DorkNet/docs/photon-setup.md

Getting your Photon AppIds

DorkNet uses Photon Cloud for in-room realtime sync (positions, voice, matchmaking). It's free for small private servers and the launcher never ships one — you bring your own. This guide walks through getting one if the in-app walkthrough doesn't work for you (e.g. you're using the Linux/macOS dorknet-server CLI).

You only need to do this once. The AppIds are saved on your host machine and embedded into the join code so your friends never see them.

What you're getting

• Realtime AppId — required. Powers position sync, room state, RPCs. Free Photon plan covers 20 concurrent users which is enough for a friends-only server.
• Voice AppId — optional. Powers in-game voice chat. Skip it if your group uses Discord on the side.

Both are GUIDs that look like abc12345-6789-.... Treat them like loose credentials: they're not secret-secret (the join code carries them to joiners), but don't paste them in public chat.

---

Step 1 — Sign up

Go to dashboard.photonengine.com and click "Sign up". Email + password; the free tier doesn't ask for a card.

If you already have an account from another project, log in instead. Multiple DorkNet servers can share the same Photon account, but each server needs its own AppId pair so concurrent player counts don't collide.

Step 2 — Create a Realtime app

After login, click CREATE A NEW APP on the dashboard. The form asks for:

• Photon Type — pick Photon SDK. Not Fusion, not Quantum, not Bolt.
• Name — anything you'll recognise later ("DorkNet Realtime", "Sunday Server", etc.). Joiners don't see this.
• Description — optional.

Click CREATE.

Step 3 — Copy the Realtime AppId

You land back on the dashboard with your new app at the top. The AppId is the long string under the app name — click it to copy.

That's your Realtime AppId. Paste it into:

• the launcher's first-run wizard step 4, REALTIME APPID field, OR
• the launcher's Host view → Photon Cloud panel → REALTIME APPID, OR
• the CLI: dorknet-server --photon-id <paste-here>

Step 4 — (Optional) Create a Voice app

If you want in-game voice chat, repeat Step 2 with Photon Voice selected instead of Realtime. Same flow.

Copy the Voice AppId from the dashboard the same way as Step 3 and paste it into:

• the wizard's VOICE APPID field, OR
• the launcher's Host view → Photon Cloud panel → VOICE APPID · OPTIONAL, OR
• the CLI: --voice-id <paste-here>

Step 5 — Pick a region

Both apps default to a global routing layer, but for the lowest latency you want all your players hitting the same Photon datacenter.

In the launcher, CLOUD REGION sits below the AppId fields:

Code	Region
us	US East (default)
eu	EU Amsterdam
asia	Asia Singapore
jp	Japan Tokyo
sa	South America São Paulo
kr	Korea Seoul
in	India Chennai
au	Australia Sydney

Pick the region closest to most of your players. The CLI flag is --region <code>.

All joiners must use the same region as the host. This is baked into the join code, so as long as everyone uses the same code, they'll match. If you change the region later, regenerate the code.

Step 6 — Paste into DorkNet

That's it. In the launcher:

1. Open the Host view.
2. Paste Realtime AppId under Photon Cloud.
3. Paste Voice AppId (if you made one).
4. Pick the Cloud Region.
5. Click START HOSTING when ready.

For the CLI:

dorknet-server \
  --photon-id <realtime-appid> \
  --voice-id  <voice-appid>      # optional \
  --region    eu                 # whatever region you picked \
  --name      "Sunday games"

---

What's safe to share

Value	Share with friends?	Why
Realtime AppId	Yes (via join code)	The launcher embeds it into the join code so joiners can connect.
Voice AppId	Yes (via join code)	Same.
Photon dashboard login	No	Anyone with your login can delete your apps + see usage logs.
Photon billing details	No	Self-explanatory.

If you accidentally publish an AppId somewhere public, you can rotate it: delete the app in the Photon dashboard, create a new one, paste the new AppId into DorkNet. Existing join codes stop working; share new ones.

Free tier limits

At time of writing the Photon free tier covers:

• 20 concurrent users (CCU) — i.e. 20 people simultaneously connected through your Realtime app
• 60 messages/second/user
• No card required, no expiry

For a friends-and-family server this is enough. You'll see a warning on the Photon dashboard if you start hitting limits; the paid plans bump the CCU cap.

Troubleshooting

"Photon CustomAuth 401" in the server log

The Realtime AppId on the server doesn't match what got embedded in your patched client. Either:

• You changed the AppId in the launcher after applying the patch — re-share the join code and have joiners re-patch.
• You're running an older patched client from a previous join code — re-patch with the current one.

Joiner can't reach the room (game stuck loading)

Region mismatch. Both sides must use the same region. Confirm in your launcher's CLOUD REGION dropdown; ask your friend to re-patch with your latest join code.

Voice chat is silent

You either didn't set a Voice AppId, or you set one but the joiner's patched client doesn't have it. Re-patch with a fresh join code that includes both AppIds.