Fair Restart Scheduling for Mainland
under review
Crea Shepherd
Club ELFIN (since 2008) has floors in non-adjacent Mainland regions Mimolette and Enoki. Both had near-simultaneous restarts/warnings during our events six times in 2026: Sep 25 (~23:05 JST), Oct 9 (~22:00), Oct 12 (~22:00), Oct 16 (22:03/22:04), Oct 23 (22:09/22:10), Nov 6 (~22:10–22:13). All six events stopped; the evacuation region also restarted, scattering staff and guests. Nov 6 screenshots show warnings.
We first learned that Boxy 5000 lets anyone request a restart at any time, even outside their home region. In Support Ticket #2568780, Freckle Linden confirmed that the Oct 12 restarts were again requested via Boxy 5000 by the same resident responsible for earlier incidents. One resident repeatedly requested restarts across regions. Please investigate later incidents; their requester is unknown.
Please implement NOW a fair system for ALL Mainland residents—homes, schools, shops, clubs—to request advance restart-avoidance windows. These are preferences, not vetoes or guarantees; emergency work remains possible. Improve notices, restart classification and safeguards for resident requests.
Without an alternative, ELFIN may have to consider preventive restarts before events to protect them, though we wish to avoid this practice. What would happen if club owners, event organizers and commercial venues worldwide all did the same, even once per 24 hours? Widespread uncoordinated restarts could disrupt Mainland.
We may seek joint support from operators in Japan and worldwide, but hesitate: publicizing preventive restarts might encourage their spread. Please issue interim guidance before broad outreach.
Please answer: (1) Will you start implementing advance restart-avoidance requests now? (2) If difficult, why? (3) If you consider widespread preventive restarts insignificant, why?
This expands our existing request, “Avoid Scheduled Region Restarts During Japanese Prime Time (22:00–24:00 JST)” (40 votes Nov 8). Please link/merge without losing votes or comments; our Oct 31 renaming question remains unanswered.
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Crea Shepherd | Club ELFIN
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Crea Shepherd
Dear Oatmeal Linden,
Thank you very much for your kind response and for moving our proposal to "Under Review."
We sincerely appreciate Linden Lab's willingness to consider improvements to the current restart system. We fully understand that no estimated timeline can be provided at this stage.
We would also like to thank Calliope Nova for sharing a potentially valuable temporary workaround.
Her suggestion has raised two important technical questions about Boxy 5000:
1. Avatar population limit
Calliope mentioned that Boxy 5000 will not restart a region when more than ten avatars are present.
Could Linden Lab please confirm whether this restriction currently applies, what the exact threshold is, and at what point the avatar count is checked — when the request is submitted, when it is accepted, or immediately before the restart?
2. Restart scheduling
When a resident requests a Mainland region restart through Boxy 5000, can they specify a future date or time for the restart?
Or is the restart automatically scheduled by the system after the request is accepted?
We ask because our seven documented incidents have repeatedly occurred around 22:00 JST, affecting both our main venue and our evacuation location at nearly the same time.
Understanding these mechanisms would help us consider practical temporary precautions while a longer-term solution is being reviewed.
Our goal remains a fair system that respects the legitimate needs of all Mainland residents, without unnecessarily disrupting one another's activities.
Thank you again for your attention and cooperation.
Warm regards,
Crea Shepherd
Owner, Club ELFIN
Calliope Nova
Boxy won’t restart a region if there are more than ten people in it; if your event isn’t hitting that naturally, it might be worth parking a couple of alts on a public parcel in the region(s) while your event is going on if you’re being targeted in the meantime.
Crea Shepherd
Calliope NoDear Calliope Nova,
Thank you so much for sharing this valuable information and your thoughtful suggestion!
I had no idea that Boxy 5000 might have an avatar population limit that prevents region restarts. This is a very interesting possibility for protecting our events.
As Club ELFIN is a dance club, guests arrive gradually rather than all at once, so we don't always have more than ten avatars present when our events begin at 22:00 JST.
Your suggestion is therefore particularly relevant to our situation.
