What causes "Could not find socket definition {name}." in Unity-Technologies/UnityCsReference?

Check PlayerSettings.XboxOne.SocketNames to verify the socket name exists before calling GetSocketDefinition

Unity-Technologies/UnityCsReference · error · ArgumentException

Could not find socket definition {name}.

Error message

Could not find socket definition {name}.

What it means

PlayerSettings.XboxOne.GetSocketDefinition queries the native Xbox One socket configuration by name. It first checks the usage count arrays via GetXboxOneSocketDefinitionNumUsages and GetXboxOneSocketDefinitionNumDeviceUsages; if either returns a negative value, the socket name was never registered with SetSocketDefinition. The method throws ArgumentException with the queried name so the caller can identify which socket is missing.

Source

Thrown at Editor/Mono/PlayerSettingsXboxOne.bindings.cs:219

            [NativeMethod("RemoveXboxOneSocketDefinition")]
            [StaticAccessor("GetPlayerSettings().GetEditorOnlyForUpdate()", StaticAccessorType.Dot)]
            extern public static void RemoveSocketDefinition(string name);

            [NativeMethod("SetXboxOneSocketDefinition")]
            [StaticAccessor("GetPlayerSettings().GetEditorOnlyForUpdate()", StaticAccessorType.Dot)]
            extern public static void SetSocketDefinition(string name, string port, int protocol, int[] usages, string templateName, int sessionRequirment, int[] deviceUsages);

            [NativeMethod("GetXboxOneSocketDefinition")]
            [StaticAccessor("GetPlayerSettings().GetEditorOnlyForUpdate()", StaticAccessorType.Dot)]
            extern private static void GetSocketDefinitionInternal(string name, out string port, out int protocol, [Out] int[] usages, out string templateName, out int sessionRequirment, [Out] int[] deviceUsages);

            public static void GetSocketDefinition(string name, out string port, out int protocol, out int[] usages, out string templateName, out int sessionRequirment, out int[] deviceUsages)
            {
                int numUsages = GetXboxOneSocketDefinitionNumUsages(name);
                int numDeviceUsages = GetXboxOneSocketDefinitionNumDeviceUsages(name);
                if (numUsages < 0 || numDeviceUsages < 0)
                    throw new ArgumentException("Could not find socket definition " + name + ".");

                usages = new int[numUsages];
                deviceUsages = new int[numDeviceUsages];

                GetSocketDefinitionInternal(name, out port, out protocol, usages, out templateName, out sessionRequirment, deviceUsages);
            }

            [StaticAccessor("GetPlayerSettings().GetEditorOnlyForUpdate()", StaticAccessorType.Dot)]
            extern public static string[] SocketNames
            {
                [NativeMethod("GetXboxOneSocketNames")]
                get;
            }

            [NativeMethod("GetXboxOneSocketDefinitionNumUsages")]
            [StaticAccessor("GetPlayerSettings().GetEditorOnlyForUpdate()", StaticAccessorType.Dot)]
            extern private static int GetXboxOneSocketDefinitionNumUsages(string name);

View on GitHub (pinned to 225b0fbdb5)

Solutions

Check PlayerSettings.XboxOne.SocketNames to verify the socket name exists before calling GetSocketDefinition
Ensure SetSocketDefinition has been called with the exact name (case-sensitive) before any GetSocketDefinition call
If the socket was removed, re-register it with SetSocketDefinition before querying
Log SocketNames to verify available sockets when debugging

Example fix

// before
PlayerSettings.XboxOne.GetSocketDefinition("mySocket", out port, out protocol, out usages, out template, out sessionReq, out deviceUsages);

// after
if (Array.IndexOf(PlayerSettings.XboxOne.SocketNames, "mySocket") >= 0)
    PlayerSettings.XboxOne.GetSocketDefinition("mySocket", out port, out protocol, out usages, out template, out sessionReq, out deviceUsages);
else
    Debug.LogError($"Socket 'mySocket' not found. Available: {string.Join(", ", PlayerSettings.XboxOne.SocketNames)}");

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

string socketName = "mySocket";
string[] existing = PlayerSettings.XboxOne.SocketNames;
bool exists = Array.IndexOf(existing, socketName) >= 0;
// Only call GetSocketDefinition if exists is true

Try / catch

try
{
    PlayerSettings.XboxOne.GetSocketDefinition(name, out port, out protocol, out usages, out template, out sessionReq, out deviceUsages);
}
catch (ArgumentException ex) when (ex.Message.StartsWith("Could not find socket definition"))
{
    Debug.LogError($"Socket '{name}' not registered. Available: {string.Join(", ", PlayerSettings.XboxOne.SocketNames)}");
}

Prevention

Always check SocketNames before calling GetSocketDefinition
Call SetSocketDefinition before GetSocketDefinition in initialization code
Log available socket names when debugging socket configuration issues

When it happens

Trigger: Calling PlayerSettings.XboxOne.GetSocketDefinition("mySocket", ...) when 'mySocket' was never created via SetSocketDefinition, or was removed via RemoveSocketDefinition before the query. Passing a typo'd or case-mismatched socket name.

Common situations: Build scripts that query Xbox One networking socket configuration before it has been initialized. Editor tools that enumerate sockets but reference a name from a different project or an outdated configuration. Case-sensitivity mismatches between SetSocketDefinition and GetSocketDefinition calls.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of Unity-Technologies/UnityCsReference@225b0fbdb5 (2026-08-13). Data as JSON: /api/errors/eb36fbf589fb5860. Report an issue: GitHub.