Fluctuation

Fluctuation makes the fake player count rise and fall over time instead of sitting at a fixed number. This is what stops your server from showing the exact same count all day.

fluctuation:
  enabled: true
  update: 1800
  console_log: true
  methods:
    basic: 'formula'
    player_base: '{random[1,2]}'
  multiplier:
    default: 1.2
    increasePerPlayer: 0.05
  machine_learning:
    collect_data: true
  time_of_day:
    country: "GMT"
    clock:
      - "00:00 40-50"
      - "01:00 50-60"

If fluctuation is disabled, the fake count is controlled only by the fixed multiplier and the lifespan setting from Spoofing Limits.

General settings

Setting	What it does
enabled	Turns fluctuation on or off.
update	How often, in seconds, Asteroid recalculates the target. 1800 is 30 minutes.
console_log	Prints the new count and multiplier to console each cycle.

Choosing a method

methods.basic picks how the target multiplier is calculated each cycle.

Value	How it decides
formula	A simple math formula based on real player count. Predictable and easy to tune.
machine-learning	Predicts a natural count from your server's own history. Needs collected data first.

The formula method

Only used when basic is formula.

newMultiplier = default + (realPlayers - 2) * increasePerPlayer

With default: 1.2 and increasePerPlayer: 0.05:

Real players	Multiplier
2	1.2
10	1.6
50	3.6

The more real players you have, the more aggressively Asteroid spoofs. A small server gets a gentle nudge, a busy server gets a bigger lift.

The machine-learning method

Only used when basic is machine-learning. Asteroid records your real player counts over time and trains a small neural network on them, learning patterns from the time of day, day of week, month, and player count, then predicts a natural multiplier without manual tuning.

machine_learning:
  collect_data: true

collect_data gathers data even while you use the formula method, so it has history to learn from when you switch later.

Player base

player_base sets a guaranteed minimum that fluctuation always keeps.

Value	Meaning
NONE	No forced minimum. Fluctuation has full control.
TIME_OF_DAY	Uses the time-of-day schedule below.
{random[x,y]}	A random minimum in the given range each cycle.

Time-of-day schedule

Only used when player_base is TIME_OF_DAY. Set different minimum fake counts depending on the clock.

time_of_day:
  country: "GMT"
  clock:
    - "00:00 40-50"
    - "06:00 20-30"

Each entry is HH:MM min-max: the time it starts applying (24-hour), and the range to randomly pick a minimum from. Every cycle, Asteroid finds the most recent entry that has passed and picks a random number in its range.

Example with 00:00 40-50 and 06:00 20-30: at 03:00 the minimum is a random 40 to 50; at 06:00 or later it switches to 20 to 30. A fresh value is picked every cycle, so the minimum drifts naturally. Set country to your server timezone, for example EST, CET, or Asia/Tokyo.