node-gamedig/README.md

# node-GameDig - Game Server Query Library [![npmjs.com](https://img.shields.io/npm/dt/gamedig?color=purple)](https://www.npmjs.com/package/gamedig)

**node-GameDig** is a game server query Node.js module (as well as a [command line executable](#usage-from-command-line)), 
capable of querying for the status of nearly any game or voice server.
If a server makes its status publically available, GameDig can fetch it for you.

Support is available on the [GameDig Discord](https://discord.gg/NVCMn3tnxH) (for questions), or [GitHub Issues](https://github.com/gamedig/node-gamedig/issues) (for bugs).

## Games List
**node-GameDig** can query over 310 games (+ a few services)!  
See the [GAMES_LIST.md](GAMES_LIST.md) file for the currently supported titles, not yet supported ones and notes about some of them.

## Usage from Node.js
Install...
```shell
npm install gamedig
```
... then use!
```js
import GameDig from 'gamedig';

GameDig.query({
    type: 'minecraft',
    host: 'mc.example.com'
}).then((state) => {
    console.log(state);
}).catch((error) => {
    console.log("Server is offline");
});
```

## Query Options

**Typical**

* **type**: string - One of the game IDs listed in the game list below
* **host**: string - Hostname or IP of the game server
* **port**: number (optional) - Connection port or query port for the game server. Some
games utilize a separate "query" port. If specifying the game port does not seem to work as expected, passing in
this query port may work instead. (defaults to protocol default port)

**Advanced**

These fields are all optional.
* **maxAttempts**: number - Number of attempts to query server in case of failure. (default 1)
* **socketTimeout**: number - Milliseconds to wait for a single packet. Beware that increasing this
 will cause many queries to take longer even if the server is online. (default 2000)
* **attemptTimeout**: number - Milliseconds allowed for an entire query attempt. This timeout is not commonly hit,
 as the socketTimeout typically fires first. (default 10000)
* **givenPortOnly**: boolean - Only attempt to query server on given port. (default false)
* **ipFamily**: number - IP family/version returned when looking up hostnames via DNS, can be 0 (IPv4 and IPv6), 4 (IPv4 only) or 6 (IPv6 only). (default 0)
* **debug**: boolean - Enables massive amounts of debug logging to stdout. (default false)
* **requestRules**: boolean - Valve games only. Additional 'rules' may be fetched into the `raw` field. (default false)

## Return Value

The returned state object will contain the following keys:

* **name**: string - Server name
* **map**: string - Current server game map
* **password**: boolean - If a password is required
* **numplayers**: number
* **maxplayers**: number
* **players**: array of objects
  * **name**: string - If the player's name is unknown, the string will be empty.
  * **raw**: object - Additional information about the player if available (**unstable**).
* **bots**: array of objects - Same schema as `players`
* **connect**: string
  * This will typically include the game's `ip:port`
  * The port will reflect the server's game port, even if your request specified the game's query port in the request.
  * For some games, this may be a server ID or connection url if an IP:Port is not appropriate for end-users.
* **ping**: number
  * Round trip time to the server (in milliseconds).
  * Note that this is not the RTT of an ICMP echo, as ICMP packets are often blocked by NATs and node
    has poor support for raw sockets.
  * This value is derived from the RTT of one of the query packets, which is usually quite accurate, but may add a bit due to server lag.
* **raw**: freeform object (**unstable**)
  * Contains all information received from the server in a disorganized format.

Note that `raw` (or **unstable**) objects contents MAY change on a per-protocol basis between GameDig patch releases (although not typical).

### Usage from Command Line

Want to integrate server queries from a batch script or other programming language?
You'll still need npm to install gamedig:
```shell
npm install gamedig -g
```

After installing gamedig globally, you can call gamedig via the command line:
```shell
gamedig --type minecraft mc.example.com:11234
# Alternatively, if you don't want to install gamedig globally, you can run it with npx:
npx gamedig --type minecraft mc.example.com:11234
```

The output of the command will be in JSON format.  
Additional advanced parameters can be passed in as well:
* `--debug`: Print debugging informations, useful when stating an issue.
* `--pretty`: Outputs the JSON format nicely.
* `--requestRules`: Request Valve games rules.
* `--givenPortOnly`: Run the query with the specified port only (if any).
* `--socketTimeout N`: Specifies socket timeout (where `N` is a number, eg. `5000`).
* ... and the rest in the same format.

## Common Issues

### Firewalls block incoming UDP
*(replit / docker / some VPS providers)*

Most game query protocols require a UDP request and response. This means that in some environments, gamedig may not be able to receive the reponse required due to environmental restrictions.

Some examples include:
* Docker containers
  * You may need to run the container in `--network host` mode so that gamedig can bind a UDP listen port.
  * Alternatively, you can forward a single UDP port to your container, and force gamedig to listen on that port using the instructions in the section down below.
* replit
  * Most online IDEs run in an isolated container, which will never receive UDP responses from outside networks.
* Various VPS / server providers
  * Even if your server provider doesn't explicitly block incoming UDP packets, some server hosts block other server hosts from connecting to them for DDOS-mitigation and anti-botting purposes.

### Gamedig doesn't work in the browser
Gamedig cannot operate within a browser. This means you cannot package it as part of your webpack / browserify / rollup / parcel package.  
Even if you were able to get it packaged into a bundle, unfortunately no browsers support the UDP protocols required to query server status
from most game servers.  
As an alternative, we'd recommend using gamedig on your server-side, then expose your own API to your webapp's frontend
displaying the status information. If your application is thin (with no constant server component), you may wish to investigate a server-less lambda provider.

### Specifying a listen UDP port override
In some very rare scenarios, you may need to bind / listen on a fixed local UDP port. The is usually not needed except behind
some extremely strict firewalls, or within a docker container (where you only wish to forward a single UDP port).  
To use a fixed listen udp port, construct a new Gamedig object like this:
```
const gamedig = new GameDig({
    listenUdpPort: 13337
});
gamedig.query(...)
```