I believe the reference to R8 in the first sentence is a typo and they meant R9BF3 server version R8 (886605) has been released. This is a required server and client update and we have rolled it out to all servers now. Clients will be able to play on the new version as soon as they have updated and the current Blaze/Battlelog maintenance event is over.R9 includes many changes. Server-wise, it is most notable for fixing many server crashes, adding an unranked option, locking some variables so that they cannot be changed after a server is started (vars.gamePassword and vars.ranked), and locking some variables on ranked servers (vars.roundStartPlayerCount [which must now be four or higher], vars.roundRestartPlayerCount [which must now be two or higher], vars.idleTimeout [locked to 300], vars.idleBanRounds [locked to 0], vars.playerManDownTime [locked to 100], vars.bulletDamage [locked to 100], vars.miniMapSpotting [locked to true], and vars.allUnlocksUnlocked [locked to false]).
We are currently in the process of updating the "Easy setup" page to only show valid options for each mode (ranked/unranked) and to check values that are submitted to make sure that they meet the new guidelines. Until we finish those updates on 11/22, you may see some errors when submitting your "Easy setup" page, which you can safely ignore.