Enable lock-screen input callbacks¶

When the host PC switches to the Windows lock screen, keyboard and mouse input at the operating system (OS) level is blocked by OS security policy. In a remote environment, screen and audio streaming remain available, but actual game control becomes unavailable.

Previously, remote users had to enter the Windows account password to unlock the PC. However, this exposed the risk of granting full PC control and made the connection process inconvenient.

The Remote Play Plugin provides the Play without unlocking the lock screen feature in the Remote Play settings of Hive Console. When this feature is enabled, all input events, such as keyboard, mouse, touch, joystick, wheel, and zoom events, are delivered directly to the game callback.

Key behavior¶

• Callback-based delivery: All input events are delivered to the callback function registered with RegisterCallback as eventType: "Control". This behavior is the same regardless of the lock state, and callback delivery continues even after the lock screen is unlocked.
• OS input path bypass: The OS SendInput path is no longer used. Input events are received consistently regardless of whether Windows is locked.
• Direct injection into the game: The game directly injects the input data received through the callback into its internal input system and handles controls the same way in both locked and normal states.

Prerequisites¶

Prepare the following before applying this feature.

• Import the Remote Play Plugin.
• Register a callback function to receive events.
• Supported SDK and plugin versions:
  • Remote Play Plugin 1.2.0 or later
  • Hive SDK v4 26.4.0 or later

Control event protocol¶

After the Play without unlocking the lock screen feature is enabled, input events delivered through the callback use the same JSON format as chat events, and the eventType value is fixed to "Control". The actual input type is identified by the inner controlType.

Common envelope structure¶

{
    "version"   : "1.02.00",
    "eventType" : "Control",
    "eventValue": {
        "value": {
            "controlType" : "<Key | Click | Wheel | Zoom>",
            "controlValue": {
                "value"  : "<controlType-specific-value>",
                "action" : "<controlType-specific-action>"
            }
        }
    },
    "etc"       : { }
}

controlType = "Key" - keyboard input¶

Delivers the pressed or released state of a single keyboard key. Both keyboard input and joystick input generated by the user in the web client are converted to controlType.

Joystick direction codes are split into single key events according to the mapping setting (WASD / DIRECTION) and delivered as controlType. In other words, the game sees keyboard input and joystick input in the same format. The host also splits diagonal movement into two single key events before sending it.

Example - pressing the 'A' key

{
    "version"   : "1.02.00",
    "eventType" : "Control",
    "eventValue": {
        "value": {
            "controlType" : "Key",
            "controlValue": { "value": "0x41", "action": "Down" }
        }
    },
    "etc"       : { }
}

Example - joystick up (the 'W' key when using WASD mapping)

{
    "version"   : "1.02.00",
    "eventType" : "Control",
    "eventValue": {
        "value": {
            "controlType" : "Key",
            "controlValue": { "value": "0x57", "action": "Down" }
        }
    },
    "etc"       : { }
}

controlType = "Click" - mouse and touch coordinate input¶

Delivers mouse click, mouse movement, and touch coordinates. Both mouse input and touch input generated by the user in the web client are automatically converted to pixel coordinates in the client area of the game window, based on GetClientRect(), before delivery.

Coordinate conversion reference¶

curWidth and curHeight are the client area size of the game window based on GetClientRect(). Therefore, apply these values directly as window coordinates in the game.

Example - mouse click (Down -> Up)

{
    "version"   : "1.02.00",
    "eventType" : "Control",
    "eventValue": {
        "value": {
            "controlType" : "Click",
            "controlValue": { "value": "526.5#792.5", "action": "Down" }
        }
    },
    "etc"       : { }
}

{
    "version"   : "1.02.00",
    "eventType" : "Control",
    "eventValue": {
        "value": {
            "controlType" : "Click",
            "controlValue": { "value": "526.5#792.5", "action": "Up" }
        }
    },
    "etc"       : { }
}

Example - drag (Move)

{
    "version"   : "1.02.00",
    "eventType" : "Control",
    "eventValue": {
        "value": {
            "controlType" : "Click",
            "controlValue": { "value": "645.1#681.7", "action": "Move" }
        }
    },
    "etc"       : { }
}

controlType = "Wheel" - mouse wheel¶

Delivers mouse wheel scroll actions.

