Multiplay Hosting support#

Multiplayer Services sessions are compatible with Multiplay Hosting. The Multiplayer Services package provides out-of-the-box support for Multiplay Hosting's SQP query protocol.

The easiest way to allocate a server on Multiplay Hosting is to use and configure it through Unity Matchmaker, which automatically allocates the game server. Unity's Multiplayer Services package helps with configuring the required hooks in Multiplay Hosting.

The following code demonstrates how to start a session on the server:

var sessionManagerOptions = new MultiplaySessionManagerOptions()
{
    SessionOptions = new SessionOptions()
    {
        MaxPlayers = 10
    }
};

var sessionManager = await MultiplayerServerService.Instance.StartMultiplaySessionManagerAsync(sessionManagerOptions);

var session = sessionManager.Session;

This code automatically creates a session for players to connect to when the server becomes allocated.

Refer to:

• StartMultiplaySessionManagerAsync for more information on the configuration of the server.
• IMultiplaySessionManager for more information on the MultiplaySessionManager functionalities.

Authentication#

See the Game Server Documentation here.

Server readiness#

If Multiplay Hosting's Server readiness feature is enabled in the Build Configuration, it is possible to set the server as ready to receive player connections using the following code:

await sessionManager.SetPlayerReadinessAsync(true);

When using Matchmaker, if the feature is enabled, the player is only assigned to the server once the server is ready.

Backfilling#

If the server was allocated with Matchmaker, it's possible to automatically request new players to join in order to backfill empty slots as a result of players leaving the session or because the match was created eagerly to minimize matchmaking time:

var sessionManagerOptions = new MultiplaySessionManagerOptions()
{
    SessionOptions = new SessionOptions()
    {
        MaxPlayers = 10
    }.WithBackfillingConfiguration(enable: true, autoStart: true)
};

This code starts the backfilling process as soon as Multiplay Hosting allocates the server (if the session is not full). Additionally, this code automatically starts the backfilling process when the session has one more more empty slots.

It is also possible to manually start and stop the backfilling process using the following code:

var sessionManager = await MultiplayerServerService.Instance. StartMultiplaySessionManagerAsync(sessionManagerOptions);
await sessionManager.Session.StartBackfillingAsync(); // Start the backfilling if it is not already in progress
await sessionManager.Session.StopBackfillingAsync(); /// Stop the backfilling

Starting and stopping the backfilling of a session can be useful if certain times are not appropriate for players to be joining (for example, if the session is about to end, or if a cinematic is in progress).

Refer to WithBackfillingConfiguration() for more information on the backfilling configuration.