SearchGameSessions
Retrieves all active game sessions that match a set of search criteria and sorts them into a specified order.
This operation is not designed to be continually called to track game session status.
This practice can cause you to exceed your API limit, which results in errors. Instead,
you must configure configure an Amazon Simple Notification Service (SNS) topic to receive notifications from
FlexMatch or queues. Continuously polling game session status with
DescribeGameSessions
should only be used for games in development with
low game session usage.
When searching for game sessions, you specify exactly where you want to search and provide a search filter expression, a sort expression, or both. A search request can search only one fleet, but it can search all of a fleet's locations.
This operation can be used in the following ways:
-
To search all game sessions that are currently running on all locations in a fleet, provide a fleet or alias ID. This approach returns game sessions in the fleet's home Region and all remote locations that fit the search criteria.
-
To search all game sessions that are currently running on a specific fleet location, provide a fleet or alias ID and a location name. For location, you can specify a fleet's home Region or any remote location.
Use the pagination parameters to retrieve results as a set of sequential pages.
If successful, a GameSession
object is returned for each game session
that matches the request. Search finds game sessions that are in ACTIVE
status only. To retrieve information on game sessions in other statuses, use DescribeGameSessions .
You can search or sort by the following game session attributes:
-
gameSessionId -- A unique identifier for the game session. You can use either a
GameSessionId
orGameSessionArn
value. -
gameSessionName -- Name assigned to a game session. Game session names do not need to be unique to a game session.
-
gameSessionProperties -- Custom data defined in a game session's
GameProperty
parameter.GameProperty
values are stored as key:value pairs; the filter expression must indicate the key and a string to search the data values for. For example, to search for game sessions with custom data containing the key:value pair "gameMode:brawl", specify the following:gameSessionProperties.gameMode = "brawl"
. All custom data values are searched as strings. -
maximumSessions -- Maximum number of player sessions allowed for a game session.
-
creationTimeMillis -- Value indicating when a game session was created. It is expressed in Unix time as milliseconds.
-
playerSessionCount -- Number of players currently connected to a game session. This value changes rapidly as players join the session or drop out.
-
hasAvailablePlayerSessions -- Boolean value indicating whether a game session has reached its maximum number of players. It is highly recommended that all search requests include this filter attribute to optimize search performance and return only sessions that players can join.
Note
Returned values for playerSessionCount
and
hasAvailablePlayerSessions
change quickly as players join sessions
and others drop out. Results should be considered a snapshot in time. Be sure to
refresh search results often, and handle sessions that fill up before a player can
join.
Request Syntax
{
"AliasId": "string
",
"FilterExpression": "string
",
"FleetId": "string
",
"Limit": number
,
"Location": "string
",
"NextToken": "string
",
"SortExpression": "string
"
}
Request Parameters
For information about the parameters that are common to all actions, see Common Parameters.
The request accepts the following data in JSON format.
Note
In the following list, the required parameters are described first.
- AliasId
-
A unique identifier for the alias associated with the fleet to search for active game sessions. You can use either the alias ID or ARN value. Each request must reference either a fleet ID or alias ID, but not both.
Type: String
Pattern:
^alias-\S+|^arn:.*:alias\/alias-\S+
Required: No
- FilterExpression
-
String containing the search criteria for the session search. If no filter expression is included, the request returns results for all game sessions in the fleet that are in
ACTIVE
status.A filter expression can contain one or multiple conditions. Each condition consists of the following:
-
Operand -- Name of a game session attribute. Valid values are
gameSessionName
,gameSessionId
,gameSessionProperties
,maximumSessions
,creationTimeMillis
,playerSessionCount
,hasAvailablePlayerSessions
. -
Comparator -- Valid comparators are:
=
,<>
,<
,>
,<=
,>=
. -
Value -- Value to be searched for. Values may be numbers, boolean values (true/false) or strings depending on the operand. String values are case sensitive and must be enclosed in single quotes. Special characters must be escaped. Boolean and string values can only be used with the comparators
=
and<>
. For example, the following filter expression searches ongameSessionName
: "FilterExpression": "gameSessionName = 'Matt\\'s Awesome Game 1'"
.
