system to be less aggressive when detecting "wave headers coming in too fast".

Changes made in Setup or any of the SFX windows are applied immediately after pressing the OK button to any current voice streams. No longer need to Check/Uncheck "Mute Sound".

New and (and some existing) default sound event wave files have been updated and are more pleasing to the ear. Thanks to TJ Powell Publishing (www.tjpowell.com)

Added option in Binds editor to mute all inbound streams to your self while you are transmitting. Affects your local client only. (See Binds below)

Added option in Binds editor to mute anyone else that is transmitting while you are transmitting. Affects other clients who are receiving your voice stream. (See Binds below)

Modified the Speex codec to solve problems with certain people creating some obnoxious noises when they laughed or coughed into the Microphone. Carry over form 2.3.2.Beta.3. NOTE: You should set outbound amplifiers to 0 and use mixer/mux/line.

Added equalizer window for adjusting sound quality when transmitting.

Visual:

Modified most of the windows so that any inner control windows cover the entire width of the outer frame window. There are a few exceptions like the Error List window where text appears above the list so that computer novices are presented with info about how to use the window.

Connected users are sorted in each channel according to their type. Accounts then Guests then Phantoms.

Menu:

Reordered some of the menu items so that they break down according to User or general use with a separator between them. Makes the menus easier to understand.

Modified Popup menu to be more informative about things such as a window already being open or a mute state set by properly applying a check mark to the specific menu item.

Added "Move User To". Back from the dead. Also modified to display only valid target channels depending on your access rights.

Moved User->Copy Comment to Miscellaneous menu. This way you can copy the comment of a user or a channel. Carry over from 2.3.2.Beta.3

Added View -> Error Message List
Added View -> Voice Targets
Added View -> Commanding Targets.
Added View -> Equalizer – Outbound
Added View -> Rank
Added View -> Bold channel names

Added User -> Private Chat
Added User -> Lodge Complaint About

Added Miscellaneous -> Copy Comment URL
Added Miscellaneous -> GUI Ignore Keys

Added Change State -> Accept Private Chat sessions

Added Integration -> iTunes
Added Integration -> WinAmp
Added Integration -> Windows Media Player

Added Server Admin -> Guest MOTD
Added Server Admin -> Complaint List
Added Server Admin -> Rank List
Added Server Admin -> Kick All Guests

Removed Channel Admin -> Login / Logout. (See UAR)
Modified Channel Admin -> Delete (Confirms that you really want to delete)

Added "Rent a server" to bottom of menu.

Record / Playback:

Fixed so that it doesn't consume lots of time if an individual sample is very long.

The "Mute sound" on the main window will now mute sound being played back.

Logitech Game Panel:

Added support for Logitech Game Panel (aka the G15 keyboard). Carry over from 2.3.2.Beta.3

Modified the 4 th soft button to toggle the name of the person who sent the message on and off.

Modified the first three lines on page 1 to use two character abbreviations. Ch: Rv: and Ev: so as to have more display space.

Modified so that when a user stops transmitting their name will continue to be displayed on the "Rv:" line for a few more seconds but with a * added in front of their name.

Comments and Integration messages will appear on the "Ev:" line and in the Events page.

If more then one copy of Ventrilo is running and both are using the Game Panel then both will be displayed simultaneously but their names will show up as Ventrilo-1, Ventrilo-2, etc.

Setup-Voice:

Modified control panel buttons to work properly on Vista. Note: These buttons still do not work properly on 64Bit XP, 64Bit Win2003 and 64Bit Vista. In these cases you will need to open the control panels manually.

Modified the Amplifier Outbound slider to pop a message once if a Mixer/Mux/Line is not selected. This is the cause of so many bad sounding people. Use the Line Volume first and the Outbound Amplifier as a last resort as the documentation says.

Modified the Hotkey to support multiple key combinations.

Setup-Events:

Redesigned for easier use and expansion.
Added Private Chat Open event
Added Private Chat Message event
Added All Wave button
Added All TTS button
Added All Nothing button
Added Play button and pre-programmed examples for TTS events.

