Merc checklist for MUDs

Ensure all functions in merc.h are properly prototyped to avoid implicit-function-declaration errors in GCC 10+.

Verify the Makefile includes -lcrypt and -lz if using MCCP or standard password hashing on modern Linux distributions.

Audit casts between pointers and integers (e.g., long vs int) to ensure compatibility with 64-bit architectures.

Add -Wall and -Wextra to CFLAGS and resolve all warnings to prevent undefined behavior in the game loop.

Replace outdated system headers in comm.c and db.c with modern equivalents (e.g., time.h, stdlib.h, unistd.h).

Run the binary through Valgrind for at least 30 minutes of active play to identify leaks in the recycle.c or memory allocation routines.

Scan comm.c and act_wiz.c for strcpy and strcat usage; replace with strncpy or strlcpy to prevent stack-based overflows.

Confirm that SIGTERM and SIGINT triggers a clean shutdown sequence that saves all online player files.

Verify that the MAX_STRING limit in merc.h is sufficient for the loaded area files and current player count.

Check the 'while' loops in the command parser and mob AI for exit conditions to prevent CPU lockups.

Verify that no two area files have overlapping VNUM ranges for rooms, mobiles, or objects.

Confirm that all area files end with the proper '$' or '#$' terminator to prevent boot-time crashes in db.c.

Test the save_char_obj function by forcefully disconnecting a client and verifying the .plr file integrity.

Ensure room 2 (Limbo) and room 1200 (Chat Room) exist and are accessible, as hardcoded logic often refers to these.

Confirm that mandatory help entries for 'greeting', 'motd', and 'rules' are present in help.are.

Ensure the MUD binds correctly to the target port (default 4000) and handles 'Address already in use' errors gracefully.

Verify that the close_socket function properly decrements the descriptor count and frees memory on disconnect.

Confirm that log_string captures the IP address of every connection attempt for security auditing.

Test the 'ban' command and verify that banned IP addresses are saved to a file and reloaded on reboot.

Validate that the MUD correctly ignores Telnet negotiation sequences to prevent garbage characters in the input buffer.

Enable Wiznet to allow immortals to monitor system events, logins, and crashes in real-time.

Implement a shell script to rsync the 'player' and 'area' directories to a remote location every 24 hours.

Test the 'copyover' or 'reboot' command to ensure it maintains descriptor connections without dropping players.

Configure logrotate for the MUD's stderr/stdout logs to prevent disk space exhaustion.

Verify that the MAX_LEVEL and implementor permissions are correctly assigned in the god/staff files.