Webhooks

Use webhooks with Photon Server to extend your application, allow players to rejoin games and to persist player and game data.

Photon webhooks are event-driven HTTP POST requests sent by the Photon servers to your specified service.
Each Photon webhook is defined by its own triggers, data and destination path.

Setup

To set up webhooks with Photon Server, you need to modify the configuration file of the LoadBalancing GameServer application.
You can find it under this path: "deploy\LoadBalancing\GameServer\bin\plugin.config".

Configuration is done by defining key/value pairs of strings.
The maximum length allowed for each key is 256 characters, values are allowed 1024 chars, each.

In the configuration file, you should look for the following excerpt:

XML

<PluginSettings Enabled="true">
    <Plugins>
      <Plugin 
        Name="WebHooksPlugin1.2" 
        Version="" 
        AssemblyName="PhotonHive.WebhooksPlugin1.2.dll" 
        Type="Photon.Hive.Plugin.WebHooks.PluginFactory"
        <!-- Webhooks specific settings -->
      />
    </Plugins>
</PluginSettings>

Since webhooks are a Photon plugin, you should modify, as needs be, the values of the custom plugin settings keys enumerated below.

Read the "Photon Plugins Manual" for more information about plugins configuration in general.

Basic Settings

• BaseUrl (required)
  The URL for the service hosting your hooks as well as any method that should be called via WebRPC.
  It must not end with a forward slash.
  Callbacks are received at the relative path URIs that are set up below.
  Read this if the value you want to configure will contain a query string.
• CustomHttpHeaders
  JSON string of key/value pairs (string:string) that should be set as HTTP headers in any request made to the configured web service.
  Read more here.

Paths

Configure each path to receive events at the URIs each identifies on your host.
Any path that is left empty will not be hit, you will not receive any callbacks on the affected webhook.

• PathCreate
  Called when a new room is created or when its state needs to be loaded from external service.
• PathClose
  Called when a room is removed from Photon servers memory.
  If IsPersistent is set to true the room state is sent.
• PathBeforeJoin
  Called when a player attempts to join a room.
• PathJoin
  Called when a player joins a room when it is in Photon servers memory.
• PathLeave
  Called when a player leaves the room.
• PathEvent
  Called when the client raises an event in the room with the web flag HttpForward set.
• PathGameProperties
  Called when the client sets a room or a player property with the web flag HttpForward set.

Options

Finetune the behaviour of your webhooks configuration with these options.
An option is considered not configured when not set up or if its value is left empty.
The default value for each option is false and applies for each which is not set.

• HasErrorInfo
  If set to true, clients will be notified with an ErrorEvent when a call to a hook fails.
• IsPersistent
  If set to true, Photon Server sends the state before removing a room from memory.
  This option is only valid when both PathCreate and PathClose are properly configured.
  For more information read more about GameCreate and GameClose webhooks.
• AsyncJoin
  This option is only valid when IsPersistent is set to true.
  By default this setting is set to true and join operations that fail to find room by name on server will be forwarded to web service as webhook.
  To disable this behaviour set this to false.
  Read more here.

Query String Handling

Query string parameters can be included in the BaseUrl.
If you do use them you should know the following:

• Query string will be used as is. No URL encoding will be done. No duplicate keys check will be done.
• You can use URL tags in query string parameters.
• Do not add query string to Path settings.

Example:

• Configuration:

  • BaseUrl:

    https://myawesomegame.com/chat/webhooks?clientver={AppVersion}&key=&keyA=valueA&keyA=valueB&keyB=valueB&=value
    

  • PathCreate: create
  • PathClose: close

• Resulting URLs:

  • PathCreate:

    https://myawesomegame.com/realtime/webhooks/create?clientver=1.0&key=&keyA=valueA&keyA=valueB&keyB=valueB&=value
    

  • PathClose:

    https://myawesomegame.com/realtime/webhooks/close?clientver=1.1&key=&keyA=valueA&keyA=valueB&keyB=valueB&=value
    

