feat(net): Phase 4.9 — send ACK_SEQUENCE for every received server packet

Root cause of the still-purple-haze symptom AND the ACE-side
"Network Timeout" drop after ~60s. acdream was never sending
acknowledgement packets back to the server, so the server's
reliability layer saw a one-way stream and eventually dropped the
session. During the 60s window the player rendered to other clients
as the stationary purple loading haze (AC's "this client is in
portal-space transition" indicator).

Pattern ported from
references/holtburger/crates/holtburger-session/src/session/
{send.rs::send_ack, receive.rs::finalize_ordered_server_packet}.
The proper holtburger pattern is per-packet acks, NOT a periodic
heartbeat: every received server packet with sequence > 0 and no
ACK_SEQUENCE flag of its own gets a bare control packet sent back
with:

  PacketHeader {
    Flags    = ACK_SEQUENCE (0x4000),
    Sequence = current_client_sequence (= last issued, no increment),
    Id       = session client id,
  }
  Body = u32 little-endian server sequence being acked

Acks are cleartext control packets (no EncryptedChecksum) and
re-use the most recently issued client sequence rather than
consuming a new one — they aren't part of the reliable stream the
server tracks for retransmits.

Wired into ProcessDatagram so both Tick (post-InWorld) and PumpOnce
(during Connect/EnterWorld) trigger acks on every received non-ack
server packet.

Also (per user request) upgrades the CLAUDE.md description of the
holtburger reference repo from "Rust AC client crate" to "almost-
complete Rust TUI AC client — the most authoritative reference for
client-side behavior in the project, look here FIRST for anything
WorldSession or message-builder related." This was the third time
in two days I would have saved hours by checking holtburger first
instead of guessing at the protocol from ACE alone.

220 tests green.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.6 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
This commit is contained in:
Erik 2026-04-11 23:42:41 +02:00
parent 8744bd6179
commit af381ac6fb
2 changed files with 78 additions and 3 deletions

View file

@ -164,9 +164,23 @@ these, ideally all four:
on field order, packed-dword conventions, type-prefix handling. The on field order, packed-dword conventions, type-prefix handling. The
generated Types/*.cs files have accurate field comments (e.g. "If generated Types/*.cs files have accurate field comments (e.g. "If
it is 0, it defaults to 256*8") that ACE's server-side code doesn't. it is 0, it defaults to 256*8") that ACE's server-side code doesn't.
- **`references/holtburger/`** — Rust AC client crate. Cross-references - **`references/holtburger/`** — **Almost-complete Rust TUI AC client.**
handshake quirks, race delays, and per-message encoding decisions Not just a crate or a handshake reference: it's a full client that
that ACE doesn't document because it's server-side. logs in, plays the game, sends/receives chat, handles combat, and
renders state in a terminal. **This is acdream's most authoritative
reference for client-side behavior** — anything about how a client
is *supposed* to talk to the server lives here. Specifically:
- Handshake / login flow including all the post-EnterWorld
messages retail clients send (LoginComplete, ack pump,
DDDInterrogation responses, etc).
- The proper ACK_SEQUENCE pattern (every received packet with
sequence > 0 gets an ack queued back; not periodic).
- Outbound game-action message construction with sequence
numbering.
- Message routing and session lifecycle.
Look here FIRST when implementing anything in `WorldSession` or
the message-builder layer. ACE shows what the server expects;
holtburger shows what a real client actually sends.
Pattern: when you encounter an unknown behavior, grep all four for the Pattern: when you encounter an unknown behavior, grep all four for the
relevant term, read each hit, and compose a multi-source understanding relevant term, read each hit, and compose a multi-source understanding

View file

@ -254,6 +254,20 @@ public sealed class WorldSession : IDisposable
var dec = PacketCodec.TryDecode(bytes, _inboundIsaac); var dec = PacketCodec.TryDecode(bytes, _inboundIsaac);
if (!dec.IsOk) return; if (!dec.IsOk) return;
// Phase 4.9: send an ACK_SEQUENCE control packet for every received
// server packet with sequence > 0 and no ACK flag of its own. This
// is the proper holtburger pattern (every received packet gets an
// ack queued back; not periodic). Without it, ACE drops the session
// with "Network Timeout" because it sees no acks coming back —
// which surfaces in other clients' views as the player rendering
// as a stationary purple haze (loading state).
var serverHeader = dec.Packet!.Header;
if (serverHeader.Sequence > 0
&& (serverHeader.Flags & PacketHeaderFlags.AckSequence) == 0)
{
SendAck(serverHeader.Sequence);
}
foreach (var frag in dec.Packet!.Fragments) foreach (var frag in dec.Packet!.Fragments)
{ {
var body = _assembler.Ingest(frag, out _); var body = _assembler.Ingest(frag, out _);
@ -335,6 +349,53 @@ public sealed class WorldSession : IDisposable
_net.Send(datagram); _net.Send(datagram);
} }
/// <summary>
/// Phase 4.9: send a bare ACK_SEQUENCE control packet acknowledging
/// <paramref name="serverPacketSequence"/>. This is a cleartext control
/// packet (no EncryptedChecksum) — the body is just the 4-byte server
/// sequence number being acknowledged. The header re-uses the most
/// recently sent client sequence (no increment) because acks aren't
/// themselves part of the reliable stream the server tracks.
///
/// <para>
/// Without sending these, ACE drops the session with
/// <c>Network Timeout</c> after ~60s — and during that 60s the
/// character appears to other clients as a stationary purple haze
/// (loading state) because the server hasn't seen the client confirm
/// any post-EnterWorld traffic.
/// </para>
///
/// <para>
/// Pattern ported from
/// <c>references/holtburger/crates/holtburger-session/src/session/send.rs::send_ack</c>
/// and the receive-side trigger at
/// <c>.../session/receive.rs::finalize_ordered_server_packet</c>.
/// </para>
/// </summary>
private void SendAck(uint serverPacketSequence)
{
// 4-byte body: little-endian u32 of the server sequence we're acking.
Span<byte> body = stackalloc byte[4];
BinaryPrimitives.WriteUInt32LittleEndian(body, serverPacketSequence);
// Holtburger uses current_client_sequence (= packet_sequence - 1) for
// ack headers. We mirror that — acks borrow the most recently issued
// client sequence rather than consuming a new one.
uint ackHeaderSequence = _clientPacketSequence > 0
? _clientPacketSequence - 1
: 0u;
var header = new PacketHeader
{
Sequence = ackHeaderSequence,
Flags = PacketHeaderFlags.AckSequence,
Id = _sessionClientId,
};
byte[] datagram = PacketCodec.Encode(header, body, outboundIsaac: null);
_net.Send(datagram);
}
private void Transition(State next) private void Transition(State next)
{ {
if (CurrentState == next) return; if (CurrentState == next) return;