Skip to main content
Version: 1.5.2

Your Netcode "Hello World" Project

A "Hello World" program is a computer program that outputs or displays the message "Hello, World!". Normally it's the first program written by people learning to code. it's also used as a sanity test to make sure that a computer language is correctly installed and that the operator understands how to use it.

This "Hello World" tutorial walks you through creating a project, installing Netcode for GameObjects (Netcode), and creating the basic components for your first networked game. it's also the base for the Golden Path series.

note

The videos on this page were removed because they were out-of-date and caused more confusion than help. All videos in the Hello World and Golden Path series will be recreated and added back at a later time.

Create a new project in Unity​

  1. Open the Unity Hub.
  2. Click New.
  3. Select type ‘3D’
  4. Name the project Hello World.
  5. Select the location you want to save the project.

Install Netcode​

See the install Netcode guide to install the Netcode package.

Create the Basic Components​

In this section we will create the basic building blocks of a multiplayer game.

Creating Network Manager and selecting the Transport​

In this section we add a Network Manager and add Unity Transport (UTP) to our project. The NetworkManager is the component that has all your project's netcode-related settings. UTP is the transport layer that Netcode uses for communication between the server and the clients. See here for more.

  1. Right-click in the Hierarchy tab of the main Unity Window.

  2. Select Create Empty.

  3. Rename the GameObject NetworkManager.

    tip

    We renamed the GameObject because:

    • It makes it easier to refer to later.
    • There should only be one NetworkManager, this is the object that has the NetworkManager component. You may get unexpected results if you create more than one NetworkManager.

  4. Select NetworkManager.

  5. Click Add Component in the Inspector Tab.

  6. Select Netcode from the list shown.

  7. Select NetworkManager Component from the list displayed.

  8. Inside the NetworkManager component tab, locate the NetworkTransport field.

  9. Click "Select Transport".

  10. Select UnityTransport.

  11. Save your scene.

Creating an object to spawn for each connected player​

This section adds in a player object and spawns it for each connected player.

  1. Right-click in the Hierarchy tab of the Unity Window to create a 3D Object > Capsule

  2. Rename it Player.

  3. While Player is selected, add a Netcode > NetworkObject component in the Inspector Tab.

  4. Click the Assets folder under the Project tab.

  5. Right-click inside the Assets folder to Create > Folder and call it Prefabs.

  6. Make Player a Prefab by dragging it to Prefabs folder you just created.

  7. Delete Player from scene.

    tip

    We remove the Player object from the scene because we assign this network Prefab to the Player Prefab property in the NetworkManager component. The library does not support defining a player object as an in-scene placed NetworkObject.

  8. Select NetworkManager.

  9. Inside the NetworkManager component tab, locate the Player Prefab field.

  10. Drag this player Prefab from above into this field.

    info

    When you drop the Prefab into the Player Prefab slot, you are telling the library that when a client connects to the game, automatically spawn this Prefab as the character for the connecting client. If you don't have any Prefab set as the Player Prefab no player object will be spawned.

  11. Create a 3D Object->Plane, centered at (0,0,0).

  12. Save your scene

Adding your scene to the build​

info

When 'Enable Scene Management' is enabled for the NetworkManager (allowing the server to control which scenes should be loaded for the clients), we must ensure that the current scene has been added to the build, otherwise, we will be unable to enter play mode. This option is enabled by default.

  1. Click File > Build Settings, in the upper-left corner of the Unity window
  2. Click Add Open Scenes
  3. Close the Build Settings window.

Creating a command line helper​

This command line helper will allow us to launch builds with a command line argument that will start a networking session, either as a server, host, or client. This can make testing builds easier.

  1. Right-click the Assets folder and create a new folder by hovering over Create and selecting Folder. Name it Scripts.

  2. Create a script called NetworkCommandLine by right-clicking on your Scripts folder, hovering over Create and selecting C# Script.

  3. In the Hierarchy menu, right-click on the NetworkManager and choose Create Empty.

    This will create an empty GameObject with NetworkManager as its parent.