HTTP Headers Considerations

There are few things you need to consider when using custom HTTP headers:

• The value of CustomHttpHeaders configuration key needs to be a stringified JSON object that has properties with string values only.
  The JSON object's properties' names will be used as HTTP request header field names and the properties' values will be used as their respective values.
  Example:

  • CustomHttpHeaders value:

    {'X-Secret': 'YWxhZGRpbjpvcGVuc2VzYW1l', 'X-Origin': 'Photon'}
    

  • Webhooks HTTP request headers:

    X-Secret: YWxhZGRpbjpvcGVuc2VzYW1l
    X-Origin: Photon
    

• Custom HTTP headers field names are case sensitive.

• The following HTTP headers are restricted and will be ignored if set from the "CustomHttpHeaders" configuration value.

  • Connection
  • Content-Length
  • Host
  • Range
  • Proxy-Connection
  • Accept
  • Content-Type
  • Date
  • Expect
  • If-Modified-Since
  • Referer
  • Transfer-Encoding
  • User-Agent

Turnkey Solutions

Find the latest available turnkey installations for Microsoft Azure and Heroku on our github page.

Common Criteria

All Photon webhooks share the base URL to POST to, the ability to return an eventual error that could happen on the web server and baseline data that is sent with each.

Common Arguments to All Webhooks

AppVersion:
version of your application as set from the game client.

GameId:
ID or name of the room.

Type:
Type of the webhook, it's always "Event" in PathEvent webhook, "Join" in PathJoin webhook and can have multiple values in all the other webhooks.

Common arguments to all Webhooks except PathClose

ActorNr:
number of the actor triggering the hook.

UserId:
UserId of the actor triggering the hook.

NickName:
name of the actor triggering the hook as set from the client SDK.

Return Values

Expected Response

When sending the webhooks, Photon Server will in most cases expect only a response that has a JSON object with a ResultCode property set to 0.
The zero ResultCode is an acknowledgment for the reception of the webhook request from and for successful processing on the web server.

Any webhook call with a return object that has a ResultCode different than zero is considered as failed.
If HasErrorInfo is set to true in the configuration; an ErrorInfo event will be broadcast to clients still joined to the room.
Other than PathCreate, the server continues normal execution, despite this.
The event also contains ParameterCode.Info. See the API doc for your SDK for additional info.

The only case where Photon expects more is when a player is trying to rejoin a Room that has been closed by Photon Server and already removed from memory.
For more details about this, please refer to the PathCreate section.

Best Practices

Always check the arguments needed in each webhook.
Return an error code with an optional, yet useful human readable message in case a required argument is missing.
The suggested format of the JSON return object of a webhook is { "ResultCode" : x, "Message" : "xxx" }.

A very good way to handle return values is by implementing helper routines in the backends logic for your webhooks.
The following is just a non-exhaustive list of examples of webhooks return objects.

• Default return object for success

  { "ResultCode" : 0 }
{ "ResultCode" : 0, "Message" : "OK" }

• Error on protocol level, either on Photon side or on web server

  { "ResultCode" : 1, "Message" : "Missing Webhook Argument: <argument name>." }

• Application specific errors

  { "ResultCode" : 2, "Message" : "Game with GameId=<gameId> already exists." }
{ "ResultCode" : 3, "Message" : "Could not load the State, Reason=<reason>." }

Paths in Details

PathCreate

This webhook is triggered every time a room is created at server level.
In case the room is created using OpCreateRoom, the webhook will have its Type argument set to Create.
Most of the RoomOptions along with the TypedLobby used when creating the room will be sent as CreateOptions.
The value of the ActorNr will be 1 and the actor will auto join the room without firing PathJoin webhooks.

If an actor tries to join or rejoin a room that was previously created but removed from Photon Server, the Type will be set to Load.
The web server should return the serialized State of the same room.
The backend logic will need to fetch the previously saved, serialized version of the room state.

