Data Lifecycle & Cleanup¶

How character data is created, flagged for deletion and physically purged, plus the admin commands that drive the process. Sources: CharacterCommands.cpp (character deleted …, character clean …), Player.cpp, CharDelete.* config.

Deletion Flow¶

player deletes character
        │  (immediate if below CharDelete.MinLevel)
        ▼
grace period (CharDelete.KeepDays)          [characters.deleted_time]
        │
        ├─ admin: .character deleted restore → back to normal rows
        └─ expiry / .character deleted delete
                   │
                   ▼
   dependent rows purged (inventory, quests, mail, pets, …)

Config (mangosd.conf):

CharDelete.Method - 0 = remove instantly, 1 = keep for N days.
CharDelete.MinLevel - levels at/below bypass the grace period.
CharDelete.KeepDays - grace window length.

While in the window the row keeps deleted_account/deleted_name/deleted_time (characters) so the name is protected but the slot freed.

Admin Commands¶

Deleted characters (`character deleted …`)¶

Command	Level	Effect
`.character deleted list`	GM(3)	list characters in the grace window
`.character deleted restore <name> [newName]`	Basic Admin(4)	undelete, optionally renaming
`.character deleted delete <name>`	Console only	purge immediately
`.character deleted old`	Console only	purge everything past `KeepDays`

Bulk cleanup queues (`character clean …`, Admin(6))¶

Two helper tables feed a controlled mass-purge:

.character clean todelete reads characters_guid_delete and deletes those characters properly.
.character clean items reads characters_item_delete (item template entries) and removes matching item instances from the world.

This is safer than hand-written SQL because the normal dependency cleanup runs for each victim.

Pending-Rename Flags¶

Operations like name conflicts or .character rename set flags in the characters table's character_flags column so players resolve state on next login:

Flag	Meaning
0x0100	CHARACTER_FLAG_RESET_TALENTS_ON_LOGIN - clear talents at next login
0x4000	CHARACTER_FLAG_RENAME - force rename prompt
0x8000	CHARACTER_FLAG_RENAME_NEEDS_GM_REVIEW - set after rename for GM review

(core CHARACTER_FLAG_*, Player.h.)

Per-Character Runtime Flags¶

The extra_flags column stores persistent session toggles (PlayerExtraFlags, AbstractPlayer.h), mostly GM state:

Bit	Meaning
0x0001	GM mode on
0x0002	accept tickets
0x0004	accept whispers
0x0008	taxi cheat (free/all flights)
0x0010	GM invisible
0x0020	GM chat badge
0x0040	neutral auction houses only
0x0080	enemy auction houses (overrides 0x40)
0x0100	PvP death pending corpse creation
0x0200	whisper restriction
0x0400	city protector