Server Side

Your dedicated server is responsible for announcing itself to the Server Browser, managing player capacity, and staying alive. All server-side calls use the Server Token (not the client token).

Prerequisites — Server Browser Configuration

Before any of this works, you need to create a Server Browser configuration in the Edgegap dashboard. This JSON defines which metadata fields are indexed for filtering and sorting.

{
  "version": "0.0.5",
  "server_instances": {
    "expiration_period": "30s",
    "indices": {
      "map": "string",
      "mode": "string",
      "server_version": "string",
      "beacon_ip": "string",
      "beacon_port_udp": "int"
    }
  },
  "server_instance_slots": {
    "indices": {
      "team_name": "string",
      "average_skill": "float"
    }
  },
  "seat_reservations": {
    "expiration_period": "30s"
  }
}

Step 1 — Register Server Instance

On startup, read the deployment's environment variables and register with the Server Browser. This makes your server discoverable by clients.

1. Read ARBITRIUM_REQUEST_ID from environment variables to get your deployment's request ID.
2. Build metadata JSON with your server's game parameters (map, mode, version, beacon info, etc.).
3. Call SB_CreateServerInstance with the request ID, metadata, and initial slot configuration.

Step 2 — Create Slots

Slots define team capacity. You need at least one slot per instance for the Server Browser to manage player seats.

1. Call SB_CreateSlot with the RequestId, a SlotName (e.g. "TeamBlue"), and AvailableSeats.
2. Add MetadataJson for slot-specific data (team name, skill rating, etc.).
3. Repeat for additional slots if your game has multiple teams.

Step 3 — Keep Alive

Server instances must send a periodic heartbeat. Missing the heartbeat for 30 seconds will automatically remove your instance and all pending reservations.

1. Set up a looping timer (every 20 seconds is safe).
2. On each tick, call SB_KeepAlive with the RequestId.

Step 4 — Confirm Reservations

When a player connects via netcode, confirm their reservation. This is typically done in your GameMode's PostLogin or equivalent player-joined event.

1. Call SB_ConfirmReservations with the RequestId and an array of UserIds for the players who just connected.
2. Break the response to check for accepted, expired, or unknown player IDs.
3. Decide how to handle each group — allow, kick, or ban.
4. Call SB_UpdateSlot to adjust AvailableSeats after confirming.

Step 5 — Handle Player Disconnect

When players leave, you must update slot capacity so new players can reserve those seats.

1. Call SB_UpdateSlot with the RequestId, SlotName, and the new AvailableSeats count.
2. If your game allows reconnection, consider waiting a short period before releasing the seat.
3. If the server is empty, consider waiting a few minutes before stopping to reduce restarts during short idle periods.

Shutdown & Cleanup

When your server is shutting down or the match ends:

• Call SB_DeleteServerInstance with the RequestId to remove from the Server Browser.
• Use SB_DeleteSlot if you need to remove a specific slot mid-match.

C++ Example (Create Instance)

#include "ServerBrowser/EGIK_SB_CreateServerInstance.h"

FEGIK_SB_CreateServerInstanceRequest Req;
Req.RequestId = DeploymentRequestId;
Req.MetadataJson = TEXT("{\"map\":\"Arena01\",\"mode\":\"TDM\"}");
// Req.Overrides empty => read URL/token from plugin settings.

auto* Node = UEGIK_SB_CreateServerInstance::CreateServerInstance(Req);
Node->OnSuccess.AddDynamic(this, &UMySubsystem::OnServerInstanceCreated);
Node->Activate();

Important

Use server token (not client token) for all server-side operations. The server token can be injected as an app version variable in your Edgegap dashboard.