Lobbies and sessions

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Before the race

Priya wants to race with three friends. They need somewhere to gather, chat, pick a mode and wait until everyone is ready.

That place is a lobby.

A lobby on Steam

Steamworks describes a lobby as living on Steam's servers, "a lot like a chat room". One lobby holds up to 250 players.

A lobby carries data, like its mode and region, that other players can search with filters. And it has "one and only one lobby owner", who sets things up.

Quick check

How many owners can a Steam lobby have?

  1. One
  2. Two
  3. Every player in it
Show the answer

One

Steamworks says a lobby has "one and only one lobby owner".

Lobby, then session

The lobby is for gathering. The race itself is a session on a game server.

When everyone is ready, the lobby gives each player the server's address and a ticket to get in. The lobby can stay open for the next race.

Find a lobby

lobbies
Lobby  mode    region  fullA      race    eu      4/4B      race    eu      2/4C      garden  eu      1/4

Priya wants a European weed race with room for one more. Which lobby?

  1. B
  2. A
  3. C
Show the answer

B

A is full, and C is a garden, not a race. B matches all three.

Dropped, not out

Phones lose signal in lifts and tunnels. If Priya drops out mid-race, the session keeps Priya's seat for 30 seconds. The app rejoins with the same ticket, and the race goes on.

Quick check

The lobby and the race must run on the same server.

Show the answer

False

The lobby only gathers players and hands out the address. The race runs wherever the session lives.

Which server?

The session needs a server. Priya's friends are in London, Paris and Berlin. Where should it be?

Bolt says: Next: regions and relays.

Fact-checked 12 October 2026