WatchFox

No one can outfox a fox

WatchFox is an extremely fast and efficient logging plugin that uses its own custom, self-hosted database to achieve the fastest speeds of any logging plugin yet. Just drop the jar in the plugins folder and you'll be logging at multi-thousand actions per second.

Links: Downloads | API Info | Changelog | How to use | What it logs | Configuration | Permission nodes | Saving | How it works | Test details | Report a bug | Validation

WatchFox was developed in my quest for a superior logging plugin. Since none of the ones currently available appealed to me, I wrote my own. (Of course, this also means I wrote all the documentation myself. If it's a little thick, don't worry, the defaults are perfectly fine, there's just room for tweaking.)

A significant consideration was that most logging plugins required a MySQL database. While many hosts offer such a server now, in my experience, they were unreliable and over-provisioned. Many could not keep up with even a modest server. Additionally, running MySQL on a self-hosted server adds a large amount of overhead, both to the server and the admin. WatchFox avoids all of this by running the database internally to the plugin, with intelligent caching and minimal I/O.

There are also other logging solutions that don't use a MySQL server. However, WatchFox vastly outperforms them. In a self-conducted test (I encourage you to test for yourself if you don't believe me), WatchFox was many times faster, and uses significantly less storage space to store data.

Important tidbits:

WatchFox is coded in Java 1.7 and requires a Java 7 JRE / runtime to function.
WatchFox throttles rollbacks to 1000 blocks per second reduce server lag. If you have power to spare, you change this rate in the configuration. See conf.

Naturally, WatchFox has its own set of unique advantages and disadvantages over other plugins. Some notable ones follow:

+NO NMS CODE Confidently use WatchFox on any 1.4.5R1.0+ server.
+No need for a MySQL server
+Fastest Bukkit logger available
+Full search syntax, not restricted to using tools
+Full WorldEdit selection usage support
+Powerful API for other plugins
+Chest inventory rollbacks
+Easier to setup than alternatives
+Rollback preview support
+Ability to keep database in sync with Minecraft world (see saving for details)
+Unique anti-overwrite technology (see below)
+Shift-click to add blocks to your search!
+Ability to sort your search results at a whim
+Session sharing for easy collaboration
+100% active development, long term support

-Possibility of data loss if server crashes
-Additional RAM must be used for the database (not to be used if you're running out of RAM as-is now!)
-Data must be viewed with the in-game browser

In having a unique database, WatchFox also has a similarly unique anti-overwrite system. Basically, when performing a rollback, a particular event will only be undone if the block hasn't been changed by a non-searched party. For example, your standard plugin will check to make sure that block is as it was after the event before rolling back (that is, if a block was broken, it will only rollback if the block is still Air). However, WatchFox has the unique ability to check for any post-event action. For example, if a malicious player spams dirt blocks around someone's house, and the victim later clears it all away, only to then put dirt back selectively, the dirt that the victim placed will not be rolledback. It is considered superseded. No longer will performing a rollback reverse the victim's own work!

If you want to try the most advanced and fastest logging plugin available for yourself, just click Downloads here or in the links bar, drop it into your plugins folder and /reload. It has no dependencies, although it does support using WorldEdit.

Want to make WatchFox even more awesome? Report any bugs you find or request useful new features by clicking "Report a bug". Even simple things like errors in the documentation will be systematically fixed.

And don't forget to check out the other links available.

A note about downloads. As the main website for WatchFox is located elsewhere, download links on the wiki pages will direct you to my own website which hosts the jars as well. While I will maintain both the downloads here on BukkitDev and there, only the files here are subject to the quality control the BukkitDev staff impose. As such, you are encouraged to use the downloads provided here.

Links: Downloads | API Info | Changelog | How to use | What it logs | Configuration | Permission nodes | Saving | How it works | Test details | Report a bug | Validation

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- Reply
- #44
supertycoon0 Apr 11, 2013 at 07:37 UTC - 0 likes
@Mentioum: Go

After much pondering and a touch of shower-mediation, I remembered bug BUKKIT-3979. The long and short of it is that you need to update to the latest alpha of CraftBukkit.

At this present moment, that happens to be http://dl.bukkit.org/downloads/craftbukkit/view/02065_1.5.1-R0.2/

No new version of WatchFox is required to regain operational status.

Thanks for reporting what you found! I never did test for doublechests...

Last edited Apr 11, 2013 by supertycoon0: I bet replies don't work in plaintext mode...

