Elura

An open-source, modular Rust framework for authoritative realtime gameplay and extensible online game services.

Documentation · API reference · Crates.io · 简体中文

Elura is an open-source, modular Rust framework for authoritative realtime gameplay and extensible online game services. It separates client connections from game logic: Gateway processes own connections and sessions, while World processes execute commands and manage player state. They can scale independently or run together as a monolith.

[!IMPORTANT] The 0.3.x API line is frozen. Patch releases preserve public API compatibility; breaking changes are reserved for 0.4.0.

Architecture

Clients ── TCP / UDP / WebSocket / WebTransport / QUIC ──▶ Gateway
                                                               │
                                                        routed commands
                                                               │
                                                               ▼
                                                            World
                                                      authoritative game logic

Elura provides server-side building blocks rather than fixed product rules or data models. It is not a client game engine, hosted backend, or game-server fleet orchestrator.

Features

TCP, UDP, WebSocket, WebTransport, and QUIC transports.
Distributed Gateway and World deployment, or a single-process monolith.
Rooms, fixed-step simulation, AOI, replication, prediction, and lag compensation.
HTTP authentication and one-time ELR2 session-ticket exchange.
Optional Redis, SQL, Kubernetes, identity, notification, OTP, and payment integrations.

Who Elura is for

Elura is a good fit when:

The authoritative server and game logic should be written in Rust.
A project needs realtime sessions, rooms, simulation, AOI, replication, prediction, or lag compensation in one modular stack.
Realtime gameplay, social systems, competitive systems, identity, and commerce should share one extensible server framework while retaining game-specific rules and data models.
Gateway connections and World gameplay processes need to scale independently.
The application must own its infrastructure, persistence, identity policies, and deployment.

Consider another stack when:

You want a managed backend with no server operations.
You want fixed, turnkey APIs and data models for social graphs, matchmaking, leaderboards, tournaments, and administration without implementing game-specific policies or persistence.
You require a stable 1.x API today and cannot accommodate changes during Elura's 0.x development.

Quick start

Install the CLI and scaffold an application:

cargo install elura-cli --version 0.3.1
elura init all --dir .

Or add Elura directly:

[dependencies]
elura = "0.3.1"

See the documentation for concepts, configuration, crate features, deployment, and tutorials.

The facade assigns each contract to the runtime or capability that consumes it:

elura::gateway owns connection, discovery, presence, session, and ticket APIs.
elura::world owns routes, middleware, scenes, players, and World registration.
elura::outbox, elura::push, elura::ownership, elura::replay_protection, and elura::providers own cross-cutting services.
elura::gameplay groups room, AOI, simulation, netcode, replication, and test primitives.
elura::prelude remains a small convenience import for common game-facing types.

The corresponding subcrates follow the same ownership: Gateway presence and discovery ports are declared by elura-gateway, World registration ports by elura-world, and elura-core retains only shared wire/domain contracts.

Examples

tiny-network-game: authoritative multiplayer movement.
realtime-gameplay: a transport-neutral gameplay pipeline.

Development

Rust 1.97 or newer is required.

make verify

License

Elura is dual-licensed under your choice of:

elura-netcode 0.3.1