Initializing a server

The first thing you will want to set up is hosting games and joining games. To initialize a server on the local machine, call Network.InitializeServer.

This method takes three parameters: the number of allowed incoming connections, the port to listen on, and whether to use NAT punch-through. The following script initializes a server on port 25000 which allows 8 clients to connect:

using UnityEngine;
using System.Collections;

public class ExampleUnityNetworkInitializeServer : MonoBehavior
{
  void OnGUI()
  {
    if( GUILayout.Button( "Launch Server" ) )
    {
      LaunchServer();
    }
  }
  
  // launch the server
  void LaunchServer()
  {
    // Start a server that enables NAT punchthrough,
    // listens on port 25000,
    // and allows 8 clients to connect
    Network.InitializeServer( 8, 25005, true );
  }

  // called when the server has been initialized
  void OnServerInitialized()
  {
    Debug.Log( "Server initialized" );
  }
}

You can also optionally enable an incoming password (useful for private games) by setting Network.incomingPassword to a password string of the player's choice, and initializing a general-purpose security layer by calling Network.InitializeSecurity(). Both of these should be set up before actually initializing the server.

Note

Note that incoming connections does not mean maximum player count, since it does not include the host (for example, if you allow 8 players to connect, it's possible for 9 players to play in the same room—8 clients plus the host).