SRCDS, TF2, NAT, OpenBSD Firewall, Multiple IP's, Game Not on Server List... Help?

[Addict]

Ok, I've searched for a long time on three forums now, trying to find someone with the same issue as me. The bottom line is that my server is saying it's a LAN game even though it's set to be an Internet game and it cannot be seen on the browse servers, but can be played if made a favorite.

I've put together a lot of information here to provide the entire picture, hopefully someone won't mind reading all this and help me out! Thanks in advance...

Situation:
* My own server (Windows), colocated (no port blocking other that my own firewall)
* SRCDS fully installed and functional
* OpenBSD Firewall, required ports opened (1200 as well as 27000-27050, UDP and TCP on all for testing). NAT configured.
* Can connect and play via the Internet (if directly entered) but game does not show up on servers list or on game-monitor.com
* Typing sv_lan on the console, the server responds that it is set as 0 (Internet) but then says "Server is a LAN server"...despite it being set to be Internet in server.cfg.
* I have two IP's on this server, one for the Internet, one for an separate Internal-only LAN.
* During server start up, there are no errors and says it's communicating fine with the main servers.


Below are the steps I've tried, and their results:

srcds.exe -console -game tf +map ctf_FourCorners_a01 -maxplayers 24 -autoupdate
>> Server selects the WRONG IP (the Internal-only LAN), even though the one it's selecting has a higher cost (and should not be chosen by default)

srcds.exe -console -game tf +map ctf_FourCorners_a01 -maxplayers 24 -autoupdate +ip <correct internal IP>
>> Can connect and play via Internet using IP address, but does not show up in server browse list

srcds.exe -console -game tf +map ctf_FourCorners_a01 -maxplayers 24 -autoupdate +ip <external IP>
>> Errors out because it cannot bind to this IP.

I'm genuinely surprised this is such an issue. For some reason it's changing itself to a LAN game, I'm assuming because the server runs on a NAT'd internal IP. But still...if it connects to the servers, they should be smart enough to realize that it's correctly NAT'd and display the external IP on-line.

Is there any way to set the Bind IP *and* identify what the External IP is? Is there something else I'm doing wrong?


For reference, the server is currently up and running...

You can add it to your favorites and play it just fine using the URL: tf2.ponderful.com
...but it's sill not listed on the servers list.

Below is the log from the SRCDS window as well as what I get when I type sv_lan in the console:

===========

255.8 fps 0/32 on map ctf_FourCorners_a01
Console initialized.
Game.dll loaded for "Team Fortress"
Particles: Missing 'particles/error.pcf'
maxplayers set to 32
Network: IP <Internal IP>, mode MP, dedicated Yes, ports 27015 SV / 27005 CL
exec: couldn't exec skill1.cfg
Executing dedicated server config file
Unknown command "mp_autoteambalance_delay"
Unknown command "mp_autoteambalance_warning_delay"
Unknown command "sv_maxspeed"
--------------------------------------------------------
sv_pure set to 1.
Note: Changes to sv_pure take effect when the next map is loaded.
--------------------------------------------------------
exec: couldn't exec banned_user.cfg
exec: couldn't exec banned_ip.cfg
exec: couldn't exec ctf_FourCorners_a01.cfg
Adding master server 72.165.61.189:27011
Adding master server 72.165.61.190:27011
Connection to Steam servers successful.
VAC secure mode is activated.

sv_lan
"sv_lan" = "0"
- Server is a lan server ( no heartbeat, no authentication, no non-class C addr
esses )

===========

Thanks so much for anyone who can provide some help here. I figure it's something really easy and stupid that I'm missing, but I've read and read and it appears I've done everything right. Any insight would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks!
AL

[Drocona]

The response from the sv_lan command is the actual explanation of the command, which means that IF it's set to 1 the explanation is at force.

Look in the cmd -> "ipconfig /all" to figure out your external IP and check if it's there at all.
If the external IP is listed there you should be able to set it with the -ip <iphere> command and it should show up on the internet.

[Addict]

Drocona Wrote:The response from the sv_lan command is the actual explanation of the command, which means that IF it's set to 1 the explanation is at force.

Look in the cmd -> "ipconfig /all" to figure out your external IP and check if it's there at all.
If the external IP is listed there you should be able to set it with the -ip <iphere> command and it should show up on the internet.

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I'm not sure I follow... Actually, I think you might have missed a couple pieces of information (I know, it's a big post with a lot to absorb...sorry).

The server has a NAT IP, not an external one. The external IP will not show up on the server with an "ipconfig /all". Two of the three start-up configurations I listed above had the +ip tag, and using the external IP doesn't work because it can't bind to an IP that doesn't exist on the server (because it's NATted).

Did I misunderstand what you were saying?

Thanks again,
AL

[Drocona]

No actually that was exactly what I wanted to know because of this "* I have two IP's on this server, one for the Internet, one for an separate Internal-only LAN." I was confused if the external Ip was actually at the server.

In this case I'm afraid the firewall is in your way, I find it very weird that the actual server doesn't get the external IP, normally you get that when you co-locate.
It kindof puts you in a bad position there, have you tried disabling the firewall so it won't interfere at all with the server?

[Mooga]

Yes, you should be able to DMZ the server.

[Addict]

Hey guys, thanks again for the replies.

I own my own equipment, set up my own gear, and stick it in my rack within the colo facility. Yes I have a number of external IP's. However, I do not configure my servers to use external IP's because I have an internal IP based network. That's what NAT is for...

So, are you saying that there's no way for a Steam server to show up on a list if that server is using a NAT address? This server has other purposes, and I'm really not interested in moving it and re-IPing it just so it can have an external IP natively.

It seems awfully strange to me that *everything* works fine using a NAT address, except for server listings. Using NAT is a very common (actually, it's the norm) networking practice...and I can't imagine why Steam would allow everything but the listing to work with this configuration.

Since no one anywhere seems to know of anything on SRCDS that can be tweaked to fix this, I suppose it's entirely possible there is some quirk with my firewall, but all ports are configured to forward identically. So, maybe the server listing protocol (whichever port this uses) is slightly different than the rest...thus requiring a different configuration.

Thanks again for your help and thoughts!
AL

[pron]

ok, looks like i found a solution

srcds comunicates with master server like:

Quote:nat_ip:27015 > master_server_ip:27011
master_server_ip:27011 > nat_ip:27015

in case of nat , it goes out it liek this

Quote:ext_ip:rand_port > master_server_ip:27011
master_server_ip:27011 > ext_ip:rand_port

problems starts cause of random port =)

we can solve it with something like this in pf.conf

Quote:nat on $ext_if proto udp from $server_with_srcds to any port 27011 -> ($ext_if) static-port

keyword: static-port

P.S. as it looks for me you need only 27015 udp/tcp redirected
P.S.S. thrad should me moved to something liek general srds or something like that , not windows related for sure +)