2022 Edit: It has come to my attention some people are referencing this post in the year 2022. This is no longer a rule on Rustafied servers! This is from a time, long, long ago. Before furnaces. When you had to upgrade walls by banging a fucking hammer. None of this is at all relevant anymore. For our current server rules, please go here.

9:36pm EST - Tried to update, started server and locks are all bugged still. Restarted, wiped and changed seed. What the fuck is going on? See yesterdays post.

9:33pm EST - Just crashed again, restarting, updating, trying to load save...

7:54pm EST - I'm seeing a lot of people unable to join the server due to steam auth timeouts. It looks like steam may be farting. Try exiting and loading steam if you cannot join.

1:35pm EST - I have been getting countless complaints of griefing lately so I'm making this post to declare my official stance on it and provide some tips on how to protect your base from griefers.

What is griefing?

People have many definitions of this word. In my world, it means: playing the game with the sole intention of causing grief to others. The most common type of griefing is blocking a player in his or her house. This is done by building walls or other obstructions in front of their doors so that they cannot get out.

Clarification: I understand when raiding, it is common to block lower doors to protect yourself during the raid. Strategic blocking like this is ok, however, I request you keep it to lower level walls (1 or 2).

My stance on griefing

I've thought long and hard about how I want to address this in the server. My first thought is: it is part of the game and people's responsibility to put preventative measures up which protect against this. That being said, I would like our server to be a fun place for mature people to play the game. Getting locked into your lvl 6 base by some asshole kid is no fun.

If you get your kicks by running around locking people in their house, you are not the type of person I want on this server.

Griefing will get you banned.

I am implementing a new rule: If you get caught griefing, you will be banned.

Let me clarify some things:

Do not ask me to spec someone. In a server with 150+ people, it is almost impossible to find a specific person given the current spectate system.
If you need to get their name, let them kill you and look in console (it shows who killed you providing you didnt bleed out).
I cannot teleport to you.
I need video proof to ban. If someone is griefing you, spectate them, record and put on youtube. Send me a link and their steam profile and I will look into it. You can also email rustafied@gmail.com. Need capture software? Check out bandicam.
People will continue to grief. You are responsible for protecting against this. There is no admin removal tool so once you are stuck in, you have to break out or start over.

So how do I protect against this?

The new building system has introduced an onset of new possibilities for not only building, but griefing. Gone are the days you can lay a couple foundations out with pillars in the middle to protect against griefing. Thankfully, there are some good methods which make it much harder and more expensive for someone to block you in.

Block people from building around your house

A great method I’ve seen is by one of our regulars, Foodnipple. It involves placing foundations far enough away to not attach to your main building (but still block building ability) then building railings along those exterior foundations. This was specifically targeted at wall exploits that have now been fixed, however, the concept also works well for stopping people from blocking you in.

You can see his video explanation here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wwAnoaSAoj0#t=36

Foundation steps are your friends

Foundation steps are a cheap and effective way to top someone from building in front of any part of the first floor of your base. Placing them on each external foundation goes a long way towards stopping someone from building.

Warning: Foundations steps are not a silver bullet. People can build triangle foundations off the side of your steps. Sometimes those foundations can then have walls built on them that block you in. Build as many steps as you can, if you can build triangle foundations, do it and then put railings on them. Upgrade all this shit.

Points of ingress

Pay extra attention to the entrances and exits of your base. This is the main target for any griefer. Protecting and upgrading these spots are your top priority.

Second floor and above

Upper levels are trickier. People can easily build up next to them and place floors attached to your house. Top level doors are especially prone to being blocked. I recommend placing railings in a triangle shape outside top doors. This can often prevent a wall from being built right in front of the door while still maintaining access to the door. If you have windows, place railings in front of them to prevent someone from climbing in (although climbing through windows appears to not be working again atm).

Door railing inside

Some people have gotten griefed by having a wall placed through their door (think of the wall and door making an X). This can be prevented by placing a railing inside your door, on the opposite end of the foundation your doorway is on.

Test your shit

I cannot stress this enough. Test, test, test! Try to grief yourself, see if there is anyway to block yourself in. Try foundations, triangle foundations, steps, etc. If you can place someone which would block an exit, build something in its place in a way that doesn't block you in but prevents building in that area.

Upgrade!

Your external protection should be the same level as your house. If someone can knock down your protection in 5 minutes, it’s likely they will.

This is by no means a complete list. If you have any other tips or addendums to the ones above, please share them in the comments!