Follow-up to #2721. It fixes how the remaining tests behave and changes no production code.
## CI
- Both `dotnet test` steps pass `--filter "Category!=Manual"`. Before this, Manual-tagged tests ran on CI anyway.
- The one surviving movement-throttle latency test is the only coverage of burst forgiveness over a full, wrapped history. It loses its Manual tag, so it runs on CI.
## Tests that passed on CI without testing anything
- **Corpse and throwing tests.** They relied on tiledata for the weapon `Layer`, so on CI the equip silently failed and they asserted against empty lists. They now set `Layer` explicitly and assert the equip took effect. `TestThrown` also pins its own strength and range values, so a shard retuning SoulGlaive no longer breaks them.
- **Healthbar poison rows.** Server.Tests registers no poisons, so every row tested `null`. They now use real poison levels.
- **Account packet tests.** The mock accounts reported `Length` 0, so the character-list tests only ever encoded empty slots. They now encode the real characters.
- **Pathing and AI tests that only mean something on real Trammel/Felucca terrain** are now guarded with `TileDataRequirement.SkipIfMissing()`: Britain desk and clutter scenes, house footprints (no MultiData on CI) and fingerprints. Tests that are valid on flat blank terrain stay unguarded. (A synthetic tiledata fixture to run these on CI is a planned follow-up.)
- **Assertions that couldn't fail now check their claim.** Affected tests include the `DefaultWalker` cache use, cache on/off parity requiring a path, the recorder capability flags, the idle-pet gate, the monthly DST recurrence, the AdvancedSearch `Record.Exception` wrappers, `CanFitItem` with no branch-guarded assert, the Firewall callback, and `Import_NoMap`. The Geometry Parse asserts also now use the same input as their TryParse.
## Shared state
Every test that changes process-wide state now restores it, even when an assert fails:
- **The clock.** A new `TimerWheelScope` saves and restores `Core._tickCount`, `Core._now` and the timer wheel. `SimulatedClockScope` covers decay tests.
- **StepCache settings and caches**, via `StepCacheStateScope`.
- **Network state.** The ManualAllowlist, LoginAllowlist, firewall and BanChannel reporters are restored. Global packet handlers are now registered per test and removed afterwards, so they no longer stay registered for later tests.
- **Data and config tables.** `ArchiveJournal` statics, `TileData.ItemTable`, `ObjectPropertyList.Enabled`, `Core.Expansion` and the localization table are restored. One `MobileStatusVersion` restore was resetting a different expansion than the one the test changed.
- **Entities.** Tests with fixed serials now delete what they create. Fixed mobile serials moved to `World.NewMobile`, because deleting a hard-coded serial could unregister a live entity.
- **Collection race.** `SpiralScanTests` no longer clears the spawn cache from a separate collection that could run in parallel with the cache-manager tests.
- **Shared statics.** Classes reading shared static allowlists joined the sequential collection.
## Duplication
New shared helpers replace copy-pasted harness code:
- **Server.Tests:** `PacketAssert.Sends`, used by about 130 packet tests; `TestClientHarness`, `PersistencePipelineScope`, `NetTestHelpers`, `EntityCleanup` and one `TestMulti`.
- **UOContent.Tests:** `TimerWheelScope`, which also holds one wraparound-safe `RunFor`/`RunUntil`; `AiTestStubs`, which merges six walker copies and five identical creature stubs; `MobileTestHarness`, `CommandTestHarness` and `TempDirectory`.
Dead oracle packet classes are removed.
## Cost
| Test | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| `VirtualSerialTests` | 1.57s | 2ms (starts near the wrap via reflection instead of drawing ~17.9M serials) |
| Event scheduler recurrence loop | 473ms | 1ms |
| CrowdSec drain | 517ms | 16ms (event-driven instead of a fixed 500ms wait) |
| AuthId tests | 248ms | 99ms (SHA2 except the two GameLogin tests) |
| Container cap tests | 5,000 items | 3,449 / 3,277 (one past each protocol cap) |
| Bulk removal | 100k children | 20k children |
| OPL hash distribution | 60k builds | 10k builds |
## Shard-tuning decoupling
- AI assertions read `ReacquireDelay` and `FollowMoveSpeed` instead of hard-coding production tuning.
- The guard friendly-fire test uses an `AI_Mage` stub instead of WhiteWyrm.
- Argon2 assertions pin the `argon2id` variant and `v=19` but read the cost parameters from the configured hasher.
## Tests
| Run | Server.Tests | UOContent.Tests |
|---|---|---|
| With client files | 812 pass | 1,123 pass |
| Without client files (CI simulation) | 800 pass, 12 skip | 1,021 pass, 102 skip |
- The UOContent fixture reads `MODERNUO_TEST_DATA_DIR`; Server.Tests reads `MODERNUO_CLIENT_PATH`.
- The 15 new UOContent skips are the map-dependent guards above.
- Total run time with client files is about 5s, down from about 8s.
## Summary
Phase 1 of a multi-phase optimization to eliminate intermediate string allocations between `$"..."` interpolation and the packet text region for ModernUO's player-facing message APIs.