Setup-Speech:

Added Speech filter
Added Phonetic filter

Setup-Overlay:

This tab is new with version 3.0. It controls whether or not the hardware overlay system will be used and how it is configured. See Overlay below.

Server Properties:

Removed the following items. They have been moved to User Access Rights.

Duplicate IP's
Reserved Slots
Default Channel
Restrict phantom.users to USR file

Added the following items.

Guest logins:

Max guest logins
Auto kick after (X) minutes
Auto ban for (X) minutes

Require remote status "Show login name"

User Access Rights (UAR):

This by far is the most advanced and far reaching feature of version 3.0. The following items are available in the new user editor. For more detailed explanations how these features work please click the help button from the User Editor window.

You can also visit the following page for more details about suggested configuration options. http://www.ventrilo.com/uar.php

There are now two types of users on a Ventrilo server. Accounts and Guests. Each account gets its own access rights. Guest accounts are automatically assigned the rights as defined for the (Guest) account in the user editor. This way you can still have an open server but be able to prevent non-account users from creating problems. You can also turn an open server into a protected server with a click of a button simply by locking the guest account. You can also provide a reason why an account is locked so that the guest accounts will know that it might be unlocked at a later time. When an account is locked the reason why is sent to anyone who tries to login with that account name which includes guest accounts.

Ventrilo uses what is called an Owner policy. An individual account can be assigned the "Add users" right which allows them to add new user account names to the server. Unless they also have the "Server Admin" right they will only be able to see and manipulate those accounts that they have created or Ownership has been assigned to them. This is beneficial when you have multiple organizations that share a common server. The owner can then add and remove privileges for individual accounts as they see fit.

Only a server admin can assign any of the "Admin tab" rights.

User Editor properties include the following:

Profiles:

Profiles allow you create custom configurations that you might want to assign to people on a regular basis. You can use the two pre-defined profiles (one for the average user and one for a low powered admin) or you can create your own and save them to a file so that they will show up in your Profiles menu the next time you add or edit a user account.

Info:

Login name
Password
Owner
Rank
Notes

Network:

Account is locked
Reason locked
In reserved list
Receive broadcast streams
Add phantoms
Record
Ignore inactivity timers
Send complaints
Receive complaints
Duplicate IP's
Switch channels
Default channel

Transmit:

Broadcast
Broadcast to lobby
Broadcast User-to-user
Broadcast Cross Channel
Send TTS binds
Send Wave File binds
Send Pages
Set Phonetic Name
Send Comments / Integration
Generate Comment Sounds
Event Sounds Conn / Disc, Join / Leave
Mute Globally at Login
Mute others while talking (PTT Advanced)
Use Global Chat
Initiate Private Chat
User Equalizer – Outbound

Display:

See Guest Accounts (Caution)
See non-Guest Accounts (Caution)
See MOTD
See server comment
See channels
See channel comments
See user comments

Admin:

Server Admin
Add users
Delete users
Ban users
Kick users
Move users
Assign / Edit channel Admin / Auth
Assign rank
Edit Ranks
Edit MOTD
Edit Guest MOTD
Issue RCon commands
Edit Voice Targets
Edit Commanding Targets
Assign reserved

Chan Admin:

User accounts are now assigned channel admin rights for specific channels. This eliminates the chance of a global channel admin password from being leaked.

Chan Auth:

User account can be assigned the right to enter specific channels that have been configured for "User Authorization" mode.

Channels:

Channel features have also been greatly enhanced. The following items have been removed or changed:

Channel Admin
Check box in front of Channel password
Phantom mode (Replaced by Allow Phantoms)

Restrict transmitting to USR file entries (Replaced by Disable Guest account transmitting)

Added the following items:

Allow Phantoms
Allow Guest Accounts to Join
Allow Voice Targets
Allow Commanding Targets
Exempt from Inactivity Timers
Disable Guest Account Transmitting
Protected Mode
Channel specific codec (See below)
Transmit Rank Level

Fixed the Max Clients bug if a value greater then 50 is specified.

Private Chat:

This is a new feature for version 3.0. It's like the global chat window but between two individuals only.

Also supports a Push-To-Talk button inside the window it self when held down will act just like a physical PTT button but using the GUI instead. The voice stream is sent only to the person the session is attached to and no one else, provided that Voice Activation is not used.

