I modified Luanti to use exclusively TCP packets

[luantiuser438]

Hi,

Made an account specifically for this, not exactly sure where to post this, none of the other boards look relevant, so I'll put it here.

So I've done some tinkering on the Luanti source code. My derivative uses exclusively TCP packets to communicate between the client and the server.

Because of this, you can set up your server as a hidden service and run the client with torsocks to play over Tor. I have tested it and it works.

I am hosting the source code here: https://file.garden/ahyFC3XeRxe_Za_F/luanti.tar.gz

Note that it is 5.16.0 but modified, so if you run a diff between the 5.16.0 tag and my code you will be able to inspect for malware.

[Arion18]

Hi,

Made an account specifically for this, not exactly sure where to post this, none of the other boards look relevant, so I'll put it here.

So I've done some tinkering on the Luanti source code. My derivative uses exclusively TCP packets to communicate between the client and the server.

Because of this, you can set up your server as a hidden service and run the client with torsocks to play over Tor. I have tested it and it works.

I am hosting the source code here: https://file.garden/ahyFC3XeRxe_Za_F/luanti.tar.gz

Note that it is 1.16.0 but modified, so if you run a diff between the 1.16.0 tag and my code you will be able to inspect for malware.

From my understanding of your post, this should be in the board "Luanti-related projects" since it seems like a fork.

Your post sounds interesting, although I haven't understood everything it does. Is it Multiplayer only or can you play normal Luanti in Singleplayer?

Also, what do you mean by 1.16.0? There is no such version, only 5.16.0dev and 5.16.1.

[luantiuser438]

***** NOTE: If the mods would like to move this thread to where it belongs, that would be greatly appreciated. I don't know how to do it. *****

Hi, so I think I explained it thoroughly. It's Minetest.. uh, erm, Luanti, but it uses TCP instead of UDP to communicate. This allows it to be used over the Tor Network. Yes, of course Singleplayer works.

There are a few bugs, liquid rendering seems to be a little borked, also it doesn't handle the connection dropping very well. Right now if the connection drops you need to manually kill the process. These are all things that can be fixed when I get the chance.

Basically if the TCP connection drops for whatever reason, TCP connections seem to do this occasionally, the client is unable to negotiate a new connection with the server, and the game crashes. This appears to be a code bug and not a fundamental limitation, though, I will work on it when I get the chance.

Also given that my primary reason for making this modification was to run Luanti over Tor Network, I added some disclaimers to the user interface. Really, you should be running this in a container or a clean fresh OS install because I do not have the resources to chase down exploits. Right now the disclaimers are kind of bugged out, I will also work on that eventually.

Also the version is 5.16.0, which according to my sources does contain a security bug. When I get the chance I can update it.

Also there are some files in there that will bork up the diff, if you want to produce a diff, you will want to remove public/, docs/mkdocs/venv, and docs/mkdocs/docs/*.md. This should clean up the diff significantly.

[Mantar]

Liquid rendering is bugged in 5.16.0.

[bgstack15]

Could this be used to prepare the application to be wrapped in TLS? I realize Tor network is different, but I would think that wrapping all this traffic in TLS could be useful for regular non-Tor folks.

[pups]

Hello, luantiuser438. Your idea is interesting and useful.

I am interested in the client-server communication that allows players to avoid internet censorship.
So I want to use the luanti public servers, not onion-servers (so called "hidden services").

If the luanti developers created a possibility to use TCP instead of UDP, I would willingly try to use TCP-mode of communication.
Also we need SOCKS proxy-server settings to be included into the client. However, the program "torsocks" will most likely do.

But there are the following problems:
1) We need the server to support TCP and UDP clients simultaneously.
2) The server's owner should be interested in using TCP-mode.
3) The communication is not secured by encryption in luanti. So we can send information safely only to onion-servers.

[luantiuser438]

Hello folks,

I have decided to discontinue work on this project.

I didn't stop believing in it. The idea needs to be done -- I just lack the ability to do this kind of work without AI, and I have come to believe that AI is one of the chief enemies of the general public these days. So I refuse to use AI to continue development on this.

Also, full disclosure, the code I posted was written by Claude Opus 4.7, and it cost around $50 to generate. If someone wants to replicate the idea without the use of AI, that would be awesome. I just can't.

pups, the ability to toggle a "TCP mode" in the stock client would be ideal. I'm not sure if it is technically possible for a server to support both modes at once, though.

Hopefully this idea will be kept alive, and I'm glad I broached it, but I am unfortunately unable to take the helm at the moment.