- Adds `[InterpolatedStringHandler]` overloads to every `Send*`/`Public/Local/Private/NonlocalOverheadMessage`/`Say`/`Emote`/`Whisper`/`Yell`/`SendLocalizedMessageTo` API in `OutgoingMessagePackets`, `Mobile`, and `Item`. Each overload is a 3-line shim that forwards `handler.Text` to the existing span-based path then calls `handler.Clear()` to return the rented `STArrayPool<char>` buffer (matches the established `SpanWriter.WriteAscii(ref RawInterpolatedStringHandler)` precedent).
- Converts `string text/args/affix/name` parameters to `ReadOnlySpan<char>` for consistency with the handler path. `lang` intentionally stays `string` (it's never interpolated and the `??= "ENU"` fallback stays cleaner).
- Adds `int charCount` overloads of the three `GetMaxMessage*Length` helpers so stackalloc sizing can avoid the redundant `ROS<char>` round-trip.
- Moves `Mobile` (17 methods) and `Item` (4 methods) message methods into new partial-class files (`Mobile.Messages.cs`, `Item.Messages.cs`) for organization.
No UOContent call sites change in this PR — existing `string`/`ROS<char>` calls compile unchanged via implicit conversion. Phase 2 (intermediate-string audit) and Phase 3 (cleanup PRs) follow.
## Files
- `Projects/Server/Network/Packets/OutgoingMessagePackets.cs` — `string` → `ROS<char>` for text params, `int charCount` length helpers added, class made `partial`
- `Projects/Server/Network/Packets/OutgoingMessagePackets.Interpolated.cs` (new) — 3 `ref RawInterpolatedStringHandler` extension overloads
- `Projects/Server/Mobiles/Mobile.cs` — message methods extracted (-262 lines)
- `Projects/Server/Mobiles/Mobile.Messages.cs` (new, 463 lines) — moved + ROS-converted methods + 25 handler overloads
- `Projects/Server/Items/Item.cs` — message methods extracted (-93 lines)
- `Projects/Server/Items/Item.Messages.cs` (new, 142 lines) — moved + ROS-converted methods + 4 handler overloads
- `Projects/Server.Tests/Tests/Network/Packets/Outgoing/MessagePacketTests.cs` — 3 new regression tests verifying byte-equivalence for the handler overloads
> [!IMPORTANT]
> **Breaking Changes**
> - DecodePacket and EncodePacket delegates replaced with IClientEncryption interface
> - NetState.Connection (Socket) replaced with internal RingSocket management
> - NetState.RecvPipe and NetState.SendPipe removed (buffers managed internally)
## Summary
Upgrades the networking stack from PollGroup-based I/O to io_uring, significantly improving I/O performance on Linux.
This also adds native client encryption support for encrypted UO clients.
## Major Changes
io_uring Networking Architecture
- Replaced PollGroup with IORingGroup for async socket I/O operations
- Removed Pipe.cs (mirrored ring buffer) and TcpServer.cs in favor of RingSocketManager
- Added NetState.Network.cs - centralized network infrastructure handling accept, recv, send, and disconnect
completions
- Added SocketHelper.cs - platform-specific socket utilities for raw socket handle operations (getpeername,
getsockname)
- Buffer management now handled by RingSocketManager with configurable slab allocation
### Client Encryption Support
- Added full encryption stack in Network/Encryption/:
- EncryptionConfig.cs - configurable encryption modes (None, Unencrypted, Encrypted, Both)
- EncryptionManager.cs - encryption detection and initialization for login/game packets
- LoginEncryption.cs - handles login packet encryption with version-derived keys
- GameEncryption.cs - handles game server encryption using Twofish
- TwofishEngine.cs - optimized Twofish block cipher implementation
- LoginKeys.cs - encryption key table for client versions
- IClientEncryption.cs - interface for client encryption implementations
### NetState Improvements
- Replaced Socket Connection with RingSocket _socket for managed socket lifecycle
- Changed from GCHandle polling to event-based completion processing
- Disconnect handling now properly waits for pending sends to flush
- Simplified connecting socket management using lazy queue removal
### Configuration
- New settings: network.encryptionMode and network.encryptionDebug
- Encryption mode flags: Unencrypted, Encrypted, or Both
### Dependencies
- Replaced PollGroup NuGet package with IORingGroup
- Linux requires liburing-dev / liburing-devel package
### Test plan
- Verify server starts and accepts connections on Linux with io_uring
- Verify server starts and accepts connections on Windows (fallback to IOCP)
- Test unencrypted client connections (ClassicUO with encryption disabled)
- Test encrypted client connections if available
- Verify graceful disconnect flushes pending data
- Confirm CI builds pass on all target platforms
## Breaking Changes
Incoming packet registration signature has changed to:
```cs
delegate* void OnReceiveCallback(NetState state, SpanReader reader, int packetLength);
IncomingPackets.Register(int packetID, int length, bool ingame, OnReceiveCallback onReceive);
```
For example, an incoming packet handler signature would now look like this:
```cs
public static void SomeIncomingPacket(NetState state, SpanReader reader, int packetLength)
{
// Parse the data
}
```
## Summary
Updates the network Pipe class to use a mirrored memory technique. This technique involves mapping the same physical memory to two contiguous virtual memory spaces so the byte buffer appears duplicated. This allows writing to a double-sized array to wrap around without the need for the `CircularBuffer` classes.
In practice this allows us to use `Span<byte>` as if the buffer was a regular array.
### Bug Fixes
- [X] Fixes bad fixed length string parsing