In case the state is found, the web server should return a JSON object as { "State" : state, "ResultCode" : 0 }.
If the state cannot be found for some reason, the web service should check the value of CreateIfNotExists to allow or disallow room creation with new state.
If CreateIfNotExists is true, you can return an empty room state (e.g. { "State" : "", "ResultCode" : 0 }) to allow creation of a room the options provided by the client.
With its value being false Photon Server should be informed that the web server failed to load the state by returning a ResultCode other than 0.
Consider adding a human readable error message with the cause.

AsyncJoin Option

Photon applications support asynchronous operations like accepting an invitation to join a game hours after its creation to make playing with friends easier.
When both IsPersistent and AsyncJoin are enabled, any join operation where the room cannot be found in Photon servers memory, will trigger PathCreate (Type="Load") webhook.
The goal is to try loading the room state from your web service, assuming it was previously created and saved.

AsyncJoin is enabled by default when IsPersistent is true.
To disable AsyncJoin, add its key if not present in webhooks settings, and set its value to false.

This table shows all client operations that might trigger the PathCreate webhook with Type="Load", when IsPersistent is enabled (in case the room is not found in Photon servers memory).

Client Operation	JoinMode	AsyncJoin = false	AsyncJoin = true	AsyncJoin = N/A
OpJoinRoom	Default (Join)
OpRejoinRoom	RejoinOnly
OpJoinOrCreateRoom	CreateIfNotExists

Specific Arguments

PathCreate, Type "Create"

CreateOptions:
The options used when creating the room.
It contains information from the RoomOptions class as set from the Client with details about the used TypedLobby.
All its properties can be retrieved later from the State as it will be copied there as is.

The following table has a comparison between CreateOptions and RoomOptions.

Property or Field	CreateOptions	RoomOptions	Notes
IsVisible			Can be retrieved later from room State.
IsOpen			Can be retrieved later from room State.
MaxPlayers
PlayerTtl
EmptyRoomTtl
CheckUserOnJoin			This should be set to true if you have unique ID per player.
SuppressRoomEvents			If set to true, no room events are sent to the clients on join and leave. Default is false and sent.
DeleteCacheOnLeave			This is called CleanupCacheOnLeave in RoomOptions.
LobbyType			The type of the room's lobby as set by game client in TypedLobby.Type. See the API doc for your SDK for additional info.
LobbyId			The name of the room's lobby as set by game client in TypedLobby.Name. See the API doc for your SDK for additional info.
CustomProperties			Contains only the initial custom properties of the room that should be public, i.e. visible to the lobby.
CustomRoomProperties			Contains all initial custom properties of the room.
CustomRoomPropertiesForLobby			Contains the keys of the custom properties of the room that should be public, i.e. visible to the lobby.
PublishUserId			Defines if the UserIDs of players get "published" in the room. Can be retrieved later from room State. Read more about it here.

PathCreate, Type "Load"

CreateIfNotExists: A flag used to indicate if a new room should be created if its state could not be found from web service.

Properties of the room's State other than those found in CreateOptions:

• ActorCounter: The ActorNr of the last joined actor.
• ActorList: An array of information entries about each actor present in the room (active or inactive).
  Each entry has the following properties:
  • ActorNr: Number of the actor in the room.
  • UserId: UserID of the actor.
  • NickName: NickName of the actor.
  • IsActive: Indicates if the actor is joined to the room or not. It is not sent in State argument of PathClose.
  • DeactivationTime: Timestamp of room leave event. Sent only in State argument of PathClose.
  • Binary*: Base64 encoded actor properties.
  • DEBUG_BINARY**: readable form of the actor properties.
• Slice: the cache slice index.
• Binary *: Base64 encoded room properties and cached events.
• DebugInfo **: readable form of the binary data.
  • DEBUG_PROPERTIES_18**: readable form of the room properties.
  • DEBUG_EVENTS_19**: readable form of the cached events.
  • DEBUG_GROUPS_20**: readable form of the interest groups.
• ExpectedUsers: Array of UserIDs of players expected to join the room. Read more about Slot Reservation.

* : The Binary properties exist because of the nature of the protocol used by Photon.
**: The Debug properties should be disabled for applications in production environment. Make sure to use these properties for debugging only.

