Life of a game server - Amazon GameLift Servers
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Life of a game server

With Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ, game servers go through the following life cycle, including provisioning and status updates. A game server is expected to be a short-lived resource. As a best practice, game servers should be de-registered after the end of a game session rather than being re-used for another game session. This approach helps ensure that available game servers are always running on the lowest-cost resources that are viable for game hosting.

  • A game server resource is created when the game server process, running on an instance in a Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ-linked Auto Scaling group, calls the Amazon GameLift Servers API RegisterGameServer() to notify Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ that it is ready to host players and gameplay. A game server has two statuses to track its current availability:

    • Utilization status tracks whether the game server is currently supporting gameplay. This status is initially set to AVAILABLE, indicating that it is ready to accept new gameplay. Once the game server is occupied with gameplay, this status is set to UTILIZED.

    • Claim status tracks whether the game server is claimed for imminent gameplay. A game server in CLAIMED status indicates that it has been temporarily reserved by a game client (or a game service such as a matchmaker). This status prevents Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ from providing the same game server to multiple requesters. A game server with a blank claim status is available to be claimed.

  • The following diagram illustrates how a game server's utilization status and claim status change over its life span.

    Lifecycle of a game server resource.

    • Step 1. A game server group has six registered game servers. Four have a utilization status AVAILABLE (A, B, C, and D), and two are currently UTILIZED (E and F).

    • Step 2. A game client or matchmaking system calls the Amazon GameLift Servers API ClaimGameServer() to request a new game server. This request prompts Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ to search for an available game server (D) and set its claim status to CLAIMED for 60 seconds. Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ responds to its request with connection information for the game server (IP address and port), as well as other optional game-specific data. Since gameplay has not yet begun on the game server, its utilization status remains AVAILABLE, but it cannot be claimed with another request.

    • Step 3a. Using the connection information provided, game clients can connect to the game server and initiate gameplay. The game server (D) must be triggered within 60 seconds to change its utilization status to UTILIZED by calling the Amazon GameLift Servers API UpdateGameServer().

    • Step 3b. If the game server's utilization status is not updated within 60 seconds, the claim timer expires and the claim status is reset to blank. The game server (D) is returned to the pool of available and unclaimed game servers.

  • A game server resource is removed after gameplay on the game server is complete and players have disconnected. Before shutting down, the game server process calls the Amazon GameLift Servers API DeregisterGameServer() to notify Amazon GameLift Servers FleetIQ of its departure from the game server group's pool of game servers.