Allocating from Armadas
Allocation requests are typically performed by a Matchmaker.
Before a game server can be allocated, it first needs to be entered into the pool of currently available game servers. This registration process can be performed from within your game server code or through a sidecar provided by Nitrado.
In order for the server to then get allocated, a POST request must be sent to the Allocator service, on its /allocate endpoint.
Related Documentation
- For API details, see the Allocator API documentation
- For integration examples, see GameLift integration or FlexMatch integration
- For automatic registration, see Automatically Registering Game Servers
The region to allocate from is a mandatory parameter. The request can also include a set of additional attributes that the game server needs to have, as defined during its registration. Optionally, you may specify a payload to be sent to the game server as part of the allocation callback.
Then, when the Allocator picks your game server, it notifies the game server by sending an HTTP query to the allocation callback endpoint. Similar to the registration process, this callback is either handled by the sidecar or directly within the game server software. The callback itself is authenticated via a token in the Authorization header that was passed by the game server during its registration process.
Any payload given to the /allocate call is forwarded to the game server as part of the callback request body. If the callback endpoint returns a JSON response body, it gets embedded under the payload field in the response to the /allocate call. This is especially useful to transmit identifiers that are important for matching telemetry, such as host names.
In addition to this custom data, the response to /allocate also includes the token that was used for authentication towards the callback endpoint. This establishes a common identifier for the allocation between the game server and the matchmaker, and may be used to authorize players connecting to the server.
If the Allocator does not receive a response to the callback within an appropriate timespan, it retries the process with another game server in the pool.