There is no universal duration for a game presence lease. Set it according to what the lease represents: a lobby shown in matchmaking, a live transport connection, a server listing, or a player slot reserved for a pending join. These states have different renewal signals and different expiry consequences, so platform defaults are examples—not a value to copy across systems.
First decide what “presence” means
A presence lease is the period for which a system treats a state as current without further proof of life. In multiplayer games, that state might be a room that should remain discoverable, a connection that should remain open, or a slot held for a player who has not joined yet. Name the state before choosing a timer.
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- Lobby discoverability: whether players can still find and join a lobby.
- Transport liveness: whether a network connection remains established.
- Server listing: whether a game server continues to appear in a directory.
- Reserved player slot: whether a pending join continues to hold capacity.
Steamworks’ matchmaking flow illustrates why these are separate: players can stay in a lobby while preparing to launch, then join the game server or nominated host and leave the lobby. Steamworks’ matchmaking and lobbies documentation describes that transition.
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How platform examples differ
| State | Documented behavior | What expiry or renewal means |
|---|---|---|
| Unity Lobby activity | Unity documents a 30-second default active lifespan for a lobby; the project can configure it. The Multiplayer Services SDK automatically keeps sessions alive. Unity Lobby documentation | Lobby activity and discoverability, not transport connectivity. Unity says no-op updates and changes only to host player data do not count as lobby-property updates. |
| Unity Relay transport | Unity documents a 10-second default client-disconnect TTL, and a 60-second TTL when the host is alone after BIND and before a peer connects. Periodic PING messages can keep a connection alive. Unity Relay documentation | A connection timeout, not a lobby’s discoverability lifetime. |
| Steamworks server listing | The game-server heartbeat interval is configurable in milliseconds; Steamworks says typical values range from 250 to 1000 ms, while -1 selects the default. Steamworks game-server API | How frequently a server publishes a heartbeat to master servers—not a stated player-presence expiry duration. |
| Amazon GameLift Servers player session | A player session stays reserved until the game server accepts it. If it is not accepted within the service’s specified period, it becomes TIMEDOUT and the slot reopens. The cited documentation does not state a numeric duration. Amazon GameLift Servers documentation | Reserved capacity awaiting acceptance; consult current applicable API or service details for the timeout. |
| PlayServ room listing | The host periodically reports room occupancy and capacity; a room disappears from browsing shortly after heartbeats stop. Room lifetimes and idle timeouts are platform-owned configuration. PlayServ game-server hosting documentation | Room visibility in browsing, which should be distinguished from whether any particular player is online. |
Choose the renewal cadence and expiry window separately
A heartbeat interval is how often a system sends a renewal or liveness signal. An expiry window is how long the system tolerates missed signals before treating the state as stale. They are related, but they are not the same setting: Steamworks’ 250–1000 ms typical server heartbeat interval, for example, does not establish a corresponding lease lifetime.
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For your own system, choose an expiry window that tolerates realistic brief network or process interruptions, while removing stale presence quickly enough for matchmaking and the interface. There is no evidence-based universal multiplier or cross-platform number. Test using the game’s actual lifecycle and network conditions rather than adopting another service’s timer as a general rule.
Set the timer by the cost of being wrong
Expiry decisions have different consequences. Hiding a lobby can prevent a new player from finding a room; leaving a stale room visible can waste a matchmaking attempt. Disconnecting a transport interrupts an active session. Releasing a reserved slot restores capacity, but doing so too early may reject a player whose join is merely delayed.
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- Identify the state and its owner. Decide whether the game, SDK, relay, master server, or hosting service renews it.
- Define the expiry action. Specify whether a missed renewal hides, disconnects, marks offline, or frees capacity.
- Allow for transient delays. Use observed interruptions and process pauses to decide how much missed-signal tolerance is appropriate.
- Measure stale-state exposure. Check how long an abandoned lobby, listing, connection, or reservation can harm players or consume capacity.
- Verify automatic renewal first. Unity says its Multiplayer Services SDK keeps sessions alive automatically; adding a duplicate manual heartbeat may be unnecessary.
Unity’s Lobby guidance also makes the renewal condition consequential: a no-op update or an update limited to host player data does not count as a lobby-property update. Confirm which operations renew the state you depend on rather than assuming every update does.
Practical rule
Use the platform’s documented lifecycle as the starting point only for that platform and state. Keep the heartbeat cadence frequent enough to refresh the intended state, set expiry according to the cost of missed renewals, and validate both false expirations and stale presence in the game’s real conditions. If the service does not publish a numeric timeout—as in the cited GameLift player-session documentation—do not invent one; check the current service details that apply to your implementation.
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