Bot drives train backward after correcting platform overshoot

[Quacking Duck]

Background

While playing in multiplayer, I overshot a platform. To correct this, I set the reverser to reverse and then moved the train backward for a short distance until I could see the platform end sign through the cab window. I found that the "you may stop now" indicator did not appear, and opening the door did not make the station stop timer appear. I suspect in hindsight that this was simply because I needed to move the train further backward, but that was not what I did at the time.

The problem

Having no idea how to correct this situation, I activated the bot. It may be important that I was in third-person view (the view accessed using the "2" key) at the time. The bot moved the train further backward and made a valid station stop. I switched back to the cab view and noted that I was in the back cab. After the station stop was complete, the bot started the train again and proceeded backward from the station until it arrived at, and stopped at, a red signal.

Not wanting to cause any more disruption in the multiplayer server, I promptly logged off.

Interpretation

I suspect that activating the bot when the train has overshot a platform causes the bot to drive backward to correct the overshoot (as it presumably should), but then fail to stop driving backward. Other conditions such as the reverser being already put into reverse and the player being in third-person view may be relevant.

The relevant log is attached.

SimRail_log_2026-03-17_16-30-09.txt

[Królik Uszasty]

The reason of the bot going backward is setting the reverser backward. It is caused by the fact that we use the same set of variables for setting the direction of motion for the bot and for scanning for signals and signs in front of a train to properly show them in the gui as in general they should be the same. However there are some edge cases in which the bot should not do it - like yours when the bot should continue its journey in primary direction.

[Admin BOT]

Thank you for reporting this issue. A similar problem has already been reported by other users.
Dziękujemy za zgłoszenie tego problemu. Podobny problem był już zgłaszany przez innych użytkowników.

[Quacking Duck]

Can this behaviour be changed to prevent such problems? For example, whenever the bot departs a station, it can check whether the reverser is set in the direction consistent with the schedule. If no, it changes the reverser direction before departing.

As far as I understand, the current behaviour has considerable potential for causing disruption in multiplayer. I sometimes use the bot as a "get me out of this mess" button to recover from mistakes or awkward situations. It can be particularly confusing and frustrating for such a feature to exhibit a counterintuitive behaviour that make things worse. A player with less situational awareness in the same circumstances, especially one who assumes that the bot must be doing the right thing, may significantly disrupt the flow of traffic before realizing what has happened.

More importantly, I strongly suspect that it is possible to deliberately abuse this behaviour of the bot to cause disruption in multiplayer in a way that circumvents automatic moderation. For example, if a player were to idle on the mainline in multiplayer, the bot would take over after a timeout. However, if a player deliberately makes the bot drive backward, prolonged disruption may result because the bot is already in control, eliminating the usual automatic remedy for player misbehaviour.