Below you will find some general notes on the patching history of the different parts of COD:Black Ops. Client patch notes are usually released on Steam but usually the server side updates are released undocumented. This is my attempt to keep all of the patching information collectively in one place for easy reference.
Client Side Patch - Patch 8 - March 25, 2011
Single Player & Multiplayer
Client updated to version 1.07.
- Improved stability for Zombies, Multiplayer, and Dedicated Servers
- Fixed server hitching when client is kicked for inactivity
- Added server browser Filter for DLC
- Quickmatch will prioritize servers running only the maps you own
- Addressed various MP and Zombies exploits
- Addition of the “Dolly Cam” editing mode in Theater
- Improved reliability of Recent Game films saving properly
- Connectivity improvements for Zombies
- Added ability to remove Counter Spy-Plane effects with the Jammer
- Players that put an enemy into Second Chance are now credited with a kill when the downed player is killed or takes the 'coward's way out'
- Players will no longer receive any “hitmarkers” for shooting friendly equipment
- Addressed an issue with switching classes while using a Chopper Gunner / Gunship
- Disable player movement sounds when Ninja perk is equipped
- Players can no longer “spawn tube” with the China Lake at the beginning of a match
- Additional fine-tuning of audio levels for bomb plants/defuses
- Headshot “ping” is now only audible if enemy dies
- Limit the ability to re-roll supply drops using Hardline Pro to Care Packages only, no other Killstreak drops
- Addressed an issue where the incorrect perks would appear when spectating another player under certain circumstances
- RC-XD adjustments
- Addressed an issue with calling in Chopper Gunner / Gunship immediately after being shot down from a previous one
- Various improvements to Multiplayer and Zombies leaderboards
Client Side Patch - Patch 7 - February 18, 2011
Single Player
Client updated to version 1.061.
- Shader Warming fix for compatibility with upcoming Nvidia driver
- Additional stability improvements
- Zombie levels DOA and Five unlocked
Client Side Patch - Patch 6 - February 7, 2011
Multiplayer
Client updated to version 1.06.
- Backward compatibility for films created before Patch 1.05
- Issues with weapon purchases after prestiging in some cases.
- Leaving a server and joining a different server, could briefly show the Map of the previous server.
- Duplicate player name on a server now becomes playername+slotnumber instead of ‘Unknown Soldier’.
- During a 'Demolition' match, the 'Auto-balancing teams' options may cause a 'Defender' player to respawn with a 'Bomb' icon in his inventory.
- Minor Shader Warming speed increase.
- One In The Chamber no longer counts democlient as a live player.
- 16x AA menu option for compatible graphics cards.
- Additional Stability improvements.
Client Side Patch - Patch 5 - January 25, 2011
Single Player
Client updated to version 1.051.
- SP Audio stuttering on certain systems.
Client Side Patch - Patch 4 - January 20, 2011
Multiplayer
Client updated to version 1.05.
- MP Audio stuttering on certain systems.
- Playercards sometimes not showing properly.
- Added three Private Match Server Settings: Team Change, Team-Up Period, and Keep Balanced Teams.
- Added Alternate Color Scheme for accessibility: Settings / Multiplayer / Player Name Indicator.
- Changed Team-Up Period countdown interval to 10 seconds.
- Combat Training sessions are no longer counted in Server Browser Unranked tab.
- Friends on your team will now show as blue on your minimap.
- Prevention of various exploits.
- Objective markers localized for all languages.
- Various stability improvements
Client Side Patch - Patch 3 - December 15, 2010
Multiplayer
Client updated to version 1.04.
- Improved threading performance on computers with only 2 cores.
