ultimate-game-server

Ultimate Game Engine — Game Server Framework

Ultimate Game Engine (UGE) is a distributed, high-performance, authoritative multiplayer game server framework built in Go (go 1.25). It is designed to be fully compatible with reference-shaped multiplayer API contracts and runtime interfaces, extending them with configurable Single-Instance (in-memory local state) or Multi-Instance Cluster modes (shared PostgreSQL and Redis Pub/Sub) for horizontal scale-out.

This repository containing the UGE server engine can be used as an open-source framework by other game projects to run game logic, manage player sessions, validate in-app purchases, and execute custom server-side runtimes.

---

Key Features

• Modular Server Architecture: Plug-and-play modules (pkg/modules/*) including Authentication, Storage Engine, Matchmaking, Economy/IAP, Social Systems, and Leaderboards.
• Multi-Runtime Extensibility: Write game logic in native Go (embedded or .so plugins), sandboxed Lua (gopher-lua VM), or sandboxed JavaScript (goja ES6 VM).
• Authoritative Multiplayer: Tick-rate based game loops executing inside authoritative match processes, supporting asynchronous join attempts, custom state transitions, opcode dispatching, and deferred broadcast flushes.
• Real-Time & RPC Communications: Dual HTTP/WebSocket (0.0.0.0:7350) and gRPC (0.0.0.0:7349) connection pipelines for low-latency client-server messaging, presences, and RPC dispatching.
• Built-in Game Services:
  • Storage Engine: Full object storage with ACL permissions, optimistic concurrency control (OCC), and Bluge indexing & querying.
  • Authentication: Device, Custom, Email, Google, Apple, Facebook Instant, Huawei, and Samsung login; JWT session token issuance and verification; session registry and revocation.
  • Economy & IAP: Multi-currency wallet operations (nk.WalletUpdate) and receipt validation for Apple App Store, Google Play Store, Huawei AppGallery, Facebook Instant Games, and Samsung Galaxy Store.
  • Social Systems: Friends, Chat channels, Parties, Groups, and User Presences.
  • Leaderboards & Tournaments: Ranking tables, score submissions, reset schedules, and rewards.
  • Fleet & Satori Integration: Local stub FleetManager and optional Satori telemetry client integration.
  • Cron Scheduler: Distributed background job runner with optional Redis cluster locking.
• Flexible Deployment Modes:
  • Single-Instance Mode (Default): Zero Redis dependency, zero pub/sub overhead, pure in-memory local state execution.
  • Multi-Instance Cluster Mode: Redis Pub/Sub coordinates stream messages, match routing, and distributed locks across nodes.

---

Architecture Overview

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|                            Ultimate Game Server Engine                            |
|                                (pkg/engine.Server)                                |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  [HTTP/WS Listener :7350]   [gRPC Listener :7349]    [Admin Console :7351]       |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Built-in Modules:                                                                |
|  - Auth Module           - Storage Module           - Matchmaker Module           |
|  - Economy Module        - Social Module            - Leaderboard Module          |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Runtime Scripting & Handlers:                                                    |
|  - Native Go Handlers    - Lua VM (Gopher-Lua)      - JavaScript VM (Goja ES6)   |
|  - Dynamic .so Plugins   - Cron Scheduler           - Bluge Storage Indexing      |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|  Persistence & Cluster Layer:                                                     |
|  - PostgreSQL / CockroachDB (SQL Storage & Migrations)                             |
|  - Optional Redis Pub/Sub (Multi-Instance Cluster Scaling)                        |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

---

Standalone Project Initialization Guide

To build a custom game server using UGE, create a completely separate, standalone Go project.

1. Initialize Your Go Module

Create a new directory for your game server and run go mod init:

mkdir my-game-server
cd my-game-server
go mod init my-game-server

2. Add UGE Dependency

Add UGE directly to your project using go get:

go get github.com/BornToBuildGame/ultimate-game-server@v1.1.0

(Replace v1.1.0 with the specific release tag or commit hash target.)

