This is a fix to make servers that have more than 24 players show up in the server list.

Download the engine.dll file from one of the following links and replace the file orangebox/bin/engine.dll

http://www.is1337.net/engine.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/64196582/engine.rar.html
http://www.mediafire.com/?7dguzwsxtyb

Now replace server.dll file or use the player limit remover plugin in orangebox/server.dll

Run srcds.exe with “+maxplayers 32″ and you’re done.

Note: I’m still looking for the linux version of this fix.

I’ve been playing tf2 ever since the orange box came out and while I enjoy it I was puzzled why the maximum server size in the browser was 24 players when games like counter strike source can support 32. So I looked around and found out that team fortress 2 does support 32 players.

Valve in its infinite wisdom has chosen to block 32 player servers from the game browser and hasn’t given an option to display servers larger than 24 players. Supposedly the game is made for 12vs12 which to me seems kind of limiting considering there are 9 classes.

I compiled a list of known TF2 32 player servers. Just add them to your favorites if you want to try 32 player. If you know of any more be sure to tell me in the comments. You can also use something like gamemonitor to see the active 32 player servers.

32 Player TF2 Servers

217.19.212.4:27017
74.53.95.133:27015
75.125.51.115:27015
75.125.51.114:27015
75.125.51.116:27015
68.178.255.207:27015
64.34.214.14:27015
208.122.49.153:27015
74.86.90.118:27015
74.86.110.129:27015
74.54.24.200:27015
64.34.212.154:27016
66.228.122.147:27015
74.86.94.176:27015
64.34.170.117:27016
206.196.106.182:27015
67.90.47.47:27015
91.121.79.198:27017
67.93.155.118:27015
69.65.39.149:27016
74.86.151.157:27015
74.86.151.156:27015
69.28.220.97:27040

32 Player TF2 Servers without VAC

89.190.205.222:27015
89.190.205.222:27016

Creating a 32 player server

If you want to create your own server you have to edit the server.dll for windows or the server_i486.so for linux. The links contain up to date downloads and instructions. Back-up your existing server_i486.so or server.dll from /tf2/bin before replacing.

After you’ve replaced the file, go to /tf2/cfg/valve.rc and open this file in notepad or something similar. Add the line:

maxplayers 32

Then in your startup for the dedicated server add:

+maxplayers 32

You will have to make these changes every time the server is updated from valve.

APC or Alternative PHP Cache is an awesome add-on for any apache web server. On my own server I was able to to handle about I was able to serve well over 1 million page views on a single server more traffic just by enabling the software. Facebook recently gave a presentation on how they use APC to serve over a billion php pages per month. My server does about 3% of that and its been running since 2004 so naturally Facebook doing the same thing as me is good reinforcement that I know what I’m doing.

Installing APC

First you have to download the latest APC and then uncompress it. To compile it use these 4 lines.

/usr/bin/phpize

./configure –enable-apc –enable-apc-mmap –with-apxs=/usr/local/apache/bin/apxs –with-php-config=/usr/bin/php-config –enable-apc-pthreadmutex

make

make install

To finish installing APC you need to edit php.ini and point it at the apc.so directory.

extension_dir = /usr/lib/php/extensions/
extension = apc.so

Configuring APC

My Server

apc.shm_segments = 1
apc.shm_size = 64
apc.stat = 1

Facebook

apc.shm_segments = 1
apc.shm_size = 648
apc.stat = 0

Other Improvements

Naturally setting up APC isn’t the only thing you can do to improve your server and your users experience. Enabling MySQL query cache is one thing you should do as it will vastly improve the number of pages your server can serve.

my.cnf with 64mb cache

query_cache_type = 1
query_cache_size = 67108864

Another thing you can do is use the Firefox plugin YSlow from Yahoo and it will show what parts of your site are slow and it will also make suggestions on what you can do to improve load times. They have a user guide thats better than anything I can write.

Beyond simple server setups you can use squid as a reverse transparent proxy to serve static content and you can learn about distributed cluster computing from Google.

Starting today, passport travel rules go into effect requiring all travelers to show their passport to flying to Mexico, Canada, Bermuda and the Caribbean must have their passport with them to be able to return home. You can also show a birth certificate and government issued ID like a drivers license. The requirement only affects air travel.

These rules were suspended early this year due to a backlog in passport applications hindering peoples travel but now the State Department says it has cut the waiting time for a new passport to six weeks for a general application and about three weeks for expedited service.

Starting January 31st, 2008 people traveling back from Canada, Mexico or the Carribean must show a valid passport or birth certificate and other proof of citizenship. By Summer 2008 all travel will be required to show a passport to reenter the country.

I spent about 30 minutes frantically looking where I placed my passport today because I’m going overseas at the end of the year and I couldn’t remember where I stored it.