BNETDocs Redux

Idea: Set it up so users can submit documents themselves, set up a section in right side menu showing user submitted documents.

Idea: Make it possible for users to comment on news posts, as well as any other sections on the website.

Bug Report: bnls.dementedminds.net is no longer functional. Also, the status sections at right side menu is no longer functional. Needs to be fixed.

Request: Search script needs to be coded.

idea: make the quick jump work with packet id's also like 0x0F and have it pull up a list of the 0x0F packet's or if there's only 1 go straight to it

What do you guys think about setting up D2GS and W2GS to be split by packet type GameServer and GameClient, the packets are related to each directly Server//Client each direction the packets are wildly different.. If naming scheme's were updated to Diablo II Warcraft III (Game title), then D2GS, D2GC, W3GS, W3GC (or anything similar) it would probably help organization in the long run..
I've been hesitant about adding S>C packets for D2 because of this...

... i don't understand.... how is D2GS and W3GS any different? client sends -> to server then server responds -> to client just like all the other protocols.. we don't setup BNCS and BNCC...

D2GS the packets aren't like bncs and mcp where the send and recieve packet basically match up.. In D2 the C>S packet for 0x15 is to send chat to game while the S>C packet 0x15 is to reasign player at position.
None of the D2GS C>S packets corrispond to the S>C packets the way they do for bncs/mcp etc. I'm assuming its the same way for War3.

Poke thru this sometime will give you an idea of what I mean:
http://files.serverhash.com/code/other/D2Packets.chm

Compare the d2 packets for 0x15, 0x26, 0x16 server > client vs client > server they generally have nothing to do with one another unlike bncs/mcp where they generally are a responce or similar type of information etc.

hmm... well if you look at the packet list... we didn't group the s->c and c->s so.. all you really need to do is post the packets with the correct name then where it says "related items" add the corresponding packet...

Yah, that's something I had asked Don to do that does help was just thinking long term if we add them all the list is going to get big.

Cleaning up the D2GS packets some, and will start adding more soon.

Suggestion: A packet submission form where logged in users can submit new packets and information to be reviewed and added.

I may work on this idea some soon.

Wheres the SCGS Messages, there's a solid amount of info people have put out, and the formats for the packets, that are accurate enough.

waiting for don to get around to putting that back up... remember the whole server crash thing guh.. i woulda done it my self but i have yet to find that part of the code lol..

be patient we are both very busy... also there is a new version of bnetdocs coming out soon as posted on the news

The messages were lost in the server crash. So they will have to be re-added.

As for the new version of BNETDocs, yea, been working on it. My job has me working alot, so it's hard to find time, but I'm definitely working in my spare time.

I have the day off on Friday, so I aim to put in a very decent amount of work in BNETDocs.

Your bnls server status isnt working that great. HDX's servers were offline and on this site they are marked as online

The bnls server status script checks status every hour, so if a server goes down right after the script checked, the site wouldn't see it until it checks back a hour later. Maybe that's what you saw? If the bnls server was down for more than a hour, and the site still said it was online, then yes, there's a problem. Can you tell me which is the case?

it might have lasted more than a hour

You should add a page with the current VerBytes like this page here: http://www.bnetdocs.org/old/contentbb03.html?Section=d&id=5

Also I think a page with the flags should be added like here:
http://www.bnetdocs.org/old/content49b6.html?Section=d&id=1
I think the icons should be displayed as well with those.

Don, fix it so that we can properly add tables into posts/docs/packets.

Remove the "/index.html" and all the pages it links to on this server.

@Jailout2000, already done. But thanks for pointing it out.

@Hdx, will work on it.

@Alendar, re the flags, good idea. Re the verbytes, already done by Hdx. http://www.bnetdocs.org/?op=doc&did=12

@Myst_Doom, fixing the redirector isn't really a priority, but it's definitely on the todo list. Very few people (if any at all) make use of it.

@The rest, thanks for the input. I'm working on BNETDocs v2.0, which is why you're not seeing any further updates to BNETDocs Redux. :-)

When will the flags page be added?

The flags page is added, but it doesnt contain any useful information. Especially for channel flags.