Sample Call

JSON

{
    "ActorNr": 1,
    "AppVersion": "client-x.y.z",
    "AppId": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
    "CreateOptions": {
        "MaxPlayers": 4,
        "LobbyId": null,
        "LobbyType": 0,
        "CustomProperties": {
            "lobby3Key": "lobby3Val",
            "lobby4Key": "lobby4Val"
        },
        "EmptyRoomTTL": 0,
        "PlayerTTL": 2147483647,
        "CheckUserOnJoin": true,
        "DeleteCacheOnLeave": false,
        "SuppressRoomEvents": false
    },
    "GameId": "MyRoom",
    "Region": "EU",
    "Type": "Create",
    "UserId": "MyUserId1",
    "NickName": "MyPlayer1"
}

PathBeforeJoin

This WebHook can be used to allow or deny access to rooms. If set, it is fired before an Actor is created for the user, so the ActorNr argument is unavailable. The UserId is defined server side for apps with authentication.
The Type argument is set to BeforeJoin.

Note: This path is missing in older WebHook configurations but can be added by us on demand.

Use a ResultCode==0 to allow the join. Every other code denies the join.

Specific Arguments

PathBeforeJoin has no extra arguments.

Sample Call

JSON

{
    "Type": "BeforeJoin",
    "AppVersion": "client-x.y.z",
    "AppId": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
    "GameId": "MyRoom",
    "Region": "EU",
    "UserId": "MyUserId0",
    "NickName": "MyPlayer0",
    "AuthCookie": "data"
}

PathJoin

If an actor joins or rejoins a room that was not removed from Photon Server this webhook will be fired.
The Type argument is set to Join.

Specific Arguments

PathJoin has no extra arguments.

Sample Call

JSON

{
    "ActorNr": 2,
    "AppVersion": "client-x.y.z",
    "AppId": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
    "GameId": "MyRoom",
    "Region": "EU",
    "Type": "Join",
    "UserId": "MyUserId0",
    "NickName": "MyPlayer0"
}

PathGameProperties

This webhook is fired every time the user sets the custom properties of either the room or the player from the client side if the right overload method is used with the HttpForward web flag set.
The Type argument sent with the webhook will be set accordingly to Game or Actor.

Specific Arguments

Properties: a set of updated properties as sent from client SDK.
State: a serialized snapshot of the room's full state.
It's sent only if SendState webflag is set when calling OpSetCustomProperties and "IsPersistent" setting is set to true.
AuthCookie: an encrypted object invisible to client, optionally returned by web service upon successful custom authentication.
It's sent only if SendAuthCookie webflag is set when calling OpSetCustomProperties.

PathGameProperties, Type="Actor"
TargetActor: the number of the actor whose properties are updated.

Sample Call

JSON

{
    "ActorNr": 1,
    "AppVersion": "client-x.y.z",
    "AppId": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
    "Properties": {
        "turn": 1,
        "lobby3Key": "test1a",
        "lobby4Key": "test1b"
    },
    "GameId": "MyRoom",
    "Region": "EU",
    "State": {
        "ActorCounter": 2,
        "ActorList": [
            {
                "ActorNr": 1,
                "UserId": "MyUserId1",
                "NickName": "MyPlayer1",
                "IsActive": true,
                "Binary": "RGIAAAEBRAAAAAJzAAlz...",
                "DEBUG_BINARY": {
                    "1": {
                        "255": "MyPlayer1",
                        "player_id": "12345"
                    }
                }
            },
            {
                "ActorNr": 2,
                "UserId": "MyUserId0",
                "NickName": "MyPlayer0",
                "IsActive": true,
                "Binary": "RGIAAEBRAAAAAFi/3M15...",
                "DEBUG_BINARY": {
                    "1": {
                        "255": "MyPlayer0"
                    }
                }
            }
        ],
        "Binary": {
            "18": "RAAAAAdzAAhwcm9wMUtl..."
        },
        "CheckUserOnJoin": true,
        "CustomProperties": {
            "lobby4Key": "test1b",
            "lobby3Key": "test1a"
        },
        "DeleteCacheOnLeave": false,
        "EmptyRoomTTL": 0,
        "IsOpen": true,
        "IsVisible": true,
        "LobbyType": 0,
        "LobbyProperties": [
            "lobby3Key",
            "lobby4Key"
        ],
        "MaxPlayers": 4,
        "PlayerTTL": 2147483647,
        "SuppressRoomEvents": false,
        "Slice": 0,
        "DebugInfo": {
            "DEBUG_PROPERTIES_18": {
                "250": [
                    "lobby3Key",
                    "lobby4Key"
                ],
                "prop1Key": "prop1Val",
                "prop2Key": "prop2Val",
                "lobby4Key": "test1b",
                "lobby3Key": "test1a",
                "map_name": "mymap",
                "turn": 1
            }
        }
    },
    "Type": "Game",
    "UserId": "MyUserId1",
    "NickName": "MyPlayer1"
}

