SmartFoxServer Basic

Introduction

SmartFoxServer Basic is the ideal solution for quickly creating simple to advanced multiplayer applications that don't require server-side programming. It provides all the necessary tools, documentations and examples on how to build multiuser applications where the logic is kept on the client side only.

With SmartFoxServer Basic you can create a wide range of multiplayer experiences, from simple text chats to advanced avatar chats to all kind of turn-based games (chess, poker, pool, war games, rpgs and many more).

Features

The following table describes the features provided by SmartFoxServer Basic.

Client APIs We support the Adobe Flash platform through the ActionScript 2.0 and ActionScript 3.0 programming languages.
Public and private chat messaging Send public messages to all users in a room or a private message to a single user. You can also send private messages to user in other rooms.
Server-side variables SmartFoxServer allows to save variables on the server side and share them across the clients. Room Variables can hold the status of the current game/application, while User Variables can be used to store user properties/settings.
Send and receive complex ActionScript data objects You can send simple to complex data objects to other clients in a snap! Objects received by the clients are immediately usable like any other object in the code.
Auto kick idle users and "garbage connections" Idle users can be automatically disconnected after a certain amount of time. The server also monitors socket connections and automatically closes all those that don't use the SmartFoxServer protocol, avoiding that precious network resources are wasted.
Dynamically created rooms Rooms can be defined in the main configuration file but also created at runtime with many different options (game rooms, private rooms, max # of users, max # of spectators, variables, etc).
Support for foreign languages/charsets Developers can use foreign charachter sets in user names, room names, public/private messages, etc.
Configurable logging capabilities You can customize how many log files to use, their maximum size, the level of importance of messages being logged and more. It is also a great tool for debugging your applications on the server side.
Moderator and Administrator messages Send special "Administrator" and "Moderator" messages and notifications.
Moderator support (kick/ban commands) Users recognized by the server as "moderators" can use special commands to kick and banish other users.
Flooding filter with autokick/autoban functions A specific filter can be configured to avoid message flooding. It will automatically warn users that were caught flooding and in case they continue it will first kick them, then banish them if they don't stop.
Bad words filter with autokick/autoban functions A filter can be configured in different ways to remove bad words in the chat. You can also filter bad words in room names and user names.
It can automatically warn users to stop swearing and in case they continue it will first kick them, then banish them if they don't stop.
IP filter You can set the maximum number of connections from the same IP address, in order to avoid hacking attempts, flooding, etc.
Persistent banned user list The list of banned users is saved locally by the server and loaded at boot time.
Persistent Buddy Lists Buddy Lists allow users to keep a list of friends and be notified in realtime about their online status; they can also send messages to the buddies and instantly join the room where their friends are currently in.
Game spectators Game rooms support spectators, a particular type of user that does not interact with the game. When a player leaves the game room, one of the spectators can get in the game and become a player.
Administration web-based control panel

The Admininistration Tool allows to monitor the server in realtime and manage it. You will be able to:

  • Load / edit / save server config file remotely
  • Restart / stop server
  • Manage banned user list
  • Inspect rooms and user properties (useful also for debugging)
  • Kick / ban users
  • Add new applications to the server on the fly, without restarting.
  • Start / stop applications without restarting
  • See the last server log messages
  • Send administrator messages to single users / rooms / all the users connected
Top

Client API

Applications and games interact with SmartFoxServer very easily and securely through a set of client APIs which "speak" the SFS Basic protocol. Launching a new game, interacting with friends in the buddy-list or moderating a chat is a matter of a few method calls.

SmartFoxServer Basic supports the Adobe Flash platform through the ActionScript 2.0 and ActionScript 3.0 programming languages.

Licensing

The SmartFoxServer Basic licensing system is based on the number of concurrent users (CCU) allowed to connect to the server. We start from the free evaluation version allowing 20 CCU, up to the Unlimited Users version.

Evaluation version

The SmartFoxServer Basic Evaluation version is the ideal tool for anyone to get started with a great multiplayer framework.

Developers, indie game studios, students, educational institutes... anyone can enjoy developing for free with SmartFoxServer Basic. The evaluation version is full-featured and you will be able to use it as long as you wish, develop your own projects and put them in production at no additional cost.

You can get your free SmartFoxServer Basic copy directly from the download page.

Commercial licenses

In case you need more than 20 users to connect at the same time you can choose among very affordable commercial licenses for all project sizes and with a friendly upgrade fee.

Please visit the Buy page for additional information.

Resources

DownloadGet the free version of SmartFoxServer Basic
DocumentationAccess the SmartFoxServer Basic/Pro extensive documentation set which includes over 35 step-by-step examples with source code and more than 80 articles illustrating all the technical details of the server: features, architecture, API usage, configuration, tuning, etc
SupportEnter our support forums, where we provide answers to questions and technical problems; you can also request new features or enhancements to already existing functionalities, or simply contribute to our active community
ShowcaseVisit a small portion of the hundreds of projects built on top of the SmartFoxServer platform by our customers
BuyPurchase the retail license that better fits your needs in terms of concurrent users