PUN Classic (v1), PUN 2 and Bolt are in maintenance mode. PUN 2 will support Unity 2019 to 2022, but no new features will be added. Of course all your PUN & Bolt projects will continue to work and run with the known performance in the future. For any upcoming or new projects: please switch to Photon Fusion or Quantum.

Glossary

Within Bolt we'll be using some jargon that might require some more information if you're unfamiliar with networking. First of all, let's discuss the differences between Server, Client, Connection, Owner, Controller and Proxy.

Network

Server

The Server is the connection that is hosting the game.

If it's an Authoritative Server then the Server will also be the Owner of (most) BoltEntities.

Client

A client is normally anyone who is connected to the game who is not considered to be the Server. In short every remote connection from the Server is a Client.

Connection

Within Bolt a connection is considered to be a link to another Client/Server over the network. This means a connection can refer to either a Client or the Server.

If the Server checks his own connection it will be null since there's no remote link required to send/receive data.

Entity

Owner

The creator of the Entity is the Owner.

When you're considered the Owner of an Entity than you're the one (by default) to have full authority over it. In the case of an Authoritative Server (most) BoltEntities would be owned by the Server.

Bolt considers the one that Instantiates the object (through BoltNetwork.Instantiate()) to be the Owner of the created BoltEntity. Thus ownership can be set by instantiating on the required connection.

To check if the local machine is the owner of an entity use: entity.isOwner

Controller

An Entity that is controlled by either the server or a remote player.

Both the Server and a Client can gain control of a BoltEntity. Though control can only be given by the Owner of the object. By default, entities do not have a controller assigned.

The Owner can take control with: entity.TakeControl().
Another Client can be assigned control with: entity.AssignControl(connection)

Note that in most scenarios the Server will be the Owner so one will often read the Server is taking control and other clients are assigned control.

To check whether the local machine is in control of an entity you would use: entity.hasControl
To see if a specific connection is in control of an entity you would use: entity.IsController(connection)

Proxy

An Entity that is basically a dummy that is not locally controlled, he is only a replicated puppet.

A BoltEntity is considered a Proxy in your connection/game if you're not the Owner or Controller.

Even though it may seem logical for some it's important to keep in mind that what might be a Proxy BoltEntity on a Client will not be on another connection (where instead it's the Owner/Controller).

To check whether an entity is a Proxy you would use: (!entity.hasControl && !entity.isOwner)

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