How can I setup something to message back someone trying to enter my server on
port 23 when my server is actually on port 2002 ?

I get messages like Connection lost from: 76.211.140.208
in my swath (listening to port 23 for twx)

I'de like to send message back saying try port 2002.

Please help , so I can help these players looking to join my server.

Vid Kid

I do not know if you have a router involved at all... but if nothing else is running on the server machine I think this would work.

1) Launch instance of TWX with accept external connections running and listening on port 23.
2) Write a piece of code that every 5 seconds or so echo's "To connect to the TWGS server, you must connect on port 2002"

Its quick and dirty, but should work...

Hrm. Never thought about using TWX like that. Nifty. Wonder if it'd be more memory efficient than a small telnet daemon.

I have a long history of either delighting or annoying my bosses by thinking of alternative uses for applications.

Not sure about the rest of your post but I am 100% positive the "annoying" part is right

BURN!

A lot of firewalls / routers have the ability to forward packets that are received on one external port (like 23) to a different internal port (like 2002). Assuming you really don't care if they hit port 23 or port 2002, then you could set things up so that both are forwarded internally to your TWGS on port 2002.

Most D-Link routers support this feature, calling it "Port Translation". Or better yet, any router capable of being flashed with the DD-WRT firmware (check out NewEgg reviews).

Feel free to hit me up if you need help with this.

+EP+