Frequently Asked Questions/Alts

See also Alt Account, Alt abuse and Zerging.

Are separate multiple characters penalised?

I have created multiple characters (3 in all) which all work separately and therefore, should not be penalised. However, I have named them "voota", "voota's pharmacist" and "voota's militia" and lately I have been getting terrible search percentages. Has my account been blacklisted for having (similar) multiple accounts even though they are not linked, or is it just a coincidence (,or just me being paranoid)? Any way of finding out? - Voota 15:08, 10 Jan 2006 (GMT)

If there's a penalisation, is it automatically lifted after sometime? If so, for how long? I've just started playing this game and I have two characters very closeby, although not cooperating, I've run them one after the other's AP has finished. I've noticed that hit percentage isn't what it used to be...--Wcervantes 22:35, 14 Jan 2006 (GMT)

It is commonly believed that if both characters attack the same target (who may have moved), hit percentage becomes 0%. This type of penalty disappears when attacking valid targets (i.e., not cooperating with your alt). As far as anyone knows, Kevan doesn't blacklist (egregious violators get banned instead). Some players and groups maintain blacklists, but they'll just yell at you or shoot you -- they can't affect your percentages. --Tycho44 18:26, 15 March 2006 (GMT)

I don't think Kevan is that sadistic. As I understand it accounts that are under suspicion of working together just disappear in the night, never to be seen again. I have never heard of search results getting nerfed. Some days are just bad, I spent 30 AP and found a newspaper once. --Zaruthustra 07:45, 15 Jan 2006 (GMT)

Yeah, I think I was just being paranoid. Thanks. --Voota 02:46, 16 Jan 2006 (GMT)

Well under the heading of zerging in the wiki it says that that a countermeasure of suspicious activity (e.g. characters from same IP in close proximity) is to have a negative effect on search percentages...so voota, that could be your problem Ozz 12:19, 15 Jan 2006 (GMT)

Maybe, but they are all around 3-4 suburbs apart so I shouldn't be penalised. I may have just had a bad day. Thanks for the help anyway. --Voota 02:46, 16 Jan 2006 (GMT)

I am aware that if the characters are within 5 blocks of each other, any actions cost them double the AP's - been moving my main to a reviv point, forgetting that my NecroTech alt was waiting a block or two away.--The Fifth Horseman 15:05, 16 Jan 2006 (GMT)

Let me guess. Your main doesn't have Lurching Gait. - CthulhuFhtagn 21:14, 31 Jan 2006 (GMT)

He didn't have it back then, but it's NOT about the 2 AP/block move cost as a zed. It's about being charged 20 AP (I had 11, stood up and ended with -9 AP) for standing up from a headshot he received along the way. Now, you know it's normally 10 AP... |

Also, when I was moving out my other alt - alive and breathing - from the proximity, his _every_ move cost him 2 AP instead of 1. | Try explaining that, genius.--The Fifth Horseman 15:36, 21 February 2006 (GMT)

That sounds like a glitch that cost you double points. Bitch when it happens on a 10-point action, but it really seems that was the problem. I've sometimes moved into a building with 1 AP left (as a survivor) only to find I've got -1 AP instead of 0 AP. --DeadMeatGF 15:07, 5 June 2006 (BST)

It is a glitch. I try to keep my four characters some distance from each other so they can work as independent, non-overlapping individuals; once, however, one of my roaming healers stumbled into the hospital in which another of my characters was staying. There was no AP penalty. --Forlorad

never dun this before but ive had enuf i cant create a second character it just sends me to my first one every time

You need to use the "Log out" button before making a new character, or clear your cookies. --Pooky Romero 18:55, 25 Jan 2006 (GMT)

Hmm. I believe what you're saying, Zarathustra, about them disappearing, might not be limited to "working together," for instance, I created a Necrotech character recently, and it vanished overnight. Its name wasn't similar to my other two (GWARRRRR and Monset) and they're all on opposite ends of the map. Maybe there's something about having no more than two or three characters at a time.

