Setting Up ScriptCraft

I've been looking at ScriptCraft as something for us to play with at the next MadLab CoderDojo.  Here are my notes on getting the server running...

(1) First I created a new "scriptcraft" user on the server
(2) I then installed Bukkit.  I'm running the "02110_1.5.2-R0.1" beta version of Bukkit so that the 1.5.2 Minecraft client works
(3) I set up a startserver.sh batch file to hold the commands to start things up
(4) I edited the server.properties file to bind Bukkit to port 25566.  There is the vanilla Minecraft server already running on the standard port 25565
(5) I changed to the plugins directory and pulled down the latest ScriptCraft.jar file


wget http://scriptcraftjs.org/download/2013-03-31/ScriptCraft.jar

(6) I then restarted the server and logged in with the Minecraft client, added my user to ops.txt,  typed

/js up().box('35:15', 4, 9, 1)

...and made myself a nice 2001: A Space Odyssey style monolith.

10 Functions of the Comma

Really useful post about how to use the English comma correctly from Daily Writing Tips.

aptitude Broken in Debian 7.0

Having updated to Debian 7.0, my normal cycle of keeping things up-to-date with aptitude suggested that I install linux-libc-dev.  When I tried to install, things broke saying:

" warning: 'ldconfig' not found in PATH or not executable"

Google initially sent me down the wrong path to a solution to a slightly different problem on the Ubuntu forums.

Taking a moment to actually read the error message, the fix was a simple addition of /sbin and /usr/sbin to my path.  Quite a nice write up of the issue is here.

What I can't explain is why Debian 7.0 removed the sbin directories from my PATH.  It seems to have done it on all the Debian servers I look after.  I can't find any reference to this on the internet.

Upgrading to Debian 7.0 Safety Tip

Note to self: if you are running aptitude to upgrade a Debian version remotely on an unreliable network link then use screen!!!

Minecraft 1.5.2 Server Upgrade

I've updated the Madlab Miners Minecraft server to version 1.5.2.  I followed the instructions from my previous post.

Minecraft 1.5.2 is Out

...here's the change log.  I think I'll be updating the Madlab Miners server on Saturday.

Minecraft and Minetest Update Permissions Without a Restart

Quick note to self about Minecraft and Minetest server admin tasks.

How to Update Minecraft White-List Without a Restart

This is especially needed to white-list players without shutting down the server:

1. Make the edits to the server white-list.txt
2. On the server as an op run "/whitelist reload"

More information can be found on the commands page on the Minecraft wiki.

How to Update the Minetest auth.txt Settings Without a Restart

Similar problem on Minetest: how to change the auth.txt setting on a running server without a restart:

1. The Minetest wiki page on privileges states that you should NOT edit the auth.txt file while the server is running
2. Instead us the "/grant <name> <privilege>" command to give a privilege to a player (you need the "privs" privilege to be able to do this
3. The running server will write out the update to the auth.txt file