- Additional performance optimizations
- Added an option to pre-cache all shaders during load time. This fixes hitching related to shader compiling on some video cards when viewing an area of the map for the first time
- Fixed random freezes in certain computer configurations
- Allow Team Change on Ranked servers when it does not unbalance teams (this is a server admin option)
- Allow Team Change grace period at start of match (server admin option)
- Added 4 more reserved slots (server admin option)
- Added /connect
- Improved quickmatch results (server side change)
- Fix for watching films through Combat Record
- Fixed compassSpectatorsSeeEnemies exploit
- Fixed 3rd person fov exploit
- Fix for infinite supply drop exploit
- Fixed crosshair flickering when stereo is active
- Various spawn improvements
- Various sound improvements
- Fix for Zombies – Teammate shadows not displayed properly
- Fix for radar not staying on in One in the Chamber when it should
- In a Domination match, the Position Secured medal is no longer delayed
- 'Hardened: Equipment Shot' Challenge can now be completed by destroying a 'Camera Spike'
- Fix for choppy final killcam in dedicated servers
- Various map glitches fixed
- Weekly and Monthly leaderboards will now track all kills, deaths and assists properly (All Time leaderboards were not affected by this)
- Added mixed hardcore playlist
- Added mixed barebones playlist
- Added 12 player versions of all playlists
Client Side Patch - Patch 2 - November 19, 2010
Multiplayer
- CPU performance improvements
- Server browser bug fixes and tweaks to populate faster and do full refresh less often
- Fixed crash when viewing leaderboards if player has more than 99 friends
- Fix for locked ADS after pressing shift-TAB to bring up Steam overlay
- Fix for ADS while holding shift as a sniper
Single Player
- CPU performance improvements
- Zombie matchmaking improvements
- Fix for locked ADS after pressing shift-TAB to bring up Steam overlay
- Fix for ADS while holding shift as a sniper
Client Side Patch - Patch 1 - November 11, 2010
Multiplayer
- Friends fix for join in progress and Friends tab in server browser
- Performance improvement for dual and quad core systems
Server Side Update - March 25, 2011
Server version updated to 2108.
No release notes specifically for the Dedicated Server side but I would pay attention to at least two items below taken from the 1.07 patch release notes as well as realizing support was added for the First Strike DLC maps. More information on that can be found on the RCON Tool Updates tab. Also for some reason it wasn't documented in the released notes but the server pre-match player requirement has been reduced from 6 players down to 4 players - finally.
- Improved stability for Zombies, Multiplayer, and Dedicated Servers
- Fixed server hitching when client is kicked for inactivity
PCDev via Twitter:
Dedicated server updates + restarts begin Friday 9am PT. It will take a few hours to complete all servers. #codblackops #pc
GameServers Message:
Black Ops 1.07 patch is scheduled for today at 3/25/2011 @ 9:00am PST
During this process, servers will be updated in a random order. The entire process is scheduled to run for roughly 2 hours. Depending on where your server is on the list, your server will be updated within this timeframe.
You can verify your server was updated by logging into your GameServers Control Panel and checking the "Server Status" on the Info tab or by the /rcon serverinfo command while in your server.
Server Side Update - March 1, 2011
Server version remains 1048.
This patch addresses some bugs associated with Player Kicking / Reserved Slots. This shouldn’t affect the day-to-day interactions for most players. But for players who experienced abnormal game behavior as a result of reserved slot kicking functionality, this is now resolved.
There were two main problems which occurred under very specific circumstances.
The 2nd case only occurrs with reserved slot usage on an otherwise full server.
- The player being kicked would sometimes see a temporary rank reset, which could cause other strange behavior with contracts, create-a-class, emblems, etc.
- When a player is kicked from a reserved slot, one of the remaining players could experience strange behavior (spawn with no weapon, “rubber banding”, or checkerboard textures).
You can verify your server was updated by logging into your GameServers Control Panel and checking the "Server Status" on the Info tab or by the /rcon serverinfo command while in your server.
Server Side Update - February 17, 2011
Server version remains 1048.
No actual patch notes released on what was changed server side with this update but a Tweet from PCDev calls attention to "stats and purchasing issues". Announcement note from GameServers.com and Tweet from PCDev below.
A server side only patch is scheduled for application tonight. The patching process will begin at Midnight, EST(in approximately 1.5 hours). Please expect your server to restart as a result of the patch application.
Dedicated servers will be patched and restarted tonight. We fixed some stats and purchase issues. #codblackops #pc
You can verify your server was updated by logging into your GameServers Control Panel and checking the "Server Status" on the Info tab or by the /rcon serverinfo command while in your server.
Server Side Update - February 7, 2011
Server updated to version 1048.
No actual patch notes released on what was changed server side with this update but again server stability is the main point along with updating the server code to work with the changes in the client code for 1.06. Announcement note from GameServers.com below.