- It can't be the case that they deleted because you already have 2 chars. I routinely operate 2-5 characters and none have been deleted thus far. But they are all in separate suburbs and I access from 3 different computers in any given day. But it should not be because you already have 2 chars.

- Is there a way to have characters deleted? I have an old alt and my search percentages seem to be terrible (note: this alt is inactive). Is this just bad luck or is it effecting my searches? -- Norminator 2

Bad luck. Inactive characters do nothing. Also, the anti-zerging measures only kick in when the characters are in the same square. - CthulhuFhtagn 21:15, 31 Jan 2006 (GMT)

I have four characters all frequently in four consecutive blocks. They don't really work together in the sense that, although they are around each other, they don't heal each other or things like that. I just one day put them all in the same place. The ONLY penalty I've noticed is that if you attack the same player with more than one character your rate of success is dismal. It happens far too often to be coincidence. I haven't lost AP, my characters find items easily... maybe it's because they don't work together. -- EBA

- I have recently gotten into Urban Dead, and have been enjoying it fully. However, it was getting boring playing all by my lonesome so i managed to convince a few of my buddies to play with me. However, I created two of the accounts on the same PC. (Both my friends accounts were created on one PC). We also chose names that were similar, (EG. John Joe Jake [something like that]) and for the first week of their playing, I would check up on their accounts to make sure they wern't lying in the street or something. I did not do much on their accounts, just made sure they were okay. Anyway, my main concern is that if the three of us interact, (we chose classes that could help each other, 1 doctor 1 cop 1 fireman) will our percentages be lowered, or any other sort of penalty? If you know the answer, it would be much appreciated if you share. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by CptKeys (talk • contribs) 03:10, 1 May 2008.

A (Mostly) Definitive Answer

... to the "Multiple Characters" Question

I had two characters unintentionally work together once. They were in adjacent neighborhoods and the second ended up shooting at a zombie the first had shot but not killed. This character, with max firearm skills, missed 35 pistol shots in a row. Kevan wasn't kidding when he said that characters that work together will have their percentages changed. However, it seems that characters can be in the same neighborhood without ill effects. I would imagine it will likely look suspicious if one of your characters starts giving preferential heals/revives/etc. to one of your other characters, though.

There is no truth to the rumor that characters in close proximity are charged more AP for their actions. Also, characters can inhabit the same building and their search odds will not be modified-- assuming, of course, you don't interact with your other account.

As always, these are my personal experiences, and your mileage may vary depending upon changes made in any future patch. Bentley Foss 08:24, 12 Feb 2006 (GMT)

Hey i have one character and i just started playing with a friend who goes to a boarding school, and other people play the game at his school. The problem is that his whole school shares the same IP. I moved his character for him once, and now my character can almost never hit people when he attacks. I moved him one suburb away from my character and moved it to the suburb later that day. What could cause this? --Mrs Fitting 01:09, 24 February 2006 (GMT)

"What could cause this?" A run of bad luck. I've had characters at 50 AP fail to land an axe hit and I've missed 13 times in a row with a 65% pistol. It happens. My characters maintain at least a full suburb of distance between each other, so zerging is never an issue. It is believed that UD's zerg penalty is temporary and only applies to shared targets -- although getting your name posted on some group's zerg-list could last forever. Unfortunately Urban Dead isn't suitable for a massively shared IP address, so I'd recommend continuing to play from a different IP. Your friends from school could e-mail Kevan about their plight, but please avoid suggesting changes that permit a few 100+ character unrepentant cheaters to harm the gaming experience for everyone. --Tycho44 17:32, 25 February 2006 (GMT)

I don't get it. so if a friend of mine WAS playing UD from my computer, but he doesn't anymore,for a few weeks now and if we would meet, would the anti - cheating systems kick in? - Berserkas, a simple UD player. http://www.urbandead.com/profile.cgi?id=420604

From the FAQ - I attacked 50 times at 30%, and only hit seven times! Is this a bug?

