naia

Server-authoritative entity replication and typed message passing for multiplayer games in Rust, running on native (UDP) and browser (WebRTC).

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What naia is

naia lets you define a shared Protocol — a compile-time list of replicated component types, message types, and channel configurations — that both the server and the client agree on. Given that protocol:

• The server spawns entities, attaches replicated components, assigns users to rooms, and calls send_all_packets every tick. naia diffs changed fields and delivers them to every in-scope client automatically.
• The client receives entity spawn/update/despawn events and the current server-side field values with no extra bookkeeping.
• Either side can send typed messages over ordered-reliable, unordered-reliable, or unreliable channels.
• The server can delegate authority over a specific entity to a client, allowing client mutations to flow back to the server while the server retains final ownership.

naia is ECS-agnostic. Bevy and macroquad adapters are included; the core crate works with any entity type that is Copy + Eq + Hash + Send + Sync.

The internal networking model follows the Tribes 2 Networking Model.

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Crate map

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Quick concepts

• Protocol — the shared type registry. Both server and client build from the same Protocol value; a hash mismatch during the handshake causes rejection.
• Entity — any Copy + Eq + Hash value your world allocates. naia tracks which entities are replicated and to whom, but never allocates them itself.
• Room — a coarse membership group. A user and an entity must share a room before replication is possible. Think: match, zone, lobby.
• Channel — a named transport lane with configurable ordering and reliability. Messages and entity actions travel through channels.
• Tick — the server's heartbeat. take_tick_events advances the tick counter. TickBuffered channels deliver client input at the correct server tick for prediction and rollback.
• Authority delegation — a server entity can be marked Delegated, allowing a client to request write authority. The server grants or denies and can revoke at any time.

For the full mental-model guide, see docs/CONCEPTS.md.

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Getting started

Core (no ECS)

# shared/Cargo.toml
[dependencies]
naia-shared = "0.24"

# server/Cargo.toml
[dependencies]
naia-server = "0.24"
naia-shared = { path = "../shared" }

# client/Cargo.toml
[dependencies]
naia-client = "0.24"
naia-shared = { path = "../shared" }

See demos/basic/ for a minimal working example.

Bevy adapter

# shared/Cargo.toml
[dependencies]
naia-shared = "0.24"

# server/Cargo.toml
[dependencies]
naia-bevy-server = "0.24"
naia-shared = { path = "../shared" }

# client/Cargo.toml
[dependencies]
naia-bevy-client = "0.24"
naia-shared = { path = "../shared" }

See demos/bevy/ for a complete Bevy demo.

macroquad adapter

# client/Cargo.toml
[dependencies]
naia-macroquad-client = "0.24"
naia-shared = { path = "../shared" }

See demos/macroquad/ for a macroquad demo.

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Channel reference

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Platform support

The server always runs natively. Only the client needs WebRTC support for browser targets.

Steam relay (ISteamNetworkingSockets): Not built-in. The Socket trait is pluggable — a community crate can add Steam networking without modifying naia core.

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Coming from another library?

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Links

• API docs (docs.rs)
• Concepts guide
• Prediction/rollback guide
• Migration guide
• Changelog
• Discord
• Demos