question

Thanks for the quick response! Something must be going on so I am hopeful to find it haha.

My server code is reminiscent of the C# example project. I also tried removing my async level loading code completely just to test bare-bones, and added C# stopwatch profiling in my main method.

The code consists of parsing the command line args, then starting the lidgren-network server (just like starting a socket server).

With no level-loading code:
Socket server took 1.1s from the start of main method to being ready. I removed this build and re-uploaded to test a second time, and it took 0.84s.
(both of these cases were the first instance to be run on their server).

After both tests I also profiled subsequent instances and the average was around ~0.15s. So while 1.1s & 0.84s were much better than some of my previous tests, the first run on a server still takes almost 10x longer than future instances.

Added my level-loading code back in:
First test came in at 3.5s. So it appears it's having an effect even when async. However I did a 2nd fresh build test and it came in at 0.9s... so quite variable overall and almost the same as my original tests. Perhaps if I kept testing I would hit some average that isn't much more than without level files. Also, just as in my original post, all future instances took ~0.15s.

So finally I figure... why not try some fresh & simple code? I put together a very simple C# TCP server that starts up and then ends:

static void Main(string[] args)
        {
            var watch = System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch.StartNew();

            foreach (var arg in args)
            {
                var argArray = arg.Split('=');
                if (argArray.Length < 2)
                {
                    continue;
                }
                var key = argArray[0].Contains("-") ? argArray[0].Replace("-", "").Trim() : argArray[0].Trim();
                var value = argArray[1].Trim();


                switch (key.ToLower())
                {
                    case "game_id":
                        ulong gameId;
                        ulong.TryParse(value, out gameId);
                        GameId = gameId;
                        break;
                    case "game_build_version":
                        GameBuildVersion = value;
                        break;
                    case "game_mode":
                        GameMode = value;
                        break;
                    case "server_host_domain":
                        ServerHostDomain = value;
                        break;
                    case "server_host_port":
                        var hostPort = 0;//this is unity networkings default port.
                        int.TryParse(value, out hostPort);
                        hostPort = hostPort > 0 ? hostPort : 7777;
                        ServerHostPort = hostPort;
                        break;
                    case "server_host_region":
                        ServerHostRegion = value;
                        break;
                    case "playfab_api_endpoint":
                        PlayFabApiEndpoint = value;
                        break;
                    case "title_secret_key":
                        TitleSecretKey = value;
                        break;
                    case "custom_data":
                        CustomData = value;
                        break;
                    case "log_file_path":
                        LogFilePath = value;
                        break;
                    case "output_files_directory_path":
                        OutputFilesDirectory = value;
                        break;
                    case "title_id":
                        TitleId = value;
                        break;
                }


                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(TitleSecretKey))
                {
                    PlayFabSettings.DeveloperSecretKey = TitleSecretKey;
                }


                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(TitleId))
                {
                    PlayFabSettings.TitleId = TitleId;
                }
            }


            if (GameId >= 0)
            {
                LogEvent(string.Format("GameId:{0} game_build_version:{1} server:{2} port:{3} endoint:{4}", GameId, GameBuildVersion, ServerHostDomain, ServerHostPort, PlayFabApiEndpoint));
            }


            LogEvent("Setting up server...");
            /* Initializes the Listener */
            IPEndPoint localEndPoint = new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.Any, ServerHostPort);
            TcpListener myList = new TcpListener(localEndPoint);


            /* Start Listeneting at the specified port */
            myList.Start();


            myList.BeginAcceptTcpClient(HandleClientConnection, myList);


            LogEvent("Server setup complete");


            watch.Stop();
            var elapsedMs = watch.ElapsedMilliseconds;
            LogEvent("server took " + (elapsedMs / 1000.0).ToString() + "s");


            /* clean up */
            myList.Stop();


            SaveLogs();


            Thread.Sleep(2000);

	    // program over
        }


        private static void HandleClientConnection(IAsyncResult result)
        {
            var server = result.AsyncState as TcpListener;
        }


        private static void LogEvent(string logEvent)
        {
            logEvent = DateTime.Now.ToString() + ": " + logEvent;
            Console.WriteLine(logEvent);
            if (!isLocalServer)
                LogEntries.Add(logEvent);
        }


        private static void SaveLogs()
        {
            if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(LogFilePath))
            {
                if (LogEntries.Count > 0)
                {
                    if (!File.Exists(LogFilePath))
                    {
                        LogEntries.Add(Environment.NewLine);
                        File.WriteAllLines(LogFilePath, LogEntries.ToArray());
                    }
                    else
                    {
                        File.AppendAllLines(LogFilePath, LogEntries.ToArray());
                    }
                    LogEntries.Clear();
                }
            }
        }

The result is that on first instance, it took 0.389s. This number seems low until I ran 2nd+ instances and they took ~0.009s. (My local machine took around 0.005s every time). So while the Lidgren-Network socket server is slower to startup than a TCP Listener, it's evident that no matter what the code, there is some weird slowness for the first instance on a server.

I wonder if it is Windows loading the frameworks or something? Or do the Amazon servers start in a sleep mode? I can change my code up, but if the number is wildly inconsistent then it's hard to pick some arbitrary delay for all clients (not to mention pointless if the rest of game instances take approx 0.1s). Unless I just build in some X second delay and a secret reconnect on the client if it fails within the 2 mins of a matchmaking ticket.

Any insight is appreciated, thanks!

Did you ever find a solution to this? We are having the same issue with the first game instance on a new build