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Dedicated Descent 3 servers can be configured to produce statistics data. This means that ".stats" files are written into the "Descent3\netgames" folder when a level ends or when a player disconnects.

The files are plain text files with some information about the time in game, kills, goals, suicides, etc. for each player.

To start uploading .stats files with D3Server3 you'll only need an FTP account at d3stats.de. Descent 3 and D3Server3 can then handle the rest.

Send a private message to Maulwurf at the server OPs forum to obtain your FTP details, which includes a username and a password. Don't forget that he needs the name of your server (or servers) too when you contact him.

Preparing D3Server3 for the upload is as simple as editing a few lines in the file D3Server3.ini. I'd suggest to use Notepad ++ for editing the file. Don't use Notepad that comes with Windows.

All the settings for the upload and further statistics processing can be found in the section [UploadStatistics] in D3Server3.ini. The file is located in your D3Server3 folder where D3Server3.exe is located too.

At the end of the section [UploadStatistics] there's these entries:

UploadStatistics=0
UploadStatisticsFTPUser=
UploadStatisticsFTPHost=d3stats.de
UploadStatisticsFTPPort=21
UploadStatisticsFTPPass=

Place your FTP username for the d3stats.de project (the one obtained from Maulwurf) behind UploadStatisticsFTPUser=.
Place your FTP password for the d3stats.de project (obtained from Maulwurf too) behind UploadStatisticsFTPPass=.

UploadStatisticsFTPUser=Your_FTP_username_for_d3stats
UploadStatisticsFTPHost=d3stats.de
UploadStatisticsFTPPort=21
UploadStatisticsFTPPass=Your_FTP_password_for_d3stats

The settings for UploadStatisticsFTPHost ("d3stats.de") and UploadStatisticsFTPPort (FTP port 21) are correct already. You don't need to change them. In case the statistics FTP upload hostname or the port changes in the future we're going to provide an automatic software update for D3Server3 which will contain the correct data again.

To make everything live, change:
UploadStatistics=0
to:
UploadStatistics=1

Save the file and restart D3Server3.
If you have ".stats" files already the server tool should start uploading them after about a minute or two.

If nothing happens you probably don't have any statistics files. One possible cause could be that there's no dedicated server configured to create the files. Configure at least one Descent 3 dedicated server to create statistics data (see below), then start this server, let it run for a minute, and stop it again. This should produce at least one .stats file which D3Server3 should process.

Whether a dedicated Descent 3 server generates statistics files or not can be configured in its configuration dialog window. Click Start in D3Server3's main window, then pick a server or create a new one and change its settings ("Edit..." or "New..."). Make sure the server generates statistics data ("Save game stats at server disconnect" and "Save game stats at level end" should be ticked).

D3Server3 processes statistics files (.stats files) in three steps.

1. Upload the file per FTP. If no backup is required/wished the file is deleted afterwards.
2. Move the file to the backup folder.
3. Archive one or more backed up files and optionally delete them.

The default configuration follows this more detailed process:

1. D3Server3 monitors the Descent3\netgames folder and waits for the creation of files.
2. A dedicated Descent 3 server creates a .stats file. This is usually done when a level ends or just before a server is stopped. Writing the .stats file is part of the shutdown process of a dedicated Descent 3 server, provided it is configured to do so.
3. D3Server3 notices the creation of the .stats file. If this is the first time after program start the tool waits for 20 seconds before continuing.
4. The .stats file is uploaded via FTP to the statistics server (d3stats.de). The FTP connection is established in active mode.
5. After a successful upload the file is moved to the subfolder "stats_backup" in D3Server3's directory structure.
6. D3Server3 pauses for 5 seconds.
7. Go back to step 1. If the amount of backed up files is 200 or more go to step 8.
8. Call the commandline version of 7-Zip to archive all backed up .stats files ("stats_backup\*.stats") into a yearly archive ("stats_archive\StatsArchive2014.7z").
9. Delete all backed up .stats files since they are now in the archive.

This default process can be changed in several ways.