This is for a far-future to-do, but you should integrate the forums into this style page. Each forum being a link on the left (like a packet/documentation page), and each topic being a link on that docs page that leads to a user-comments styled topic page.

@ZergMasterl: Forums will be integrated with the site in BNETDocs v2.

@Jailout2000, comment on the flags page stating what information needs to be included and an admin will add it. The admins usually are very good about adding stuff.

http://www.bnetdocs.org/?op=packet&pid=360 - I always thought the limit to how long a message could be was 224, not 223. Correct me if I'm wrong.

F7 1E 33 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 E4 17 00 00 00 00 7C 72 41 75 74 6F 52 65 66 72 65 73 68 00 01 00 02 00 17 E0 7F 00 00 01 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00

Any idea what this means? It comes from a Auto Refresh program for Warcraft III... And the header says that it's Warcraft III (F7 1E 33 00), It sends 0x1E, with the length of 51 (0x33) bytes... The name is AutoRefresh, which accounts for the 41 75 74 6F 52 65 66 72 65 73 68... I just want some confirmation, and maybe add it to the W3GS documentation since that documentation has nothing yet...

Thanks...

Add Telnet/Chat-icon packets to the packet list, if you will. Contact me for the full list, since I haven't seen anyone besides myself have the complete, correct, list. I can also help add the documentation on each Telnet packet.

On a side note, that should be highly noted, you need to sanitize your PHP to SQL code (use the PHP function stripslashes or addslashes, one of those two). In order to add a ' you need to backslash it \' which some people don't know how to do.

Why were the following removed from the Document list?

BNLS Checksum Algorithm
Diablo II Game Server Accept Sequence
Diablo II Realm Server Logon Procedure
Icons.bni
NLS/SRP Protocol
Notational Conventions
Warcraft III Profile Requests

EDIT: Stuff to do...
* Fix Resources (they're all outdated)
* Fix Links (Infoceptor is gone)
* Add "Used By" Icons: SC2, CHAT, W3DM, DTST/DIAB, D2ST
* Add SCGS Packets

Missing Documents:
- They were never added as far as I know. Feel free to port them: www.bnetdocs.org/old/

Resources/Links:
- Yeah they are quite out-dated. I'll try to remember to fix that up later...

Used By Icons:
- Get some pics (or tell me which pics go to which) for me and I'll add them.

SCGS Packets:
- Will be added into the new BnetDocs (labs.bnetdocs.org). This current version that we're using (www.bnetdocs.org) needs a bit tidying up if it were to hold SCGS. If anyone would be willing to donate the SCGS packets, I'll set the category up for you to add the packets into.

EDIT:
- Added the SCGP category to the database. Packets can be added for SCGP now.

Oh... I'll port over the rest of the Documents then, haha. ~ Ported the missing documents over. I noticed the spacing and formatting on some are incorrect, that's due to the fact that I just used "View Source" and copied the HTML since I did not have editing rights on the old docs. Can easily be fixed.

As far as the "Used By" icons go, I think we'll have to make them, which isn't a big deal. I'll see if Heinermann can find anything from the games, otherwise i'll just make something.

Any ETA on BnetDocs v2?

EDIT: I was also wondering why we don't generate the packets for Java...?

The old BnetDocs is all HTML based. There is no user database or anything for it, I don't even have editor access myself unless you count having access to FTP. It all is strictly html files on the server. Don copied it all from the original Valhalla Legends-version of the BnetDocs, which did have a user system but he didn't have access to it, so he just wrote a script to gather all the files and he placed them here under /old/. Most of our packets were imported from that old version, hence why some packets still have Related links not as links, but as text (part of the Remarks section).

The ETA on BnetDocs v2 is on hold as far as I know. Don and I were originally going to release it alongside the StarCraft II release, but that didn't happen. Right now I think Don is busy with his work and I've been busy with school and other things, I have been however doing some side-coding on it, and last night I put up my own ad on the right panel, if you refresh a few times you'll see it; it's not on priority so it may take a few refreshes.

The generated Java packets isn't even in the website code, and would need to be coded in order to be generated. I'll see what I can come up with. I think it would be a great idea seeing as JBLS is written with Java, and so are some other bots that connect with Battle.net.

