[aexi0n]

So recently I made the change to switch from clearing all variables on disconnect, and reloading data on connect, thus refreshing all player data every map change. This was great in terms of never mixing up/losing data, but the queries held up the server constantly. So now I've made it so player data is only loaded on their first connect, and not cleared unless they disconnect, (not from map change).

However after making this dhange I was wondering if there were some possible ways that the data could get mixed around or lost? I've had a few players since the change explain their level was switched to someone else's data. I've reviewed the code where levels are saved, and it checks the steamid right before the update query, so I don't believe it could be an error in there. I'm thinking it might be switched with another client on mapchange somehow. Is this possible?

[asherkin]

Client indexes can change on map change - which is why you see them reconnect from a plugin point-of-view.

[Dr. Greg House]

Originally Posted by asherkin Client indexes can change on map change - which is why you see them reconnect from a plugin point-of-view.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know they only change if the server forces the client to reconnect (you can see a special output in the console in that case)?

[Powerlord]

Originally Posted by Dr. Greg House Correct me if I'm wrong, but as far as I know they only change if the server forces the client to reconnect (you can see a special output in the console in that case)?

It's been a while, but I think some of my past tests agree with this.

I don't remember if I checked this with bots and the "bots join after players" setting disabled, though.

Still, if the server forces a client to reconnect it probably fires the player_disconnect event for that player as well as assigns them a new userid.

[aexi0n]

Alright well that was my concern, however, if this is true why does the wiki say that they do not?

https://wiki.alliedmods.net/Introduc...Entity_Indexes

[asherkin]

Originally Posted by aexi0n Alright well that was my concern, however, if this is true why does the wiki say that they do not? https://wiki.alliedmods.net/Introduc...Entity_Indexes

It doesn't any more. That entire section was very wrong.

[Disowned]

Originally Posted by asherkin It doesn't any more. That entire section was very wrong.

Any possibility we could get accurate information on this then? I thought that a userid will stay consistent across maps, as you will find servers well into the hundreds of userid numbers. Or is this only accurate per map?

[Powerlord]

Originally Posted by Disowned Any possibility we could get accurate information on this then? I thought that a userid will stay consistent across maps, as you will find servers well into the hundreds of userid numbers. Or is this only accurate per map?

userids don't change until a client disconnects.

userids can repeat if your server is up long enough without rebooting. This is because they are stored as a 16-bit number, meaning they go from 0 (never used) to 65535... and then repeat.

I do vaguely remember hearing that they only went up to 32767 rather than 65535, but I've never tested that to check.

[aexi0n]

Alright, well that's good to know then. Out of curiosity, did you have any suggestions on what I would use instead of the client index that doesn't have a chance of getting changed on mapchange?

[asherkin]

Userid, but you can't sanely use it as an array index since SourcePawn doesn't have sparse arrays.
You'll need to move over to using a StringMap.