I repeatedly spawn at the same shop, and am killed by the same pirates. It's hard to start a game like this. Is using the powers of the Admin the only way to get rid of them at this point?
Unfortunately Pirates do not despawn when you logoff. They used to despawn just like the trade guild. But somewhere this got changed as it was seen as an easy way out and possible easy way to get lots of materials.
They didn't think it through though. If you are out there without defense then your stuck. Some servers even have pirates invading the spawn sector. If your next to a Pirate station repeatedly shooting it can cause a Pirate wave spawn loop to the point where the whole server just gives out.
As admin you have total control on how or where and the type of pirates that spawn. Sounds to me your on a single player game and got stuck at spawn. Since single player is the same as a Multi player server the first thing to do is add a proper spawn. Since this isn't set by default. Use the following commands to create a safety bubble and create yourself some room. Every server should do this or at least think it over.
/sector_chmod 2 2 2 + peace
This will stop pirates spawning inside the 2 2 2 sector. Beware that they can still fly inside it from sectors next to it so i recommend adding more sectors until you have at least a 3 by 3 by 3 sector bubble around you.
/sector_chmod 2 2 2 + protected
This makes it impossible for you or anyone else to take damage in the 2 2 2 spawn sector. On Multi player servers this will also protect any new player from becoming cannon fodder for the general population. Again i recommend extending this to a 3 by 3 by 3 bubble.
Be sure to check in your catalog what type of ships spawn as pirates. Do not give them lock on weapons or swarmers. I also highly recommend not using ships that have turrets. Because of entity load and the way pirates tend to spawn other pirates after a set timer runs out.
To get rid of the Pirates already there select/target them and use.
/destroy_entity or /destroy_entity_dock for Multi core ships.
WARNING these are very powerfull commands there is no undo button. Be sure to target the right stuff. You can also use this to delete whole stations or even the spawn shop so beware.