Hmmm, just an idea, but I think it would help if the documents were categorized. I'll see if it is feasible for that, and what categories would be needed.

@Sixen: Notational Conventions needs to be merged with Sizes & Types. They are mostly the same thing. Sizes & Types was here first, but Notational Conventions was here longer, if that makes sense.

Deleted Notational Conventions, merged the missing data into Sizes & Types, and renamed that document to "Notational Convention (Sizes & Types)."

Generating Java packets shouldn't be hard at all, since the website already generates the other languages already. Should be really simply, for the most part you can just use code from the other lang. If I had access, I would totally do it myself.

Bnet docs v2 needs some work, but looks pretty good. Too bad it wasn't up.

Sorry about have not finished bnetdocs v2-- been busy with work and college. two jobs plus college sure isn't easy. I work on it when I'm able to. Jailout-- go ahead and delete the Kadre ads. Leave the bnetdocs ad and your ad up. Thanks for setting your ad to low priority.

I do monitor comments/changes on bnetdocs, so rest assured I hear you guys. =)

As for the java packets, both of you are correct; the links for generating those are hard-coded but isn't hard to edit and add. The actual generation itself is not hard-coded; all I need to know is the proper syntax for those variables, I plug in the mask into the code, and the code will take care of the rest.

Something to add to v2 - quoting other people's comments. Just a thought. It would be sexy to be able to do that.

@Don: I will go ahead and remove those ads. Also I noticed the priority system doesn't even work, so I put both of them on a priority of one (1).

@Sixen: Cool. And yes, v2 needs work, that is why it has never left the labs. The biggest thing if I recall correctly is the navigation submenus (for the packets) and the "surprise" that only Don and I know about.

EDIT: I also made the documents list ordered by title in ascending direction just now. I can find stuff easily now haha. Maybe my original idea of categories is not needed.

@Kyro: Good stuff. It should just be: static final byte packet_name= 0x##;
static final byte SID_NULL = 0x00;

@Jail: Yeah, Documents looks better now.

Lol, I went to add the java code generator, but it was already there; Jailout beat me to it.

http://www.bnetdocs.org/?op=generatecode&gid=all&lang=java

He also added the link to the left side menu.

:)

Yeah I was talking with Sixen last night (or early this morning?) and we were going over some things, so while I was at it, I updated a few things here and there which included adding Java.

Need to update some stuff due to recent public "findings":

0x1C / 0x09: http://pastebin.com/nmzLJMAH
Statstrings: http://pastebin.com/QLv1sk5w
SC UDP: http://www.battlehacks.com/forums/starcraft-broodwar/1758-packet-documentation.html and http://pastebin.com/v607nG0V
BNLS_CDKEY: http://forum.valhallalegends.com/index.php/topic,18386.0.html

@Sixen: Updated 0x09 and 0x1C according to comments on each packet and the URL you provided. I also updated game statstrings according to the other URL.

All what's left out of your list is SC UDP and BNLS_CDKEY.

Updated the BNLS_CDKey. Just need to get the SC UDP, though maybe we should add that in the SCGS batch. Those are for creating games.

Information on Storm UDP and some SC packets:

http://www.battlehacks.com/forums/starcraft-broodwar/1758-packet-documentation.html

This was updated today to include more information.

Sanitation test.

If this works, I'll have no problem sending this ' in the comment. Without a backslash.

Fix logs so it doesn't show slashes; currently it's showing the slashes.

Any ETA on v3 btw? :P.

That's a good question... to be honest, I can't remember the exact day I last worked on it, and I know Don has been busy with his work... Sixen, didn't we give you access to the FTP for this website? :3 I could of sworn we did...

this site right now, looks way better than v3, even when v3 is not finished. v3 looks like 5yrs backwards

No sql injection anymore? Such a pity :)
Center alignment is off - nice, it was retarded.

Turn on gzip on the site and pages will load *much* faster. Either through mod_gzip or through php gzip stream.

~Ability to delete and/or edit own comments would be nice.~Already works, though links are displayed for others comments too. You should also add last edit time to articles, some of them looks really ancient. You should also add article title to the page title.