Or you searched and found nothing, or weren't able to break down some barricades. It's either a run of bad luck, which can happen, or it's the game's anti-abuse countermeasures kicking in - if the system detects a number of characters apparently controlled by the same player and working together, it will adjust their dice rolls to stop them gaining an unfair advantage over other players. Dickus Maximus 16:19, 1 April 2006 (BST)

I have 4 characters and they are no where near each other, three of them are always inactive and have been cleared up by the server will my remaining active character be penalised in any way for this? Emoch Noh 2 11:19, 17 April 2006 (GMT)

I'm not aware of any penalty for reviving your own character-I did it way back before the mark 2 came out when you came back standing up and you'd be killed before getting to safety. I revived my own character then logged in as him and got to safety. (This was after a 2 month long revive wait so don't blame me) EMAG_TRESNI 18:32, 17 June 2006 (BST)

I'm playing two characters -- a survivor in NE corner, and a zombie in SW corner. I often play them consecutively, on the same computer. Both characters' hit percentages are consistently nowhere close to what they're supposed to be. (40% axe attack hits about 20% or less of time, for example.) Anyone else have similar experience? -Hyphenator, 24 June 2006

I've got a civilian on SW and a zombie on NE, and my hit rates are pretty low. My firefighter's Axe success % is NOT 4/10. My zombie spends more AP walking/missing than actually hitting fools... Hit % should be raised... RealRoux 11:18, 13 September 2006 (BST)

There is no penalty for just having multiple characters. I have 3 and play them all consecutively once or twice a day. It's generally good practice to keep them separated (by how much specifically, I don't know) just to avoid any confusion about your intent. All 3 of my characters have been having good or average luck as far as rolls. You may get a run of bad luck, but that's chance for ya. For things not involving luck (e.g. having one of your chars revive another) I can't see why that would affect anything; run in, revive, then separate.

I have 3 characters in the same clan. None of them ever work together, but are usually within 10 blocks of each other. They have never crossed paths, never inhabited the same square, and have never attacked the same enemy. Is there any chance that some may be deleted?Crazylilvietguy 00:43, 26 August 2006 (BST)

You are breaking the multiple characters rule. so yes there is a chance that some may be deleted. Although there is no direct contact you still receive benefits from having your character in the same place and clan. The enemy you kill with one character is less of a threat to one of your other characters. Your action help your clan, making them stronger giving them both an unfair edge over other non-cheating clans, and raises their ability to protect your characters in return. So while your are not directly working together, You're using go betweens And that too is just as unsporting and just as against the rules.--Vista 00:28, 14 September 2006 (BST)

-Okay here's one for you. I have two characters. They're never anywhere near each other *I don't think* and they never work together. One of them is dead. Has been for about a week. Because every time I go to get the dead one to stand up, it takes me to the other's page. I've logged out with the other one (having played it already to the point where it has no AP) and want to make the first one *the dead one* stand up so I can get him revivified. But I can't. Why is it doing that?? TigerEyes21 21:17, 31 October 2006 (CST)

Clear your cookies, clear your cache and try again. If it still doesn't work, report back. –Xoid ^M•T•FU! 11:09, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

-Now it makes me log in when I stand up. TigerEyes21 08:02, 1 November 2006 (CST)

Will I be penalized for repeatedly killing my zombie character with my survivor character to gain XP?

Yes you will, thats not allowed. Now i want to ask, I have multiple characters and want them removing, since i can't do that, if i place them both outside a building will they get deleted, or will all my characters be removed? Also I notice if you dont log in for five days, your character isnt marked in game as a player. But if i stand outside a building next to a character effected by that rule, will they both be removed or will it not matter? Thanks. --Reviverion 18:38, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

