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TL;DR: Leaderboard infrastructure is being updated. Future crashes and instability being prevented. Leaderboard stats will update every 24 hours during this time.
Hello everyone,
Leaderboards: just a script, a webpage, and a bunch of numbers, right? They should be as easy to keep and maintain as an Arizona cactus.
WRONG.
Sure, maybe that's true if you're running a leaderboard of 1,000 people and a few statistics each. But MCGamer surpassed those qualities a long time ago, and our leaderboard are so massive and complex that they require their own server to run. Our leaderboard track a large number of statistics for each and every one of the 2.77+ million players that has ever joined our servers. The leaderboard automatically updates each and every one of those players' statistics on a regular basis, leading to an absolutely massive amount of information that needs to be stored and updated several times per day; 10 statistics * 2.77 mil players = 27,700,000+ points of information being updated with every refresh, and that doesn't include the overall leaderboard rankings or the game tracker. Even after we told the server to only update the leaderboard once per hour, the server was still having trouble keeping up.
One consequence of having such a massive and sophisticated leaderboard that interacts directly with our API is that the leaderboard can break. And when the leaderboard breaks, our API could break alongside it. And that invariably leads to instability or outright server outages. Obviously, we can't be having that.
In light of this and the potential risk of 1.8 breakages, the developers have begun updating the leaderboard update script. Their work on the script will make it more stable, comply with any trickiness 1.8 might throw our way, and prevent any potential leaderboard-caused server outages that may occur. This update on our infrastructure will definitely help us in the long term, but we should be prepared for some short-term inconvenience.
While the developers work to update the Leaderboards Update script, they have had to disable the current Leaderboards Update script. So if you notice that you've been playing games but nothing new has been shown on the leaderboards, that is why. While our leaderboards previously updated their stats every hour automatically, we will be updating the leaderboards every 24 hours manually. Know that you can check your current stats every day until the new script is released.
However, do note that your stats are still being tracked, even during this update period. The Stats Tracking script is what feeds the servers a player's updated statistics in the form of raw data, which will then be translated into English and posted on the Leaderboards thanks to the Leaderboards Update script. The Stats Tracking script will still be active for the duration of the update period, so servers will still have the most current statistics on everyone; they just won't be able to show it until after each time the Leaderboards Update script is run. So don't get disheartened if you don't see your stats changing: we have them, we just can't show them yet.
The developers have estimated that the new script will be available within one week, but the 1.8 update will make things unpredictable. It'll be done when it's done.
Questions? Comments? Feel free to post it below.
Hello everyone,
Leaderboards: just a script, a webpage, and a bunch of numbers, right? They should be as easy to keep and maintain as an Arizona cactus.
WRONG.
Sure, maybe that's true if you're running a leaderboard of 1,000 people and a few statistics each. But MCGamer surpassed those qualities a long time ago, and our leaderboard are so massive and complex that they require their own server to run. Our leaderboard track a large number of statistics for each and every one of the 2.77+ million players that has ever joined our servers. The leaderboard automatically updates each and every one of those players' statistics on a regular basis, leading to an absolutely massive amount of information that needs to be stored and updated several times per day; 10 statistics * 2.77 mil players = 27,700,000+ points of information being updated with every refresh, and that doesn't include the overall leaderboard rankings or the game tracker. Even after we told the server to only update the leaderboard once per hour, the server was still having trouble keeping up.
One consequence of having such a massive and sophisticated leaderboard that interacts directly with our API is that the leaderboard can break. And when the leaderboard breaks, our API could break alongside it. And that invariably leads to instability or outright server outages. Obviously, we can't be having that.
In light of this and the potential risk of 1.8 breakages, the developers have begun updating the leaderboard update script. Their work on the script will make it more stable, comply with any trickiness 1.8 might throw our way, and prevent any potential leaderboard-caused server outages that may occur. This update on our infrastructure will definitely help us in the long term, but we should be prepared for some short-term inconvenience.
While the developers work to update the Leaderboards Update script, they have had to disable the current Leaderboards Update script. So if you notice that you've been playing games but nothing new has been shown on the leaderboards, that is why. While our leaderboards previously updated their stats every hour automatically, we will be updating the leaderboards every 24 hours manually. Know that you can check your current stats every day until the new script is released.
However, do note that your stats are still being tracked, even during this update period. The Stats Tracking script is what feeds the servers a player's updated statistics in the form of raw data, which will then be translated into English and posted on the Leaderboards thanks to the Leaderboards Update script. The Stats Tracking script will still be active for the duration of the update period, so servers will still have the most current statistics on everyone; they just won't be able to show it until after each time the Leaderboards Update script is run. So don't get disheartened if you don't see your stats changing: we have them, we just can't show them yet.
The developers have estimated that the new script will be available within one week, but the 1.8 update will make things unpredictable. It'll be done when it's done.
Questions? Comments? Feel free to post it below.
