Game servers
Note: The content on this page pertains to Clanforge. If you’re using Multiplay Hosting, refer to the Multiplay Hosting documentation.
Game servers are running instances of game image binaries that players can join for a game session or match. There are multiple components that make up what Clanforge considers a game server, including:
- Server slot
- Game server process
- Game binary from a specific game image version
- Configuration files
The server slot is a slice of resources (such as CPU time and RAM) on a machine that’s loosely reserved for an individual game server instance. A game server instance is a running instance of a game server process. The game image is all the files that the machine operating system needs to run the game server process. The configuration files are files that contain configuration information and settings that the game server process reads. These files tell the game server process things such as the startup parameters to use, the current allocation UUID, and which game image to use. Clanforge manages game server configurations through profiles and mods.
Clanforge hosts multiple game servers on each machine in a fleet. The exact number of game servers on each machine is determined during the integration process, and can be anywhere from two to over 100. Clanforge calculates the optimal number of game servers by considering the CPU usage of each game server and the resources available on the machine specification of a fleet. Refer to Cost optimization.