And there is lack of information on packets other that bnet packets for pre-warcraft 3 games, like sid_warcraftgeneral, W3GS, SCGP.

A question - where do all packet names and prefixes come from?

Guys, what the heck is that?? And then ipbanning me.

Unauthorized access blocked. Nice try, buddy.
Direct Access Denied. Nice try buddy!

What's the web URL you tried to access? Occasionally, people try to penetrate BNETDocs to make unauthorized modifications, and BNETDocs has security mechanisms set to react to those intrusions automatically.

As for the packet names/prefixes-- those pre-date my taking over BNETDocs from Arta, so for the sake of consistency, I kept those.

As for the lack of information on those packets-- the lack of information is due to people not providing them to BNETDocs. Feel free to provide those and we'll add them.

I clicked something on v3 site.
>and BNETDocs has security mechanisms set to react to those intrusions automatically.
I highly doubt that authomatically ipbanning will help.

>As for the packet names/prefixes
Has he invented them, or where do they come from? Or, it other words, why should i prefer this names e.g. pvpgn's ones?
What means "SID"? Why it's W3GS and not W3GP?

And yeah, vL bnet devel forum went completely retarded after their retarded admin lost database for the last half year.

v3 is still under development. Still, yes, mainly because I'm the only one working on v3, and time is simply something I lack. I do plan on resuming work on v3 eventually. It's been a few years since I worked on v3, and I'm considering overhauling v3 since it's based on old obsolete code. Not too sure though. But one thing I do know for sure: once v3 is finished and released, it'll be my last update for v3.

As for packet names, feel free to rename to your own conventions. Just keep in mind that when you talk about them to others, don't be surprised if the others get confused as to what packets you're referring to. There's a reason why people left the names as is-- it's not because the names are appropriate, it's left as is for the sake of consistency so everyone will know what someone is referring to. Using consistency also boosts searchability. It's been in place for more than a decade. So it'll be quite difficult for anyone to buck the current conventions. But you're welcome to try. Usually, the name convention comes from the developer who originally researched the protocol and managed to reverse engineer it first, as well as released the results. And usually people just go along with whatever convention that person chose.

And to add to what Kyro has said about the packet names, I know some of them (if not most?) come from reverse engineering the game itself. Blizzard left names in their binaries, and that's where some of the names come from. There are a few packets that their names were invented, and they note that in their remarks. An example would be SID_LEAVEGAME.

The "SID" I'm not entirely sure where it came from. I assume it stands for Session ID, but that wouldn't make any sense so I've just left it SID in all my notes.

As for W3GS, it stands for Warcraft III Game Server. Why not P, for Protocol, I do not know. I've always heard people use W3GS instead of W3GP. I was the one who added literally everything on W3GP (before me, there wasn't even a section on BNETDocs for it), so feel free to call me out on that. =P

On a side note, we still need to add Battle.net v2's documentation. I added the sections for it, we just need someone to document it and add packets. I know a little about it, and I know that our current conventions on how we do our formatting on the site isn't exactly v2-friendly, but it should be able to handle it to a certain extent. Ask RealityRipple, he has a ton more info than I do and he knows what he's doing.

Do you mean Starcraft 2 under Bnet v2? Can't you get legal problems in this case?

Where have SCGP packets been gone?

>I know some of them (if not most?) come from reverse engineering the game itself. Blizzard left names in their binaries, and that's where some of the names come from.
Yea, that's exactly what i meant - so the most names for SID are official. Is the prefix also official? Are the names still present in binaries? Are other packet types' names also "official"?

Guys, comments looks centered in Opera. I don't know how you managed to do it while they are left-aligned in Firefox, but can you fix it?

Which page do you see this, specifically? It's probably an issue with the CSS code.

Any, including this. Just install Opera.

>Do you mean Starcraft 2 under Bnet v2? Can't you get legal problems in this case?

No. I mean B.net v2. Starcraft II runs on B.net v2, B.net v2 doesn't run on Starcraft II.
And yes, we could if we make notes specific to World of Warcraft which is a subscription-based (you pay money) service. As long as there's no money involved in what we document about Battle.net v2, it can be put up. More info can be found in our legal page.

