In Full socket mode, a bot does on its own what a Dofus client would do. Asterobot signs the bot's Ankama account in, picks a game server and opens the connection to it, with no Dofus window anywhere. From there, a package takes over.
Caution
Using bots breaks Ankama's terms of use, and Ankama can sanction the accounts involved. Read Accounts and safety first.
What you need
- Asterobot signed in to asterobot.net. See Sign in with asterobot.net.
- An Ankama account stored and signed in, not used by any other bot, and not protected by Ankama Shield or two-factor authentication. See Add an account and Shield and two-factor authentication.
- A game version ready for a bot: game files downloaded and game data extracted. See Download a game version and Extract game data.
- A bot with that account and that game version. See Add a bot.
- A connection script, to get the bot into the game once it's connected. The next section explains why.
Why a package has to identify the bot
Asterobot's part ends once the connection to the game server is open. It doesn't send the identification the game server expects next, and it doesn't pick a character. Until something does, the bot is connected to a game server but not in the game. That's the job of a connection script: a package you run on the bot with Play, which identifies it and enters the game.
Note
Coming soon. Ready-made connection scripts, a basic one and a full one, will be published for you to run and reuse. Until then, you can write your own by following Identify and run in the developer docs, or use MITM mode, which needs no connection script.
Connect
- Open the bot's page: click its name in Bot Manager.
- Click Connect in the header. For a bot without an account, it's greyed out, with the tooltip "This bot has no Ankama account to sign in with."
- Watch the status next to it. It shows Connecting…, and ends on Connected to game server.
- Click Play to start the connection script. See Run a package.
Connect is also in the bot's menu in Bot Manager, and Sign in now does the same right after adding a bot.
When the connection fails, Asteroboard shows Couldn't connect the bot with the reason, and a Couldn't connect this bot alert with the same reason stays under the bot's header. One failure gets its own notification: when the bot's game version isn't ready, Asteroboard shows Bot's game version isn't ready yet, asking you to check the version in Game Manager.
The stages of a connection
Before anything goes out to the network, Asterobot checks that it can confirm your asterobot.net account and that the bot's game version is ready. Then the connection goes through three stages. The bot's Console tab narrates each one.
| Stage | What Asterobot does | Status | Console lines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ankama sign-in | Uses the account's sign-in to get a one-time ticket for the game. When that sign-in has stopped working, Asterobot renews it, or signs in again through the browser for an account with a stored password. | Connecting… | Connecting to Zaap..., Connected to Zaap |
| Login server | Identifies with the ticket and the bot's device identifier, receives the account's server list and selects a server. | Connecting…, or Awaiting your answer while you pick a server | Connecting to login server..., Connected to login server, Identified with login server, Server selected, Login completed, Disconnected from login server |
| Game server | Opens the connection to the selected game server. | Connected to login server for a moment, then Connecting… | Connecting to game server..., Connected to game server |
When it's done, the status reads Connected to game server. The bot's Information tab then shows the Ankama account and the server the bot is on, as described in Information.
Each exchange with the login server and each game server connection has a 30-second limit. When the login server doesn't answer in time, the connection fails with connect to login server: timed out waiting for a response.
How the server is chosen
Each bot has a Server selection setting, chosen in Add a bot and changed on the bot's Settings.
| Server selection | What the bot does |
|---|---|
| Most recently played | The default. Picks the server where the account's most recently played character is, among the servers that are online and open to the account. If there's no such character, it takes the server this bot last connected to, then the first server that's online and open. |
| Always this server | Connects to the server you picked in Force server, every time. When that server is offline or not open to the account, the bot doesn't go anywhere else: it stops and asks you. |
| Ask me each time | Always stops and asks you to pick a server. |
Most recently played asks you too when no server at all is online and open to the account. After every successful login stage, Asterobot remembers the selected server as the one this bot last connected to, whichever mode picked it.
The Pick a server card
When a bot asks, its status turns to Awaiting your answer, and a Pick a server card appears under the header, on every tab of the bot's page. Its text, "This bot is set to always ask - choose which server to connect to below.", is the same when the bot asks because your forced server is unavailable. Wherever you are in Asteroboard, a notification also says the bot needs your input, with a Go to bot button.
Each server card shows the server's picture, name and number, then badges: Online or Maintenance, the server's type, Mono-account for mono-account servers, and how many characters the account has there. The info icon next to the name shows the server's description. Only servers that are online and open to the account can be clicked; the others are greyed out.
Click a server: the bot goes on right away, through the login server and to the game server, with no other click. If the answer doesn't go through, Asteroboard shows Couldn't send your answer.
Asterobot sets no time limit on this question. To give up, click Disconnect.
Connected to game server, but not in the game
Connected to game server means the connection to the game server is open, nothing more. Asterobot can't tell whether the bot identified: the status reads the same whether the connection script did its job or not.
- If no script is running, nothing identifies the bot. Press Play with a connection script loaded.
- The script's own lines in the bot's Console tab tell you how the identification went.
If the game server closes the connection, the console shows Game connection lost and the status goes back to Connected to login server, not Disconnected. A running script stops, and the bot's page shows The behavior stopped with an error with a message mentioning Game session closed. Nothing reconnects by itself: click Disconnect, then Connect, then Play.
Bot doesn't connect covers a bot that connects but never gets into the game.
Common connection errors
| The reason contains | What it means |
|---|---|
this bot's game version is not ready to connect yet |
The bot's game files or game data aren't ready. Finish them in Game Manager. |
ankama account authorization required |
The account's sign-in no longer works, and it has no stored password to sign in again. Sign it in from Account Manager. |
account not found |
The bot's account was removed from Account Manager. |
identification was refused: account already connected elsewhere |
The account is already in the game, in Dofus or with another bot. |
this installation is not entitled to start bots |
Asterobot couldn't confirm your asterobot.net account. Check that it's signed in, from the account button in the sidebar, and that it can reach asterobot.net. |
Bot doesn't connect lists every error with its fix.
Disconnect
Click Disconnect in the header, or in the bot's menu in Bot Manager. It works at every stage: while connecting, while the bot waits for you to pick a server, and once it's connected. The running script stops, the connections close and the status turns to Disconnected. The bot keeps all its settings. See Disconnect, delete and restart.
A bot connected in Full socket mode can't also wait for your game client: one Ankama account has one game session at a time. Disconnect it first to switch to MITM mode.
Where to go next
- Run a package, to start the connection script.
- States and controls, for every state and button.
- Many bots, to run several accounts.