Is it possible to create NPCs or "fake players" that send and receive packets and put as much stress on the server as a real player? I'm asking because I'm trying to help someone simulate a server with problems so he can fix them.
@GRocksMc There is a cmd client out there somewhere, believe it was used as light-weight chat client to moderate a server. Modded client might also work, just one that send ridicules amounts of updates and requests. But having a lot of players is probably the best and easiest way to go.
@timtower @GRocksMc CMD clients exist several out there, but they're useless for this purpose since they don't do much more than chat, which doesn't cause much load. You'd also have to have a proper account for each client (unless you plan to use offline mode). I don't think creating such a thing is feasible for just testing, it's way too much work. If you cannot get actual players to come online, then perhaps creating a bunch of repeating tasks doing loads of stuff might do the trick?