Furthermore, Battle.net v2 works at bit level rather than byte level. This means that our current documentation techniques (like having a packet ID as a byte in our references) would have to be looked over, or "understood" to be seen as bits even though we store and make use of it as bytes.

Battle.net v2 uses 7 bits for a packet ID if I recall correctly (I may be wrong). There is no packet length descriptor. The header is 11 bits of data. The remaining bits are left for packet-specific data, also known as the body of the packet. In addition, a single bit (a boolean) is used in the header to tell you if you're in a channel or not; I'm not sure exactly how that works or why its there.

Also there is an RC4 encryption algorithm that Battle.net v2 uses. The protocol itself is not encrypted; you can see the packet headers yourself without any decryption being involved. I'm not exactly 100% sure how the encryption works or how its used, but I know it is present.

And in case anyone is curious, I do have access to a private SVN project regarding Battle.net v2's protocol. It has a lot of work done towards it.

Facts about Battle.net v2:
- It works at bit level, not byte. Though some data is still read as DWORDs, etc.
- It uses NLS, a modified SRP encryption protocol.
- It is used with SC2, WoW, and D3, and will later be used in all Blizzard PC games.
- It uses an RC4 encryption, but not on every packet and/or not in the packet header (not sure which).
- Lots of work has already been done towards reverse engineering it.

Again, we should contact RealityRipple and see if he could help us document some of it here. Perhaps give him FTP/MySQL access so he can modify our system for compatibility with Battle.net v2.

Regards,
- Jailout2000

>No. I mean B.net v2. Starcraft II runs on B.net v2, B.net v2 doesn't run on Starcraft II.
Thanks, Captain. But are you planning to document SC2, and if yes - read above.

> legal page.
tl;dr

>we could if we make notes specific to World of Warcraft
It's a pity because there is a working WoW emulator named Mangos and thus the protocol should be better documented.
On the other hand, they have not tried to close PvPGN and at least has not succeed closing Mangos, so maybe nothing happens if you do - WoW is rather old, and there is already a working emulator. SC2 is new, D3 is brand new, and Blizzard surely don't want emulator creation to be speeded up.

Can you give more info about SRP used in SC2/D3?

Ah yes, many of you are living in America. Under circumstances It could be a problem for those of you :)

Just wanted to clarify a critical factor:

Servers for StarCraft 2, and those of its ilk are free for access. So we document those and support development in those aspects.

However if it's World of Warcraft, or any of its ilk, forget about it. We do not document the game per se.

The key phrase here is "per se". If Starcraft 2 happens to use a certain aspect of the protocol that World of Warcraft also uses, we still will permit documentation of it here since Starcraft 2 provides free access to the protocol.

To sum it up, if accessing the server and playing on it is free, go for it. Otherwise, no way jose. Hope that clarifies our stance on it. The main reason here is to avoid giving Blizzard legitimate excuses to shut us down via litigation.

>Servers for StarCraft 2, and those of its ilk are free for access.
If you have a valid key. Pirated server allow you to play without - so what's the difference?
I know most people playind on PvPGN servers do that not because they don't have a CD-key, but, for example, because those servers are simply better than official Bnet servers. I just sound it from Blizzard's PoV. There is already working WoW emulator software - and none for SC2/D3. So why should they be more interested to deny developing WoW emulators (which is already developed) than SC2/D3 (which doesn't exist)?

Free subscription versus paid subscription. There's a world of difference in those two. Think of it like this: the money you pay for the cdkey is actually money paid primarily for the software, not the battle.net service (referring to free access). However with WoW, the money paid is mainly (while part of cost, however insignificant) not for the software, it's actually primarily for the protocol, and for server access. The legal implications differ drastically between the two. If you still aren't clear on it, google it.

As for the WoW emulator (Mangos), I can't say much on that matter, but suffice it to say Blizzard, and by relation, Vivendi, are aware of it. As for there not being a BNET 2.0 server emulator -- there actually is. It's not released for general public use. The person who developed it is withholding it, and has thus far only shared it with a limited number of friends -- not including myself (understandably). Blizzard also is aware of this -- but since it hasn't been released, they don't have much to go on. Once again, can't comment further on it. If you'd like more information on what Blizzard has in mind in regards to Mangos, I suggest you contact Blizzard and ask. I think you'll be surprised at how they feel about it. They have been thus far tolerant of BNETDocs, but only because we take care not to tread too much on their toes.

