# Multiplayer hosting glossary > Short definitions of the terms used on this site, in plain English. In NetCraftGames, the owner is the game developer who is our customer, and players are the owner's customers. *NetCraftGames (NCG) by Charging Bull Software. Last updated: 2026-10-03. Canonical page: https://netcraftgames.com/glossary/* ## Terms **Owner.** In NetCraftGames, the game developer or studio that is our customer. The owner submits the game and manages it. The owner's customers are players. **Player.** Someone who plays an owner's game. Players connect to the owner's server using a connection configuration. **Dedicated server.** A game server process that runs on its own machine with no player at its screen, and that all players connect to. Contrast with a listen server, where one player's game also acts as the server. **Listen server.** A multiplayer setup where one player's game instance is also the server. NetCraftGames does not host listen servers. **Headless.** Running without a window, graphics or audio device. Godot uses the `--headless` argument and Unity uses a Dedicated Server build or `-batchmode -nographics`. **Linux x64.** Linux on 64-bit x86 processors, also called x86-64. The only server platform NetCraftGames hosts. **Authoritative server.** A server that decides what really happened in the game, so clients cannot simply declare their own results. The basis of fair play. **Transport.** The network layer a game uses to send data: for example UDP, TCP, WebSocket or WebRTC. **UDP.** A network protocol that sends independent packets with no guaranteed delivery or order. Fast games use it because a lost packet does not delay newer ones. **TCP.** A network protocol that delivers data reliably and in order. A lost packet delays the data behind it. **WebSocket.** A browser-supported connection that runs over TCP and lets a page and a server exchange messages both ways. **WSS.** WebSocket over TLS, written `wss://`. A page served over HTTPS may only open WSS connections. **TLS termination.** Ending the encrypted connection at a gateway, so the server behind it can speak plain WebSocket. NetCraftGames' gateway terminates TLS for browser games. **Gateway.** The NetCraftGames service that accepts players' wss connections, checks the browser origin and forwards frames to the game server. **wsPath.** A setting in the manifest that names the path your WebSocket server answers at, such as /ws. You fix it when you release, and nothing a player sends can change it. See [the Node guide](https://netcraftgames.com/guides/node-websocket-server/). **Launcher.** The small start script, named server, that `ncg pack` writes for a Node or Python project. It starts your code with the server's Node or Python, and the manifest's command points at it. **Origin.** The scheme, host and port of the website a browser page was loaded from. The gateway allows only the exact origins an owner lists. **WebRTC.** A browser technology for direct peer-to-peer connections, including data channels that can be unreliable and unordered. **Signaling.** The exchange of offers, answers and ICE candidates that peers use to set up a WebRTC connection. It carries no game data. **ICE.** Interactive Connectivity Establishment, the process that tries to find a working network path between two peers, using STUN and TURN. **STUN.** A protocol that tells a client its public address and what kind of NAT it is behind. It does not relay data. **TURN.** A relay server that carries traffic between peers when a direct connection is impossible. NetCraftGames does not offer TURN yet. **NAT.** Network address translation, the router feature that lets many devices share one public address. Symmetric NATs often block direct peer connections. **ENet.** A reliable UDP networking library. Godot's `ENetMultiplayerPeer` uses it. **KCP.** A UDP-based reliable transport. It is the default transport in Mirror, typically on port 7777. **Mirror.** An open source networking library for Unity, with swappable transports such as KCP, Telepathy and SimpleWeb. **Netcode for GameObjects (NGO).** Unity's networking library for GameObjects. It uses the Unity Transport package, which runs over UDP. **Replication.** How Unreal Engine copies game state from the server to clients. **Manifest.** The deployment file that tells the host how to start and check your server: engine, transport, command, ports, probes, save path and shutdown. See [the config guide](https://netcraftgames.com/guides/connection-config-file-contents/). **Connection config.** What a player's client needs to reach the server: address, port, protocol, TLS and version, produced as a schema-checked JSON document that never contains secrets. **Health probe.** A declared check, over TCP, HTTP or UDP, that proves the server process is alive. **Join probe.** A game-level exchange with a known reply that proves a player could actually join, not just that a port is open. **Player probe.** A loopback endpoint returning a bounded player count as JSON, used for idle shutdown. **Idle shutdown.** Saving and stopping a server after ten continuous minutes with zero reported players, so empty servers do not use hours. **Standard profile.** A 2 vCPU, 4 GiB server that uses one plan hour per hour. **Large profile.** A 4 vCPU, 8 GiB server that uses two plan hours per hour. **Weighted server hour.** One hour of a running, verified-ready server multiplied by the profile's weight. Plans are measured in these. **Egress.** Data sent from the server out to the internet, which clouds usually charge for and plans cap. **Checkpoint.** A saved snapshot of a server's state taken during shutdown, verified before the machine is destroyed. **Protection hold.** A visible state where a machine is kept because a save or shutdown failed, instead of being deleted. **Launch gate.** A required check, with dated live evidence, that must pass before NetCraftGames accepts customers or provisions servers. **llms.txt.** A Markdown file at a site's root that tells AI systems what the site is and where its best pages are. **MCP.** Model Context Protocol, a standard way for AI assistants to call tools. NetCraftGames has a local MCP server for its owner API, not yet published. ## Related pages - [Frequently asked questions about NetCraftGames](https://netcraftgames.com/faq/): Direct answers to 27 questions about NetCraftGames: engines, pricing, the 24-hour target, safety, AI, TURN, Windows servers and launch status. - [Engines and transports NetCraftGames can host](https://netcraftgames.com/engines/): Which engines and transports NetCraftGames is built to host: Unity Mirror and NGO, Unreal, Godot ENet and WebSocket, browser WSS and WebRTC, with honest gaps. - [Guides for owners putting multiplayer online](https://netcraftgames.com/guides/): Practical, sourced guides for owners going live: Linux server builds, ports and firewalls, transports, idle cost, WebRTC signaling and connection configs.