Technical Understanding the Connect protocol

Coelho · Apr 20, 2013

Concept
The Connect Protocol allows for an optimized stream to ensure efficient data transfer and convenient inter-connectivity. It is a TCP packet structured protocol.

Types
The types used by the protocol are Big-endian byte sequences.

int8: Signed 8-bit integer
uint8: Unsigned 8-bit integer
int16: Signed 16-bit integer
uint16: Unsigned 16-bit integer
int32: Signed 32-bit integer
uint32: Unsigned 32-bit integer
int64: Signed 64-bit integer
uint64: Unsigned 64-bit integer
bool: int8 > 0 comparison
byte: Alias for uint8
string: VarInt sized UTF-8 encoded
varint: Protocol Buffer 32-bit VarInt
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Packet

varint length
varint opcode
length-sized payload
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The payload is handled dependent on the opcode, described in the following.

0x00 Keepalive:
Description: Ping pong keepalive between the client and the server.
Payload:

int32 random: To verify connection integrity.
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0x01 Request:
Description: Signals a request from the client. Normally expects a result.
Payload:

int32 sequence: Incremented by one per request.
uint8 operation: The type of request that is being sent.
uint16 length: The size of the payload.
length-sized payload: The underlying request data.
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0x02 Result:
Description: Normally after a client's request, allows the server to respond.
Payload:

int32 id: The id given by the corresponding request.
uint8 statusCode: Success or failure.
StatusCode = Success (0x00):

uint16 length: The size of the payload.
length-sized payload: The underlying result data.
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0x03: Message Event
Description: Sent by the server when a message request results in a message being sent to your connection.
Payload:

string sender: The client who sent the message.
string channel: Unique channel to ensure the payload is read properly.
uint16 length: The size of the payload.
length-sized payload: The message, commonly encoded UTF-8 for ease of use.
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0x04: Redirect Event
Description: Sent by the server to the required proxy notifying a player needs to be redirected to a certain server.
Payload:

string server: The server to redirect to.
string player: The player to be redirected.
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0x05: Server Event
Description: Sent by the server to all proxies when a server connects or disconnects.
Payload:

bool addOrRemove: True if adding, false if removing.
string server: The username of the server.
Adding = true:

string securityKey: Used to log in to the server.
string address: Related to the server's entry point.
uint16 port: Related to the server's entry point.
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Requests
To do.

Results
To do.

Status Codes
Results have status codes to have minimal bandwidth consumption while dealing with results without a payload. The status codes are kept generic so they can be used across all results.

0x00: Success
Description: The request was a success and a sized payload will follow.
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0x01: Error Generic
Description: Generic response code showing that something went wrong with the request, but it can normally be assumed what it was. For example, upon authenticating this can be assumed to be an invalid username or password combination.
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0x02: Error Role
Description: The client does not have the required role to use the request, normally sent when unauthenticated.
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What's next?
Now that you have a complete understanding of the software and it's inner-workings, you will be able to use it more efficiently towards your advantage, and be able to contribute towards it's future development.

Have fun!

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Technical Understanding the Connect protocol

Coelho Software Engineer Staff Member Administrator Maintainer

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Technical Understanding the Connect protocol

Coelho Software Engineer Staff Member Administrator Maintainer

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