I actually know where the unreleased B.net v2 emulator is being held at, and I have access to its source. It's not on any public server, I can tell you that much. And in addition, there's an older B.net v2 emulator still in the public area -- see here.

World of Warcraft is a service you have to pay monthly for. The money you pay is, as Kyro said, not for the game, but for the online service that the game uses.

Starcraft II doesn't require you pay a subscription for this online service.

Therefore, whatever SC2 uses, we can document, because we're not interfering with their money. If we document something WoW uses, we can face legal issues because now we're documenting something of value, something that people spend money to keep online.

The only reason PvPGN hasn't been taken down is because it is hosted not only in the Americas, but in other regions of the world where the same federal law does not apply. PvPGN is based on bnetd, software which was already in a lawsuit in the United States federal court. Blizzard can't control either of the two from being used because they are offshore, but they can control where it is used in the United States. This is why most PvPGN servers you will find aren't in the United States, because the ones that are will be able to be sued by Blizzard for copyright infringement.

Hope this helps.
- Jailout2000

Information regarding Battle.net v2 should be kept here: Battle.net v2 Information

Jailout2000, SRP description there is awful. Can someone post differences between standart SRP and Blizzard's, especially g and N?

Is this server hosted in the USA?

>Is this server hosted in the USA?
Yes. And Blizzard makes a trip to this website annually, usually requesting 5-10 pages.

>Jailout2000, SRP description there is awful. Can someone post differences between standard SRP and Blizzard's, especially g and N?
Indeed it is. I made a superscript asking for more info about it. I'm not sure if they are now using standard SRP in Battle.net v2, are using the exact same SRP from Battle.net v1, or a completely new revision that they may have made.

You should comment there about someone posting differences between them, not here. This is the To Do document after all. ;)

Something that actually does need attending to:

- We need a Diablo III news icon.

Yeah, we do, and maybe a Battle.net 2.0 logo as well. I think we should revamp most of the current logos anyway, they're kinda ugly, :(. We should just like... use the game icon, it's obvious to everyone coming here which game it applies to. It'd also solve the issue of having to make new icons.

for years I have hated the Packets Block for having each section already collapsed. Massive scrollage = /rage. Just have them all listed as uncollapsed, it'll be better that way.

Can you enable last changes feed and exclude account reg from there?

Myst_Doom: Put this in your CSS theme to do that:

#a1,#a2,#a3,#a4,#a5,#a6,#a7,#a8,#a9 {
display: block;
}

That took me all of 2 minutes to figure out :). Note you can have only some open by default by listing only some of the a-number sections, they are in the order you see to the left. Note also that they don't collapse unless you click twice the first time since this fix doesn't change the JavaScript but only the CSS. Note also also that this is deplorable and I like it collapsed so would hate anyone who made this official.

@Xpeh- last changes feed is already there. Been for a while.

http://www.bnetdocs.org/logsrss.php

As for the account registration, I asked Jailout to take care of that issue a long time ago- he said he fixed it. I just checked, and it wasn't. Have class in 40 minutes, but I'll yank code open and dig in, see if I can't fix it before I head out.

Okay, I removed the registration stuff from the RSS, and also removed the log of hacks showing up in it. That should take care of it-- a purified changes-only feed. Man, looking at the code brings back memories.

It was there, but then the link was removed. Thanks for bringing it back, too.

??? It's always been there. The link is just only visible after logging in. It was coded like that to encourage people to register. That was before a well-intentioned friend mentioned one could just give the link to others so they could bypass registering and logging in to get to the RSS link. I shrugged, said if they wanted to bypass it that bad, go for it. Heh.

Please add the following message sections for Storm UDP:

Storm UDP Messages [will be for CLS 0 packets]
W2GP Messages [will be for WC2 CLS 1 and 2 packets]
D1GP Messages [will be for D1 CLS 1 and 2 packets]

I'll use SCGP Messages for CLS 1 and 2 packets, for now.

Also, if the C > C packet type is used in a document's related field, it appears as "S > C" instead.