Also displays an XMIT and RECV when a voice stream is active.

NOTE: Not supported on Public version of the server.

Chat:

Modified to display clickable URL links.

Modified so that text auto wraps instead of using horizontal scroll bars.

Message length extended to 256 characters.

Added Timestamp option.

Displays color for system messages and user names. (Carryover from 2.3.2.Beta.3)

MOTD:

Modified to display clickable URL links.

Fixed bug in RTF messages.

Same applies to Guest MOTD.

Guest MOTD:

New for version 3.0. Similar to the MOTD but is sent only to guest accounts. Guest accounts do not see the regular MOTD.

Can not be turned off like regular MOTD.

Complaints:

This is a new feature for version 3.0. It allows you to send a complaint about another user currently logged into the server. User accounts who have been authorized to receive complaint messages can then review the complaints.

This feature was added for those occasions when technical solutions do not provide the best desired way for stopping bad behavior. See UAR.

If you are allowed to send complaints you can send a complaint about yourself requesting that an admin make changes to your account. Assuming that an admin with correct privileges will review your complaint.

Icons:

Version 3.0 introduces a more advanced communication system that provides better visual feedback as to what and where information is coming from. For example: In previous versions if a person was in different channel than you and they are transmitting to just their local channel you would still see his Speaker icon light up as Green.

Using the above scenario you will now see the speaker icon light up as Yellow meaning that he is transmitting but you are not an intended recipient of the stream.

There are several new icons that show why you are receiving the stream. They are:

A Green letter P indicating that it's a private chat voice stream.
A Green letter U indicating that it's a User-2-User voice stream.
A Green letter C indicating that it's a Cross Channel voice stream.
A Green letter G indicating that it's a Voice Target voice stream.

New yellow channel + and – signs indicating that the channel is configured for "User Authorization" mode. See Channel below.

All of these icons can be overridden by the user. Click the help button from the main Ventrilo window for details on how to do that. Note: Mac client does not support this just yet.

Rank:

Version 3.0 introduces the concept of Ranks. A Rank can be created with the Rank List window via the Server Admin menu option.

Each rank is assigned an abbreviation, a long description and rank level. Each user account created in the User Editor (See UAR) can be assigned no rank or a rank from the rank list. The abbreviated value will appear before the users name in brackets (if so desired).

Rank levels are used to control whether or not a person is allowed to transmit while in a channel that has a Transmit Rank Level assigned to it. This way you can have auto-muted channels and anyone with the appropriate rank level will be automatically un-muted as soon as they enter the channel. The old way they had to be manually un-muted.

Binds:

Added Commanding sub-functions.
Added Overlay sub-functions.
Added support for multi key binds. (See below)

PTT Advanced: Added Voice Target option.
PTT Advanced: Added Mute other users option.
PTT Advanced: Added Mute inbound streams option.

Complete redesign of the Binds editor. Much cleaner and easier to use and understand.

Hotkey names are user friendly now.

Voice Targets:

Voice Targets are new with version 3.0. They allow an admin to create multiple groups with unique names and each group is assigned a list of account names that will receive voice streams. Some users in this group will be assigned the right to transmit to the named group while others will only be allowed to receive.

The advantage to Voice Targets is that all users in the group will receive the voice stream no matter what their current channel is.

There are two ways to use a Voice Target:

1) Define a PTT Key in the binds editor that when held will allow you to transmit a voice stream to one or more Voice Target groups.

2) Open the Voice Targets window. Select one or more of the target group names for which you have been given transmit rights too and press and hold the Push-to-talk button in the window.

Not supported in Public versions of the server.

Commanding Targets:

Commanding Targets are new with version 3.0. They allow an admin to create multiple groups with unique names and each group is assigned a list of account names that will receive commanding messages. Some users in this group will be assigned the right to transmit to the named group while others will only be allowed to receive.

When a commanding message is received the message will either be displayed in the Commanding Window and the Overlay (See below) if enabled. This way you can have pre-defined Binds that send out commands, or orders, to a group of people telling them it's time to achieve a new objective. The message can also be run through the Text-to-speech engine for audible notification.

