DICE on Bad Company 2 PC Server Administration

We found this helpful article @ ve3d.ign.com! So we should see a fix coming in the near future for team autobalance as well as many other console commands. If it weren't for them damn consoles it would have been implemented already...

A little background

Since the Frostbite engine had not yet been used for any PC titles, there had been no need for advanced server administration tools. BFBC2 PC changed that however. There was a sort of "server console" thing, but it was intended for developer use only. Something easier to use and more stable was necessary when we came closer to release it to the PC users.

So what are we doing?

We are creating a separate command console, which is stable, and where the commands will not change. This will be the Remote Administration interface for BFBC2 PC. BF2 console commands have been a good source of inspiration :) The Remote Administration interface is accessible over a network port on the game server.

While we ensure that there is a solid administration interface, we are not creating any fancy tools. Why not? Because the community will do a much better job! RSPs have already been using the interface for weeks, and several people are working on user friendly tools. We will continue to improve the protocol with functions that are necessary to make good tools.

When Closed Beta Server R5 (yes, we have already patched the game servers 3 times. I love our new patching system) is released, the RSPs will be allowed to expose the Remote Administration interface on their servers to the public... and we will publish the FULL protocol specification. You have my word on that.