You might want to leave the port part off of the ip command. The hostip command may also work, but I've noticed it's set to a random value on my dedicated server.
TF2 uses UDP ports primarily. Specifically, the server listens on the following ports by default:
- UDP 27015 - Listens to connections from clients here. Changed with
-port on the server command-line Also doubles as the port the server uses to talk to the master server.
- UDP 27005 - This is the port clients actually connect to once the initial connection is finished. Changed with
-clientport on the server command-line. Not sure if it has a Create Server equivalent.
- UDP 27020 - Used for SourceTV. The server will always bind this port unless you use the command-line switch
-nohltv, even if SourcTV is off (which it is by default). Can be set using +tv_port on the command-line. Not sure if it has a Create Server equivalent.
- TCP 27015 - Used for the Remote Console (rcon) support for administrative tasks (i.e. remotely kicking/banning players). Not needed in your current setup.
- UDP 26901 - Used to communicate with the Steam backend. If you don't have this port open, your server will have issues with items and achievements... and possibly authentication stuff in general. It's settable using
-steamport from the command-line, but it always adds 1 to it for unknown reasons (26900 is the default).
The Easy Way
Having said all this, it might not be a bad idea to just find a server that's already running bots. From the in-game server browser, you'll have to turn off the simple mode checkbox to see this. The Bots column will have a little gear symbol in it for servers that are running bots. The player count will be the number of players not counting bots.
Important note: The Steam server browser will include bots in the player count. This is the primary difference between the Steam and TF2 server browsers.
It also couldn't hurt to join a Valve server using the QuickPlay system. While not always the case, Valve servers tend to have newer players on them and you might face off against people who are around the same experience level you are.
Another good resource for new TF2 players is probably Reddit's /r/newtotf2 subreddit... it's a fork of Reddit's /r/tf2 specifically aimed at players new to the game. Sometimes people on there give free items to new players. Having said that, TF2's stock items include some of the most well balanced items in the game (Minigun, Scattergun, StickyBomb Launcher, and Rocket Launcher to name a few)... don't just assume unlocked items are better.
There is no possible way to distinguish MineChat from a standard client. It's the same with many hacked clients, cracked clients, or similar. From the sound of it, neither of those are a problem, though. A thing that you could do is, if you would be willing to run a Bukkit or similar plugin-supporting server, is have a plugin that isolates players from everything until they move. This would deter anybody with MineChat. I could try and show you how to make it with command blocks, but I doubt you want me on your server, as I am a stranger. I hope that I helped in some way. Have good luck.
EDIT:
I may have worded my answer in a confusing way; I'm sorry for that. There would be a way to prevent people with MineChat from doing anything on the server, but there is no way to prevent somebody with a cracked client from doing anything. If you wish me to, I could set up an anti-MineChat thing with command blocks, and I could send the MCEdit schematic for you to put it in your world. That's the best that I can do without just building it on your server.
Best Answer
Some folks use VPS servers to try and 'crack' all kinds of authentication servers, including Mojang's. They're not really interested in Minecraft accounts beyond learning of an email / password pair that might work for other (more important) things like gmail.
It's not unlikely that the previous 'owner' of your VMs IP was engaged in those sort of shenanigans, and that Mojang inserted a firewall rule on their side to stop the abuse.
If that is the case:
SSH to the VM first and try pinging / traceroute to the auth server, include this information when you contact Mojang.
When you get a shiny new VM, you also (unfortunately) inherit all of the bad behavior that might have been coming from the IP it was assigned - once in a while you have to play the it ain't me game to get stuff working again.