I run an Ark server (for Xbox play) that is only open for use by family and a couple of close friends. We do not want other people to have access to the server. We would like to be able to add one or two additional maps (servers) but maintain access controls.
I have read some of the other posts here in this forum about enabled passwords on clustered servers. From those posts, my understanding is that you cannot enable password protection of servers in a cluster because this can (will?) cause problems with character transfers (potential loss of the player's character?). These past posts seem to indicate this feature restriction is something controlled by Microsoft and Wild Card, not Nitrado. I also understand that there is currently no way to ban all players by default and control access to the servers by whitelisting only certain players. Please correct me if this summary is not correct.
I read a post that seems to imply that in a server cluster, one could have a "master" server that is password protected, a "secondary" server in the cluster that is not password protected and, in this configuration, one can transfer from the password-protected "master" server to the non-password protected "secondary" server without any issues. However, that post implies one would not be able to transfer back from the non-password protected "secondary" server back to the password-protected "master" server without having issues. My assumption is also that transfers could occur (without issues) to other "secondary" servers within that cluster that are not password-protected.
If the scenarios described above are correct, if someone wanted to try maintaining some form of access control on all servers in a cluster, I assume the following process could be used. Hopefully someone can confirm if the following process (albeit cumbersome) could work.
-- Maintain all servers in the cluster with password protection. Players could log into whatever server server their character currently resides on, using the usual method for accessing a password-protected server.
-- If the player wishes to transfer their character to another server in the cluster, the (password-protected) "destination" server could be shut down, the password protection disabled, and the server then restarted. The player could then proceed with transfer of their character to the "destination" server.
-- After the transfer has been completed, the player would need to logout of the "destination" server. The "destination" server could then be shut down, password protection re-enabled, the "destination" server restarted, and the player could then log onto the destination server using the usual process for a password-protected server.
Would this process work?
