Possibly solved the faction creation issue. Changed the best id match to something more reasonable

src/com/massivecraft/factions/Factions.java

@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ public class Factions extends EntityCollection<Faction>
 		return null;
 	}
 	
-	public Faction getBestTagMatch(String pattern)
+	public Faction getBestTagMatch(String searchFor)
 	{
 		Map<String, Faction> tag2faction = new HashMap<String, Faction>();
 		
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ public class Factions extends EntityCollection<Faction>
 			tag2faction.put(ChatColor.stripColor(faction.getTag()), faction);
 		}
 		
-		String tag = TextUtil.getWhereLongestCommonStartCI(tag2faction.keySet(), pattern);
+		String tag = TextUtil.getBestStartWithCI(tag2faction.keySet(), searchFor);
 		if (tag == null) return null;
 		return tag2faction.get(tag);
 	}

src/com/massivecraft/factions/cmd/CmdCreate.java

@@ -53,13 +53,13 @@ public class CmdCreate extends FCommand
 			sendMessage(tagValidationErrors);
 			return;
 		}
-
+		
 		// if economy is enabled, they're not on the bypass list, and this command has a cost set, make 'em pay
 		if ( ! payForCommand(Conf.econCostCreate, "to create a new faction", "for creating a new faction")) return;
 
 		Faction faction = Factions.i.create();
 
-		// TODO: Why would this even happen???
+		// TODO: Why would this even happen??? Auto increment clash??
 		if (faction == null)
 		{
 			msg("<b>There was an internal error while trying to create your faction. Please try again.");

src/com/massivecraft/factions/zcore/persist/EntityCollection.java

@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ public abstract class EntityCollection<E extends Entity>
 	
 	public E getBestIdMatch(String pattern)
 	{
-		String id = TextUtil.getWhereLongestCommonStartCI(this.id2entity.keySet(), pattern);
+		String id = TextUtil.getBestStartWithCI(this.id2entity.keySet(), pattern);
 		if (id == null) return null;
 		return this.id2entity.get(id);
 	}
@@ -106,12 +106,12 @@ public abstract class EntityCollection<E extends Entity>
 	// CREATE
 	// -------------------------------------------- //
 	
-	public E create()
+	public synchronized E create()
 	{
 		return this.create(this.getNextId());
 	}
 	
-	public E create(String id)
+	public synchronized E create(String id)
 	{
 		if ( ! this.isIdFree(id)) return null;
 		
@@ -225,21 +225,23 @@ public abstract class EntityCollection<E extends Entity>
 	
 	public String getNextId()
 	{
-		String next = Integer.toString(this.nextId);
-		do
+		while ( ! isIdFree(this.nextId) )
 		{
 			this.nextId += 1;
-		} while ( ! isIdFree(Integer.toString(this.nextId)) );
-
-		return next;
+		}
+		return Integer.toString(this.nextId);
 	}
 	
 	public boolean isIdFree(String id)
 	{
 		return ! this.id2entity.containsKey(id);
 	}
+	public boolean isIdFree(int id)
+	{
+		return this.isIdFree(Integer.toString(id));
+	}
 	
-	protected void fillIds()
+	protected synchronized void fillIds()
 	{
 		this.nextId = 1;
 		for(Entry<String, E> entry : this.id2entity.entrySet())
@@ -251,16 +253,21 @@ public abstract class EntityCollection<E extends Entity>
 		}
 	}
 	
+	protected synchronized void updateNextIdForId(int id)
+	{
+		if (this.nextId < id)
+		{
+			this.nextId = id + 1;
+		}
+	}
+	
 	protected void updateNextIdForId(String id)
 	{
 		try
 		{
 			int idAsInt = Integer.parseInt(id);
-			if (this.nextId < idAsInt)
-			{
-				this.nextId = idAsInt + 1;
-			}
-		} catch (Exception ignored) {}
+			this.updateNextIdForId(idAsInt);
+		}
+		catch (Exception ignored) { }
 	}
-	
 }

src/com/massivecraft/factions/zcore/util/TextUtil.java

@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ public class TextUtil
 	// String comparison
 	// -------------------------------------------- //
 	
-	public static int commonStartLength(String a, String b)
+	/*private static int commonStartLength(String a, String b)
 	{
 		int len = a.length() < b.length() ? a.length() : b.length();
 		int i;
@@ -294,19 +294,29 @@ public class TextUtil
 			if (a.charAt(i) != b.charAt(i)) break;
 		}
 		return i;
-	}
+	}*/
 	
-	public static String getWhereLongestCommonStartCI(Collection<String> candidates, String pattern)
+	public static String getBestStartWithCI(Collection<String> candidates, String start)
 	{
 		String ret = null;
 		int best = 0;
-		pattern = pattern.toLowerCase();
+		
+		start = start.toLowerCase();
+		int minlength = start.length();
 		for (String candidate : candidates)
 		{
-			int csl = commonStartLength(pattern, candidate.toLowerCase());
-			if (csl > best)
+			if (candidate.length() < minlength) continue;
+			if ( ! candidate.toLowerCase().startsWith(start)) continue;
+			
+			// The closer to zero the better
+			int lendiff = candidate.length() - minlength;
+			if (lendiff == 0)
 			{
-				best = csl;
+				return candidate;
+			}
+			if (lendiff < best ||best == 0)
+			{
+				best = lendiff;
 				ret = candidate;
 			}
 		}