Example - wheel down (mouse position: 1234.0 px, 567.0 px)

{
    "version"   : "1.02.00",
    "eventType" : "Control",
    "eventValue": {
        "value": {
            "controlType" : "Wheel",
            "controlValue": { "value": "1234.0#567.0", "action": "Down" }
        }
    },
    "etc"       : { }
}

controlType = "Zoom" - zoom in and out¶

Delivers zoom-in and zoom-out actions for a camera or map screen.

Example - zoom in

{
    "version"   : "1.02.00",
    "eventType" : "Control",
    "eventValue": {
        "value": {
            "controlType" : "Zoom",
            "controlValue": { "value": "1", "action": "In" }
        }
    },
    "etc"       : { }
}

Example - zoom out

{
    "version"   : "1.02.00",
    "eventType" : "Control",
    "eventValue": {
        "value": {
            "controlType" : "Zoom",
            "controlValue": { "value": "1", "action": "Out" }
        }
    },
    "etc"       : { }
}

Input type conversion mapping summary¶

The following mapping shows how the original input types sent by the web client are converted into host callback events.

Status (Event) and chat (Message) events are not delivered through this Control event. They are delivered separately according to the existing protocol.

Game-side input handling guide¶

When the Play without unlocking the lock screen feature is enabled in the Remote Play settings of Hive Console, Remote Play does not send input events to the input queue of the operating system (OS). Instead, it delivers them directly to the game through the registered callback.

Therefore, input events received through the callback must be sent directly to the game's internal input system, such as Unity Input System or Unreal Input Subsystem, and handled there.

This method bypasses the Windows lock screen restriction that limits OS-level input injection, such as SendInput and SendKey. Because input events are dispatched directly inside the game process, we recommend using the same handling path regardless of whether the system is locked or in a normal state.

In other words, after enabling the Play without unlocking the lock screen feature, implement the game to receive all input events delivered through this callback and forward them to the game's internal input system. This ensures consistent input handling and remote play behavior regardless of the lock screen state.

• Unity: Dispatch with InputSystem.QueueEvent or a custom input manager.
• Unreal Engine: Dispatch with Slate events such as FSlateApplication::OnKeyDown / OnMouseButtonDown, or use the game's custom input manager.

Background rendering and audio handling guide for lock-screen environments¶

To use Remote Play in a Windows lock screen environment, the game must be able to operate normally while in the background. Most game engines stop rendering, limit frames, or pause audio playback to reduce CPU usage when they lose focus or enter the background. To maintain remote streaming normally, configure the game process to keep running in the background.

1. Recommended policy based on Remote Play connection status¶

The game must check the Remote Play connection status to determine whether a remote user is connected. The recommended behavior is as follows.

You can determine the connection status through the status event callback (eventType: "Event", value REMOTE_PLAY_CONNECTED / REMOTE_PLAY_DISCONNECTED).

2. Keep background rendering active¶

The rendering loop must keep running so that Remote Play can capture the screen even when Windows is locked. Check items such as the following.

• Do not stop frame updates.
• Keep the render loop running.
• Keep camera rendering active.
• Keep the UI updated.
• Review background frame limit policies.

3. Keep background audio output active¶

Remote Play captures audio output from the game process and delivers it to the remote player. Therefore, disable background audio blocking policies such as the following.

• Pausing audio on focus lost
• Stopping the audio engine when the window is deactivated
• Enabling background mute

Engine-specific checks and notes¶

Unity¶

Unity may limit updates by default when the game enters the background. When using the lock-screen Remote Play feature, we recommend enabling background execution as follows.

Application.runInBackground = true;

If custom logic stops audio when focus is lost, handle it as an exception based on the Remote Play connection status.

Unreal Engine¶

In Unreal Engine projects, check whether any settings limit tick, rendering, or audio processing when focus is lost. We especially recommend checking the following items.

• Whether background tick works
• Whether pause handling is applied on focus lost
• Whether the Audio Mixer works
• Background FPS limit policies

While connected to Remote Play, implement the game so that the normal game loop is maintained even in the background.

Recommended behavior scenario¶

1. The user switches to the Windows lock screen.
2. The Remote Play client connects.
3. The game detects the connection status and keeps background rendering and audio output active.
   • Game rendering continues.
   • Game audio output continues.
4. The Remote Play Plugin captures and sends the screen and audio normally.
5. The remote user receives the game screen and sound in real time.
6. Input events are delivered to the game's internal input system through the Remote Play input Control callback.

Related documents¶

• Register a callback function to receive events
• Change the blind image