# Unable to create session in packaged game (Works in Editor) with Steam Advanced Sessions Online Subsystem **URL:** \ **Category:** Multiplayer & Networking\ **Tags:** onlinesubsystem, Steam, unreal-engine, Blueprint, question\ **Created:** [July 14, 2025, 7:33pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/unable-to-create-session-in-packaged-game-works-in-editor-with-steam-advanced-sessions-online-subsystem/2604413 "2025-07-14T19:33:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![G4C4](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@G4C4](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/G4C4)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2025, 7:33pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/unable-to-create-session-in-packaged-game-works-in-editor-with-steam-advanced-sessions-online-subsystem/2604413/1 "2025-07-14T19:33:29Z")
Hi, I tested my multiplayer game in editor for creating and joining sessions which works perfectly fine but fails in the packaged game. I was initially able to create sessions but couldnt join session in the packaged game, but upon trying to fix the join session issue by adding: [/Script/Engine.GameEngine] !NetDriverDefinitions=ClearArray +NetDriverDefinitions=(DefName=“GameNetDriver”,DriverClassName=“SocketSubsystemSteamIP.SteamNetDriver”,DriverClassNameFallback=“OnlineSubsystemUtils.IpNetDriver”) [OnlineSubsystemSteam] bEnabled=true SteamDevAppId=480 bInitServerOnClient=true in the defaultengine.ixi as well as enabled Online Subsystem Steam & Steam Sockets, caused my packaged game to no longer be able to create sessions; creating session would briefly open the level and suddenly bring me back to the main menu level. trying to create session afterwards no longer works and requires the game to be closed first. any clues to why this happens? (here is my create session blueprint) ![image](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/1/d/21da25d294076a7df1d20cd5917edeae0d019b72.png) ---
**Author:** ![BRGEzedeRocco](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/brgezederocco/32/1216890_2.png) [@BRGEzedeRocco](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/BRGEzedeRocco)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 5:53pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/unable-to-create-session-in-packaged-game-works-in-editor-with-steam-advanced-sessions-online-subsystem/2604413/2 "2025-07-15T17:53:29Z")
HI @G4C4, First of all, testing the system with people from another country can cause connection issues or prevent sessions from being found,also, make sure the executable is not being blocked by the antivirus or firewall, as that can interfere with networking and Steam connectivity. Then, it’s important to make sure the "DefaultEngine.ini " file is correctly configured with the following content: [/Script/Engine.GameEngine] +NetDriverDefinitions=(DefName=“GameNetDriver”,DriverClassName=“OnlineSubsystemSteam.SteamNetDriver”,DriverClassNameFallback=“OnlineSubsystemUtils.IpNetDriver”) ``` [OnlineSubsystem] DefaultPlatformService=Steam [OnlineSubsystemSteam] bEnabled=true SteamDevAppId=480 ; If using Sessions ; bInitServerOnClient=true [/Script/OnlineSubsystemSteam.SteamNetDriver] NetConnectionClassName="OnlineSubsystemSteam.SteamNetConnection" ``` The official documentation explains what each line means and how the system works: > **[Online Subsystem Steam Interface in Unreal Engine | Unreal Engine 5.6...](https://dev.epicgames.com/documentation/es-es/unreal-engine/online-subsystem-steam?application_version=4.27)** > > An overview of Online Subsystem Steam, including how to set up your project for distribution on Valve's Steam platform. And here’s a video that shows the step-by-step process to properly integrate the Advanced Sessions plugin. Although the video is old, it can still be used without problems up to Unreal Engine 5.5: [![](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/4/3/e/43e66b0ba99ae6f4708d2f18c6ec21c5f01c4ae5.jpeg "Implementing Steam Advanced Sessions | 08 | Multiplayer Battle Royale | Tutorial | Unreal Engine 5") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_U0BK0olC-I) Hope it helps! ---
**Author:** ![G4C4](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@G4C4](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/G4C4)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 6:03pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/unable-to-create-session-in-packaged-game-works-in-editor-with-steam-advanced-sessions-online-subsystem/2604413/3 "2025-07-15T18:03:25Z")
Thank you very much for the info! I’ll post the update when I’m back on my pc ---