  4. Rename this child GameObject NetworkCommandLine.

  5. With the new NetworkCommandLine object selected, click Add Component from the Inspector tab.

  6. Select Scripts from the drop-down and click on the NetworkCommandLine.cs script you created earlier.

  7. Open the NetworkCommandLine.cs script by double-clicking from the Project tab > Assets > Scripts. It will open in your text editor

  8. Edit the NetworkCommandLine.cs script to match the following:

Click to show/hide the Code.
using System.Collections.Generic;
using Unity.Netcode;
using UnityEngine;

public class NetworkCommandLine : MonoBehaviour
{
   private NetworkManager netManager;

   void Start()
   {
       netManager = GetComponentInParent<NetworkManager>();

       if (Application.isEditor) return;

       var args = GetCommandlineArgs();

       if (args.TryGetValue("-mode", out string mode))
       {
           switch (mode)
           {
               case "server":
                   netManager.StartServer();
                   break;
               case "host":
                   netManager.StartHost();
                   break;
               case "client":
         
                   netManager.StartClient();
                   break;
           }
       }
   }

   private Dictionary<string, string> GetCommandlineArgs()
   {
       Dictionary<string, string> argDictionary = new Dictionary<string, string>();

       var args = System.Environment.GetCommandLineArgs();

       for (int i = 0; i < args.Length; ++i)
       {
           var arg = args[i].ToLower();
           if (arg.StartsWith("-"))
           {
               var value = i < args.Length - 1 ? args[i + 1].ToLower() : null;
               value = (value?.StartsWith("-") ?? false) ? null : value;

               argDictionary.Add(arg, value);
           }
       }
       return argDictionary;
   }
}
  1. Paste the copied code into your code editor.
  2. Save your changes. Your script will reload in the Unity Editor.
  3. Back in the Editor, open Edit -> Project Settings
  4. Select the Player tab.
  5. Expand the Resolution and Presentation.
  6. From Resolution > Fullscreen Mode, change Fullscreen Window to Windowed.
  7. Back to the Editor main window, save your scene.
tip

If you are using a Pro Unity license, you may want to disable the splash screen by unchecking Splash Image > Splash Screen > Show Splash Screen.

Testing the command line helper​

Now we will test that the command line helper script works.

  1. Select File > Build and Run.
  2. Create a new folder called Build inside your Hello World project folder.
  3. Save As the binary HelloWorld.
  4. Your project will build and launch in a new window, and you should see the plane.
  5. Quit your app.
  6. Now to launch from the command line.
For Windows you should do the following:
  1. Open your Command Prompt.
  2. Enter the following. Be sure to change the noted section < > of both commands to your project.
note

You may get a UAC prompt requesting permission for the binary to run you should allow it.

Server: 

<Path to Project>\Build\HelloWorld.exe -mode server

Client:

<path to project>\Build\HelloWorld.exe -mode client

To run these commands on a single line:

HelloWorld\Build\HelloWorld.exe -mode server & HelloWorld\Build\HelloWorld.exe -mode client

Example:

C:\Users\sarao>HelloWorld\Build\HelloWorld.exe -mode server & HelloWorld\Build\HelloWorld.exe -mode client
info

On Windows, no standard out stream exists by default, so you will need to view the Debug.log file to see the outputs. You can find the Debug.log files in:

C:\Users\username\AppData\LocalLow\CompanyName\ProductName\Player.log

Where the CompanyName should default to DefaultCompany for a new project and ProductName should be equal to the project's name.

Alternatively you can modify the Windows commands to create a log.txt file in the same folder as your HelloWorld folder.

Modify the commands as follows:

Server: 

<Path to Project>\Build\HelloWorld.exe -logfile log-server.txt -mode server

Client:

<Path to Project>\Build\HelloWorld.exe  -logfile log-client.txt -mode client

Example (Running as a single command line):

C:\Users\sarao>HelloWorld\Build\HelloWorld.exe -logfile -log-server.txt -mode server & HelloWorld\Build\HelloWorld.exe -logfile log-client.txt -mode client

Testing Hello World​

Route 1 - Editor​

Now, to see if everything works as expected we can test starting a host in the editor. A host plays the role of a server and a client at the same time.

  1. Click Play.
  2. Click the Start Host button in the NetworkManager GameObject's inspector.
  3. You should now see your scene with your Player Prefab spawned.

Route 2 - Command Line​

You can also use the command line helper to launch a server and one or more clients to connect to the server. You should see just the plane on the server until the first client connects. Then, a new Player Prefab will be spawned by Netcode for each connected client; however, they will be overlapped in the game view.

Next Steps​

See the following content to continue your journey using Netcode: