Server architecture processes and projects

The server's processes, their ports, databases and broker queues, how they're configured and started, and how the 44 projects in the solution are layered. How it all fits together is on Server architecture.

Processes

What runs

As declared by the Aspire host:

Aspire name	Project	Listens on	Databases	Broker queue	Also needs
sts-server	StsServer	TCP 6600	Auth
auth-server	AuthServer	TCP 23115	Auth
world-server	WorldServer	TCP 24000, HTTP 5000	Auth, Character, World	WorldServer_1	Tables, maps, scripts, Realm:RealmId
character-api	API.Character	HTTP 4000	Auth, Character
account-api	API.Account	HTTP 4001	Auth
chat-server	Server.ChatServer		Chat	ChatServer	Character API, tables
group-server	Server.GroupServer		Group	GroupServer	Character API
friendship-server	Server.Friendship		Friendship	FriendshipServer	Account API, Character API, tables
character-server	Server.Character		Query	CharacterServer	Character API
database-migrations	Aspire.Database.Migrations		All seven		Runs once: migrations, a starter account, the world database import

Under Aspire, the three game ports bind to 127.0.0.1 on stable and to every interface upstream. The HTTP ports bind to localhost.

Start order

1. The MySQL and RabbitMQ containers.
2. database-migrations, to completion.
3. Every server and API. The broker-only servers also wait for the Character API, and friendship-server for the Account API too. character-server waits for its database and the Character API, but not for the migrations.

Configuration

Each process reads <Name>.json from its own folder, then environment variables, which win. The Aspire host sets these per process:

Key	Set from
Network:Host, Network:Port	The host's TCP endpoint for that server
Database:<Name>:ConnectionString, Database:<Name>:Provider	The MySQL container's database for that name
Network:Internal:Broker, Network:Internal:ConnectionString, Network:Internal:InputQueue	The RabbitMQ container, and the queue in the table above
API:<Name>:Host	The Character or Account API's address
Realm:RealmId	1, for the world server
urls	The HTTP endpoint, for anything with a web host

Everything else, such as table and map paths, still comes from the JSON file.

Projects

Layers

Each layer depends only on the layers above it.

Layer	Projects	Holds
Leaves	Game.Static, Shared, IO, Cryptography, Network.Sts	Enums and flags; configuration and the world thread; file readers; SRP6; STS messages
Wire	Network, Network.World, Network.Auth, Network.Internal	Sessions, framing and the opcode list; client message models; auth messages; broker message contracts
Data	GameTable, Database, Database.Auth, Database.Character, Database.World, Database.Chat, Database.Group, Database.Friendship, Database.Query	Game table readers and row models; database contexts, models and migrations
Contracts	Game.Abstract	An interface for every game system
Script engine	Script	Compiling, loading, watching and binding scripts
Logic	Game	The implementations, one folder per system
Hosts	WorldServer, AuthServer, StsServer, Server.*, API.*	Composition, message handlers, GM commands
Content	Script.Main, Script.Instance, Script.Alizar, Script.Olyssia, Script.Arcterra, Script.Farside, Script.Isigrol	Content scripts
Tools	MapGenerator, ClientConnector, Aspire.AppHost, Aspire.Database.Migrations	Table and map extraction, client launching, orchestration, migrations

All project names start with NexusForever..

Where a question lands

Question	Look in
What does this client packet look like?	Source/NexusForever.Network.World/Message/Model/<Feature>/
What's its opcode?	Source/NexusForever.Network/Message/GameMessageOpcode.cs
Who handles it?	Source/NexusForever.WorldServer/Network/Message/Handler/
What crosses the broker?	Source/NexusForever.Network.Internal/Message/, handled in Source/NexusForever.WorldServer/Network/Internal/Handler/ or the owning Server.* project
What is this enum value?	Source/NexusForever.Game.Static/
What does this game table row hold?	Source/NexusForever.GameTable/Model/
How does this system behave?	Source/NexusForever.Game/<System>/, with its interface in Source/NexusForever.Game.Abstract/
What does this GM command do?	Source/NexusForever.WorldServer/Command/
What's in this database table?	Source/NexusForever.Database.<Name>/Model/, with migrations beside it

Stack

Piece	Version
.NET and C#	.NET 10, C# 14
Aspire hosting	13.4.6
EF Core	10.0.10, on Microting.EntityFrameworkCore.MySql 10.0.9
Rebus	8.9.2, with RabbitMQ or Azure Service Bus transports
Quartz	3.18.2
NLog	6.1.4
Nexus.Archive	1.0.1, for the client's index and archive files

Package versions are pinned centrally in Source/Directory.Packages.props. The solution has no test project.

Where the code lives

Piece	Path
The deployment	Source/NexusForever.Aspire.AppHost/Program.cs
How the host sets each process's keys	Source/NexusForever.Aspire.AppHost/ResourceBuilderExtensions.cs
The solution	Source/NexusForever.slnx
Package versions	Source/Directory.Packages.props
Example configs	Source/NexusForever.<Project>/<Name>.example.json