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Maintenance & Watchdog

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Jason edited this page Aug 9, 2026 · 1 revision

🔧 Maintenance & Watchdog

Synix is built to be a "set-and-forget" server engine. The built-in maintenance routines and Watchdog safeguards ensure your servers stay updated, backed up, and running smoothly without manual intervention.

💾 Smart Backups & Rolling Limits

Enabling Backup on Start in a server's settings triggers an automated archival process before the game boots.

Backup Behavior:

  1. Synix targets the server's save data directory (using either the default or your custom path).
  2. The engine compresses the world state into a .zip file.
  3. The archive is stored in your designated Backup Repository with a timestamp suffix.
  4. Rolling Limit Enforcement: Synix checks the Max Saved Backups Limit in your Global Settings. If the limit is exceeded, it automatically deletes the oldest archive to conserve disk space.
  5. Crash Exception: Automated crash recoveries purposefully bypass backups to ensure rapid reboot times and prevent backing up corrupted memory states.

🔄 Smart Updates & Manifest Validation

  • Update on Start: When enabled, Synix contacts SteamCMD before launching the server to download any newly released game patches.
  • Validate Binaries: Comparing your local files against the official Steam Master Manifest repairs corrupt executables or missing files without altering your world save data.

💬 Discord Webhook Integration

Receive real-time server telemetry and alerts directly in your Discord server.

How to set it up:

  1. Open Discord > Server Settings > Integrations > Webhooks.
  2. Click New Webhook and copy the Webhook URL.
  3. Open Synix > Edit Server > Paste the URL into the Discord Webhook field.

Synix will post rich embedded messages for:

  • 🚀 Server Boot Events
  • 🛑 Graceful Shutdowns
  • ⚠️ Watchdog Recovery & Crash Reboots

🐺 Autonomous Watchdog Engine

The Synix Watchdog operates as a background thread that actively monitors the health of your server's process loop.

Recovery Timeline:

  • Heartbeat Monitoring: Monitors PID execution and process responsiveness continuously.
  • Freeze Detection: If a process hangs or becomes completely unresponsive for more than 60 seconds, the Watchdog marks it as CRASHED.
  • Staged Recovery: The Watchdog safely terminates the frozen PID, logs the failure, sends a Discord alert, and reboots the game server automatically.

🛡️ Resource Guard (CPU & RAM Safety)

Resource Guard actively prevents game server hosting from crashing your Windows host operating system.

Safety Policies:

  • 5GB RAM Overhead: Synix calculates system memory headroom and enforces a strict 5GB RAM reserve specifically for Windows kernel tasks.
  • 85% CPU Ingress Throttle: New server boot sequences are temporarily blocked if the host CPU utilization exceeds 85%. This prevents boot-spikes from tanking the tick rates of your already-running servers.

🔗 Process Rebinding

If Synix is accidentally closed or updated while game servers (or SteamCMD downloads) are actively running, reopening Synix initiates process rebinding.

The engine queries active OS PID handles, matches the binary names to their {Identity} configurations, and silently restores live monitoring without interrupting active players or stopping background downloads.

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