Structure Decay Clarification

[Jrminot]

Hey All,

I have been unable to find a comprehensive explanation of the PVEStructureDecay system.

As my server now has some large bases with players not logging in for long periods of time, I want to enable a system where the structures decay or are destroyed after a period of time.

 

I currently see 2 options for GameUserSettings.ini

• PVEStructureDecayPeriodMultiplyer
• PVEStructureDecayDestructionMultiplyer
• AutoDestroyOldStructuresMultiplier
• DisableStructureDecayPvE

 

If I roughly understand those right, the first settings dictates the rate at which abandoned building naturally lose health and the second setting dictates the timer until a building can be demolished by someone else, the third one I'm unsure about (seems redundant with decay), and the fourth one disables structure decay entirely? 

My questions are this:

1. For structure decay period,  are structures constantly losing health or do they only begin to lose health after a certain period of inactivity 

2. Assuming a default value of 1 for decay period, how quickly do the various building types lose health?

3. Assuming that building only begin decaying after an inactivity period, is the timer reset when an owner (personal or tribe) is within render distance or can any player within render distance reset the inactivity timer?

4. For structure decay, how does manipulating the value affect the decay rate. if I change the value from 1 to 2, does that double the time it takes to begin to decay or halve it?

5. Are structure like industrial utilities (which are considered stone) indeed affected by the stone decay rate? (ie, a table is considered thatch, does the thatch rate apply to it?)

6. For decay destruction, I'm assuming the use case for this is either to use it instead of decay period or to set it so that building are destructible sooner than their decay period. Thoughts/insights?

7. For decay destruction, what are the timers when set to 1, and how does manipulating the value affect the timers?

8. I see AutoDestroyOldStructuresMultiplier=1.000000 set in my config files, how does this play with the other settings?

 

I hope someone out there can clarify these settings for me so that I can implement them on my server!

Thanks in advance.

 

Verac

 

 

[Toni]

On 10.4.2016 at 6:47 PM, Jrminot said:

Hey All,

I have been unable to find a comprehensive explanation of the PVEStructureDecay system.

As my server now has some large bases with players not logging in for long periods of time, I want to enable a system where the structures decay or are destroyed after a period of time.

 

I currently see 2 options for GameUserSettings.ini

• PVEStructureDecayPeriodMultiplyer
• PVEStructureDecayDestructionMultiplyer
• AutoDestroyOldStructuresMultiplier
• DisableStructureDecayPvE

 

If I roughly understand those right, the first settings dictates the rate at which abandoned building naturally lose health and the second setting dictates the timer until a building can be demolished by someone else, the third one I'm unsure about (seems redundant with decay), and the fourth one disables structure decay entirely? 

My questions are this:

1. For structure decay period,  are structures constantly losing health or do they only begin to lose health after a certain period of inactivity 

2. Assuming a default value of 1 for decay period, how quickly do the various building types lose health?

3. Assuming that building only begin decaying after an inactivity period, is the timer reset when an owner (personal or tribe) is within render distance or can any player within render distance reset the inactivity timer?

4. For structure decay, how does manipulating the value affect the decay rate. if I change the value from 1 to 2, does that double the time it takes to begin to decay or halve it?

5. Are structure like industrial utilities (which are considered stone) indeed affected by the stone decay rate? (ie, a table is considered thatch, does the thatch rate apply to it?)

6. For decay destruction, I'm assuming the use case for this is either to use it instead of decay period or to set it so that building are destructible sooner than their decay period. Thoughts/insights?

7. For decay destruction, what are the timers when set to 1, and how does manipulating the value affect the timers?

8. I see AutoDestroyOldStructuresMultiplier=1.000000 set in my config files, how does this play with the other settings?

 

I hope someone out there can clarify these settings for me so that I can implement them on my server!

Thanks in advance.

 

Verac

 

 

1. They do not lose any health. After the decay time is reached, the structure are demolishable by other players. The structures do not loose health itself.

2. On settings x1 it is -->  4 days thatch / 8 days wood / 12 days stone / 16 days metal

3. Im not sure about this. Can't test it anymore because the timers are not displayed anymore.

4. If you double the value, then the period till decay is reached is doubled. So for example if you set it x2, then thatch is demolishable after 8 days.

