1. Can I run worlds from different universes in a single world server?
2. Do bots count against the user limit in my world?
3. If I upgrade my world to a larger size, do I have to rebuild everything all over again?
4. Can I run my world server from behind a proxy server, or NAT?
5. I've lost all of my world data files and I didn't make any backups. Can I recover my world data from my browser's cache folder?
6. Is there a way I can automatically log all the chat that occurs in my world?
7. I'm running more than one world server on my Windows machine. Is there any way I can tell them apart?
8. I have the object path for my world stored on Xoom.com, and I'm getting strange errors and/or nothing is downloading. What can I do?
9. I host worlds for several different people on my server. Why can't I set a separate access password for each person for the admin tool?
10. What are these strange "CHANNEL" messages that have started showing up in my world server log lately?

Q. Can I run worlds from different universes in a single world server?

A. No. If you need to host multiple worlds that are running in different universes, you will need to run a different instance of the world server for each universe. See Running Multiple Servers for details.

Q. Do bots count against the user limit in my world?

A. No. The number of bots that can be run in a world is limited only by the maximum bot limits of the users running the bots.

Q. If I upgrade my world to a larger size, do I have to rebuild everything all over again?

A. No. Changes to the size (or user limit) of a world take place automatically. None of your existing property is lost and the world does not even need to be restarted. Although, if a world is resized to be smaller than it was previously, any property built beyond the new smaller size will no longer be visible.

Q. Can I run my world server from behind a proxy server, or NAT?

A. Yes, but your proxy or NAT server will need to be properly configured to handle this. It will usually not work by default. The easiest thing to do in this case is to run the world server on the proxy server itself, if the proxy is a Windows or Unix computer. If this is not an option, then the proxy server will need to be configured to route incoming TCP connections on port 7777 to port 7777 on the machine hosting the world server. In addition, in order to access the world from a browser on another PC running behing the same proxy server, the proxy must be able to route TCP connections coming from both the LAN (inside) and the WAN (outside), and you must be running Active Worlds version 3.0 or later.

Q. I've lost all of my world data files and I didn't make any backups. Can I recover my world data from my browser's cache folder?

A. This is now possible to a certain degree beginning with version 3.1. The "propdump" utility that ships with the Windows version of the 3.1 world server is capable of extracting property information from intact browser cache files in a form suitable for loading via the remote propload feature. However, propdump will only be able to extract object information that was actually cached by the browser. If the browser was not used to visit all areas in a world, those areas that were not visited will not be recovered.

To extract a propdump from a browser cache file, simply invoke the propdump utility in the property cache folder for your world. Open an MS-DOS command shell:

C:\WINDOWS>cd "c:\active worlds\cache\property\myworld"
C:\Active Worlds\cache\property\myworld>"c:\active worlds server\utils\propdump" > propdump.txt


You should now have a file "propdump.txt" which can be loaded to a world server using the 3.1 server admin utility.

Q. Is there a way I can automatically log all the chat that occurs in my world?

A. No, world servers cannot log the contents of chat messages that are sent within a world. If you want to keep a log of the chat that you hear while you are running the AW browser, consider using the browser's chat log feature. To log chat that occurs in a particular area within a world, you could also consider writing a bot that stands in a certain place and logs all the chat it hears. However, there is no way to intercept or log the contents of whisper messages sent within the world, not even by a bot.

Q. I'm running more than one world server on my Windows machine. Is there any way I can tell them apart?

A. Yes, you can assign a unique name to each individual server which will be displayed in the tooltip pop-up when you mouse over each servers' icon in the system tray. See running multiple servers for details.

Q. The object path for my world is stored on Xoom.com, and I'm getting strange errors and/or nothing is downloading. What can I do?

A. Unfortunately, free web services like xoom.com and fortunecity.com are notoriously unreliable when used for Active Worlds object paths. Some services such as Xoom have even been known to delete entire object paths without warning! We strongly recommend that you do not use a free web hosting service as your object path - remember, you get what you pay for. We are not responsible for the poor performance and unreliabilty of these services; indeed, there isn't anything we could do about it even if we wanted to.

Q. I host worlds for several different people on my server. Why can't I set a separate access password for each world owner for the admin tool?

A. There's no reason to. The admin tool is designed for use by the person adminstering the world server itself, not for world owners or caretakers. It simplifies many of the tasks that server adminstrators have always had to perform (e.g. starting/stopping worlds, loading or dumping property, etc.) If a world owner is demanding access to this interface, ask them what exactly they think they need it for. Everything that a world owner needs to do in his or her own world is accessible directly from within the AW browser interface itself.

Q. What are these strange "CHANNEL" messages that have started showing up in my world server log lately?

A. No, someone isn't trying to hack in to your world server. :) These messages appear when someone is accessing your world using the new firewall support introduced in Active Worlds 3.2. The IP address you see for these log entries is the address of our firewall tunnel server.