X-Logging refers to the act of closing the connection to the game server in some way except the log out feature. This can be achieved in many ways, most commonly by simply pressing the "X" button of the client window and confirming it, hence the name.
When x-logging occurs, the connection to the server will close. The server will then attempt to log the character off, but such attempt will fail if the character was in a No-Logout Zone or had the combat sign. In such cases, the server will attempt to log the character off after a minute. If this fails, the server will not attempt to log the character off again; this is particularly bad when the character is pushed out of a No-Logout Zone; even outside of the no-logout zone they will be online until they log in to log out properly, or until server save when everyone is kicked off. Players who x-log with a Protection Zone Block will not be kicked offline until the block is gone.
X-logging is performed for several reasons, not always intentional although the term is most often used when deliberately performing it. Some examples of this are:
- Bugs within the game could crash the client,
- The connection to the server could be affected such as by resetting the gateway or Distributed Denial of Service attacks,
- A power failure,
- Lack of time or patience, i.e. the player cannot or does not want to wait for the combat sign to vanish.
There are protections applied to players who x-log as a result of the ongoing efforts of CipSoft to minimize the damage caused by Distributed Denial of Service attacks. These protections make the character invisible (but not invulnerable) to creatures for 30 seconds when the connection is lost and for 10 seconds after logging in with creatures nearby. Also, characters logout completely after a period of 40 seconds for Druids and Sorcerers, 50 seconds for Paladins, and 60 seconds for Knights.