To chain multiple conditions in a single expression, use the logical keywords
AND
,OR
, andNOT
and parentheses as needed. For example:x AND y AND NOT z
,NOT (x OR y)
.Session search evaluates conditions from left to right using the following precedence rules:
-
=
,<>
,<
,>
,<=
,>=
-
Parentheses
-
NOT
-
AND
-
OR
For example, this filter expression retrieves game sessions hosting at least ten players that have an open player slot:
"maximumSessions>=10 AND hasAvailablePlayerSessions=true"
.Type: String
Length Constraints: Minimum length of 1. Maximum length of 1024.
Required: No
-
- FleetId
-
A unique identifier for the fleet to search for active game sessions. You can use either the fleet ID or ARN value. Each request must reference either a fleet ID or alias ID, but not both.
Type: String
Pattern:
^fleet-\S+|^arn:.*:fleet\/fleet-\S+
Required: No
- Limit
-
The maximum number of results to return. Use this parameter with
NextToken
to get results as a set of sequential pages. The maximum number of results returned is 20, even if this value is not set or is set higher than 20.Type: Integer
Valid Range: Minimum value of 1.
Required: No
- Location
-
A fleet location to search for game sessions. You can specify a fleet's home Region or a remote location. Use the AWS Region code format, such as
us-west-2
.Type: String
Length Constraints: Minimum length of 1. Maximum length of 64.
Pattern:
^[A-Za-z0-9\-]+
Required: No
- NextToken
-
A token that indicates the start of the next sequential page of results. Use the token that is returned with a previous call to this operation. To start at the beginning of the result set, do not specify a value.
Type: String
Length Constraints: Minimum length of 1. Maximum length of 1024.
Required: No
- SortExpression
-
Instructions on how to sort the search results. If no sort expression is included, the request returns results in random order. A sort expression consists of the following elements:
-
Operand -- Name of a game session attribute. Valid values are
gameSessionName
,gameSessionId
,gameSessionProperties
,maximumSessions
,creationTimeMillis
,playerSessionCount
,hasAvailablePlayerSessions
. -
Order -- Valid sort orders are
ASC
(ascending) andDESC
(descending).
For example, this sort expression returns the oldest active sessions first:
"SortExpression": "creationTimeMillis ASC"
. Results with a null value for the sort operand are returned at the end of the list.Type: String
Length Constraints: Minimum length of 1. Maximum length of 1024.
Required: No
-
Response Syntax
{
"GameSessions": [
{
"CreationTime": number,
"CreatorId": "string",
"CurrentPlayerSessionCount": number,
"DnsName": "string",
"FleetArn": "string",
"FleetId": "string",
"GameProperties": [
{
"Key": "string",
"Value": "string"
}
],
"GameSessionData": "string",
"GameSessionId": "string",
"IpAddress": "string",
"Location": "string",
"MatchmakerData": "string",
"MaximumPlayerSessionCount": number,
"Name": "string",
"PlayerSessionCreationPolicy": "string",
"Port": number,
"Status": "string",
"StatusReason": "string",
"TerminationTime": number
}
],
"NextToken": "string"
}
Response Elements
If the action is successful, the service sends back an HTTP 200 response.
The following data is returned in JSON format by the service.
- GameSessions
-
A collection of objects containing game session properties for each session that matches the request.
Type: Array of GameSession objects
- NextToken
-
A token that indicates where to resume retrieving results on the next call to this operation. If no token is returned, these results represent the end of the list.
Type: String
Length Constraints: Minimum length of 1. Maximum length of 1024.
Errors
For information about the errors that are common to all actions, see Common Errors.
- InternalServiceException
-
The service encountered an unrecoverable internal failure while processing the request. Clients can retry such requests immediately or after a waiting period.
HTTP Status Code: 500
- InvalidRequestException
-
One or more parameter values in the request are invalid. Correct the invalid parameter values before retrying.
HTTP Status Code: 400
- NotFoundException
-
THe requested resources was not found. The resource was either not created yet or deleted.