PathEvent

Fired every time the user raises a custom event from the client side if the right overload method is used with the HttpForward web flag set.
The custom event code and the event data will be sent with the webhook.

Specific Arguments

EvCode: custom event code.
Data: custom event data as sent from client SDK.
State: a serialized snapshot of the room's full state.
It's sent only if SendState webflag is set when calling OpRaiseEvent and "IsPersistent" setting is set to true.
AuthCookie: an encrypted object invisible to client, optionally returned by web service upon successful custom authentication.
It's sent only if SendAuthCookie webflag is set when calling OpRaiseEvent.

Sample Call

JSON

{
    "ActorNr": 3,
    "AppVersion": "client-x.y.z",
    "AppId": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
    "Data": "data",
    "GameId": "MyRoom",
    "Region": "EU",
    "State": {
        "ActorCounter": 3,
        "ActorList": [
            {
                "ActorNr": 1,
                "UserId": "MyUserId1",
                "NickName": "MyPlayer1",
                "Binary": "RGIAAAEBRAAAAAJzAAlw...",
                "DEBUG_BINARY": {
                    "1": {
                        "255": "MyPlayer1",
                        "player_id": "12345"
                    }
                }
            },
            {
                "ActorNr": 3,
                "UserId": "MyUserId0",
                "NickName": "MyPlayer0",
                "IsActive": true,
                "Binary": "RGIAAAEBRAAAAAFi/3MAC...",
                "DEBUG_BINARY": {
                    "1": {
                        "255": "MyPlayer0"
                    }
                }
            }
        ],
        "Binary": {
            "18": "RAAAAAdzAAhwcm9wMUtl...",
            "19": "RGl6AAEAAAAAAAN6AANp..."
        },
        "CheckUserOnJoin": true,
        "CustomProperties": {
            "lobby4Key": "test1b",
            "lobby3Key": "test1a"
        },
        "DeleteCacheOnLeave": false,
        "EmptyRoomTTL": 0,
        "IsOpen": true,
        "IsVisible": true,
        "LobbyType": 0,
        "LobbyProperties": [
            "lobby3Key",
            "lobby4Key"
        ],
        "MaxPlayers": 4,
        "PlayerTTL": 2147483647,
        "SuppressRoomEvents": false,
        "Slice": 0,
        "DebugInfo": {
            "DEBUG_PROPERTIES_18": {
                "250": [
                    "lobby3Key",
                    "lobby4Key"
                ],
                "prop1Key": "prop1Val",
                "prop2Key": "prop2Val",
                "lobby4Key": "test1b",
                "lobby3Key": "test1a",
                "map_name": "mymap",
                "turn": 1
            },
            "DEBUG_EVENTS_19": {
                "0": [
                    [
                        3,
                        0,
                        "data"
                    ],
                    [
                        3,
                        0,
                        "data"
                    ],
                    [
                        3,
                        0,
                        "data"
                    ]
                ]
            }
        }
    },
    "Type": "Event",
    "UserId": "MyUserId0",
    "NickName": "MyPlayer0",
    "EvCode": 0
}

PathLeave

This hook is triggered whenever an actor is disconnected from Photon game servers.
A disconnect could happen for several reasons.
The webhook itself tells you about that reason in a human readable form within its Type and in a coded way, see Reason.

