Registries

Shared file

The default registry. List every server in link.json and put the same file on each one.

With "backend": "static", the network is simply the servers list in link.json. Nothing else runs, and nothing leaves your servers.

{
  "serverId": "lobby-1",
  "backend": "static",
  "secret": "k3Jd9...generated on first boot",
  "strategy": "spread",
  "servers": [
    { "id": "lobby-1", "group": "lobby",   "host": "play.example.com", "port": 5520 },
    { "id": "lobby-2", "group": "lobby",   "host": "play.example.com", "port": 5530 },
    { "id": "sw-1",    "group": "skywars", "host": "10.0.0.2",         "port": 5521 },
    { "id": "sw-2",    "group": "skywars", "host": "10.0.0.2",         "port": 5522 }
  ]
}

Set it up

1. Start one server once. It writes link.json with a new random secret.
2. Add every server to servers, with its id, group, host and port.
3. Copy the file to every server, including the secret.
4. On each server, change serverId to that server’s id, or set LINK_SERVER_ID.

Each server must find its own serverId in the list. If it doesn’t, it logs a warning and turns transfers off.

Adding a server

Add it to the list and copy the file to every server again, then restart them. A server that is missing from another server’s list can’t be reached from there.

Limits

• No live player counts. Nothing reports load, so /play takes turns between the servers in a group instead of looking at how full they are. /servers shows no counts.
• No shared player lists. /players, /find and LinkPlugin.players() only know the players on the server you ask.
• No offline detection. Link doesn’t know if a listed server is down. A player sent there gets Hytale’s normal connection error.

When these start to matter, move to Redis or Cloudflare. Only the backend block changes.