BFAK:90620041,803f5dbb4e51e05c018286adbf0762ad87ef8125ca9726f9f27f4b08e5b57b20
- Reply
- #43
Mentioum Apr 10, 2013 at 18:11 UTC - 0 likes
@Mentioum: Go

I can avoid the error by disabling item-transfer-logging in the config. I do want to log that though so please fix the bug ;) Much appreciated.
- Reply
- #42
Mentioum Apr 10, 2013 at 18:07 UTC - 0 likes
Submitted bug report but will post the title of it here too:

[SEVERE] Could not pass event InventoryMoveItemEvent to WatchFox v2.2.0
- Reply
- #41
supertycoon0 Apr 06, 2013 at 21:19 UTC - 1 like
1.5.1. build

Miraculously, I even managed to support rollbacks with hopper carts and storage carts.

Oh and WorldEdit and Herochat support. If you ever want to see your CPU churn, WorldEdit a bajillion signs.

Last edited Apr 07, 2013 by drtshock: Linking to unapproved download.
- Reply
- #40
Marky717 Apr 05, 2013 at 19:25 UTC - 0 likes
Firstly, an excellent plugin, that I use extensively with MyBlock. Secondly, is there any time frame for a stable 1.5 release of this plugin? It would be excellent to have, as it will allow me to update my server. Many thanks for your continued work, we all appreciate it over in my server.
- Reply
- #39
supertycoon0 Mar 26, 2013 at 18:37 UTC - 0 likes
@botskonet: Go

Well that's just it, my purpose was to have a non-MySQL backed logging system that was as fast as any of the other plugins. So I wrote WatchFox. WatchFox doesn't use SQLite, or text files, or anything convenient. It's based on binary blobs, fixed column sizes, and hard coded indexes. The relatively tiny amount of storage space used should be evidence enough.

I really only wrote it for my own purposes, and in many ways we're targeting different things. Prism is pretty much a product in itself, while I like playing with things like MyBlock which can query thousands of times per second simply because I can.
- Reply
- #38
botskonet Mar 18, 2013 at 22:13 UTC - 0 likes
@supertycoon0: Go

I did miss your mention of sqlite. We very specifically say that our users should use sqlite as a last resort and many do. Sqlite is so incredibly limited that it's essentially swimming upstream for a plugin handling hundreds of thousands of records a day or more.

I'd drop support for it immediately if there was some better storage alternative for smaller servers.

Creator of Prism, DarkMythos, and more. Owner of dhmc.us.
- Reply
- #37
botskonet Mar 18, 2013 at 22:10 UTC - 0 likes
@supertycoon0: Go

Your information doesn't make any sense. What is it that you're testing? If you're testing data recording speed then you need to explain your measurements because other developers have reached very different results.

Please be more transparent with your data if you're going make claims that serve your own interests.
- Reply
- #36
Intellii Mar 08, 2013 at 18:20 UTC - 0 likes
@supertycoon0: Go Interesting stuff. I've always been impressed by the performance of your database.
- Reply
- #35
supertycoon0 Mar 04, 2013 at 11:41 UTC - 0 likes
@Machinimatt: Go

Unfortunately, it's getting really complicated to configure plugins to log the same data, but I performed a similar test and got the following results:

(Latest versions available, using sqlite with CoreProtect and Prism)

WatchFox: 300ms CoreProtect: 600ms SWatchdog: 16,200ms Prism: 16,400ms

WatchFox: 2.93MB CoreProtect: 24.6MB SWatchdog: 10.0MB Prism: 43.6MB

WatchFox and CoreProtect were also logging the most data and are the most directly comparable. SWatchdog only logged the exploding blocks, and Prism didn't log water flowing. I'll get around to performing another test, but these results will remain informal because of this.

So while I could have made Prism more comparable, you can see it's clearly lagging far behind WatchFox and CoreProtect in the performance department.

It's worth noting that CoreProtect v2 streamlined a ton of its internals and is very similar to WatchFox at a high level now. The listener times attest to that. (The database however is still very different, hence it being 8 times the size and slower)

My opinion (so yes, biased) is that WatchFox still remains the fastest and lightest plugin. It uses a custom database that was designed with Minecraft logging in mind and it shows in raw performance.

I would consider CoreProtect to be the only other considerable alternative for a no-mysql logging solution.

Funny enough, Prism is just like how CoreProtect (v1) used to be engineered (to an extent). So it will have the same problems until it also has it's v2.

The only downside to WatchFox is that it doesn't log WorldEdit... but I'm in the process of remedying that.

The upside to WatchFox is that it's so fast that plugins like MyBlock can exist.

Edit: I should note WatchFox is currently the only plugin flexible enough to allow a plugin like MyBlock to be as flexible as it is, however Prism is in the process of accomplishing the same goal.

Last edited Mar 04, 2013 by supertycoon0