5. Sorry i don't know exactly. I think items like storage boxes and so on does have own timers.

6. Sorry i do not understand your question? Maybe you are asking for AutoDestroyOldStructuresMultiplier? This is an additional timer which runs after the decay period. When the autodestroytimer is reached, then the structures are removed automatically. So for example if you set StructureDecay to x2 and AutoDestroyOldStructures to x3. Then the following will happen -->   8 days till thatch is demolishable by other players. 12 days till thatch structures get removed automatically by the server.

7. Already answered with my other answers.

8. Its an additional timer. If you set it to the same value than structuredecay, then demolishable objects will be directly removed by the server automatically. See my example in answer for point 6.

[Jrminot]

Thanks you for the reply!

Based on your replies, you say that structures do not gradually lose health with any of the settings. 

What are the difference between these two settings then?

• PVEStructureDecayPeriodMultiplyer
• PVEStructureDecayDestructionMultiplyer

[Toni]

18 hours ago, Jrminot said:

Thanks you for the reply!

Based on your replies, you say that structures do not gradually lose health with any of the settings. 

What are the difference between these two settings then?

• PVEStructureDecayPeriodMultiplyer
• PVEStructureDecayDestructionMultiplyer

Sorry i don't know.

[tezzarist]

Bump really need the Devs to clarify this, because as menioned the timers no longer show which is a pain for seeing if the settings are working correctly, maybe the timers could be added back with an on and off option in the INI files or so only admins can see the timers?

[Toni]

8 hours ago, tezzarist said:

Bump really need the Devs to clarify this, because as menioned the timers no longer show which is a pain for seeing if the settings are working correctly, maybe the timers could be added back with an on and off option in the INI files or so only admins can see the timers?

+1

[tezzarist]

@lilpanda Any chance someone from the Ark team can help us unofficial server admins with some of the questions we have, it seems the comunnnity doesn't know the answers to these questions, for example this question, most likely because the questions have never been answered anywhere else.

I persoanlly have spent hours researching some of the questions I have asked or commented on, even to the point of reading every patch note since the first.

[Tanek]

Were any of these settings clarified by the devs?  I see the wiki still says "The specific effect(s) of this option and its range of valid values are unknown as of this writing."

Also, if we want structures to still have the timer, but do not want them to auto-demolish, is it correct to set AutoDestroyOldStructuresMultiplier to zero?

Thanks.

[Gaara Darcia]

On 17/07/2016 at 10:03 AM, Tanek said:

Also, if we want structures to still have the timer, but do not want them to auto-demolish, is it correct to set AutoDestroyOldStructuresMultiplier to zero?

Really want to know if this will work as well I only have a few people on my server so would prefer it if I'm only one that can demolish abandoned buildings so my friends don't have to worry about the game if they go on a long holiday

[Tanek]

2 hours ago, Gaara Darcia said:

Really want to know if this will work as well I only have a few people on my server so would prefer it if I'm only one that can demolish abandoned buildings so my friends don't have to worry about the game if they go on a long holiday

I ran some tests last night.  From what I saw, having it set to zero will remove the auto-destruct.  I changed the demolish timer to 5 minutes for thatch, 10 for wood, 15 for stone, and 20 for metal so I would not need to wait days for results.  Best I can do without absolute confirmation from the devs, but it did seem to do what I'd hoped it would.

AutoDestroyOldStructuresMultiplier
First, and I have seen this referenced before, in order for the auto-destruct to happen, the area needs to be unloaded. So if there are any players nearby, even if the auto-destruct time has passed, the structure will remain intact until all players leave or there is a server restart.

AutoDestroyOldStructuresMultiplier=1
This will set the auto-destruct to the same as the demolish timer (default is 4 days for thatch, 8 for wood, 12 for stone, and 16 for metal). So when that counts down to zero and the area is unloaded, *poof*.

AutoDestroyOldStructuresMultiplier=0
As far as my tests have shown, this does turn OFF the auto-destruct.
 

[Tanek]

3 hours ago, GreatApe said:

Is that after the demolisable time has passed or does it become demolisable and will be removed if unloaded at the same time?  Thats will a thath hut be demolisahable after 4 days and then vanish 4 days after that?

