Strange Phenomena

[Shwam]

This is no big deal, really, but it is making me a bit curious / confused. Hopefully this is the right place to post it.

One of the first things I did when I joined this server was build a tower in the sky with a glass "sphere" at the top. Recently I noticed there were a couple of blocks missing from the sphere. I figured it might have been a design oversight on my part, but when I checked logblock, I had in fact placed blocks there. They were never removed, yet they were apparently gone.

At this point, I wouldn't have said anything, but then several days later I noticed the same thing. Two blocks were missing, but this time it was lower down on the structure -- in fact, directly below where it happened last time. Again, according to log block, the block was never destroyed. It might have been from the same incident, but I'm not sure since I didn't notice it before.
This is the first time I've used log block, so I don't know a lot about it. I assume any activity should show up on the log unless an admin deletes the log.
Then again, perhaps I am simply having some fundamental misunderstanding.

If someone removed the block and attempted to hide their crime, I really don't mind. In fact, the "sphere" I constructed is a hideous eyesore, and I would completely understand if someone wanted to grief it.
I'm just confused as to what happened. Am I going crazy? Have I uncovered some sinister conspiracy? AM I HAUNTED?

Screenshot of before I replaced the glass and the corresponding logblock entry after I replaced it:



Summary: What is wrong with the above image?

[Pri]

This is unusual behavior. I can assure you of two things though.

Every manual block place or removal by any rank (including Admins) are logged. And there is no way for any staff member to erase log entries. That includes me, even I can't erase log entries. I specifically disabled that feature even for Ops.

What I believe occurred here is recently we had an issue with LogBlock where new users who joined the server were not logged for about 14 days. This was because LogBlock used an outdated method of storing usernames which had a fixed limit of recording block changes for only 65,565 users. We were not aware of this limit as very few servers ever reach 65,000+ unique users. When we did find out about it I corrected the issue so that new users could be logged again but it left a 14 day window where by new users could grief without evidence being recorded by LogBlock.

However we do run two separate block logging plugins for redundancy. We use a second plugin called Core Protect which was unaffected by the user limit problem and that will more than likely indicate the culprit behind the blocks missing from your build. At this time only Administrators (Me, Rick, Rav, Db, Psico, Adrian & Ken) can use Core Protect but I'm sure Rick will be happy to check it for you with Core Protect if I don't see you in-game before he does.

Hope this helps

[Kles266]

I think this guy is on to something.

[Shwam]

Thanks, Pri, that's good to know. There is some additional information that should be mentioned based on what you said.

This area is in my town, meaning nobody can grief it, especially new players. Unless towny went down at some point, nobody should have been able to destroy the blocks. The only other player in my town is TheNarwhalogist, but it could not have been him since his other activities show up on logblock which were prior to my construction of the sphere. So I don't think this was due to the log block issue. Plus, he said he didn't do it, and I believe him.

I did, at one point, briefly unclaim the region where the glass sphere is located. This was only for a few seconds, however, and I'm pretty sure nobody was there since I always leave the map open and wouldn't have unclaimed the square if someone was standing there. It seems fairly implausible to me that a new player just so happened to fly to the top of my sphere, turn invisible on the map, and destroy four blocks at the top and bottom in the small amount of time that I unclaimed the plot. I don't think that much time would even allow you to break four glass blocks. If someone did do that, he is a criminal mastermind, and I applaud his efforts. Alas, it was in vain; I have now replaced the blocks.

In fact, with what you said, I am becoming more and more convinced that it was, in fact, aliens.

Alternatively, I did think of something else. Could my unclaiming of the plot somehow cause a few pieces of glass to disappear? I know it pops signs off chests, but does it destroy random glass blocks? I think I noticed the missing blocks several days after I unclaimed/reclaimed the plot, but I rarely go up to the sphere, so they may have been missing that whole time.

But, of course, this might all be resolved by checking Core Protect, so I'll be sure to catch you in-game when I get a chance. The coordinates are displayed in the screenshot in logblock if, for some reason, you decide to fly there yourself (not that I'd expect you to; the nearest town is miles away) or teleport there (can you teleport directly to coordinates?)

My apologies for the lengthy posts; I like to go through my reasoning step-by-step. Just read the first sentence or two of each paragraph if you'd like to skip the in-depth analysis.

[Shwam]

Issue resolved Thanks Pri

As Pri explained, unclaiming plots causes blocks to be randomly deleted until the entire structure is gone. Thus the 4 random missing blocks when I briefly unclaimed the plot. This frees up plots from expired towns so new people can build there. It also doesn't show up on the logs. I did not know this. It is completely possible to restore the build.

In other words... Aliens.

[Kles266]

yes i was right.