Source Code Changes

Understanding how Honse Farm builds upon the proven Mare Synchronos foundation.

Foundation: Mare Synchronos

Honse Farm is built on the latest stable Mare Synchronos server and client codebase. We chose this foundation because:

• Battle-tested stability: Mare Synchronos has been proven in production environments with real users
• Mature architecture: The core synchronization system is robust and well-designed
• Community trust: Mare has earned the trust of the FFXIV modding community through years of reliable service
• Solid feature set: The base functionality provides everything needed for character data synchronization

By building on this proven foundation rather than starting from scratch, we ensure that Honse Farm inherits all the stability and reliability that Mare users already depend on.

What We Added: Federation Layer

During development, we added a comprehensive federation layer across three key components:

Server

• Federation protocol endpoints for server-to-server communication
• Gossip protocol for network topology discovery
• HTTP signature validation middleware for authenticating federated requests
• Cross-server user action handling with double verification

File Server

• Distributed file storage coordination
• Cross-federation file access controls
• Federated content delivery

Client

• Multi-server connection support
• Federation-aware pairing across servers
• Cryptographic request signing for zero-trust authentication

Important: The base Mare Synchronos system remains intact. We haven't modified the core synchronization logic, character data handling, or fundamental client-server communication patterns. Federation is an addition, not a replacement.

Zero-Trust Security

All federation communication is secured through our Zero-Trust Architecture, which uses Ed25519 cryptographic signatures to ensure that every request from any source (client or server) is verified before processing. This security model is essential for a federated network where servers are independently operated.

Migration from Mare

For existing Mare server operators interested in joining the federation, we're developing a clear Migration Path. The goal is to make it as easy as possible for the Mare community to benefit from federation while preserving their existing setups and user data.

Open Source Commitment

Honse Farm, like Mare Synchronos before it, is open source. Server operators have full visibility into the code and can choose how they want to participate in the federation. This transparency is fundamental to building trust in a distributed system.