Specific Arguments

Type: readable form of the reason that could be one of the following values:

• ClientDisconnect: Indicates that the client called OpLeaveRoom() or Disconnect().

• ClientTimeoutDisconnect: Indicates that client has timed-out server.
  This is valid only when using UDP/ENET.

• ManagedDisconnect: Indicates client is too slow to handle data sent.

• ServerDisconnect: Indicates low level protocol error which can be caused by data corruption.

• TimeoutDisconnect: Indicates that the server has timed-out client. Find additional info in the doc on analyzing disconnects .

• LeaveRequest: Indicates that the client explicitly abandoned the room by calling OpLeaveRoom() OpLeaveRoom(false).

• PlayerTtlTimedOut: Indicates that the inactive actor timed-out, meaning the PlayerTtL of the room expired for that actor.
  See the API doc for your SDK for additional info.

• PeerLastTouchTimedOut: Indicates a very unusual scenario where the actor did not send anything to Photon Servers for 5 minutes.
  Normally peers timeout long before that but Photon does a check for every connected peer's timestamp of the last exchange with the servers (called LastTouch) every 5 minutes.

• PluginRequest: Indicates that the actor was removed from ActorList by plugin.

• PluginFailedJoin: Indicates an internal error in Photon Server webhooks implementation.

IsInactive: Refers to the state of the actor before leaving the Room. If set to true then the actor can rejoin the game. If set to false, then the actor left for good and is removed from ActorList and can't rejoin the game.

Reason: Code of the Reason

The tables below match each type to its code and explain how the webhook is produced and how the player presence in the room is affected.

RoomOptions.PlayerTTL set to 0 upon Room Creation

Actors of a room where RoomOptions.PlayerTTL == 0 can never be in the inactive state and will be removed from the ActorList as soon as they leave.
IsPersistent option will be ignored as by design room state should be saved only if the room contains at least one inactive actor.

Any event that triggers the PathLeave webhook will result in removing the respective actor from the room.
Do not try and check if such actor is active or not ;)
OpLeaveRoom(true) will no longer be of use and PlayerTtlTimedOut type of PathLeave can not happen in this situation.

Type	Reason	Trigger	Inactive
ClientDisconnect	0	a call to Disconnect()	false
ClientTimeoutDisconnect	1	called by Photon server	false
ManagedDisconnect	2	called by Photon server	false
ServerDisconnect	3	called by Photon server	false
TimeoutDisconnect	4	called by Photon server	false
LeaveRequest	101	a call to OpLeaveRoom()	false
PlayerTtlTimedOut	102	N/A	N/A
PeerLastTouchTimedout	103	called by Photon server	false
PluginRequest	104	called by plugin	false
PluginFailedJoin	105	called by Photon server	false

RoomOptions.PlayerTTL != 0 upon Room Creation

Type	Reason	Trigger	IsInactive
ClientDisconnect	0	a call to Disconnect()	true
ClientTimeoutDisconnect	1	called by Photon server	true
ManagedDisconnect	2	called by Photon server	true
ServerDisconnect	3	called by Photon server	true
TimeoutDisconnect	4	called by Photon server	true
LeaveRequest	101	a call to OpLeaveRoom()	false
PlayerTtlTimedOut	102	called by Photon server	false
PeerLastTouchTimedout	103	called by Photon server	false
PluginRequest	104	called by plugin	false
PluginFailedJoin	105	called by Photon server	false

Sample Call

JSON

{
    "ActorNr": 1,
    "AppVersion": "client-x.y.z",
    "AppId": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
    "GameId": "MyRoom",
    "IsInactive": true,
    "Reason": "0",
    "Region": "EU",
    "Type": "ClientDisconnect",
    "UserId": "MyUserId1",
    "NickName": "MyPlayer1"
}

PathClose

This hook is fired just before removing a room instance from memory in the Photon Server.
This happens only when the EmptyRoomTTL has expired.
EmptyRoomTTL is set when creating the room and it is a timer that starts when the room becomes empty.
A room is considered empty when the last active actor in the room leaves it.