I have no clue on that, but the Anti-Abuse thing seems to work only if you're logged on on that same computer were it was 'flagged'. At my school, we have 1 IP address, and me and at least two others play this game there. Now, One of the people in my group has granted all of us (Note that his only alt is in the RRF) permission to attack him for XP as long as we don't kill him and we heal him. Now, Me and my friend sit next to each other in one class, and we've recently experienced unbelievably bad luck with the RNG when attacking, and searching from on the school's computers (Note we are in the same group, and we are attacking the before mentioned person... No zeds in Roftwood...). However, when I go home and spend the new AP I have at home, I hit the 65% and 40% I'm supposed to, and I find a FAK every other search. --Driaquer

This is (mostly) an observation. I recently started playing, while staying with family, 'cause my brother-in-law was telling me about the game. While I'm on my own comp, obviously, we're sharing the same IP. Well, I'd started a number of characters over the first few days, just testing the waters and such, and one of them was a doctor, located in a hospital with a running generator, close to one of the forts. It took 26 consecutive searches to find a single FAK, and in the process, I unearthed 7 newspapers. A couple of days later, I leaned that one of my brother-in-laws characters is, in fact, located in that region, so it leads me to believe that my search rate was being penalized due to proximity. In addition, as another character, in another part of Malton, was NOT having excessive difficulty searching for FAKs in a powered hospital, it leads me to speculate that any same-IP characters incurring a search rate penalty due to their proximity to each other does NOT impact any other characters under the same IP. --Morgan Blair 17:42, 13 August 2007 (BST)

Im just asking Kevin, can you please make it possible for people to delete thier characters.when i had just started the game i didnt know about multiple character rules and stuff so i made 3 characters. now i only want my main one cause my other ones are making me suck at fighting. please make it so i can delete players!—The preceding unsigned comment was added by Officer Lirette (talk • contribs) at an unknown time.

First off, the multiple characters thing only triggers if your characters are too close to one another, so move them away if that's the case, second, just stop playing them, in 1 week without being played they will magically idle out(no one will be able to interact with or see them), and, in 1 month, they'll be flagged as MIA so anyone with them in contacts will no that they are no longer active.--Karek^maps?! 23:43, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

For those of you who share the same IP, it may be a worthwhile investment to pay the 10 bucks for your chars ip to be oblivious of the IP hits. UD is a fun game and its free but 10 bucks isn't all that bad when you look at the fact that you'll never have to worry bout hitting your IP limit with the char and therefore let you and your friends play more. Don Al Capone 00:21, 27 December 2008 (UTC)

Character Deletion?

I had two characters working. The day after I started my second account, I tried to login in as him again and it logged me in as my primary character. They were almost on the opposite side of Malton and my alternate was an entirely different class. My password was the same. Could that have something to do with it even if both accounts worked fine for about a day and a half before the second one disappeared? --Walrus Greg 1:05, 27 march 2006 (GMT)

I found this, I think it's a minor glitch with cookies ...

The solution that worked for me was to log out, then log back in again. It has been my experience that closing the browser window is not as effective at clearing the cookies as using the logout feature.

--DeadMeatGF 13:47, 27 March 2006 (BST)

It's a login problem, not a character deletion problem, there's a really big section on it above here. Logging out and back in works, but another trick you can use if it's being stubborn is to manually delete the UD cookie inside your Temporary Internet Files folder. --Lord Kelvin 06:08, 28 March 2006 (BST)

I made a Character that I no longer play. I want to use his name but start a new character in a diffrent class. Is there a way I can Delete him and then use his name again? --BCadizzle 4:07, 10 November 2008 (EST)

Covered in the main FAQ. Short answer: no. -- . . <== DDR Approved Editor 21:12, 10 November 2008 (UTC)

There's no reason you should need to, just level the guy up and once you reach about level 10 class is irrelevant, roleplaying aside.--xoxo 00:37, 11 November 2008 (UTC)

I've been wondering. I have a little band of friends holding up in a mall. Well I want to pull them out and relocate and wonder if I can send them to my alternate a few suburbs away. My main won't follow and would then become my alternate and vice versa. Could my second character interact with my buddies without being flagged, do you know?  :--User:Saminator713/Saminator713

