How to use the Multi-user editing plugin in Unreal Engine over Meshnet

Discover how to collaborate on your Unreal Engine projects using the Multi-user editing plugin over Meshnet.

Introduction

Unreal Engine is a development platform that provides tools and technologies for designing and creating immersive virtual environments. It is mainly used for video game development, but can also be utilized to create 3D simulations and visual effects.

The Unreal Engine Multi-user editing plugin allows multiple team members to collaborate on the same project at the same time, making changes to the game world, assets, and code, and seeing the results instantly. The ability to cooperate in real time can greatly increase the developers' efficiency and improve morale through increased interaction with colleagues.

Additionally, with Meshnet, working on joint projects in Unreal Engine becomes much easier. Meshnet allows you to simulate a local area network (LAN) connection with remote devices. This network configuration enables developers to work from anywhere in a secure environment, without needing to set up VPN connections.

This guide contains instructions on using the Unreal Engine Multi-user editing plugin remotely over Meshnet.

Before you begin

Make sure that:

• You have an active Epic Games account.

• You have installed Unreal Engine.

• All users have the same Unreal Engine project on their devices.

Note

For this article, Unreal Engine version 5.1.1 is used as an example.

Install the Multi-user editing plugin

First, you need to install the Multi-user editing plugin on all devices that will connect to the shared session. To install the plugin:

1. Launch Unreal Engine.

2. Open your project.

3. From the menu bar, select Edit > Plugins.

4. In the search field, type in multi-user.

5. Find the Multi-user editing plugin and click the checkbox to enable it.

   

6. In the pop-up message, click Yes to confirm.

7. Click Restart now to install the plugin and restart your project.

Prepare Unreal Engine for multi-user editing

It is recommended to configure unique multi-user settings for all devices. This way, it is easier to distinguish one device from the other and the changes each user makes. On all participating computers:

1. With your project open, from the menu bar, select Edit > Project settings.

2. From the list on the left, click Multi-user editing.

3. Configure the following settings:

   • Check the Enable multi-user editing toolbar button checkbox.

   • In the Display name field, enter any display name for your computer.

   • In the Avatar color field, choose any color for your computer. Example

     

4. In the main Unreal Editor window, in the lower-right corner, click Restart now to apply the changes.

Configure the network settings

Before starting the server, you need to make some adjustments to the network configuration in Unreal Engine.

Setting up the server host

On the device that will be used to host the server, complete the following steps:

1. With your project open, from the menu bar, select Edit > Project settings.

2. From the list on the left, click Multi-user editing.

3. Under Client settings, expand the Advanced section.

4. In the Server port field, enter a port number for your server, other than 6666. For example, 7000.

   

5. Close the Project settings window.

Your device is now ready for hosting the multi-user editing server and accepting connections from other devices.

Setting up the client devices

Make sure that all client devices have the server host specified in their project settings. Otherwise, Unreal Engine won’t locate the server, and the plugin will not function as intended. To set up the client devices:

1. With your project open, from the menu bar, select Edit > Project settings.

2. From the list on the left, click UDP messaging.

3. Under Transport, ensure that the Unicast endpoint is set to 0.0.0.0:0.

4. Expand the Advanced section.

5. Next to Static endpoints, click the Add element button.

6. In the new field, enter <MeshnetIP>:<Port>, replacing <MeshnetIP> with the server host’s Meshnet IP address and <Port> with the port number chosen by the server host in step 4 of Setting up the server host. Example

   

7. Close the Project settings window.

Note

If you change the port number on the server host device, you must also change it in the Static endpoints entry on all client devices.

Multi-user editing over Meshnet

With all devices configured, you can proceed to start your development server and connect to it using Meshnet.

Starting the editing server

On the server host device, take these steps to start the server:

1. With your project open, in the toolbar, click the "Open session browser" button.

   

2. In the Multi-user browser window, click Launch a server.

3. Once the server is initialized, in the Multi-user browser window, click the Create session button.

   

4. In the new window, in the Session column, enter the name of your session.

5. Click the "Create a session" button on the right.

   

The server and the shared session are now up and running. In the Multi-user browser window, under Clients, you will see your custom color and display name.

Joining the editing server

Once the server is active and a session is created by the server host, you can join the server from other devices. To join:

1. With your project open, in the toolbar, click the Open session browser button.

2. In the new window, double-click the session name created by the server host.

   

Your display name will show up in the Multi-user browser window, under Clients, indicating a successful connection to the server.

Now you can remotely cooperate with your peers in Unreal Engine with the help of Meshnet.