You're all wrong. Here's what is happening.
I've seen this happening a ton of times. The problem, I know, is the serverside Pking system on Zone (I will explain that in a second). The other problem may be a wrong triggeraction. He may have the range set too far in the script, but this can't be proven right now.
Anyway...
Serverside - In simple terms, it's what the server sees. The opposite of this is
clientside (what the player sees).
Now, take what I said above about the serverside Pk system. Remember, what the server sees is what it will justify.
In a Serverside system, the player you're fighting has the advantage because what the server sees is also what he sees. For those who don't know, the internet isn't instant. It takes a slight ammount of time to show on other people's monitors what you did on your computer.
Let's say you just walked to that position (Pretend you're the red blob). The blue blob has the sabre. Since the internet isn't instant, like I explained, the other player still sees you here:
Now, remember when I said what the server sees is what the attacking player sees? Since all scripts correspond with the server, if the attacker hits you on his screen and you're far from him (as shown in picture one) it will register damage.
Now take the flip side of that. If it was a Clientside system, it would have to appear that you were hit on your screen for damage to register. This way, even when you're as far from him as you are in picture two, on his screen he is hitting you and no damage is registering. This is because the script is run through what the player sees, and not the server.
It's hard to understand, I know, but I'm sure some of you will understand. :]