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The Anatomy of a SteamID:
0:A:BBBB
Part 1:
The first "0" is part 1. This means absolutely nothing, as ALL SteamIDs have this.
Part 2:
There are two possible values for the "A" variable. The first possible value is "0", and the second possible value is "1". To clear things up, having a 0 does not mean that your account was registered sooner, while having a 1 does not mean that your account was registered later.
When Steam Accounts are being created, the client's computer sends the information to the Steam Account Registration Server (SARS). From there, the SARS will forward the packets to one of two servers, Authentication Server 1 (AS1) or Authentication Server 2 (AS2). Steam Accounts whose request was forwarded to AS1 will have "0" as the A value, while Steam Accounts whose request was forwarded to AS2 will have "1" as the A value. This method of forwarding the packets is used soley in order to reduce an overload of requests on one server, which would cause it to shut down. What this basically means is that for every "B" Value, there is only one "A" Value (either 0 or 1). For example, if 0:1:1335 exists, then 0:0:1335 does not exist. Now, when Steam was originally released, the system was not completely ready (yes John, you should have waited), therefore some of the early IDs (approximately 2 out of every 100) were registered on both authentication servers, resulting in two A values exists for each B value (for example, both 0:1:321 and 0:0:321 may exist). While this problem was corrected in a very short amount of time, an estimated 20-25 "duplicate IDs" may possibly exist. This doesn't create any problems, aside from possibly creating some confusion when people see both A values in a server at the same time.
Part 3:
The B value functions in the same manner as the Won Authentication System functioned. The first Steam Account to be registered was assigned "1" as its B value. The Authentication Server (either AS1 or AS2) that registered it then communicated back to the SARS that it had assigned that B value, and it was therefore removed from the list of to-be-assigned IDs. These values are assigned in a continually increasing series (for all you math wiz's out there, the programming includes an arithmetic series [defined recursively]). As of now, over 10,500,000 B Values have been asigned. If the B value of your SteamID is a "four digit", then your Account was one of the first 9,999 to be registered, and if the "B" value of your SteamID is a "five digit", then your Account was one of the first 99,999 to be registered; et cetera...
0:A:BBBB
Part 1:
The first "0" is part 1. This means absolutely nothing, as ALL SteamIDs have this.
Part 2:
There are two possible values for the "A" variable. The first possible value is "0", and the second possible value is "1". To clear things up, having a 0 does not mean that your account was registered sooner, while having a 1 does not mean that your account was registered later.
When Steam Accounts are being created, the client's computer sends the information to the Steam Account Registration Server (SARS). From there, the SARS will forward the packets to one of two servers, Authentication Server 1 (AS1) or Authentication Server 2 (AS2). Steam Accounts whose request was forwarded to AS1 will have "0" as the A value, while Steam Accounts whose request was forwarded to AS2 will have "1" as the A value. This method of forwarding the packets is used soley in order to reduce an overload of requests on one server, which would cause it to shut down. What this basically means is that for every "B" Value, there is only one "A" Value (either 0 or 1). For example, if 0:1:1335 exists, then 0:0:1335 does not exist. Now, when Steam was originally released, the system was not completely ready (yes John, you should have waited), therefore some of the early IDs (approximately 2 out of every 100) were registered on both authentication servers, resulting in two A values exists for each B value (for example, both 0:1:321 and 0:0:321 may exist). While this problem was corrected in a very short amount of time, an estimated 20-25 "duplicate IDs" may possibly exist. This doesn't create any problems, aside from possibly creating some confusion when people see both A values in a server at the same time.
Part 3:
The B value functions in the same manner as the Won Authentication System functioned. The first Steam Account to be registered was assigned "1" as its B value. The Authentication Server (either AS1 or AS2) that registered it then communicated back to the SARS that it had assigned that B value, and it was therefore removed from the list of to-be-assigned IDs. These values are assigned in a continually increasing series (for all you math wiz's out there, the programming includes an arithmetic series [defined recursively]). As of now, over 10,500,000 B Values have been asigned. If the B value of your SteamID is a "four digit", then your Account was one of the first 9,999 to be registered, and if the "B" value of your SteamID is a "five digit", then your Account was one of the first 99,999 to be registered; et cetera...