BF4 PC slots unavailable

I have a BF4 32 slot server on NFO. When using vars.maxPlayers it posts there are 32 available slots.

The problem is the maximum number of available slots shown on Battlelog is 24, with 0 commanders & spectators selected.

If I add 2 spectators or commanders the available slots goes down by 2 each.

If I join the game server in Battlelog I see the player goes from 0/24 to 1/24.

I have tried both Procon and Rconnet to try to change the parameters with no success.

I used a Plugin in rconnet to manage slots and all it did was lower my BF4 slot count down to 16!! no matter what I changed to get the slots up.

How do I get all of my 32 slots to be available on BF4?

Thank you