How can I troubleshoot this error? Seems I'm unable to load plugins. Is this because I'm not running bzfs as root? Looks like all plugin .so files are 0644 so I don't see why it's a problem...
ok... seeing more of what's going on. the plugins that came with the server package on Debian 9 don't appear to be compatible with the bzfs server they shipped with. Running bzfs with -ddd yielded this extra insight:
Jul 03 12:48:15 waki bzflagserver01[25577]: Plugin: chathistory found but does not contain bz_GetPlugin method, error /usr/games/bzfs: undefined symbol: bz_GetPlugin
So I'm guessing I should run a custom-compiled version of bzfs??
ok that was it! the bzflag server that comes packaged with debian 9 (latest stable release) has issues. I compiled my own bzfs and plugins from source and they load just fine. The mystery is solved. Thanks for playing!
For what it's worth, I didn't seem to have a problem loading the plugins with the 2.4.8 bzfs that Debian 9 ships. Regardless, I don't suggest using the packaged server anyway because it's generally going to be outdated and it automatically runs a copy of bzfs.
"In addition to knowing the secrets of the Universe, I can assure you that I am also quite potty trained." -Koenma (Yu Yu Hakusho)
No need to worry. I would never run it as root even if that's the only way it ran. As the saying goes, I was born at night, but I wasn't born last night.