Frequently Asked Questions

Where I can report bugs or suggestions?

• Here: https://github.com/AgustinSRG/Showdown-ChatBot/issues

How I can update my bot if I have an old version but I do not want to lose the configuration

• If you installed the bot using git, before running the bot use the command git pull https://github.com/AgustinSRG/Showdown-ChatBot.git and git will automatically update your bot without touching any configuration files.
• If you downloaded a release, just download a newest release and overwrite the files. The configuration files will not be overwritten because they are not present in the release.

How I can exit Showdown-ChatBot application in order to restart it

• Go to the control panel to the Admin option and use the button Exit Process
• If you are in the terminal where the application is running, simply use Ctrl + C

Why can't I use any of the bot commands?

• Maybe you forgot configuring the commands in the Command Parser menu option at the control panel of your bot.
• There are commands everyone can use, but the mayority of them require certain rank to be used. You can change this with the command set and grant or using the control pannel (Commmand Parser -> Permissions).

My bot gets locked every time it joins the server, what is happening?

• Pokemon Showdown has a DNS Blacklist used to avoid spammers and DoS attacks. If you host your bot using a free hosting service like openshift, heroku or cloud9, your bot will get locked.
• A way to solve this is hosting the bot in your personal computer or in a private VPS. Also, global bots and bots with staff rank in public rooms will not get locked.

What is the Auto-Invite option at the control panel?

• It is a rarely used feature that consists on sending /invite <room> to the staff of a private room that has a link with a public room. For example if you have a room for a group of people (the private room) and you want to auto-invite them when they join the lobby (the public room).

Why is the bot so bad at pokemon battles?

• Basically, Pokemon battles require human intelligence (prediction, strategy) and the bot does not have it. The bot uses a pseudo-random algorithm to decide in the battles.
• Developing an artificial intelligence for the bot may sound interesting, but Pokemon is a game with a lot of lucky factors and usually based on win ratios. If a bot could get high win ratios with ease, bots would be banned from Pokemon Showdown (basically because that would be cheating).
• The battle module is secondary and only developed for pure fun, to integrate the bot more easily with the rest of users.

What is the Anti-Spam system option in the Command Parser control panel option

• If you enable it, users cannot spam the bot with commands via pm. That's because they must wait 2 seconds between commands used with the private messages.

What is a control room (in the Command Parser control panel option)

• If a room is a control room of another one, all Configuration Commands will also change the configuration for the controlled room. This is useful for staff rooms.

How I add a text command to the bot

• Option A: You can use the control panel, Dynamic commands option.
• Option B: Use the bot command setcmd <command name here>, <command text here>.

What is the GitHub Dev Bot option at the control panel

• Is a developing tool that consists on reporting repository events to a developing room in a Pokemon Showdown server. Read this for more information about how to configure it. Note: Use a path like http://server:port/github/callback