Black Ops patch version 1.06 deployed to all servers
Call of Duty: Black Ops patch 1.06 is going live tonight(February 7th) at 11 PM EST. Please expect your server to restart as a result of the patch application.
During this process, your server will go through a single reboot to load the stability patch. This thread will be updated once the process is completed. ETA 3 hours to complete all server updates.
You can verify your server was updated by logging into your GameServers Control Panel and checking the "Server Status" on the Info tab or by the /rcon serverinfo command while in your server.
Server Side Update - February 3, 2011
Server updated to version 1047 - Feb. 3 Patch.
No actual patch notes released on what was changed server side with this update but it's primary focus is stability to try and resolve the ongoing server crashes. Announcement note from GameServers.com below.
Server stability patch will be deployed at 1:00pm EST
This patch is server side only.
During this process, your server will go through a single reboot to load the stability patch. This thread will be updated once the process is completed. ETA 3 hours to complete all server updates.
You can verify your server was updated by logging into your GameServers Control Panel and checking the "Server Status" on the Info tab or by the /rcon serverinfo command while in your server.
Server Side Update - January 20, 2011
Server updated to version 1047.
No actual patch notes released on what was changed server side with this update; just a note from GameServers.com.
The new 1.05 patch has been released. We are currently deploying the patch to the servers. Your server will be restarted in order to take advantage of the changes. Please be patient while the patch propagates to all locations.
"[gs] tellz" from the GS Forums says to focus on the two items below since they also supposedly apply to the server update.
- Prevention of various exploits.
- Various stability improvements
You can verify your server was updated by logging into your GameServers Control Panel and checking the "Server Status" on the Info tab or by the /rcon serverinfo command while in your server.
Server Side Update - December 15, 2010
Server updated to version 1046.
No actual patch notes released on what was changed server side with this update; just a note from GameServers.com.
All BlackOps instances will receive a server patch and restart on December 15th, starting at approximately 7PM EST. See details in the Call of Duty "Official Status" thread on http://forums.gameservers.com
You can verify your server was updated by logging into your GameServers Control Panel and checking the "Server Status" on the Info tab or by the /rcon serverinfo command while in your server.
Server Side Update - November 19, 2010
Server updated to version 1045.
No actual patch notes released on what was changed server side with this update; just a note from GameServers.com stating that the servers would be patched along with the clients.
A new patch will be released tonight in the coming hours. Because this is a client side patch, all servers will need to be patched as well. We will be applying the patch to all servers globally. During this patch application, your server will be restarted once in order for your server to take the update.
You can verify your server was updated by logging into your GameServers Control Panel and checking the "Server Status" on the Info tab or by the /rcon serverinfo command while in your server.
Server Side Update - November 16, 2010
- Security patch applied to servers to eliminate the ability to configure "power ranking"
See more information in this post.
Server Side Update - November 10, 2010
- sv_maxrate changed from 5000 to 25000 on all servers
See more information in this post.
RCON Tool Update - March 25, 2011
RCON tool updated to version 1.0.4.0.
You can now find an option in the RCON Tool under Server on the Settings tab where you can choose to "exclude" First Strike DLC maps on your server. Setting a value to True will not allow First Strike DLC maps within your rotation on your server and setting a value to False will allow First Strike DLC maps within your rotation on your server.
- Dedicated server functionality added to support First Strike DLC.
RCON Tool Update - January 21, 2011
RCON tool updated to version 1.0.3.0.
- Recognize new "invalid password" server response
RCON Tool Update - December 16, 2010
RCON tool updated to version 1.0.2.0.
- Reduced timeout values. Connect (or failure to connect is faster)
- Added all white-listed dvars for Ranked and Unranked. Admins have rcon access to ALL available dvars
- Added Settings and Console tabs for Ranked servers
- Fixes a bug where the “Server” tab doesn’t update values when connecting to a new server
- Added version number to the title bar
- Fixed a bug where UI state didn’t persist after switching to another server
- Added “disconnect” button
- Fixed map “set” to not use admindvar
- Changed all dvars which could be possibly float, to float. Mostly these are time-type dvars
- Fixed bug where entering a value of zero for Message Duration would cause a unhandled exception error
- Truncated all message fields to 140 chars