CircleMUD checklist for MUDs

Verify that the code compiles without errors on GCC 10+ by updating deprecated headers in sysdep.h and fixing 'format-security' warnings.

Ensure the Makefile includes -lcrypt for password hashing, as modern Linux distributions have moved this to a standalone library.

Run 'strip circle' on the final executable to remove debugging symbols and reduce memory footprint before deployment.

Set the -O2 or -O3 optimization flags in the Makefile to improve performance of the main loop and combat calculations.

Confirm that lib/world, lib/etc, lib/plrobjs, and lib/plrvars directories exist and are writable by the MUD process.

Verify the MUD process is owned and executed by a dedicated 'mud' user rather than the root account.

Set the wizlock level to 1 during final configuration to prevent players from entering while staff perform final world resets.

Set chmod 600 on all files in lib/plrobjs and lib/plrvars to prevent local users from reading sensitive player data.

Review the 'players' file or use the 'stat' command to ensure no accounts have level 34 (Implementor) status except the lead administrator.

Verify the 'ban' command correctly writes to the 'lib/etc/badsites' file and blocks connections from a test IP.

Scan .zon files for 'G' (Give) or 'P' (Put) commands that reference non-existent or circular item IDs which can crash the reset engine.

Verify that all room, mob, and obj vnums within a .zon file fall within the range defined in the zone header.

Ensure no rooms are set to 'SECT_INSIDE' if they are intended to be affected by weather or 'SECT_WATER' if they lack boat requirements.

Perform a manual 'medit', 'oedit', and 'redit' followed by a 'save' to ensure the OLC system correctly updates the .wld, .mob, and .obj files.

Run a script or use 'show rooms' to identify exits leading to vnums that do not exist in the world files.

Confirm the 'autosave' timer in config.c is set to a value between 5 and 15 minutes to balance disk I/O and data safety.

Verify the 'rent' file in lib/etc/config is set to 'Free Rent' or that the cost-per-day is calibrated to the game's economy.

Check the max_obj_save variable to ensure players can save a sufficient number of items in their inventory across reboots.

Post a test note to the 'Mortal Board' and reboot the MUD to verify the note persists in the lib/etc/boards directory.

Ensure the 'circle' script or 'autorun' script renames the 'syslog' to 'syslog.old' on every restart to prevent log bloating.

Confirm the MUD binds to the correct port (default 4000) using 'netstat -tulpn' after startup.

Set the MAX_PLAYERS constant in circle.h to a value supported by the server's file descriptor limits (typically 1024).

Send a SIGHUP to the process and verify that the MUD initiates an emergency save of all players and zones before shutting down.

Verify that the 'bin/autorun' script successfully restarts the MUD binary within 10 seconds of a process crash.

Adjust the MAX_SOCK_BUF in network.h to 64k to prevent large 'look' or 'who' outputs from overflowing for users on slow connections.