In case IsPersistent is set to true, Photon Server will send the State which is a serialized snapshot of the room that contains its properties and information about the actors and cached events.
In this case, the Type of the webhook will have the Save value.

In case IsPersistent is set to false, which is the default state, the Type is Close and the State is not sent and the room is lost for ever.

Specific Arguments

ActorCount: the number of inactive actors. If 0 then Type should be "Close".

PathClose, Type: "Save"

State: a serialized snapshot of the room's full state

Sample Call

JSON

{
    "ActorCount": 2,
    "AppVersion": "client-x.y.z",
    "AppId": "00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000",
    "GameId": "MyRoom",
    "Region": "EU",
    "State": {
        "ActorCounter": 3,
        "ActorList": [
            {
                "ActorNr": 1,
                "UserId": "MyUserId1",
                "NickName": "MyPlayer1",
                "Binary": "RGIAAAEBRAAAAAJzAAlw...",
                "DEBUG_BINARY": {
                    "1": {
                        "255": "MyPlayer1",
                        "player_id": "12345"
                    }
                }
            },
            {
                "ActorNr": 3,
                "UserId": "MyUserId0",
                "NickName": "MyPlayer0",
                "Binary": "RGIAAAEBRAAAAAFi/3MA...",
                "DEBUG_BINARY": {
                    "1": {
                        "255": "MyPlayer0"
                    }
                }
            }
        ],
        "Binary": {
            "18": "RAAAAAdzAAhwcm9wMUtl...",
            "19": "RGl6AAEAAAAAAAN6AANp..."
        },
        "CheckUserOnJoin": true,
        "CustomProperties": {
            "lobby4Key": "test1b",
            "lobby3Key": "test1a"
        },
        "DeleteCacheOnLeave": false,
        "EmptyRoomTTL": 0,
        "IsOpen": true,
        "IsVisible": true,
        "LobbyType": 0,
        "LobbyProperties": [
            "lobby3Key",
            "lobby4Key"
        ],
        "MaxPlayers": 4,
        "PlayerTTL": 2147483647,
        "SuppressRoomEvents": false,
        "Slice": 0,
        "DebugInfo": {
            "DEBUG_PROPERTIES_18": {
                "250": [
                    "lobby3Key",
                    "lobby4Key"
                ],
                "prop1Key": "prop1Val",
                "prop2Key": "prop2Val",
                "lobby4Key": "test1b",
                "lobby3Key": "test1a",
                "map_name": "mymap",
                "turn": 1
            },
            "DEBUG_EVENTS_19": {
                "0": [
                    [
                        3,
                        0,
                        "data"
                    ],
                    [
                        3,
                        0,
                        "data"
                    ],
                    [
                        3,
                        0,
                        "data"
                    ]
                ]
            }
        }
    },
    "Type": "Save"
}

Stripping Room State

If the size of the room state is a concern for you, you can do few tricks to shrink it and not lose any data.
When saving the room state in your web service you can reduce its size by:

1. Removing some fields that are made for read only debug purpose and will not be used during reconstruction of the room state when loading the room.
   These fields are: CustomProperties, DebugInfo and every DEBUG_BINARY and NickName of each actor inside ActorList.
   These fields are safe to remove as they are ignored when deserializing the room state.

