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Lifecycle of game sessions

It is important to understand the lifecycle of sessions, so you know when to use different session related calls. Note that the recommended flow has you start a listen or dedicated server before creating a session.

Session lifecycle on host​

The diagram below shows the lifecycle of a session from the host's perspective.

graph TD Begin --> |"Start a listen or dedicated server"|GameListening GameListening[Game is now listening on a port] --> |"Call CreateSession"|SessionCreated SessionCreated[Game is now hosting a session] --> |"A player connects to the<br/>server e.g. OnPostLogin"|PlayerConnects PlayerConnects[Game has a new player] --> |"Call RegisterPlayer"|PlayerRegistered PlayerRegistered[Player has been registered] --> WaitingForPlayers SessionCreated --> |"A player disconnects from the<br/>server e.g. OnLogout"|PlayerDisconnects PlayerDisconnects[Game has lost a player] --> |"Call UnregisterPlayer"|PlayerUnregistered PlayerUnregistered[Player has been unregistered] --> WaitingForPlayers WaitingForPlayers[Wait for players or start the session] --> |"Call StartSession"|SessionStarted WaitingForPlayers[Wait for players or start the session] --> |"Wait for more players"|SessionCreated SessionStarted[Session is now started, and no longer joinable unless JoinInProgress was set] --> |"Call EndSession"|SessionCreated SessionStarted --> |"Call DestroySession"|SessionDestroyed SessionDestroyed[Game no longer has a session] --> |"Stop the listen or dedicated server"|GameStandalone GameStandalone[Game has returned to e.g. the main menu]

Session lifecycle on client​

The diagram below shows the lifecycle of a session from the client's perspective.

graph TD Begin --> |"Call FindSessions"|SearchResults SearchResults[At least one session found in search results] --> |"Call JoinSession"|SessionJoined SessionJoined[Game has joined session, but not server yet] --> |"Use GetResolvedConnectString and Browse to the server URL"|GameJoined GameJoined[Game is now connected to server] --> |"Browse to the main menu map or be kicked by the server"|GameLeft GameLeft[Game is no longer connected to server] --> |"Call DestroySession"|SessionDestroyed SessionDestroyed[Client can now join another session]