There are two ways to send a Commanding Target message:

1) Define a PTT key in the binds editor that when pressed will send a pre-programmed command text message to one or more Commanding Targets.

2) Open the Commanding Targets window. Select one or more of the target group names for which you have been given transmit rights too, enter a text message and press the Send button in the window.

Not supported in Public versions of the server.

Connections:

Modified so that the connection to a server and initial display of user information is considerably faster, especially on large channel count servers.

Pressing the connect button is now asynchronous. If the connection is not established in a timely fashion the user can press the Disconnect button to cancel immediately.

The server will display a Question mark followed by a "MSG:" tag in the user list window as soon as you start the program. It will tell you the current state of the server selected even before you try connecting to it. It will also display an error message if there is a problem.

If the DNS Servers (Domain Name System) for your hosting company are currently off line, and you have previously connected to the selected server, the program will now ask if you would like to use the last known IP address.

Overlay:

Hardware Overlay is new with version 3.0. It is a mechanism that allows status information about the Ventrilo client to be displayed over the top of the standard screen. For example, if you are playing a game then an ordinary desktop program like Ventrilo can not display information on top of the game if it's running in full-screen mode without disrupting the keyboard and mouse focus.

Hardware overlay uses a mechanism available in many video cards that allows an image to be displayed on the screen without the actual desktop or game image being modified. This technique also requires minimal CPU usage in order to present the data.

See the Overlay function in the Bindings editor to change the Overlay in real-time.

Status page: Connection, Ping, --XMIT--, who is transmitting, most recent events and latest Commanding Target message received.

Channel clients page: Shows all the clients that are currently in your channel.

Events page: Shows a running list of the most recent events.

Global Chat page: Shows a running list of the most recent global chat messages and who sent them.

Dynamic Private Chat pages: If a private chat window is opened then a corresponding private chat page is added to the overlay so that you can see any text the person on the other side is sending.

There are some caveats to this technique. You should visit the following link for the latest details about supported hardware and special considerations with particular games and operating systems.

http://www.ventrilo.com/overlay.php

Media Player Integration:

This feature is new with version 3.0. It enables the Ventrilo client to interact with the following media players and to extract info about the song they are currently playing. This information is then sent to the other clients and shows up after your name in quotes.

The supported media players are:

iTunes
WinAmp
Window Media Player

Key combinations:

Version 3.0 introduces the concept of key combinations for binds. This includes the Hotkey in the Setup-Voice page and the Bindings editor.

Key combinations are very open ended. It can be any two keyboard keys, it can be two mouse buttons or two game controller buttons. But it can also be any combination from any device. Like a keyboard key and mouse button. A mouse button and game controller button, etc. There is no limit to the combinations.

Key combos are currently only supported when Direct Input is enabled.

Per Channel Codec:

Version 3.0 introduces per channel codecs. When the server has been configured to enable this feature a channel admin can select a specific codec for any given channel or they can use the server defined default.

This is useful if you have a preference for music streaming channels vs. regular voice communication. It can also help if you have modem users who just want to talk with other members but can't handle the high bandwidth requirements of a 44Khz GSM codec.

Not supported on the Public version of the server.

Macintosh specific:

Most of the changes above apply to the Mac client as well. Here we list those changes unique to the Mac client.

Added support for Drag-n-drop of users and channels.

Fixed Move User menu when channel names start with a dash.

Modified to pop an error message when ever the client joins a non-Speex channel or if the default codec for the server is specified to be non-Speex. This way the Mac client can coexist on a server that has at least one Speex channel.

Help buttons are now fully supported. The help is taken from the Windows client and tweaked to fit the Mac since they are so similar. There are a few things that still need to be changed, but we'll get those with the next minor client side upgrade.

Better support for Command-W

Fixed internal tracking mechanism of sound devices so that it is more tolerant of USB devices being added, removed and then plugged back in again. You may have to enter Setup at least once after installing 3.0.0 and manually select the desired sound input and output device, but after that they should remain intact.

Fixed the Line Input level being adjusted when default input device selected. When default it should never set the line level and only display the current setting when you enter Setup. But you can adjust it from there. The Line Input level should only be restored to a known value if a specific sound input device is selected.

