Build your application for Dedicated Server

A Dedicated Server build is a headless executable with no graphical interface. Create a build for the Dedicated Server platform optimized for server applications.

You can create a Dedicated Server build in either of the following ways:

• Create a build in the Unity Editor
• Create a build using a script
• Create a build using the command line

Create a build in the Unity Editor

To create a Dedicated Server build in the Unity Editor, use the following steps:

1. In the Unity Editor, open the Build Profiles window (menu: File > Build Profiles).
2. Select Add Build Profile to open the Platform Browser window.
3. Select the server platform from the available options. For example, select Linux Server to build a Linux server.
4. If the server platform isn’t available, select Install with Unity Hub and follow the installation instructions. For information on how to install modules, refer to Add modules.
5. Select Switch Profile to set the new build profile as the active profile.
6. Click Build.

Tip: You can further configure the Dedicated Server build in the Player settingsSettings that let you set various player-specific options for the final game built by Unity. More info
See in Glossary.

Create a build using a script

To create a Dedicated Server build using a script:

Set buildPlayerOptions.subtarget to (int)StandaloneBuildSubtarget.Server. Note that subtarget requires an integer value.

buildPlayerOptions.target = BuildTarget.StandaloneWindows;
// SubTarget expects an integer.
buildPlayerOptions.subtarget = (int)StandaloneBuildSubtarget.Server;

Unity defines the UNITY_SERVER scripting symbol when you build for the Dedicated Server platform. You can use this symbol in your scripts to compile code for the server. For more information, refer to Scripting symbol reference.

Create a build using the command line

To create a Dedicated Server build through the command line:

Use the -standaloneBuildSubtarget Server argument along with your target platform.

-buildTarget Linux64 -standaloneBuildSubtarget Server

To interact with and configure your server application at runtime, use the Unity Player command line arguments and the DedicatedServer.Arguments API.

Code sign macOS Dedicated Server builds

Dedicated Server builds that aren’t code signed might display security warnings when deployed on macOS systems. To avoid such warnings, make sure you code sign the build before distribution. For more information, refer to the documentation on Code sign and notarize your macOS application.  

Additional resources

• Dedicated Server Player Settings reference
• Build ProfilesA set of customizable configuration settings to use when creating a build for your target platform. More info
  See in Glossary
• macOS build settings reference
• Windows build settings reference
• Linux build settings reference
• Creating scripts
• Scripting symbol reference