Connection & Matchmaking

Before any game objects can sync, players must connect to a server and be grouped into a shared session. Photon uses a two-tier architecture: clients first connect to a master server for matchmaking, then get routed to a game server hosting a room. A room is an isolated session where a fixed group of players share game state, exchange RPCs and replicate objects.

This page covers the full connection lifecycle, from initialization and server connection through room creation, joining and disconnection.

App ID Configuration

Fusion needs a Photon App ID to connect. There are two ways to provide it.

Project Settings (recommended) — set fusion/connection/app_id in Project Settings > Fusion > Connection. This is the default path and works for most projects.

Runtime override — call Fusion.set_app_id("your-app-id") before connecting. Use this when the App ID is determined at runtime: per-build flavor, remote config, feature flags, or anything else you cannot bake into Project Settings.

GDScript

# Runtime override — must be called before connect_to_photon()
Fusion.set_app_id("my-runtime-app-id")

The app_version is always read from Project Settings (fusion/connection/app_version) unless you pass it explicitly to connect_to_photon().

Connecting

Use connect_to_photon() to connect to the Photon Cloud. All parameters are optional — empty values are filled from Project Settings:

GDScript

# Simplest: everything from Project Settings
Fusion.connect_to_photon()

# With a specific user ID
Fusion.connect_to_photon("player_123")

# With a specific region (forces Cloud mode)
Fusion.connect_to_photon("player_123", "us")

Connection mode (Cloud vs Local) is determined by Project Settings > Fusion > Connection > Mode unless a region is explicitly provided.

Connecting and Joining

Connecting and joining are separate steps. Connect to the Photon Cloud first, then join or create a room once the connection succeeds.

GDScript

Fusion.connect_to_photon("player_123", "us")

# Wait for connection, then join
Fusion.connected_to_photon.connect(func():
    Fusion.join_or_create_room("lobby")
)

For local development, set fusion/connection/mode to Local in Project Settings.

Room Operations

A room is a shared session where players sync objects and exchange RPCs. Fusion provides methods to create, join or leave rooms.

GDScript

# Create a new room (fails if it already exists)
Fusion.create_room("my_room", options)

# Join an existing room (empty name = random room)
Fusion.join_room("my_room", options)

# Join if exists, create if not
Fusion.join_or_create_room("my_room", options)

# Leave current room (stays connected for re-matchmaking)
Fusion.leave_room()

The options parameter is an optional Dictionary. Omit it or pass {} for defaults.

Room Options

Pass an options Dictionary to customize room behavior when creating or joining.

Connection Status

Fusion tracks a linear state machine from disconnected through connecting, connected, joining and finally in-room.

• STATUS_DISCONNECTED (0) - not connected
• STATUS_CONNECTING_TO_PHOTON (1) - establishing connection to the Photon Cloud
• STATUS_CONNECTED_TO_PHOTON (2) - connected to the Photon Cloud, can join rooms
• STATUS_JOINING_ROOM (3) - join in progress
• STATUS_IN_ROOM (4) - in a room, can spawn and sync
• STATUS_ERROR (5) - connection error

Query methods: is_initialized(), is_connected_to_photon(), is_in_room(), is_master_client(), get_local_player_id(), get_network_time().

Signals

Use signals to react to connection and room events without polling status each frame.

• room_joined - successfully entered a room (safe to spawn objects)
• room_left - left a room (voluntarily or disconnected)
• connection_failed(error: String) - connection attempt failed
• connection_status_changed(status: int) - status changed
• connected_to_photon - connected to the Photon Cloud
• player_left(player_id: int, is_inactive: bool) - a remote player left the room. is_inactive is true while the peer is within the room's player_ttl_ms grace window and may still rejoin
• scene_load_requested(index: int, path: String) - scene change requested (CUSTOM load mode)
• scene_ready(index: int) - all scene objects registered after load
• scene_unloaded(index: int, path: String) - scene unloaded

Disconnecting

Call disconnect_from_photon() to cleanly leave the current room and close the Photon Cloud connection.

GDScript

Fusion.disconnect_from_photon()

Example

A complete script that connects to the Photon Cloud, joins a room with custom options and prints when the player enters.

GDScript

extends Node

func _ready():
    Fusion.room_joined.connect(_on_room_joined)
    Fusion.connection_failed.connect(func(e): print("Failed: ", e))

    Fusion.connect_to_photon("player_%d" % randi())

    Fusion.connected_to_photon.connect(func():
        Fusion.join_or_create_room("lobby", {
            "max_players": 8,
            "is_visible": true,
            "map": "arena",
            "lobby_properties": ["map"],
        })
    )

func _on_room_joined():
    print("In room as player ", Fusion.get_local_player_id())