Added support for F16 as a valid hotkey. F14 and F15 still do not register properly.

Periodic updates of the Mac client over the next few months will add support for the Record / Playback window, Integration (if possible), TTS Filtering options in Setup-Speech, Features in Setup-Misc, Overlay support (If possible), etc.

What's coming in client side updates:

Over the coming months we will be adding features that are client side only and making them available on a semi-regular basis. These are features that were not ready for the 3.0.0 release but are not crucial to the core features listed above. The following are just a few of the things to come.

Proprietary Instant Messaging

Recording export

I just updated to 3.0 and went into the GWJ vent server. There were about 20 people in there, most with names that were not English. Has the password been severely compromised or is this normal?

All in Guild Wars and WoW channels, for what it's worth.

Anyone know if 3.0 clients can log onto older servers?

He said no.

that blows

Just update the damn client! It's 2.60 MB

Allright... the User Access Rights are robust as hell. Maybe almost too many options, but I think it should be good in the long run.
Here's the breakdown:

Overview:

NOTE: This is a preliminary document and still being worked on. More info will be added over the next few days.

Ventrilo 3.0 uses an advanced form of User Access Rights (UAR). While prior versions had UAR's they were very primitive in their usage and were used primarily for reserving the login name and assigning an account Server Admin.

Ventrilo is even more security conscious then before. While this might be a little confusing and a bit of a hassle during the initial upgrade from 2.3 to 3.0, you will begin to understand that it was well worth it and you would never want to go back. Just give it a few days and you'll understand. The following sections will help you to understand the new paradigm.

Owner Policy:

Ventrilo uses what is called an Owner policy. Rather then trying to lump accounts into pre-defined groups that have specific access rights and then trying to make exceptions to certain accounts, Ventrilo works on the concept that a server admin or an account with the "Add Users" right will accept responsibility for certain accounts. There are many benefits to this concept.

1) You can have one top level server admin, preferably the person who rents the server who is responsible for assigning other accounts with the "Add users" right.

2) These other users can add new accounts to the server. When they do the owner of the new account is the person that just created them. This "Add users" account will only see those accounts that they have created or ownership has been assigned to them. Consequently it falls on his shoulders to accept responsibility for the actions and behavior of the accounts they have created.

3) If you have multiple departments, organizations, teams or guilds that share a common server then one member of each organization can be given the "Add users" right. This person answers directly to the "Server Admin" and can be given sufficient power to manage his little slice of the server without interfering with another organization. Their level of access is dictated by the "Server Admin" provided the server admin does not assign the "Add users" account the "Server admin" right.

Reduced power Server Admin -> Login:

Prior versions of Ventrilo gave absolute power to anyone who knew the global server admin password. This has changed in version 3.0.

Just because you know the global server admin password doesn't mean you can do what ever want. But it will give you sufficient rights to open the User Editor window and be able to create a unique account on the server with your login name and unique password. This account can also be assigned the "Server Admin" right in addition to any other rights you would like your own account to have.

Guest accounts:

People who are new to your server would not have an account login name by default. This means they fall into the Guest account and will be assigned the rights as defined in the (Guest) account via the User Editor.

After you have created custom login names for those people you feel deserve their own account, you should consider turning off the following rights for guest accounts to prevent trouble makers from causing problems. Please note that the server will prevent you from assigning certain rights to the guest account as well.

Network:

Add phantoms
Ignore inactivity timers
Send complaints
Duplicate IP's = Do not allow

Transmit:

Broadcast to lobby
Broadcast User-to-User
Broadcast Cross Channel
Send TTS
Send Wave File Binds
Send Pages
Set Phonetic
Generate Comment Sounds
Event Sounds Conn/Disc
Initiate private chat
Use Equalizer

Channels can also be configured to prevent guest accounts from joining them. Or, you might let them join the channel but you don't want them to be able to transmit into the channel. This is controlled on a per-channel basis via the Channel Admin - Create and Edit menu options.

Server Properties:

The Server Properties window has several options that relate directly to Guest accounts that have side benefits. You can restrict the total number of guest accounts that are logged in at any given time. This is important if you have accounts that don't have the "In reserved list" right assigned to them. Its can also be useful if you run an open server and want to prevent the trouble makers from hijacking your server.

