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Using Your Own App ID

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Video Tutorial

The examples in this documentation use the App ID 480 (Spacewar), a public test app from Valve. It is fine for a first test, but switch to your own App ID as soon as possible.

Why Not Use 480?​

  • Achievements, stats and leaderboards belong to Spacewar. You cannot add your own.
  • Server lists and lobby searches return results from every other developer testing with 480.
  • Steam Cloud, Workshop, Inventory and microtransactions cannot be configured.
  • Your friends see you playing Spacewar instead of your game.

Step 1: Get an App ID​

Sign up on the Steamworks partner site and pay the Steam Direct fee for your game. Your App ID is shown on the app's page in Steamworks.

Step 2: Set the App ID in DefaultEngine.ini​

Set both values in the [OnlineSubsystemSteamCore] section of Config/DefaultEngine.ini:

[OnlineSubsystemSteamCore]
SteamDevAppId=1234560
SteamAppId=1234560
SettingUsed by
SteamDevAppIdDevelopment and Debug builds, including Standalone Game from the editor.
SteamAppIdShipping builds and dedicated servers.

Use the same App ID for both unless you have a separate app for testing. See Configuring the Plugin for all settings.

How the App ID Is Used​

  • Development builds: the plugin writes steam_appid.txt with SteamDevAppId next to the executable when the game starts, and deletes it again on shutdown. Steam reads the App ID from this file.
  • Shipping builds: the game is relaunched through the Steam client if it was not started from Steam. Set bDisableSteamRelaunchInShipping=True to test a Shipping build locally; the plugin then writes steam_appid.txt instead.
warning

Do not ship steam_appid.txt with your game. When the file exists, Steam does not relaunch the game through the Steam client.

Step 3: Make Sure Your Account Owns the App​

The Steam account you test with must have a license for the app. If Steam reports that you do not own the app, request a key on the Steamworks partner site (Request Steam Product Keys) and activate it in the Steam client.

Step 4: Configure Steamworks Features​

Configure the features you use for your app on the Steamworks partner site and publish the changes:

Verifying​

Launch the game as a Standalone Game or a packaged build with Steam running. The Steam overlay (Shift+Tab) and your friends list should show your game's name instead of Spacewar. See Testing Steam Functionality if Steam does not start.