Hey all; as most of you are aware, Blockland recently faced an attack where a user was able to gain other users authentication keys through a remote code execution security exploit in the game. In response, Badspot has put out a security patch on v21 to fix this (which you all should update to), and Badspot will also be disabling key authentication entirely, instead relying on only steam authentication. Here's how B4v21 is being affected by this:
1. We have now pushed out a security patch to our v20 client to fix this security issue, with help from @Val who had discovered it in the first place. We strongly advise you update to this new version before playing the game, to make sure you stay safe. The B4v21 Launcher should automatically update your client for you. Any server running the new version won't allow older clients to join anymore, so be sure to update.
2. Unfortunately, all versions between v1.03 and v19 will now be limited to only offline play. Trying to implement steam authentication to these versions will be a lot of effort which isnt really worth the tiny amount of online activity these versions get. We don't want to open our own authentication server as bypassing auth checks will probably get us in trouble legally.
3. Dedicated servers on separate machines will be more difficult to authenticate through steam. We don't yet know how we will tackle this issue, and Badspot has yet to release any solutions or guides for it. Hosting these will be more difficult until we can figure this out, sorry! We'll update you when we figure this out.
v20 will continue on steam authentication just fine (aside from the mac client). We hope this doesn't cause too much inconvenience for anyone on the older versions. Thanks for your continued support throughout all of this!
by Kenko
Master Server Migration & B4v21 Launcher Release!
Saturday, 29th of February, 2020
Hi everyone, we have now migrated the B4v21 Master Server, and we are also now releasing the B4v21 Launcher for all to use!
The B4v21 Master Server has been migrated to our new webhost, which requires that all of your current B4v21 installs now need to switch over to this new master server in order to continue working on multiplayer. To help with this, we have decided to finally push the B4v21 Launcher out of beta, for everyone to use!
The B4v21 launcher will provide helpful features to you such as automatically downloading and managing BL versions, automatically updating these versions for you when new updates/fixes are released by us (no more manual updating!!), a server list showing both our master server and BLs v21 master server, and more. Plus, the launcher itself also automatically updates, so we can add even more features and version downloads in the future!
To migrate your current clients into our launcher, follow both the migration instructions on the page for the launcher.
We hope you enjoy the new launcher! If you encounter any issues or bugs with it, please report them in our discord, in the #bug-reporting channel.
by Kenko
Website Migration
Sunday, 16th of February, 2020
Hello, everyone! Been a while since we posted anything here.
We, the B4v21 team, have taken steps towards detaching from our previous free webhost x10hosting, in favor of our own setup that allows for more freedom with managing our services. As a result, we have migrated to our own custom website server which, whilst allowing for more freedom, will also require players to update their CustomMS add-ons. We recognize this as a tedious process, and so we have decided to convert the B4v21 launcher into an auto-updater, to allow for easier management & updating of Blockland v20 in the future.
The old master server and the new master server's services will be swapped out somewhere around the end of February. Alongside the master server migration, an update to the B4v21 launcher will be publicly released. This update will notify you of new updates for both your B4v21 clients & the launcher itself, automatically installing them for you.
Thanks for understanding, and have fun!
by Clay Hanson
v20 Downloads Merging
Thursday, 25th of April, 2019
A quick (but important) update on the v20 downloads - the Steam and Non-Steam downloads have been merged! It's now one single client that handles both authentications at the same time.
Upon starting the client, you'll now see two options for authenticating with Steam or not. Here's a video I recorded of both authentication methods being used: https://streamable.com/oosr4
(if you missed the last news post yesterday, there's also a new Discord Rich Presence DLL! check the last news post for details)
by Kenko
New B4v21 Rich Presence Module
Wednesday, 24th of April, 2019
The B4v21 team has taken the entire day concocting a new version of the B4v21 Discord Rich Presence DLL, and as a result, have added in some new features:
- You can now join a user's game via Discord's rich presence system. - You will no longer have to update the DLL if we want to add more maps to the preview list.
In addition to all of this, the module has been added to the default B4v21 v20 installation. If you want to install it into a pre-existing installation, go to https://github.com/Kenkoman/B4v21/ and install Blocklandv20.exe, Discordv20.dll, discord-rpc.dll and BlocklandLoader.dll. Replace Blockland.exe with Blocklandv20.exe (keep it named Blocklandv20.exe), place Discordv20.dll into the 'modules' folder, and place discord-rpc.dll and BlocklandLoader.dll into the directory with Blocklandv20.exe in it. After that, you should be good to go.
by Clay Hanson
B4v21 Launcher Canary Program
Friday, 11th of January, 2019
The new B4v21 Launcher is not COMPLETELY finished, but you can opt into the B4v21 Launcher Canary program and help test it out!
To opt in, go to the #bots channel in the B4v21 Discord server and say "%launcherBeta" (case sensitive). You will then be given access to the tester category.
I want to make this as open as possible so there are more opportunities for people to leave suggestions & find bugs, which will (hopefully) make this launcher not feel like it was coded in two minutes, like the old one.
Thanks, everyone!
by Clay Hanson
Steam Dedicated Server Hosting
Tuesday, 21st of August, 2018
If you want to host dedicated servers as a Steam user, please update your copy of Blockland v20: Steam Edition ( https://github.com/Kenkoman/B4v21/tree/v20-Steam ). If you caught the last update and don't want to download an entire Blockland copy again, then just download these items and replace the existing items with 'em:
1) You can extract this installation anywhere (dont have to put it in any steam game directory)
2) If the game cannot verify the credentials you put in, it will give you some reasons why
3) Steam users can now play and host dedicated servers at the same time (see #1)
by Clay Hanson
B4v21 is now 1 Year Old!!
Friday, 27th of July, 2018
On the 27th of July 2017, B4v21 was created after the B4v21 Master Server launched for the first time. This began an amazing journey back into the past where we relived and experienced older times, dug up and archived many past versions we all thought were lost. We had fixed and re-experienced thought-to-be-lost versions, add-ons and maps and had an amazing and great time doing so. We sincerely and greatly thank everyone for joining along and supporting us, as without you, this wouldn't have gone anywhere. Here's to the second year!
Alongside this celebration, I've released the second highlights video of my experience on B4v21! This one is half an hour long, and covers many servers and fun experiences.
by Kenko
Blockland Archivers Discord
Wednesday, 25th of July, 2018
Hey everyone! I have created and opened a new discord alongside B4v21 that is specifically about archiving and preserving old, lost and forgotten Blockland content. Join if you're interested in keeping up-to-date on those things, or want to even contribute yourself!