   Here is a full room state returned in PathCreate, Type="Load" webhook:

   JSON

   {
       "ResultCode": 0,
       "Message": "Room State successfully loaded",
       "State": {
           "ActorCounter": 3,
           "ActorList": [
               {
                   "ActorNr": 1,
                   "UserId": "MyUserId1",
                   "NickName": "MyPlayer1",
                   "Binary": "RGIAAAEBRAAAAAJzAAlw...",
                   "DEBUG_BINARY": {
                       "1": {
                           "255": "MyPlayer1",
                           "player_id": "12345"
                       }
                   }
               },
               {
                   "ActorNr": 3,
                   "UserId": "MyUserId0",
                   "NickName": "MyPlayer0",
                   "Binary": "RGIAAAEBRAAAAAFi/3MA...",
                   "DEBUG_BINARY": {
                       "1": {
                           "255": "MyPlayer0"
                       }
                   }
               }
           ],
           "Binary": {
               "18": "RAAAAAdzAAhwcm9wMUtl...",
               "19": "RGl6AAEAAAAAAAN6AANp..."
           },
           "CheckUserOnJoin": true,
           "CustomProperties": {
               "lobby4Key": "test1b",
               "lobby3Key": "test1a"
           },
           "DeleteCacheOnLeave": false,
           "EmptyRoomTTL": 0,
           "IsOpen": true,
           "IsVisible": true,
           "LobbyType": 0,
           "LobbyProperties": [
               "lobby3Key",
               "lobby4Key"
           ],
           "MaxPlayers": 4,
           "PlayerTTL": 2147483647,
           "SuppressRoomEvents": false,
           "Slice": 0,
           "DebugInfo": {
               "DEBUG_PROPERTIES_18": {
                   "250": [
                       "lobby3Key",
                       "lobby4Key"
                   ],
                   "prop1Key": "prop1Val",
                   "prop2Key": "prop2Val",
                   "lobby4Key": "test1b",
                   "lobby3Key": "test1a",
                   "map_name": "mymap",
                   "turn": 1
               },
               "DEBUG_EVENTS_19": {
                   "0": [
                       [
                           3,
                           0,
                           "data"
                       ],
                       [
                           3,
                           0,
                           "data"
                       ],
                       [
                           3,
                           0,
                           "data"
                       ]
                   ]
               }
           }
       }
   }
   

   Here is a stripped version of the room state that could be returned in the same webhook:

   JSON

   {
       "ResultCode": 0,
       "Message": "Room State successfully loaded",
       "State": {
           "ActorCounter": 3,
           "ActorList": [
               {
                   "ActorNr": 1,
                   "UserId": "MyUserId1",
                   "Binary": "RGIAAAEBRAAAAAJzAAlw..."
               },
               {
                   "ActorNr": 3,
                   "UserId": "MyUserId0",
                   "Binary": "RGIAAAEBRAAAAAFi/3MA..."
               }
           ],
           "Binary": {
               "18": "RAAAAAdzAAhwcm9wMUtl...",
               "19": "RGl6AAEAAAAAAAN6AANp..."
           },
           "CheckUserOnJoin": true,
           "DeleteCacheOnLeave": false,
           "EmptyRoomTTL": 0,
           "IsOpen": true,
           "IsVisible": true,
           "LobbyType": 0,
           "LobbyProperties": [
               "lobby3Key",
               "lobby4Key"
           ],
           "MaxPlayers": 4,
           "PlayerTTL": 2147483647,
           "SuppressRoomEvents": false,
           "Slice": 0
       }
   }
   

2. Removing some fields that are considered in your application logic as constants and should not be changed during room lifetime or can be injected by code before returning the state to Photon Servers when loading the room.
   These fields should be added back to their original value before returning the state to Photon Servers. Otherwise the state may become broken.

   Those fields could be any of these:

   • ActorCounter
   • CheckUserOnJoin
   • DeleteCacheOnLeave
   • EmptyRoomTTL
   • IsOpen
   • IsVisible
   • MaxPlayers
   • LobbyId
   • LobbyType
   • LobbyProperties
   • PlayerTTL
   • SuppressRoomEvents
   • Slice

Securing Webhooks

Other than using HTTPS and newer TLS version, you can enforce webhooks security using custom HTTP request headers or query string parameters.
The idea is that you set up one or more "secrets" ("token", "key", etc.) from Photon dashboard that can help you make sure that the incoming HTTP requests are originating from Photon servers.

Back to top