How do i make socket.io send emit message to only one client?

Question

I've been working on a game and i'm using sockets for some simple backend stuff. One issue i noticed is that when a player dies, i emit a socket requesting to reset the game. the issue is, this gets sent to everyone, so when one person dies, everyone gets sent back to the home screen.

How can i make it so that (io.emit - the server) only affects the (socket.on - the client)?

My heart stopped when i realized this, i've gotten so far and i can't believe this hadn't crossed my mind!

you have to create a separate room for everyone and then emit the event accordingly. — mehta-rohan, Apr 09 '20 at 08:33
This has been answered here: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/4647348/send-message-to-specific-client-with-socket-io-and-node-js — Lucas S., Apr 09 '20 at 09:31

score 4 · Accepted Answer · edited Dec 06 '22 at 12:18

I guess one of the comments directs you to a few potential answers. But just in case a struggling coder has the same issue, here is what i did that resolved it.

server.js

io.on('connection', function(socket) {
    io.to(socket.id).emit('private', `your secret code is ${code}`);
});

client.js

socket.on('private', function(msg) {
    alert(msg);
});

https://socket.io/docs/v4/emit-cheatsheet/ has a bunch of useful information in a small amount of text. Also heres the link to the other question in case you want to know more then one solution:

Send message to specific client with socket.io and node.js

How do i make socket.io send emit message to only one client?

1 Answers1