multiplayer

Choose based on game type: competitive real-time games need authoritative dedicated servers, cooperative casual games work with host-based setups, turn-based games suit simple client-server, and MMOs require distributed servers. Dedicated servers offer low latency and strong security at higher cost.

State sync transmits game state snapshots and suits simple games with few objects, while input sync transmits only player inputs and works better for action games. Most games use a hybrid approach combining both techniques.

Lag compensation combines client-side prediction, interpolation for smooth remote player movement, reconciliation to fix mispredictions, and server-side rewinding for accurate hit detection. Design your game to tolerate 100-200ms latency.

Make the server the sole authority: validate movement to stop speed hacks, validate sight lines against aimbots, keep inventory server-side to prevent item duplication, and never send hidden data to clients to block wall hacks. Never trust the client.

Send position updates at 20-60 Hz, while health, inventory, and chat should only be sent on change or on send. Reduce bandwidth further with delta compression, quantization, priority ordering, and area-of-interest filtering.