Local Development Setup

If developing locally alongside the UGE source code directory, add a replace directive to your go.mod:

module my-game-server

go 1.25

require github.com/BornToBuildGame/ultimate-game-server v0.0.0

replace github.com/BornToBuildGame/ultimate-game-server => ../ultimate-game-engine/ultimate-game-server

After updating go.mod, run go mod tidy to download dependencies:

go mod tidy

3. Create Your Main Server Entrypoint

Create a main.go file inside your project root using UGE as an embeddable engine:

package main

import (
	"context"
	"database/sql"
	"log"
	"os"
	"os/signal"
	"syscall"
	"time"

	"github.com/BornToBuildGame/ultimate-game-server/internal/config"
	"github.com/BornToBuildGame/ultimate-game-server/pkg/engine"
	"github.com/BornToBuildGame/ultimate-game-server/pkg/modules/auth"
	"github.com/BornToBuildGame/ultimate-game-server/pkg/modules/economy"
	"github.com/BornToBuildGame/ultimate-game-server/pkg/modules/leaderboard"
	"github.com/BornToBuildGame/ultimate-game-server/pkg/modules/matchmaker"
	"github.com/BornToBuildGame/ultimate-game-server/pkg/modules/social"
	"github.com/BornToBuildGame/ultimate-game-server/pkg/modules/storage"
	"github.com/BornToBuildGame/ultimate-game-server/pkg/runtime"
)

func main() {
	// Parse CLI flags, environment variables, or config YAML file
	cfg, err := config.Parse(os.Args)
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("failed to parse config: %v", err)
	}

	// 1. Initialize UGE Server Engine
	srv, err := engine.NewServer(cfg)
	if err != nil {
		log.Fatalf("failed to create server instance: %v", err)
	}

	// 2. Register modular features
	srv.Use(auth.NewModule())
	srv.Use(storage.NewModule())
	srv.Use(matchmaker.NewModule())
	srv.Use(economy.NewModule())
	srv.Use(social.NewModule())
	srv.Use(leaderboard.NewModule())

	// 3. Register native Go custom game logic
	srv.RegisterInit(func(ctx context.Context, logger runtime.Logger, db *sql.DB, nk runtime.RuntimeModule, initializer runtime.Initializer) error {
		logger.Info("Standalone MyGameServer initialized successfully!")
		
		// Register custom RPC handler
		err := initializer.RegisterRpc("ping", func(ctx context.Context, logger runtime.Logger, db *sql.DB, nk runtime.RuntimeModule, payload string) (string, error) {
			return `{"status":"ok"}`, nil
		})
		return err
	})

	// 4. Launch server in a background goroutine
	ctx := context.Background()
	go func() {
		if err := srv.Start(ctx); err != nil {
			log.Fatalf("server crash: %v", err)
		}
	}()

	// 5. Handle graceful shutdown
	shutdownChan := make(chan os.Signal, 1)
	signal.Notify(shutdownChan, os.Interrupt, syscall.SIGINT, syscall.SIGTERM)
	<-shutdownChan

	teardownCtx, cancel := context.WithTimeout(context.Background(), 10*time.Second)
	defer cancel()

	if err := srv.Stop(teardownCtx); err != nil {
		log.Printf("error during server shutdown: %v", err)
	}
}

4. Build and Run Your Game Server

Compile and launch your custom binary:

go build -o my_game_server main.go
./my_game_server --config config.yaml

---

Custom Module Development

UGE supports both embedded Go code registration and dynamically loaded .so shared object plugins.

1. InitModule Entrypoint

Custom runtime modules export an InitModule entrypoint signature:

package main

import (
	"context"
	"database/sql"

	"github.com/BornToBuildGame/ultimate-game-server/pkg/runtime"
)

// InitModule is invoked by Ultimate Game Engine when initializing the module.
func InitModule(ctx context.Context, logger runtime.Logger, db *sql.DB, nk runtime.RuntimeModule, initializer runtime.Initializer) error {
	logger.Info("Initializing custom game logic...")