You can also enforce a time limit that a guest account can remain connected in addition to specifying an automatic timed ban preventing that guest account from coming back into your server.

Server Admin:

If your server was recently upgraded from 2.3 to 3.0 and you previously had an account on the server that also had the server admin right then you will still retain that right and a few other rights will have been automatically assigned to your account. However, there will be some rights that the upgrade process did not automatically assign to you. As server admin you can manually give your self these rights by opening the user editor, selecting your name and then enabling each right that you would like your account to have. Just press the "Update" button when you are done.

You should only assign the server admin right to those people you trust, or keep it for your self if you are the owner of the server. You can still give people very powerful rights without giving them Server Admin.

Important: Any "Server Admin" can edit any other "Server Admin".

Rights:

?? Will expand on this later ??

Making room for logins:

If a all slots on the server are full you can still assign individual login accounts the right to automatically boot a less powerful account from the server in order to make room for them.

Each account can be assigned an "In reserved list" right. If this right is enabled for your account and the server is full then the server will search for any guest client and kick one of them first. If no guest client is found the server will then search for a client that does not have the reserved right set. If none of these are found the server will simply say that the server is full and to try again later.

If your account has the server admin right then the above search sequence will still happen but it will go one step further. It will search for a client that does not have the server admin right and then kick them as a last resort. This way server admin's can always get into the server.

Switch channels:

Each account, including Guest, has an option called "Switch channels" and if not checked the client will not be allowed to switch channels on his own. However, an admin with the "Move users" right can drag that user to any other channel if they have sufficient access rights for the source and destination channel channel, which is implied if he is a server admin.

This can be very beneficial if you want Guest accounts to be forced to a specific channel when they connect, such as one where the channels respective rights would be very limited, in order to prevent them from joining other channels that normal account users would have free reign to control what channel they are in.

Turn a public server into a private server with a few clicks:

Your server might be configured with no public password and open to anyone who wants to join, but sometimes it might be necessary to make your server private.

If you have assigned someone their own unique account then you are saying that they are a desired user. Otherwise everyone else falls into he Guest account category.

Rather then putting a password on your server and forcing it restart you can do the following:

Open the User Editor
Click on the (Guest) account
Click on the Network tab
Check the "Account is locked"
Provide a reason like "Private meeting, come back after 10pm "
Click the Update button

Your server is now private for as long as you want it to be. Every time a guest client tries to connect they will see the message you entered into the Reason and will be prevented from connecting to the server.

Bad Passwords:

Ventrilo is very sensitive to anyone who tries to use an invalid account password or the global server admin password. If you fail several times in a row the server will automatically ban you for X minutes and this number will become progressively larger. So make sure you have the right password before you try.

Unauthorized access:

Be advised that bad password attempts are logged. If you are trying to use the server admin password and you are not an authorized server admin then you could be facing legal action. As the saying goes: If you can't do the time, don't do the crime.

If you have detected unauthorized access to your server then you should immediately contact the ISP for offending IP address and report them for abuse of a computer system. Be sure to give the date and time (including the time zone), what IP it came from, the IP/Port of you server, and any information you feel is relevant. Please be nice to the ISP's when reporting issues like this. "You can catch more flies with honey then you can with vinegar".

Any time someone uses the global Server Admin login their information will be logged if using a Pro server. If you suspect someone is abusing your server you can issue the following commands in the RCon window (provided your account has Server Admin and RCon rights). The text following the number is case sensitive.

This command will show all admin related attempts, good and bad.

loggrep 100 ADMIN:

This command will show all failed attempts to use the Server Admin -> Login menu option.

loggrep 100 CRITICAL

This command will show you all accounts who have logged in with the "Server Admin" right assigned to their account.

loggrep 100 AUTOADMIN

I'm going to go with model #2 in the Admin format:

2) These other users can add new accounts to the server. When they do the owner of the new account is the person that just created them. This "Add users" account will only see those accounts that they have created or ownership has been assigned to them. Consequently it falls on his shoulders to accept responsibility for the actions and behavior of the accounts they have created.