Although that is not encouraged, as long as your accounts stay away from each other, you're good to go. --Haliman - Talk 04:29, 3 December 2009 (UTC)

Zerg flags

Can someone explain fully what a zerg flag is? How long do they stay? How do you know if you have one? Thank you. --Swmono ^{talk - W! - P! - SGP} 01:46, 6 July 2006 (BST)

From What I posted on Bulgakov's talk page:

What a 'zerg flag' is… Mr. non-programmer, a flag is boolean variable that tells you whether something is true or not. How one acquires one, how long it lasts, and how one gets rid of it… A character's "zerg flag" is set to true when the server detects that the character is zerging. How whatever "zerg profiling" might be in effect is actually acting to the detriment of zombie actions as opposed to survivor actions… This flag is then read when performing calculations, like when hitting a barricade or firing a gun. A character with the "zerg flag" set to true recieves harsh penalties. Like a 0% chance to hit.

An answer to how long they stay? No one knows for sure. Perhaps it is until you stop zerging. –Xoid ^S•T•FU! 15:01, 6 July 2006 (BST)

So they get a zero % chance of everything? Like searching, barricading, stuff like that too? --Swmono ^{talk - W! - P! - SGP} 14:54, 7 July 2006 (BST)

Exact penalties are impossible to quantify, and even if they were not, I still wouldn't reveal them — doing so enables intential zergers to skirt the zerging countermeasures. Essentially: if you are getting screwed by the RNG really badly… like 100 AP used on searching and you get nothing, then it's a fair bet that you've been flagged as zerging. In pretty much all similiar, but lesser cases, it's impossible to tell. –Xoid ^S•T•FU! 17:12, 7 July 2006 (BST)

Thank you for answering my question! --Swmono ^{talk - W! - P! - SGP} 00:34, 12 July 2006 (BST)

Old accounts

I think I tried out the game a while ago, and didn't like it.

I can't remember the name, password or location of my old account. Could I be unknowingly penalised if I happen to land on the same square that I left my account on? --Anotherpongo 18:21, 30 March 2007 (BST)

after 5 days unused acounts drop from the game. They only reappear if you log in on that account. So you wouldn't get penalized as your old account has probably timed out and has been removed from the game. (I'm figuring you didn't forget your account name within 5 days :) Have fun retrying the game!--Vista 20:11, 30 March 2007 (BST)

I know, I just wasn't sure if inactive accounts counted. Thanks. --Anotherpongo 16:24, 31 March 2007 (BST)

Radio broadcasts with alts

Is it zerging to make radio broadcasts with an alt?

The alt is in a different suburb to my usual character. I've just used him to make a few mindless radio broadcasts, that are not specific to any group's tactics. Is that okay? --Anotherpongo 20:09, 19 June 2007 (BST)

Alts are perfectly okay as long as they aren't collaborating. Here's the official line: http://www.urbandead.com/faq.html#mult .--Toejam 21:02, 20 June 2007 (BST)

Zerging flag and similar names?

I'm currently engaged in a siege where at least one of the zombie players outside has resorted to making new accounts impersonating defenders of our building. For example, my ingame name is Commie Woman. There's a relatively new zed account that's been outside and in the vicinity named CommieWoman. They've done this for other defenders of the building as well. My question is, would this set off the zerging flag or is it something strictly related to your IP? It would really suck for it to be harder to barricade/attack/etc. because someone out there is impersonating us. My inclination is that it doesn't have any bearing on our successful barricade/hit percentages, but I just wanted to make sure. Thanks! --Commie Woman 04:32, 1 October 2007 (BST)

Only Kevan knows for sure what triggers the anti-zerg measures and he likes to keep it secret so that the measures are harder to work around. But there have been player groups in past where all the characters had almost identical names like the Pathetic Bills or SillyLillyPillys and they didn't seem to have any problems, so I doubt your impostor will set off any countermeasures. --Toejam 17:45, 1 October 2007 (BST)