	// Register RPCs, Intercept Hooks, and Authoritative Matches
	return nil
}

2. Component Registration Examples

Custom RPC Handlers

initializer.RegisterRpc("claim_daily_reward", func(ctx context.Context, logger runtime.Logger, db *sql.DB, nk runtime.RuntimeModule, payload string) (string, error) {
	userID, _ := ctx.Value(runtime.RUNTIME_CTX_USER_ID).(string)
	logger.Info("Processing reward claim for user %s", userID)
	return `{"success": true, "reward": 500}`, nil
})

Before & After Interceptor Hooks

// Intercept Email Authentication request before execution
initializer.RegisterBeforeAuthenticateEmail(func(ctx context.Context, logger runtime.Logger, db *sql.DB, nk runtime.RuntimeModule, in *runtime.AuthenticateEmailRequest) (*runtime.AuthenticateEmailRequest, error) {
	if in.Email == "" {
		return nil, runtime.ErrBadRequest("email cannot be empty")
	}
	return in, nil
})

// React asynchronously after storage objects are written
initializer.RegisterAfterWriteStorageObjects(func(ctx context.Context, logger runtime.Logger, db *sql.DB, nk runtime.RuntimeModule, out *runtime.StorageObjectAcks, in *runtime.WriteStorageObjectsRequest) error {
	logger.Info("Successfully wrote %d storage objects", len(out.Acks))
	return nil
})

3. Dynamic .so Plugin Compilation

To compile plugins for runtime loading via runtime.path:

go build --buildmode=plugin -o data/modules/my_plugin.so main.go

Note: Because Go's standard plugin package enforces binary safety, the compiled .so plugin and target UGE server binary must be built with the exact same Go toolchain version, OS/architecture targets (GOOS, GOARCH), and matching dependency module versions.

---

Lua & JavaScript VM Runtime Support

In addition to Go native modules, UGE automatically loads Lua (*.lua) and JavaScript (*.js) script modules placed in the directory configured by runtime.path (default data/modules).

Lua Runtime Scripting

Lua scripts run inside a sandboxed gopher-lua VM state. They have access to the global nk object for engine services:

-- data/modules/test_rpc.lua
local nk = require("nk")

local function echo_rpc(context, payload)
    nk.logger_info("Lua RPC invoked with payload: " .. tostring(payload))
    return nk.json_encode({ status = "success", received = payload })
end

nk.register_rpc(echo_rpc, "lua_echo")

JavaScript Runtime Scripting

JavaScript scripts execute inside a sandboxed ES6 goja JS runtime context:

// data/modules/test_rpc.js
function handleRpc(ctx, logger, nk, payload) {
    logger.info("JS RPC executed!");
    return JSON.stringify({ message: "Hello from JavaScript VM!" });
}

nk.registerRpc("js_echo", handleRpc);

---

Sample Game Module (Tài-Xỉu / Sic Bo)

UGE includes a complete, production-ready sample authoritative game module under examples/taixiu.

Features Demonstrated

• Authoritative Match Loop: Tick-rate game loop (MatchLoop) managing a 4-phase state machine (BETTING -> ROLLING -> RESULT -> INTERMISSION).
• Economy Integration: Real-time bet validation and payout credits using nk.WalletUpdate.
• WebSocket Messaging: Dual-way binary/JSON opcode messages (OpCodeBet, OpCodeStateUpdate, OpCodeBetAck, OpCodeRoundResult).
• Automated Testing: Comprehensive unit and integration test suite (taixiu_test.go and taixiu_integration_test.go).

Run the sample tests with:

go test -v ./examples/taixiu/...