HTTP Status Code: 400
- TerminalRoutingStrategyException
-
The service is unable to resolve the routing for a particular alias because it has a terminal
RoutingStrategy
associated with it. The message returned in this exception is the message defined in the routing strategy itself. Such requests should only be retried if the routing strategy for the specified alias is modified.HTTP Status Code: 400
- UnauthorizedException
-
The client failed authentication. Clients should not retry such requests.
HTTP Status Code: 400
- UnsupportedRegionException
-
The requested operation is not supported in the Region specified.
HTTP Status Code: 400
Examples
Search game sessions
In this example, we want to find all game sessions that have at least two players already connected. We also want to filter out active game sessions that are not accepting new players.
This example illustrates a search that includes all of the fleet's locations.
The results include a matching game session in the fleet's home Region
(us-west-2
) and another in a remote location
(ca-central-1
).
Sample Request
{"AliasId": "MOG-base",
"FilterExpression": "playerSessionCount>=2 AND hasAvailablePlayerSessions=true",
"Limit": 2
}
CLI syntax:
aws gamelift search-game-sessions --alias-id "MOG-base" --filter-expression "playerSessionCount>=2 AND hasAvailablePlayerSessions=true" --limit 2
Sample Response
{
"GameSessions": [
{
"CreationTime": 1469498468.057,
"CurrentPlayerSessionCount": 5,
"FleetId": "fleet-9999ffff-88ee-77dd-66cc-5555bbbb44aa",
"GameProperties": [
{"Key": "difficulty","Value": "Easy"},
{"Key": "gameMap","Value": "Snowfall"},
{"Key": "gameMode","Value": "Explore"}
],
"GameSessionId": "gsess-4444dddd-55ee-66ff-77aa-8888bbbb99cc",
"IpAddress": "192.0.2.0",
"MaximumPlayerSessionCount": 10,
"Name": "Matt's Awesome Game win123",
"Port": "8080",
"Status": "ACTIVE",
"Location": "us-west-2"
},
{
"CreationTime": 1469498497.792,
"CurrentPlayerSessionCount": 3,
"FleetId": "fleet-9999ffff-88ee-77dd-66cc-5555bbbb44aa",
"GameProperties": [
{"Key": "difficulty","Value": "Insane"},
{"Key": "gameMap","Value": "Dystopia"},
{"Key": "gameMode","Value": "FFA"}
],
"GameSessionId": "gsess-7777dddd-55ee-66ff-44aa-8888bbbb99cc",
"IpAddress": "192.0.2.0",
"MaximumPlayerSessionCount": 10,
"Name": "Matt's Awesome Game win456",
"Port": "8080",
"Status": "ACTIVE",
"Location": "ca-central-1"
}
]
}
Search and sort game sessions
In this example, we want to find all game sessions that allow 20 or more players and are currently accepting new players. We want the results to be sorted so that the newest game sessions are returned first.
This example illustrates a search of a single fleet location. The requested
fleet, which resides in us-west-2, also has game sessions in remote locations,
including ap-southeast-2
. As shown, the results are limited to the
requested fleet location.
