Server crash at 02:00 UTC: fixed

The game server stopped abruptly at 02:00 UTC and restarted by itself. The cause: an endless loop in trip preparations, near the Undercity elevators. Fixed and deployed less than an hour later.

The finding

On 3 November at 02:00 UTC, the game server stopped abruptly, then restarted by itself 15 seconds later. It is the first crash since the trial began.

The crash analysis shows an endless loop in trip preparations:

before a long trip, an autonomous player stops at a nearby vendor to repair and sell;
near Undercity, the way to that vendor goes through the elevators, and itself counted as a long trip;
that trip therefore asked for preparations again, which sent it back to the vendor, and so on until the server stopped.

Capitals are the base of the trial's autonomous players, which makes this case far more frequent.

The fix

A trip made while preparing for a trip no longer asks for preparations itself.

Checked on the test server

A 10-minute check with autonomous players in the dungeon loop: no crash.

Deployment

The new version of the module is installed on the server.