Player segment configuration

The segment configuration page allows you to configure new or existing segments. You can:

• Adjust the name.
• Define the filters.
• Assign tasks.

Each segment allows you to define useful or interesting groups of players, and perform exclusive actions on that group.

How to create or access a segment

To access segment configuration:

1. On the left side, select the Players area.

2. Select the Segments tab. From there you can then opt to:

   • Use the New Segment button to create and configure a new Segment*.

   • Locate an existing Segment, and select its Name label to configure the Segment.

How to configure a segment

Prerequisites

Some things must already exist for you to configure a segment. There must already be:

• Players with and without a distinctive characteristic defined in PlayFab.
• A defined CloudScript PlayStream hook.

Note

For more about this, see Using CloudScript actions with PlayStream.

Configuring

In this example we're going to:

• Configure a segment using the defining characteristic that: all players that come from Canada.
• Run a CloudScript function helloWorld for each player that enters the segment.

A defining characteristic of a player might be a:

• Login time
• Linked device type
• Tags
• A real-world location
• Their statistic values
• Their virtual currency values
• Real money purchases, etc.

Note

Player's location is only one of your many possible options, and is only required for this example. Feel free to replace the country/region requirement with another filter of your choice.

When a segment is defined, you have a variety of action options to run when a player enters or leaves the segment.

CloudScript is by far the most flexible action, granting you full control of the player and segment information at the time of segment-transition.

Use the second parameter - context - in your CloudScript handler to identify the player and segment transition. Afterwards, you can perform any action you wish for the player, such as granting inventory items, virtual currency, player data, or statistics.

In our example shown here, the segment configuration requires four simple steps.

1. Assign an appropriate Segment name (1) (in our example, that's Canadian Players).

2. In the Player (2) area, assign any conditions that the Player must meet to enter the segment. (In our example, we want a Location (country/region) filter with a strict value: Canada.

3. In the Type area, add an Execute CloudScript (3) action for the entered segment trigger.

4. Configure the action to run the function we want (helloWorld (3)).

5. Use the Save Segment button (4) to commit your activities.

Advanced segment filtering

Segment filtering allows you to define what players are included in the segment.

Formally speaking, area (1) on the left of the screen shown below is a set of Players that belong to at least one group.

Group (2) is a set of Players that meet all defined conditions, called filters (3).

So to be part of a segment:

• A player must be part of at least one group.

  • To be part of a group, a player must meet all conditions (filters).

  • This is denoted by the OR/AND operators:

    • Filters are combined using the AND operator.
    • Groups are combined using the OR operator.

The screenshot shown above is an example of how a segment can be defined. This segment consists of two groups:

1. The first group is defined by two filters:

   • A player must be from Canada. a. And must have Apple push notifications enabled.
   • The second group is also for players from Canada, but they must have Google push notifications enabled.

In the end, we have a segment of players from Canada with either Google or Apple push notifications.

Each filter has a unique configuration and purpose. As of 4/30/2017 the following filters are available:

• All Players filter - This filter has no configuration and is unique, because it allows you to create a segment of all players. This comes in handy when you want to run automatic operations for every new player (segment actions are described later in this tutorial).

• First login (date) filter - Allows you to filter based on the first login datetime (example - players that have first logged in after 1/1/2017).

• First login (timespan) filter - Allows you to filter based on first login timespan relative to the current datetime (example - players that have first signed in 20 minutes ago [from now]).

• Last login (date) filter - Allows you to filter based on the last login datetime (example - players that haven't signed in since 1/1/2017).

• Last login (timespan) filter - Allows you to filter based on the last login timespan relative to the current datetime (example, players that haven't signed in for a week [from now]).

• Linked user account to filter - Allows you to filter based on the users' linked accounts (example - players that have a Steam account linked with email).

• Location (country/region) filter - Allows you to filter based on player's country/region (example - players from Canada).

• Push notifications enabled with filter - Allows you to filter based on player push notification settings and capabilities (example - players that have Google push notifications enabled.

• Statistics value filter - Allows you to filter based on your own custom statistic attribute (example - players that inflicted 20000 damage in total).

• Tag filter - Allows you to filter based on whether a player has or doesn't have a certain tag (example - players that have a cheater tag).

• Total value to date in USD filter - Allows you to filter based on how much USD currency a player spent in your game (example - players that have spent over $30.

• Value to date filter - Allows you to filter based on how much of a certain currency a player spent in your game (example - players that have spent 50 RUB).

• User Origination filter - Allows you to filter based on the first authentication method that a player used to start playing the game.

Note

The trick here is that a player may start with authentication based on, say, an iOS Device ID. Later, a player may have a GameCenter account linked. In this case, the player origination will be the iOS Device ID (example, players that first signed in using an iOS Device ID).

• Virtual currency balance filter - Allows you to filter based on a player's custom virtual currency deposit (example - players that have less than 50 Crystal).

How to manage actions

Each action needs a trigger in order to run. Some actions are run manually, triggered right from the page.

But sometimes, you have to select a trigger - an event that causes an action to run. A trigger defines the context of the action.

For example, the Player Entered Segment Trigger passes you the context containing a reference to the player.

The general workflow for the Actions panel is the following:

1. Select an event condition (1) a.k.a a trigger.
2. Select the Type of action.

Note

PlayFab offers a variety of actions. If, at any point, you need a more flexible action, consider a CloudScript action. This action type allows you to run your own CloudScript function.

3. Configure the action (3) (specific for each action type).
4. Remove an action (4) from the trigger.
5. Use Add Action (5) to add an action to the trigger.

How to inspect player segments

It's possible to look up what segments a player belongs to with the Player Segments page.

To access Player Segments:

1. Select the Players section.
2. Select the Players tab.
3. Select on the ID label for the player you want to inspect.
4. Select Segments in the Players toolbar.

On the Player Segments page, you'll see the following:

• The Player ID (1) label identifies the player that you're currently inspecting.
• The Segment table contains a list of all the segments that a player belongs to.
• Select the Segment name label (2) to configure the segment.