**Author:** ![chrudimer](https://d1ap1mz92jnks1.cloudfront.net/user_avatar/forums.unrealengine.com/chrudimer/32/918651_2.png) [@chrudimer](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/chrudimer)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 9:47pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/unable-to-create-session-in-packaged-game-works-in-editor-with-steam-advanced-sessions-online-subsystem/2604413/4 "2025-07-15T21:47:31Z")
Hi, the issue that you can no longer create a session is likely due to enabling the steam sockets plugin. If you disable it, it should work again. For joining a session in a packaged game, in ue5.4 I could not get it to work using FindSession, but it did work using invite and the steam overlay. This was the tutorial I used for joining via the overlay: [How to join friends via Steam overlays using Advanced Sessions | Community tutorial](https://dev.epicgames.com/community/learning/tutorials/0JMY/unreal-engine-how-to-join-friends-via-steam-overlays-using-advanced-sessions) Actually, from the looks of your images you already used this 🙂 Something else to note, is that if you package the game and try to join, then you need two pcs running each running with a different steam account open in the background. And this is the config I’m using, don’t know how much of it is necessary, just tried until I got some combination that worked: ```auto [NetDriverDefinitions] DefName="GameNetDriver" DriverClassName="/Script/OnlineSubsystemSteam.SteamNetDriver" DriverClassNameFallback="/Script/OnlineSubsystemUtils.IpNetDriver" [/Script/Engine.GameEngine] +NetDriverDefinitions=(DefName="GameNetDriver",DriverClassName="OnlineSubsystemSteam.SteamNetDriver",DriverClassNameFallback="OnlineSubsystemUtils.IpNetDriver") [OnlineSubsystem] DefaultPlatformService=Steam [OnlineSubsystemSteam] bEnabled=true SteamDevAppId=480 bAllowP2PPacketRelay=true bEnableSteamNetworking=true GameServerQueryPort=27015 P2PConnectionTimeout=90 bUseSteamNetworking=true ; If using Sessions bInitServerOnClient=true [/Script/OnlineSubsystemSteam.SteamNetDriver] NetConnectionClassName="OnlineSubsystemSteam.SteamNetConnection" [ConsoleVariables] net.CurrentHandshakeVersion=2 net.MinHandshakeVersion=2 ``` ---
**Author:** ![G4C4](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@G4C4](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/G4C4)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2025, 11:52pm UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/unable-to-create-session-in-packaged-game-works-in-editor-with-steam-advanced-sessions-online-subsystem/2604413/5 "2025-07-15T23:52:24Z")
Hi! Really appreciate both of your help with solving this issue. I tried @BRGEzedeRocco’s suggestion which somehow still wouldnt let me create session. I then tried using @chrudimer’s suggestion, removing steamsocket plugin and using your config modifications, helped fix my create session issue. However, I can’t seem to join my friend through invite nor through find and join session. I am using unreal engine 5.6, could that be the problem? this is the (important parts of the) log I got upon attempting to join through steam (note that we are both in the same steam download region) * * * LogSockets: Warning: GetAddressInfo failed to resolve host with error SE\_HOST\_NOT\_FOUND [11001] LogNet: UNetConnection::Close: [UNetConnection] RemoteAddr: , Name: IpConnection\_[censoring the numbers], Driver: Name:PendingNetDriver Def:GameNetDriver IpNetDriver\_[censoring the numbers], IsServer: NO, PC: NULL, Owner: NULL, UniqueId: INVALID, Channels: 3, Time: 2025.07.15-23.12.42 LogNet: - Result=AddressResolutionFailed, ErrorContext=“AddressResolutionFailed” LogNet: Error: UEngine::BroadcastNetworkFailure: FailureType = PendingConnectionFailure, ErrorString = Your connection to the host has been lost., Driver = Name:PendingNetDriver Def:GameNetDriver IpNetDriver\_[censoring the numbers] LogNet: Warning: Network Failure: PendingNetDriver[PendingConnectionFailure]: Your connection to the host has been lost. * * * ---
**Author:** ![G4C4](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@G4C4](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/G4C4)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2025, 12:23am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/unable-to-create-session-in-packaged-game-works-in-editor-with-steam-advanced-sessions-online-subsystem/2604413/6 "2025-07-16T00:23:03Z")
I checked my steamworks sdk which is in version 1.57. should i upgrade to 1.58? ---
**Author:** ![G4C4](https://d3kjluh73b9h9o.cloudfront.net/original/4X/2/8/5/28502927f1d97ba1051b3b47ccfe17233bf41ef0.png) [@G4C4](https://forums.unrealengine.com/u/G4C4)\ **Post date:** [July 16, 2025, 10:49am UTC](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/unable-to-create-session-in-packaged-game-works-in-editor-with-steam-advanced-sessions-online-subsystem/2604413/7 "2025-07-16T10:49:58Z")
I must’ve done something wrong the first time cuz I tried it again with the method described in [Join Session not working in 5.6 listen server (both steam and EOS) - #3 by The0cake](https://forums.unrealengine.com/t/join-session-not-working-in-5-6-listen-server-both-steam-and-eos/2560472/3) (which i attempted the first time) and it works now!