With AutoDestroyOldStructuresMultiplier=1, the structures will auto-demolish as soon as the timer runs down.  So a thatch item will vanish in 4 days if the area is unloaded at the time.

If you want it to vanish 4 days after the demolish allowed timer hits zero, try AutoDestroyOldStructuresMultiplier=2.  I'd still be careful with it that low, though, since things like beds are considered thatch and could vanish if a player is gone for a week.

[MrKewl]

I'm curious if the pve mode enabled option has to be toggled. 

Even though my server is pvp why would anyone waste time attacking an abandoned thatch hut. 

I just wanna know if I set the timer will it work if my map isn't set to only be pve. 

[Kogadins]

On 18.11.2016 at 1:32 PM, MrKewl said:

I'm curious if the pve mode enabled option has to be toggled. 

Even though my server is pvp why would anyone waste time attacking an abandoned thatch hut. 

I just wanna know if I set the timer will it work if my map isn't set to only be pve. 

Even for PvP; you'll need to activate PvE Decay.

[MrKewl]

On 11/19/2016 at 11:07 AM, Kogadins said:

Even for PvP; you'll need to activate PvE Decay.

Well we tried to turn on the pve structure decay on our server. It didn't work. I had to toggle pve mode on for it to work. I don't want my server to be strictly pve though. That's my issue. I want pvp to be an option but I wanna avoid the clutter of thatch huts.

[Kogadins]

8 hours ago, MrKewl said:

Well we tried to turn on the pve structure decay on our server. It didn't work. I had to toggle pve mode on for it to work. I don't want my server to be strictly pve though. That's my issue. I want pvp to be an option but I wanna avoid the clutter of thatch huts.

Yeah enable PvE AND PvP Decay. If both are enabled, then it works. I use it on 8 servers (4 pvp / 4 pve)

[MrKewl]

On 12/1/2016 at 9:59 AM, Kogadins said:

Yeah enable PvE AND PvP Decay. If both are enabled, then it works. I use it on 8 servers (4 pvp / 4 pve)

Xbox? Haven't seen a pvp decay. only pve decay

[Kogadins]

13 hours ago, MrKewl said:

Xbox? Haven't seen a pvp decay. only pve decay

Ah sorry you are on Xbox. I guess you have an settings menu and can enable / disable them? And I guess Wildcard forgot to add PvE Decay on the list for PvP Server? If so, then it won't work.

[MrKewl]

On 12/5/2016 at 2:05 PM, Kogadins said:

Ah sorry you are on Xbox. I guess you have an settings menu and can enable / disable them? And I guess Wildcard forgot to add PvE Decay on the list for PvP Server? If so, then it won't work.

Yeah that's what I figured. Was hoping for a miracle.

[Ahkram]

Well, this is a lot confusing.
What I want is to give 5 days for the player with metal structures without logging on.
Than, after this 5 days, I want the structure to be available for raiders to demolish it´s walls, doors to raid the structure for 24h.
In the end of the 6th day i wand the structure to auto-destroy.
Is that possible?
Or am I dreaming once it was indeed possible?

I am using the following configuration for TESTS (they are not tuned for the time I said above, it´s just for test):

FastDecayUnsnappedCoreStructures=True
DisableStructureDecayPvE=False
PvPStructureDecay=True
PvEStructureDecayPeriodMultiplier=0.1
AutoDestroyOldStructuresMultiplier=2
 

What happens is that the Decay Timer keeps counting down, even if a tribesmember is there to refresh.
Is this correct?
Is there any way the timer will reset when there is a tribesmember around?

[Toni]

Deleted.

 

@Casanova

Delete button still missing...

 

[Redmorningskys]

I know this is an older thread But I'm using ark server manager on a cluster and for the first time I was able to adjust the Timer on PVP. not onlly did I have to enable  structure decay  pve and enable pvp stucture decay  (as well as Auto Destroy Stuctures) but had to set both Structure decay multiplier slider (in my case 3) and  Auto destroy old Structures multiplier  (in my case 3) and tested it and it was 12 days thatch , 24 days wood, 36  days stone, 48  days Metal LOL!  but thats the way I wanted my Cluster

Hope this helps some one out