Before taking any action, we would like to confirm the exact conditions with Linden Lab and consider the most appropriate approach.
I truly appreciate your kindness and willingness to help us find a practical solution.
Warm regards,
Crea Shepherd
Club ELFINva
Oatmeal Linden
updated the status to
under review
Hello Crea! Thank you for reporting the issue, and your suggestions for improvements to this support service. We will review this, but cannot provide an ETA for any resolution at this time.
Crea Shepherd
Update – November 9, 2026: Seventh Restart Incident
Unfortunately, another incident occurred on Sunday, November 8, just hours after we submitted this Feature Request.
During Club ELFIN's Sunday event, restart warnings appeared in both Mimolette (our main venue) and Enoki (our evacuation beach) at approximately 22:07–22:08 JST.
Both regions are geographically separate, yet once again they were scheduled to restart at nearly the same time.
This is the seventh documented incident affecting both regions during our events since September 25.
We have submitted a new support ticket,
#2579751
, with two screenshots documenting the restart warnings. This ticket is linked to our previous investigation, #2568780.We have asked Linden Lab to determine whether the restarts were initiated through Boxy 5000, scheduled maintenance, or another mechanism, and whether the same resident was involved.
At present, we do not know the cause of this latest incident. We are not alleging that the timing was intentional or related to the publication of this Feature Request.
However, the repeated disruption of both our main venue and our evacuation location demonstrates why a fair, advance restart-avoidance request system is urgently needed.
We respectfully ask Linden Lab to investigate this latest incident and respond to our proposal.
Our goal remains cooperation, not confrontation.
Thank you.
Crea Shepherd
Club ELFIN
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Rhomoruel Zwerdling
I support Club ELFIN's proposal and would like to suggest a technical solution that balances scheduled events with Linden Lab's operational requirements.
1. Restart-Avoidance Windows
Allow authorized Mainland region representatives to register periods when nonessential restarts should preferably be avoided.
These would be scheduling preferences, not absolute restrictions. Emergency maintenance would always take priority.
2. Constraint-Based Restart Scheduling
A centralized scheduler could consider:
- Minimum intervals between restarts.
- Maximum allowable uptime, if applicable.
- Maintenance requirements.
- Registered event-avoidance windows.
- Infrastructure capacity limits.
For example, if maintenance requires a restart near a scheduled event, the system could perform it beforehand or defer it until afterward, provided operational constraints permit.
This would reduce event interruptions without compromising infrastructure reliability.
3. Resident-Requested Restart Safeguards
Resident-requested restarts should be distinguished from mandatory maintenance.
Consider implementing:
- Clear requester eligibility and authorization.
- Rate limits per requester and affected region.
- Protection against repeated requests targeting multiple regions.
- Additional validation during registered event windows.
- Audit logs for investigating suspected misuse.
A once-per-24-hours restriction on individual regions may not prevent one resident from disrupting several different regions.
4. Coordinated Restart Distribution
Club ELFIN raises a legitimate concern about widespread preventive restarts.
Greater scheduling flexibility could actually reduce unnecessary restarts. Different venues operate at different times, and a centralized scheduler could distribute restart activity while respecting infrastructure limits.
This is preferable to encouraging independent preventive restarts across Mainland.
5. Clear Notifications
Restart warnings should distinguish between routine maintenance, resident requests, and emergencies, with reasonable advance notice whenever possible.
Conclusion
The goal is not to restrict necessary maintenance but to minimize avoidable disruptions.
A system combining event-avoidance preferences, operational scheduling constraints, and safeguards against misuse could benefit Mainland residents worldwide.
Thank you for considering this approach.
Crea Shepherd
Rhomoruel Zwerdling, thank you for your very rational and feasible proposal. I urge the Linden operations team to please consider it. Thank you!
Licca Doll
Hello,
If the SIM is restarted in the middle of an event, the event will be ruined, which is extremely troublesome.
Crea Shepherd
Thank you, Licca Doll! It represented the voices of all Second Life residents. Thank you to everyone at Linden Management for their support!