---

Configuration Reference

UGE options can be provided via YAML configuration file, Environment Variables, or CLI Flags (supporting flat names and hierarchical names).

Primary Configuration Options

Option / Setting	YAML Key	Environment Variable	CLI Flag	Default Value
Config File Path	—	CONFIG	--config	""
HTTP Socket Address	socket.http_addr	HTTP_ADDR	--http_addr or --socket.http_addr	0.0.0.0:7350
gRPC Socket Address	socket.grpc_addr	GRPC_ADDR	--grpc_addr or --socket.grpc_addr	0.0.0.0:7349
Console Admin Address	console.address	CONSOLE_ADDR	--console_addr or --console.address	0.0.0.0:7351
Database DSN	database.dsn	DATABASE_URL	--dsn or --database.dsn	postgres://game_admin:game_password@localhost:5432/ultimate_game_db?sslmode=disable
Database Read DSN	database.read_dsn	DATABASE_READ_URL	--read_dsn or --database.read_dsn	""
Run Auto Migrations	database.migration	DATABASE_MIGRATION	--database_migration	true
Database Max Open Conns	database.max_open_conns	DATABASE_MAX_OPEN_CONNS	--database_max_open_conns	20
Database Max Idle Conns	database.max_idle_conns	DATABASE_MAX_IDLE_CONNS	--database_max_idle_conns	5
Session Signing Key	session.encryption_key	JWT_SECRET	--jwt_secret or --session.encryption_key	super_secret_signing_key_at_least_32_bytes_long_1234567
Modules Runtime Path	runtime.path	UGE_RUNTIME_PATH	--runtime_path or --runtime.path	data/modules
RPC HTTP Auth Key	runtime.http_key	UGE_RPC_HTTP_KEY	--rpc_http_key or --runtime.http_key	""
Enable Multi-Instance Mode	multi_instance.enabled	MULTI_INSTANCE	--multi_instance or --multi_instance.enabled	false
Redis Server Address	multi_instance.redis_addr	REDIS_ADDR or REDIS_URL	--redis_addr or --multi_instance.redis_addr	localhost:6379

Sample YAML Configuration (config.yaml)

name: ultimate-game-server

database:
  dsn: "postgres://game_admin:game_password@localhost:5432/ultimate_game_db?sslmode=disable"
  migration: true
  max_open_conns: 25
  max_idle_conns: 10

socket:
  http_addr: "0.0.0.0:7350"
  grpc_addr: "0.0.0.0:7349"

console:
  address: "0.0.0.0:7351"

session:
  encryption_key: "my_custom_secure_jwt_secret_key_change_me_in_prod"

runtime:
  path: "data/modules"

multi_instance:
  enabled: false
  redis_addr: "localhost:6379"

---

Docker & Local Infrastructure

Use Docker Compose to quickly spin up PostgreSQL 16 and Redis 7 dependencies for local development.

docker-compose.yml

version: '3.8'

services:
  postgres:
    image: postgres:16-alpine
    container_name: ultimate-game-postgres
    ports:
      - "5432:5432"
    environment:
      POSTGRES_DB: ultimate_game_db
      POSTGRES_USER: game_admin
      POSTGRES_PASSWORD: game_password
    volumes:
      - pgdata:/var/lib/postgresql/data

  redis:
    image: redis:7-alpine
    container_name: ultimate-game-redis
    ports:
      - "6379:6379"
    volumes:
      - redisdata:/data

volumes:
  pgdata:
  redisdata:

Launch infrastructure services:

docker-compose up -d

---

Building and Testing

1. Run Unit Tests

Run all test packages in the repository:

go test ./pkg/... ./internal/... ./examples/taixiu/...

2. Build the Server Binary

Build the primary server entrypoint executable:

go build -o ultimate-game-server ./cmd/server

3. Run the Server

Launch the server binary with automatic database migration enabled:

./ultimate-game-server --config config.yaml --database_migration true