Puck Patch Notes 2026: Matchmaking, B1153 and Rewired (B1235)

Puck had three big updates in 2026, all posted on Steam: B897 on 23 May added ranked matchmaking and parties, B1153 on 10 July added goal replays, goalie crease protection and made cloud servers Patreon only, and B1235 "Rewired" on 14 August halved network bandwidth. For server owners, B1153 and B1235 changed the most.

Puck updates in 2026 at a glance

Build numbers jumped from B202 straight to B897 because, as the developer explained, "game client and dedicated server versions are now based on commit count". There was no B203 to B896 to miss.

B897: matchmaking, MMR and parties (23 May 2026)

B897 was described as "the biggest update the game has ever seen", after nearly a year of work.

• Ranked matchmaking based on ELO, starting at 1000, solo or with a party, matched on rating and ping. You can set a maximum acceptable ping in the settings.
• Parties through Steam lobbies, with invites from the game or the Steam overlay.
• Voting reworked: a new /forfeit (/ff) command, and /kick votes limited to your own team.
• Security: Steam ID validation on connection, checked again with the backend.
• Modding: a popup listing every required mod when you connect to a server.

What B897 changed for dedicated servers

• The ping (RTT) server switched from UDP to TCP, and servers now report detailed state to the server browser over TCP. That is why a Puck server needs its game port open on both UDP and TCP.
• The tick rate was raised to 200 for all dedicated servers, including matchmaking ones.
• New command line arguments for running several server instances on one machine.
• A crash when no goal was scored for a long time was fixed.

B1153: crease protection, goal replays and Patreon cloud servers (10 July 2026)

B1153 was a large visual and quality of life pass with several changes that matter for anyone running a rink.

Gameplay

• Goalie crease protection: body contact inside the crease is filtered and an intruding player shows as a transparent ghost. It can be turned off per server in public_game_mode_config.json.
• Goal slow motion: goals trigger a slow motion replay and a celebration camera.
• Vote kicks: casual votekicks now need a whole lobby majority, and votekick was removed from competitive mode because of abuse.
• The clock now runs through 0:00, and the spawn delay was raised to 10 seconds.

Server and admin changes

• Admins can no longer be votekicked, and can join servers that are full.
• Bans by SteamID64 from chat with /ban and /unban.
• /start and /warmup admin commands restored. Pauses, resumes and skips are announced in chat with the admin's name.
• A server only reports itself ready after the backend authenticates it and the scene loads. Until its mods finish downloading, players see "Server is still starting".
• A broken config is handled safely: the server keeps its last good ban and whitelist lists, and refuses to start on an invalid server config, reporting the file, line and path of the bad JSON.
• Startup logs were standardised and now announce the public address the server is ready on.

Cloud servers now need Patreon

In the server browser, "DEDICATED SERVERS" were renamed "CLOUD SERVERS", and the notes say: "Cloud servers are now Patreon-gated, to reduce the extra cost of providing free cloud servers." Puck's Patreon memberships start at 5 USD a month. Direct Connect also became a normal button, with no need to open the F5 debug tools first.

B1235 "Rewired": new netcode (14 August 2026)

B1235 is "all about how the game feels online". The headline numbers from the patch notes:

• 50% less network bandwidth between the server and players.
• 10 ms less perceived input latency.
• Better handling of jitter, packet loss and packet reordering.
• Smooth replays with much less server load while a replay runs, and a fix for jittery replays when self hosting.
• Matchmaking lets you queue for 3v3 and 5v5 at the same time.
• Abandon cooldowns were shortened, and every 10 finished matches removes one cooldown level.

It also added a Network Buffering setting with four options, from Predictive to Smooth. Our Puck Network Buffering guide explains which to choose.

What this means for your server

• Update after every patch. Players on a new build cannot join an older server. Self hosted servers need a SteamCMD update (app 3481440) and restart.
• Open TCP as well as UDP. Since B897 the server browser pings over TCP on the game port, 30609 by default. A UDP only forward makes the server invisible or show no ping.
• Validate your JSON. Since B1153 a malformed server_config.json stops the server instead of starting with defaults. Read the log, it names the file and line.
• Check crease protection and goal slow motion in public_game_mode_config.json if your league wants them off.
• Expect lighter servers. B1235's bandwidth cut and lighter replays mean a full rink costs the server less than before.

Every key in those files is covered in Puck server config explained, and the full command list is in Puck server admin commands.

Your own Puck server instead of a cloud server

If the Patreon change means you need somewhere else for pickup nights, you can host Puck yourself for free (see how to host a Puck server for free) or rent one. A Puck server with us starts at 2.99 USD a month for 12 players, runs at 200 Hz, updates itself on every restart and has crease protection, goal slow motion and period length as panel settings.

FAQ

What is the latest Puck update?

The latest major update is B1235 "Rewired", released on Steam on 14 August 2026. It reworked the netcode and added the Network Buffering setting.

Why did Puck build numbers jump from B202 to B897?

Since B897, client and dedicated server versions are numbered by commit count. The jump does not mean you missed any updates.

Are Puck cloud servers free?

Not any more. Since B1153 on 10 July 2026, cloud servers in the server browser are for Patreon supporters, to cover their cost. Self hosting and dedicated servers are still free to run.

Can I turn off goalie crease protection?

Yes. It is a per server setting in public_game_mode_config.json, and on our servers it is a switch in the panel.

Do dedicated servers still run at 200 Hz?

Yes. Since B897 all dedicated servers, including matchmaking servers, run at a 200 Hz tick rate by default.