How it works

The telemetry metrics system follows a simple four-stage data flow from your game servers to visualization dashboards.

Collection: Your game server, integrated with the GameLift Server SDK or plugin, automatically emits metrics to a local telemetry collector running on the same instance. The SDK captures both automatic metrics (server lifecycle, resource usage) and custom metrics you define in your code.

Processing: The telemetry collector aggregates metrics from your game server and combines them with instance-level performance data (CPU, memory, network, disk usage). This provides a complete picture of both your game's performance and the underlying infrastructure.

Storage: Processed metrics are exported to your choice of metrics warehouse - Amazon Managed Service for Prometheus for high-performance time-series storage, Amazon CloudWatch for AWS service integration, or both. All data transmission is authenticated and encrypted.

Visualization: Amazon Managed Grafana connects to your metrics warehouse to display pre-built GameLift dashboards. These dashboards provide fleet overviews, server performance details, and container monitoring views that help you monitor and troubleshoot your game hosting infrastructure.