pvp 3x Rochester NY PVP-ORP Full cluster - QOL plugins

[mkloppel]

The following refers to the main cluster. Occasionally other maps and modded ideas are put up for casual gameplay and I will even put up requests with specifics if there is seems to be  community support for it. 

You can join the Discord here: 
https://discord.gg/X3dhhWm7sP
Feel free to message me at any time. 

I run, admin and maintain the cluster, and the hardware -
Its been built up over a year now. I plan to expand and begin creating a second much more PVP focused cluster slowly, in the near future. It will be Admined by me with rules meant
to remove as much cheese and grey area as possible. Just like we try to do on the main cluster.  

If you want something changed, ask me. I am receptive to all requests and will seriously consider it then discuss it with the community. I am not some hard jerk who runs the place like a dictator, I am very reasonable. 

The main cluster is currently run on an HPE Gen 8 DL360p Rack server: 2 x Xeon processor (16c/32t), 128gb ECC ram, spread over 3 fast SSDs, redundant PSUs, dual port 10gbps NIC, running windows server 2019 (overkill 😆)). The network hardware is a Ubiquiti Edge router 4 capable of handling packets like a beast, behind a Motorola 2gbps cable modem (again, overkill). 

I am available to assist with problems that come up, just PM me or post in the report channel and ill fix the problem or work with you. I don't cheat Dinos into exist for just about any reason, or give people useful items. But I do make exceptions for cosmetic items ingame that do not modify gameplay in any meaningful way as appreciation to those that help support the servers continued existence (this costs money obviously).

Cheaters or rule breakers are banned (thankfully we've only needed to deal with 2 instances of this, it grosses me out big time) and I will work with those effected to try and make the server affected whole.  The rules are simple, you are here to have fun, ARK is not a chore, sure its PVP but that doesn't mean "be a jerk about it".

How does it run:
The average ping for everyone on the server who lives in the US is between 30-50ms. During the bi-hourly backups you might experience a brief slowdown for a moment, but it doesn't last long.

We have had players from the UK, Eastern Europe and south America. None of them experienced ping rates over 100 and normally it was far less than that. Yes, this surprises me also.

The whole cluster has never been down for longer than a few hours and those experiences are extremely rare. Id say the cluster has an uptime of close to 99%?

Maps available - 
If its on official, its on the cluster. 

 Plugins or MODS -
No MODS. (On main cluster)

There are a few plugins which you can read about on the discord but here they are:
Make Ark Great Again: Offline Raid Protection - Designed to remove all the cheese that official ORP is rife with. 
Simple Dino Stats - Makes the dinos stats its name
Dino Color Command - Allows you to alter the colors of a dino how you like. 
Wshop - Adding soon. 

I've kept this setup for over a year now, people seem to like it as the base game isn't altered much and no downloads are required. I am open to adding more, so long as it doesnt drastically alter game play. 

Server Settings -
Rates and variations from Official:
Normal rates are 3x. This is faster than weekends on Official, but not so fast as to make it feel boring even if you play alone. Normally the rates are 1x above official but rarely go above 4x. 

Other:
-Speed is slightly decreased to stop people from going straight PVP speed character
-Mindwipes are not restricted
-structures can be lifted at any time
-Gama change permitted
-EPIC players welcome
-I am sure I am missing a couple minor things.