Bans will not stick.

[Darksoul]

My bans won't stick. This is not just a ULX issue, but assmod and RCON. I am trying to figure out what the is wrong.

http://forums.facepunchstudios.com/showthread.php?t=673390

They don't know what the is wrong either.

My server IS running DarkRP, but I see other servers working fine with bans. (I hear darkrp has exploits and a bunch of other .) The rcon console in HLSW shows all the bans being reloaded, but I can join the server and not get kicked for being banned.

I have 40+ bans already. I need a way to make them stick!.

[JamminR]

That's a tough situation. So many variables, including yes, a possible exploit in DarkRP, to consider.
Off the top of my head, I'd check file permissions.
That is, does Gmod have rights to access/edit the banned_*.cfg files.
To ban is a two step process.
addid adds the steamid to the banlist, which _should_ keep someone from joining immediately.
writeid then adds the list of bans.
When running your server, if you type 'listid' in the server console, does anything show in your server console?

[Darksoul]

Whoops. Server console.

Yeah, I see a list of id's all banned with the words permanent .

[Darksoul]

I really don't want to sound like an ass here, but I need a solution ASAP. I have had to password my server because some jackass "Steam server police" decided to crash my server twice. Afterwords I of course kept ID kicking him until I had enough people to pass the server .

But seriously, I thought I had my server protected against most of the well known exploits:

ncp sv_benchmark_force_start
ncp sv_soundscape_printdebuginfo
ncp sv_soundemitter_flush

Did I miss any?. Can you tell me what else to add?.

[MrPresident]

I KNOW this has been discussed on these forums before.. because I've personally participated in a few of them..

This will fix your problem...


In your server.cfg file.. the one where you set your rcon password and hostname and stuf..

add this..

"exec"   "banned_user.cfg"

This loads the list of banned users when the server starts. I'm fairly sure this is why your bans "are not sticking.."
The list is not loaded and then when you ban someone with HLSW or in game it saves to that list without first loading it and overwrites it.

this SHOULD fix your problem.. if not, there is something more wrong which I have no knowledge of.

[Darksoul]

Does it require the quotation marks ("") because if not its been on there for a while already. I'm going to try reinstalling.

[MrPresident]

however all of the other things are listed. for MY host it requires the quotes.. but its different for some people.

If that is already there.. then I really dont know. The only other thing I can think of is this...

If you use HLSW to ban people with the ban tab.. DONT

Sometime it will overwrite your banned_user.cfg file and you'll lose all of your bans. Try to strictly use ULX to ban. it's the safest way to do it.

[Darksoul]

Neither option worked. Reinstall or quotation marks.

banned_user.cfg format:

banid 0 STEAMID

any other ideas?.

I'm going to say its either DarkRP, ULX, or something just not working right.

Would reinstalling ULX or getting the SVN ULX fix this?.

[JamminR]

Neither option worked. Reinstall or quotation marks.

Reinstall of what, gmod?
As for quotation marks, they should be just like the other settings in your server.cfg

I'm going to say its either DarkRP, ULX, or something just not working right.
Would reinstalling ULX or getting the SVN ULX fix this?.

You were having the problem _before_ you installed ULX according to your Facepunch forum thread.
In fact many ULX versions ago we noticed that Garry didn't put the required 'load banlist' (exec banned_users.cfg) commands in server.cfg, and we were getting (false) blame for clearing the ban list when ULX was banned. We worked around that by loading the ban list at ULX startup.
To me, that rules out ULX. No, SVN won't fix your issue. Fixes several other quirks and oddities, but none related to the exploitation of a server.
If that were the case, we would have released a new update long before now.

As for other ideas; Sorry, I personally have no exact 'this is it' at this point.
Possibilities.
DarkRP (have you tried running just a plain build server/Sandbox?)
Lua Exploit (Difficult to find... running a build server from a straight brand spanking new no addons added Gmod server install would be the only way to truly test)
I saw you mention kickid somewhere, are you also using 'banid' and 'writeid' after kicking them? (Kickid doesn't ban I'm pretty sure)
Someone may have your rcon pass and they unban themselves?
Another admin on the inside unbanning others?
(A) Version(s?) of DarkRP (I don't remember which) would allow someone who wasn't an admin to use admin commands through someone who was an admin.
After banning someone, does the STEAMid of the player you just banned and kicked appear in 'listid'.
If it does, and they get in, you have a problem with Gmod server code, or a dll/binary plugin that avoids the ban portion of the server engine.

[Darksoul]

The gmod server. I reinstalled it and the problem is still there.

listid shows the bans. They are written to the banned_users.cfg. banning is not the issue. They seem to be able to slip right through steamid validation (says validated on banned people)

The only other thing off the top of my head I can think of is that I use fastdl...

[Darksoul]

WOW BULLSHIT BULLSHIT. (Eh, if thats not allowed her mods can remove it)

I just copied the vital crap from the server and put it on lan testing (actual dedi, not on same pc) and banning _worked_. What the .

This should really narrow it down...

[JamminR]

Vital = ?

[Darksoul]

Vital:

Gamemode
Addons
Lua
The addon im using to prevent crash exploits from being run
all cfg file
all data files
the users.txt in settings.

[JamminR]

I really am at a loss as to why your hosted server wouldn't work if you reinstalled it, but your local server would.
Sorry. Hope someone else can help out.

[Darksoul]

After two reinstalls I decided to say it and put it in bit by bit, restarting every time. Finally found the cause to be something in my server.cfg... and after much testing found the issue to be some little bit of code in there called sv_filterbans 0... changing to 1 fixed it.

Now, it's not my bloody fault. I copied some of a css configuration into my server.cfg and bam.. whatever.

Thanks for the support JamminR!