In other words, I'll give out Accounts with no restrictions to known Goodjers, who can pass along appropriate levels of powers to friends and fellow Goodjers as they see fit.

I can foresee Random Internet Asshattery skulking away to the far corners of the internet with these features...

Version 3.0.1 will be coming out soon, to fix some minor bugs and make a few global changes (GUEST will no longer be displayed by default... but non-Account users are still considered guests with only guest privileges).

Overall I'm pretty satifisfied with the 3.0 upgrade... lots of tools availables to prevent griefers and spammers...

FYI-
The 3.0.1 client is available on Ventrilo's website (here). You won't see GUEST next to everyone's name anymore... (that's the biggest change).

The server was recently upgraded to 3.0.2

It's been quiet in this neck of the woods... how's the griefing level on the Vent server these days?

It should be at 0 with all the stuff 3.0 has in it... I haven't heard otherwise yet.

Hope everyone's still enjoying it.

-TheWalt

We had one tard with some kind of soundboard Thursday night during 2142. I think someone kicked him. Oh, and another one earlier that night that was channel jumping and chittering into his mic whom I banned.

well it should be easy to ban those folks, and I think the server won't allow channel jumping at a high rate (ie if someone changes rooms more than x number of times in x minutes they get auto kicked)

With the new version of Ventrilo (3.0.2), I think it'd be a good idea to go ahead and get all GWJ users accounts on the servers (PM if you want admin rights). I've been noticing that there are a bunch of non-GWJers using the server, and the idea of freeloaders is irsksome, especially when there's more than 1/2 of the server load out there.

Since we're getting a new IP address starting Jan. 16th, and 3.0 has given us the tools, let's start getting folks registered (GWJ and friends), so we're not just supporting Google Ventrilo search freeloaders.

PM me to be added as a GWJ admin (who in turn can register people on the user list) (see lengthy posts above).

Thanks,
TheWalt

PS. This will need to get restickied, and probably once again after the IP has officially changed when I edit the main post again. Thanks GWJ Overlords!

Ok, I see where the new IP is, nevermind my original post. Is there a new link to check the users through the web like the old one?

You can do it like this.

And also like this:
IMAGE(http://clientcp.darkstarllc.com/ventrilo-status/index.php?security=true&outputType=IMG&stamp=YToyOntzOjI6ImlwIjtzOjEyOiIyMTYuNi4yMjYuNzIiO3M6NDoicG9ydCI7czo0OiI0MDE4Ijt9&bgcolor=FFFFFF&textcolor=000000)

And there's an html way to do it as well if you want me to email it to you (GWJ identifies the html stuff as 'suspicious data').

TheWalt wrote:

You can do it like this.

Thanks! The riff-raff definitely seems to have lessened with the changes.

The 2008-09 Ventrilo bill is coming up, due Feb. 11th. We're about $25 short right now... if you feel like you're getting some value out of the voice server, you're more than welcome to make a donation here:
https://clanpay.darkstarllc.com/donate.php?OTIxMw==

Thanks to Edwin, Richard, Patrick, Bryan, Timothy, Randle, Chris, Jonathon, Ed, Brian, and Ron who've all made donations (either this year or last).

TheWalt wrote:

The 2008-09 Ventrilo bill is coming up, due Feb. 11th. We're about $25 short right now...

Not anymore. Thanks for taking care of this up front since day one, Walt. Me and my guys have been milking it for quite awhile, and it's about time I paid you back for some of it.

Sweet, we're good til 2009 then.

FYI-

Ventrilo provider wrote:

#DARKSTARLLC | IRC.GAMESURGE.NET

Dear GWJ,

This notification is to let you know that we will be performing emergency network maintenance this Saturday night (I.e., 02/10/2008) at 3:00 AM CST. This maintenance window will last approximately 4-6 hours and during this time you may not be able to access your Ventrilo voice server, or experience high latency, and/or packet loss.

We are working on installing two brand new routers to replace our core infrastructure in the facility. While we do not anticipate any issues with this move, the full 4-6 hour window may need to be used.

Thank you!

Network Operations Department
----
DarkStar Communications
http://www.darkstarllc.com/
A Nobis Technology Group Company