As far as I know, Ye Olde Zerge Flages have nothing to with character names, but with IP addresses and such. If you are not zerging, or sharing IP addesses, you have nothing to worry about. --WanYao 09:24, 12 November 2007 (UTC)

Sharing accounts

i have 2 account in separate areas, my friends want to start playing Urban dead, could i give him one of those accounts or is that zerging? --RAUNEMASTERYX 21:42, 12 March 2008 (UTC)

Thats fine, hopefully your accounts don't have the same password though :P --xoxo 05:35, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

Is this Zerging - PLEASE HELP

Hi - I've been playing UD for several months now with my profile usually based in Willimasville. Now my younger brother has started playing and wants to join the group im in. We DONT use the same computer BUT we are in the same house on the same network. While the IPs on our computers are slightly different and vary will we still be flagged as Zerging (does it read the computers IP or the Modem that we go through - we use AOL)????. I hope you understand and please help - while I want to play with my brother I dont want to flagged as Zerging --Feon Kensai 20:52, 12 May 2008 (BST)

Assuming that your IP addresses are different, it shouldn't be flagged as zerging, but you might want to test it with him there. It doesn't sound like zerging to me, even if you help him find zombies to attack, its no more than what someone in your group might do for someone they don't even know. So, I think it should be fine. No-genius 11:47, 13 May 2008 (BST)

No, there are a ton of people who do this with their family. AOL does this whole switcharoo thing with your ip anyway, so it would be different in any case. Ioncannon11 22:03, 21 May 2008 (BST)

Not zerging. zerging is when one person uses several accounts together, a person can have several accounts, but Kevan says that accounts shouldn't be in the same block. If two different people work together at the same time, it's essentially being a a group. --Angusburger 20:52, 7 November 2008 (UTC)

Character interaction

I once was traveling on a new character. I realized I was passing by another character of mine and decided to say hello(I didnt even know what zerging was). I said hello and when I logged in the next day i got a message on the city page telling me "Alexander Merritt said Hello.". Strange thing was, I wasn't penalized in any way. Why would that be? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Researcher15 (talk • contribs) at an unknown time.

The zerg system isn't perfect, not everything is penalised. Also, you might have been penalised through search rates and been unaware, it's almost impossible to definitively say.--xoxo 22:25, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

What if two characters once used the same computer?

Some of the guys at school and I all made our characters on the same computer. We don't use the same computer anymore, but we want to interact. Are we safe to start working together now as long as we stay off the same computer or can we still be penalized? Also, if we use different library computers in the same library, will we be penalized or are those different IPs? --OmarJXII 19:01, 27 Feb 2009 (EST)

I don't think so. I've had a friend take control of one of my characters who later cooperated with one of my remaining characters. Nothing bad happened, even though I used to play both from the same machine.
The two computers in the same library will probably have the same public IP address, so I would avoid working together if you are both in the library. --Explodey 16:43, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

When will the hit percentage bugs be addressed

... by something more concrete then the vague insinuation that the victim is a cheater? Bloody Sacha 06:23, 13 July 2012 (BST)

Zerg, or no Zerg?

K, I have an interesting conundrum for you all: what happens if I take two alternate chars of mine, one zed, one trenchy, and have them beat the everloveing tar out of each other? Zerg, or no Zerg?

I ask because I am considering having my zed char start a noise abatement society against my trenchy's safe house, just cause I can, and I am really bored. Parson Johanas 01:26, 31 December 2012 (UTC)

If two alts of you get within 10 blocks, it will get you on the Zerg Liste. You are also bound to trigger Kevan's zerg flags for proximity violation. Just don't. -- Spiderzed█ 01:50, 31 December 2012 (UTC)

Damn, thanks for the heads up. I have two other alts that are a bit closer than is safe by that standard then. Also question #2 does the flag toggle for all alts or just violators in that case? (Do we even know? This is important, one is my eponimous primary char.) Parson Johanas 05:07, 31 December 2012 (UTC)