Customize your matchmaking configuration

With a custom matchmaking configuration, you can build competitive, cooperative, and unique experiences by matching players to servers based on characteristics like skill level, latency, and gameplay preferences.

By default, Roblox provides you with a matchmaking configuration that uses predefined Roblox signals. To customize matchmaking, you can create new matchmaking configurations by adjusting the weights of existing Roblox signals, creating new custom signals, or both. You can then preview your configuration by previewing server scores with mock servers.

Custom configuration with Roblox signals

You can adjust the weights of existing Roblox signals to customize your experience's matchmaking. For more information about Roblox signals and how their formulas are calculated, see Existing signals.

To create a custom matchmaking configuration using only Roblox signals:

1. In the Creator Dashboard, navigate to Creations, then select an experience.
2. In the lefthand navigation, navigate to the Configure section, then select Custom Matchmaking.
3. Select the Configuration tab and click Create Configuration.
4. In the Create a Custom Matchmaking Configuration page, enter a name for your configuration.
5. Change the weights of the Roblox signals you want to update.
6. Click Save Configuration.
7. Select the places you want to apply this configuration to.
8. Click Save Configuration again.

The new matchmaking configuration shows up in the Configurations list of the Configuration tab.

Custom configuration with custom signals

To create a custom matchmaking configuration using custom signals:

1. In the Creator Dashboard, navigate to Creations, then select an experience.
2. In the lefthand navigation, navigate to the Configure section, then select Custom Matchmaking.
3. Select the Configuration tab and click Create Configuration.
4. In the Create a Custom Matchmaking Configuration page, enter a name for your configuration.
5. Click Add Custom Signal and create a custom signal.
6. Change the weights of the signals you want to update.
7. Click Save Configuration.
8. Select the places you want to apply this configuration to.
9. Click Save Configuration again.

The new matchmaking configuration shows up in the Configurations list of the Configuration tab.

Create a custom signal

Custom signals can be player numerical, server numerical, player categorical, or server categorical. For more information about custom signals and how their formulas are calculated, see Custom signals.

To create a custom signal:

1. In the Create a Custom Matchmaking Configuration page, click Add Custom Signal.

2. Under Signal Details, enter a signal name and description.

3. Under Signal Configuration:

   • For a player numerical attribute:

     1. Choose the attribute you want to reference.
     2. Select how you want to aggregate the attribute in each server.

        • Average: The average of all players' attribute values in the server. Minimizes the difference between the server's average player attribute and the joining player's attribute.
        • Median: The median of all players' attribute values in the server. Minimizes the difference between the server's median player attribute and the joining player's attribute.
        • Sum: The sum of all players' attribute values in the server, including the joining player's. Minimizes the difference between the total attribute value of the players in the server, including the joining player, and a constant value.
     3. Adjust the values under the aggregation.

   • For a server numerical attribute:

     1. Choose the attribute you want to reference.
     2. Adjust the values under the attribute.

   • For a player categorical attribute:

     1. Choose the attribute you want to reference.
     2. Select how you want to distribute the attribute value across servers:

        • Cluster: Groups players with the same attribute value. Maximizes the ratio of players in the server who have the same attribute value as the joining player.
        • Diversify: Groups players with different attribute values. Maximizes the ratio of players in the server who have a different attribute value from the joining player.

   • For a server categorical attribute:

     1. Choose the attribute you want to reference.
     2. Adjust the values under the attribute.

4. (Optional) Expand Preview and Test Signal to preview the signal score. You can adjust the Test Signal values to optimize the preview result.

   

5. Click Create Signal.

The new custom signal shows up in the Configuration list of the Create a Custom Matchmaking Configuration page.

Create a custom attribute

Attributes are properties associated with players and servers, like skill level and game mode preferences. If you want to create and use custom signals, you must first create custom attributes. You can create player or server attributes.

For more information about the difference between player and server attributes, see Custom attributes.

Player attributes

To create a player attribute:

1. In the Custom Matchmaking page, select the Attributes tab and click Create Attribute.
2. In the Create Attribute page, select Player Attribute and enter a unique name for it.
3. Choose a Data Type and a Default Value for the attribute.
4. Under Data Store Settings, select the data store that the attribute data lives in.
5. Enter a Data Store Key Template to store the player attribute values. At runtime, the {UserId} is replaced by the player's actual user ID.
6. Enter a Data Store Value Path so that matchmaking can locate the player attribute value inside a JSON object in the data store you selected.
7. Enter a Data Store Scope to specify the scope. If you don't enter a scope, it defaults to global.
8. Click Save Changes to save your player attribute.

The new attribute shows up in the Player Attributes list of the Attributes tab.

Server attributes

To create a server attribute:

1. In the Custom Matchmaking page, select the Attributes tab and click Create Attribute.
2. In the Create Attribute page, select Server Attribute and enter a unique name for it.
3. Choose a Data Type and a Default Value for the attribute.
4. Click Save Changes to save your server attribute.

The new attribute shows up in the Server Attributes list of the Attributes tab.

Preview and test server scores

Preview and test server scoring to see how your configured signal weights impact server selection. You can experiment with different weight combinations to optimize your matchmaking configuration.

When you create a preview, the preview mocks server scores and identifies which mock server has the highest total score and is the best match for the player.

To preview and test, click Preview and Test in the Create a Custom Matchmaking Configuration page. The preview shows you three mock servers with different scores and highlights the winning server. To see details about the formulas used for scoring, hover over each signal score result for each mock server.

For more information about scoring and weights, see Scoring.

Apply a configuration to places

You can apply a matchmaking configuration to as many places as you want inside your experience.

To apply a configuration to places:

1. In the Custom Matchmaking page, click Add to Place.
2. Select a configuration and the place or places you want to apply it to.
3. Click Save Configuration.

The places you selected show up in the Applied Places list of the Configuration tab. You can also add a configuration to places during the creation of that matchmaking configuration.