Temporarily 'pausing' a fleet

Hi @REDACTEDUSER

Setting the instance count to 0 using the console or UpdateFleetCapacity API, is the correct approach for this.

You’re correct that this will not scale-down the fleet if it has an ACTIVE GameSession on it and protectionPolicy is set to FullProtection. You can remove protection from a particular GameSession by calling the UpdateGameSession API or remove protection from all new GameSessions created on a fleet by using the UpdateFleetAttribute API

These APIs can be called via the AWS CLI - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/gamelift/update-game-session.html

One more thing to note, since you mentioned free-tier usage is that GameLift free-tier is only eligible for On-Demand instance usage. So make sure you’re not using SPOT if you wish to use those hours https://aws.amazon.com/gamelift/faq/#Q._How_do_I_get_started_with_Amazon_GameLift_for_free.3F

Hi @REDACTEDUSER

Thanks for the detailed explanation and all the helpful links! I was under the impression that I wouldn't have any control over instance count for On-Demand instance usage.

Hey @REDACTEDUSER

You are able to control instance counts for on-demand usage the same as spot usage (primarily by the defined fleet capacity).

The main difference between the two is that SPOT instances are cheaper, but are subject to the possibility of being interrupted (and shut-down) when AWS needs the capacity back. You can read more about the differences here - https://docs.aws.amazon.com/gamelift/latest/developerguide/gamelift-ec2-instances.html#gamelift-ec2-instances-spot

Thanks @REDACTEDUSER