DorkNet/README.md

DorkNet — december-2020-12-18

This is the December 2020.12.18 branch of DorkNet — a self-hostable reimplementation of the Rec Room backend tuned to the wire protocol of the Rec Room 2020.12.18 client build.

⚠️ Not affiliated with Rec Room Inc. or Against Gravity. See DISCLAIMER. DorkNet ships no Rec Room game assets or modified binaries — you supply your own legally-acquired Rec Room 2020.12.18 install.

If you're not sure which DorkNet branch you want, start at the main branch's chart. The launcher on main also auto-detects your install.

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What this branch targets

Client build	Rec Room 2020.12.18
Version key (sent as X-DorkNet-Version header)	december_2020_12_18
Version plugin	DorkNet.Server/Versions/Late2020/Late2020VersionPlugin.cs
Schema	One EF Initial migration; SQLite + Postgres both work
Diverges from march-2020-03-10 by	~170 files

Subsystems present on this branch that the March branch doesn't have:

• Chat threads + group DMs (ChatThreads, ChatThreadMembers)
• Clubs surface (clubs.{apex}/* — announcements, categories, subscriptions)
• Playlists (curated + user-created)
• Weekly challenges
• Room keys (purchasable room access)
• Room roles (per-room co-owner / moderator / host grants)
• Leaderboard channel metadata
• Loading-screen tips

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Quickstart

1. Install .NET 9 SDK and (optionally) dotnet-ef:

dotnet tool install --global dotnet-ef

2. Clone this branch:

git clone --branch december-2020-12-18 https://github.com/DorkSquadRR/DorkNet
cd DorkNet

3. Configure secrets. Drop in DorkNet.Server/appsettings.Local.json (gitignored) or export environment variables:

Config key	Env var	Required	Notes
Jwt:Secret	Jwt__Secret	yes	≥64 random chars
Photon:AppId	Photon__AppId	yes	Photon Realtime AppId (free at dashboard.photonengine.com)
Photon:VoiceAppId	Photon__VoiceAppId	no	only if voice chat
Photon:CloudRegion	Photon__CloudRegion	no	defaults to us
Database:Provider	Database__Provider	no	sqlite (default) or postgres
ConnectionStrings:Default	ConnectionStrings__Default	postgres-only	full Npgsql connection string
ConnectionStrings:Redis	ConnectionStrings__Redis	no	enables SignalR backplane
Domain:Apex	DORKNET_DOMAIN	no	defaults to localhost; set for production

4. Boot:

dotnet run --project DorkNet.Server

First boot creates bin/Debug/net9.0/data/dorknet.db, runs every LegacyUpgrades pass, seeds canonical rooms / store catalog / club categories / playlists, and starts listening. You should see Application started. in the log; curl http://localhost:8080/healthz returns 200.

For a full Docker / VPS deploy, see main's Advanced setup guide.

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Patching your client

.\tools\install-melon.ps1 `
  -RecRoomPath "C:\Path\To\Recroom_Release_Data" `
  -PhotonAppId "<your-photon-realtime-app-id>" `
  -PhotonVoiceAppId "<your-photon-voice-app-id>"

This installs the MelonLoader mod (DorkNet.ClientMod) into the client's Mods/ folder and writes its config to MelonLoader/UserData/dorknet-clientmod.json. The mod rewrites all *.rec.net URIs to your configured DorkNet apex, swaps the Photon AppIds, and bypasses TLS verification on the client's HTTPS calls so self-signed certs work. (First run prints "launch the game once"; do that, then re-run with -ResumeBuild to finish — see the script's -? help.)

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Code map

Folder	Purpose
DorkNet.Server/	ASP.NET Core backend (controllers, services, data, hubs, middleware)
DorkNet.Models/	DTOs shared between server and client mod
DorkNet.ClientMod/	MelonLoader IL2CPP mod — the client patcher
tools/	Installers (install-melon.ps1, install-legacy-client.ps1, remove-eac.ps1), Cloudflare tunnel templates

See docs/architecture.md for the full mental model (project layout, request lifecycle, watch-mirror controller pattern, where to start contributing).

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Database & migrations

One EF migration (Migrations/<timestamp>_Initial.cs) captures the schema. SQLite dev DBs apply it via Database.Migrate(); Postgres uses EnsureCreated() behind a transaction-scoped advisory lock. The entity model is the single source of truth — to add a column, edit the entity, boot, done (on SQLite — Postgres prod needs a migration).

Data transforms that can't be schema (seed renames, computed backfills) go in DorkNet.Server/Data/LegacyUpgrades.cs. See DorkNet.Server/Data/MIGRATIONS.md for the full discipline.

Tables added after the consolidated Initial migration (e.g. SignupCodes / PendingDevices) are created by an idempotent CREATE TABLE IF NOT EXISTS step in Startup/DatabaseBootstrap.cs so both providers pick them up on existing DBs without a new migration (the Postgres path is EnsureCreated-only and never replays migrations).

Signup codes

When account creation is disabled (admin Server settings), the only way in is an admin-issued single-use signup code: generate one in the admin panel's Signup codes page (with a descriptor + optional expiry), hand it to the player, and they redeem it on the site's /join page — which creates their account bound to the device their game client reported, so the next launch logs straight in.

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Contributing

See main's CONTRIBUTING guide for the project-wide rules.

Branch-specific: schema changes on this branch don't flow to march-2020-03-10 automatically. If a fix applies to both, cherry-pick it across. Don't rebase across branches.

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License

AGPL-3.0. Hosted forks must publish their source.