UE5 Developer to Optimize Game Server
Summary
Freelancer Client is hiring: UE5 Developer to Optimize Game Server.
Location: Remote
We run a popular community game server for The Isle: Evrima (Unreal Engine 5) with 300+ concurrent players. We're experiencing rubberbanding and ping spikes at high player counts and need an experienced UE5 developer to diagnose and fix the server-side performance bottleneck.
Requirements:
• A developer who can:
• Identify and hook the RedpointEOS replication functions — find the actual code path the game uses for actor replication (not the dead standard UE5 functions)
• Implement distance-based replication culling — reduce the O(players × actors) replication cost by skipping distant actors
• OR: properly configure the ReplicationGraph — wire up the existing spatial grid classes (GridSpatialization2D) to filter actors before they reach the network layer
• Optimize for 400+ concurrent players — the goal is to match or exceed what other large community servers achieve
• Secondary Scope (Ongoing)
• General server mod development for performance optimization
• Network tuning and profiling at scale
Benefits & perks:
• Full access to the test server (GHB Windows, UE4SS installed, 20-player test environment)
• Complete technical documentation of all findings, addresses, offsets, and vtable dumps
• Working C++ hook framework (compiles, patches functions, self-test verified)
• Working Lua mod with monitoring tools (serverperf, diagnose, actor counting, stall detection)
• Ghidra project with the analyzed binary
• Direct communication and fast feedback cycles
• Open to discussion based on experience and scope. This can be structured as:
• Fixed price for the core deliverable (fix rubberbanding at 300+ players)
Skills: Game Design, C++ Programming, Debugging, Game Development, Unreal Engine, Reverse Engineering, Performance Tuning
Budget: $750–$1500 USD
Source: Freelancer Client via Remote / Online. Apply on the source website.
Original
We run a popular community game server for The Isle: Evrima (Unreal Engine 5) with 300+ concurrent players. We're experiencing rubberbanding and ping spikes at high player counts and need an experienced UE5 developer to diagnose and fix the server-side performance bottleneck.
What We Have
A live Windows dedicated server running through Proton, managed via UE4SS with custom Lua mods and C++ DLLs
A fully functional mod system with player commands (instant grow, stat management, skin editing, etc.) already built
Extensive reverse engineering already completed: Ghidra analysis of the server binary, vtable dumps, function identification, and a working C++ hook framework that patches native functions at runtime
Detailed documentation of everything we've tried, what works, and what doesn't
The Problem
The server experiences periodic rubberbanding and ping spikes starting at approximately 200-300 players. This occurs regardless of hardware — we've tested on shared hosting, OVH bare metal (Ryzen 9 9950X3D, 64GB RAM), and ReliableSite bare metal (Ryzen 9 9950X, 186GB RAM, 10Gbps). The issue is engine-level, not hardware-limited.
What We've Discovered
Through extensive testing, we've confirmed:
The game uses RedpointEOS (Epic Online Services) as its networking layer, NOT the standard UE5 replication system
Standard UE5 replication functions (IsNetRelevantFor, ServerReplicateActors) are compiled into the binary but never called — they are dead code
All UE4SS Lua property writes to replication settings (NetUpdateFrequency, NetCullDistanceSquared, etc.) are cosmetic — the net driver caches state internally and ignores runtime changes
The game has ReplicationGraph classes compiled in (GridSpatialization2D, DynamicSpatialFrequency, DormancyNode) but never instantiates them
We have a proven C++ hook framework that works under Wine/Proton — we can patch any function, build trampolines, and intercept calls. We just need to identify the right functions in RedpointEOS's code path
What We Need
A developer who can:
Identify and hook the RedpointEOS replication functions — find the actual code path the game uses for actor replication (not the dead standard UE5 functions)
Implement distance-based replication culling — reduce the O(players × actors) replication cost by skipping distant actors
OR: properly configure the ReplicationGraph — wire up the existing spatial grid classes (GridSpatialization2D) to filter actors before they reach the network layer
Optimize for 400+ concurrent players — the goal is to match or exceed what other large community servers achieve
Secondary Scope (Ongoing)
General server mod development for performance optimization
Network tuning and profiling at scale
Potential CMC (CharacterMovementComponent) replication throttling
Actor dormancy management from C++
Required Skills
Strong C++ and UE5 experience — specifically networking, replication, and the net driver architecture
Reverse engineering experience — comfortable with Ghidra, vtable analysis, and hooking native functions in a shipping binary (no source access)
UE5 ReplicationGraph knowledge — understanding of spatial grid nodes, frequency buckets, and how to configure them
Experience with UE4SS (Unreal Engine 4/5 Scripting System) — our mod framework
DLL development on Windows — Visual Studio, x64, manual trampoline/hooking (MinHook experience is a plus)
Familiarity with Epic Online Services / RedpointEOS networking is a strong plus
Experience with Wine/Proton game server environments is a plus
What We Provide
Full access to the test server (GHB Windows, UE4SS installed, 20-player test environment)
Complete technical documentation of all findings, addresses, offsets, and vtable dumps
Working C++ hook framework (compiles, patches functions, self-test verified)
Working Lua mod with monitoring tools (serverperf, diagnose, actor counting, stall detection)
Ghidra project with the analyzed binary
Direct communication and fast feedback cycles
Budget
Open to discussion based on experience and scope. This can be structured as:
Fixed price for the core deliverable (fix rubberbanding at 300+ players)
Hourly for ongoing optimization and mod development
Or a combination
Timeline
Looking to start immediately. The infrastructure and tooling are already built — we need someone who can identify the right hook targets and implement the optimization.
Location & Details
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