Sample Request
{
"FleetId": "fleet-9999ffff-88ee-77dd-66cc-5555bbbb44aa",
"Location": "ap-southeast-2",
"FilterExpression": "maximumSessions>=20 AND hasAvailablePlayerSessions=true",
"SortExpression": "creationTimeMillis DESC"
"Limit": 2
}
CLI syntax:
aws gamelift search-game-sessions --fleet-id "fleet-9999ffff-88ee-77dd-66cc-5555bbbb44aa" --location "ap-southeast-2" --filter-expression "maximumSessions=20 AND hasAvailablePlayerSessions=true" --sort-expression "creationTimeMillis DESC"
Sample Response
{
"GameSessions": [
{
"CreationTime": 1469498497.792,
"CurrentPlayerSessionCount": 3,
"FleetId": "fleet-9999ffff-88ee-77dd-66cc-5555bbbb44aa",
"GameProperties": [
{"Key": "difficulty","Value": "Hard"},
{"Key": "gameMap","Value": "Dystopia"},
{"Key": "gameMode","Value": "Brawl"}
],
"GameSessionId": "gsess-7777dddd-55ee-66ff-44aa-8888bbbb99cc",
"IpAddress": "192.0.2.0",
"MaximumPlayerSessionCount": 20,
"Name": "Matt's Awesome Game win456",
"Port": "8080",
"Status": "ACTIVE",
"Location": "ap-southeast-2"
},
{
"CreationTime": 1469498468.057,
"CurrentPlayerSessionCount": ,
"FleetId": "fleet-9999ffff-88ee-77dd-66cc-5555bbbb44aa",
"GameProperties": [
{"Key": "difficulty","Value": "Easy"},
{"Key": "gameMap","Value": "Snowfall"},
{"Key": "gameMode","Value": "Explore"}
],
"GameSessionId": "gsess-4444dddd-55ee-66ff-77aa-8888bbbb99cc",
"IpAddress": "192.0.2.0",
"MaximumPlayerSessionCount": 50,
"Name": "Matt's Awesome Game win123",
"Port": "8080",
"Status": "ACTIVE",
"Location": "ap-southeast-2"
}
]
}
Search game sessions by custom game data
This example searches for game sessions based on game map and game mode
information, which is stored as custom data in the GameSession
object. The game session property GameProperty
contains custom data
formatted as key:value pairs. In this example, we want to find all game sessions
where the game mode is free-for-all (key:value pair "gameMode:Ffa") and set in
either of two game maps (key:value pair "gameMap:Suzuka" or
"gameMap:Silverstone"). Results are sorted by difficulty levels (key
"difficulty", values "Easy", Normal" "Hard" "Insane"). Note: custom data is
evaluated as a string, so the sorted results will be listed by the alphabetic
order of the difficulty values.
Sample Request
{
"FleetId": "fleet-9999ffff-88ee-77dd-66cc-5555bbbb44aa",
"Location": "us-west-2",
"FilterExpression": "gameSessionProperties.gameMode = 'Ffa' AND gameSessionProperties.gameMap = 'Suzuka' OR gameSessionProperties.gameMap = 'Silverstone'",
"SortExpression": "gameSessionProperties.difficulty ASC"
"Limit": 2
}
CLI syntax:
aws gamelift search-game-sessions --fleet-id "9999ffff-88ee-77dd-66cc-5555bbbb44aa" --filter-expression "gameSessionProperties.gameMode = 'Ffa' AND gameSessionProperties.gameMap = 'Suzuka' OR gameSessionProperties.gameMap = 'Silverstone'" --sort-expression "gameSessionProperties.difficulty DESC"
Sample Response
{
"GameSessions": [
{
"CreationTime": 1469498468.057,
"CurrentPlayerSessionCount": 5,
"FleetId": "fleet-9999ffff-88ee-77dd-66cc-5555bbbb44aa",
"GameProperties": [
{"Key": "difficulty","Value": "Easy"},
{"Key": "gameMap","Value": "Suzuka"},
{"Key": "gameMode","Value": "Ffa"}
],
"GameSessionId": "gsess-4444dddd-55ee-66ff-77aa-8888bbbb99cc",
"IpAddress": "192.0.2.0",
"MaximumPlayerSessionCount": 10,
"Name": "Matt's Awesome Game win123",
"Port": "8080",
"Status": "ACTIVE"
"Location": "us-west-2"
},
{
"CreationTime": 1469498497.792,
"CurrentPlayerSessionCount": 3,
"FleetId": "fleet-9999ffff-88ee-77dd-66cc-5555bbbb44aa",
"GameProperties": [
{"Key": "difficulty","Value": "Normal"},
{"Key": "gameMap","Value": "Silverstone"},
{"Key": "gameMode","Value": "Ffa"}
],
"GameSessionId": "gsess-7777dddd-55ee-66ff-44aa-8888bbbb99cc",
"IpAddress": "192.0.2.0",
"MaximumPlayerSessionCount": 10,
"Name": "Matt's Awesome Game win456",
"Port": "8080",
"Status": "ACTIVE"
"Location": "us-west-2"
}
]
}
See Also
For more information about using this API in one of the language-specific AWS SDKs, see the following: