Multiplayer by game type.
There's no one netcode. Each kind of game needs its own server, and a few weeks with real players before it's ready.
Pick your shape
Party, co-op, social, turn-basedRooms: a lobby, rooms with a cap, and a new room when one fills. The server runs the rules; players send inputs.
Persistent worldRooms plus a save store, and each player only receives what's near them. What you build stays built.
Survival shardsAn authoritative server, client prediction, and a deterministic core, so a round can be replayed and checked. Gates runs this, with wipes.
Arena shooterAn authoritative server at a high tick rate, with lag compensation: the server checks a shot against where everything was when you fired.
Fighter, 1v1Rollback: both sides predict, then rewind and replay when an input arrives late.
StrategyLockstep: every player runs the same deterministic simulation, and only inputs cross the wire.
The rules every server follows
- The server decides. Players send what they pressed, never where they ended up.
- Inputs are numbered. The server says which one it applied, so your own moves feel instant and correct cleanly.
- Other players are drawn slightly in the past, between two updates, so they move smoothly.
- Everything has a limit. Inputs are rate-limited and every queue has a cap, so one bad client can't stall a room.
- A dropped player gets their seat back for a while, and a refresh puts them back where they stood.
Test it like players will
plan on weeks, not a day
LagPlay at 150 ms with jitter. Your own moves respond at once, and everyone else moves smoothly.
AbuseOne client sends ten times the input rate. It gets capped or kicked, and the server's tick holds.
DropsDisconnect and rejoin mid-match. Same seat, same state.
LoadFill the server to its cap for an hour, with bots if you have to.
TimeRun it for days. Memory stays flat, nothing desyncs, and saves survive a restart.
Plug into Elo
Server listPublish your servers in our list format, and the launcher and your game page show them with who's on.
Join linkselo://join/<game>/<host:port> drops a friend into the same server.
Sign-inPlayers sign with their wallet and your server checks the signature. No accounts, no passwords.
ProofA deterministic game can seal its rounds so anyone can replay them and check the result.
CopiesIf your game sells copies, your official servers check a player's copy when they join.
Gates is open source, so its server is a working example of the survival shape: github.com/AnthonE/Gates.