Web Push Notifications
Web Push lets 5stack notify players on their phone or desktop when the app isn't open — a match going live, an invite, a scrim request, a new message.
It is enabled out of the box and needs no configuration. Players turn it on per device under Settings → Notification Preferences, where they can also mute individual categories and set quiet hours — a window in which push stays silent while the notifications still land in the in-app alert bell. Application settings → Integrations → Web Push shows whether it's active and how many devices are subscribed.
No service, no keys to buy
A common assumption is that push notifications need a paid provider like Firebase, OneSignal or Pusher. They don't.
Every browser vendor runs its own push service, free, with no account and no API key:
| Browser | Push service |
|---|---|
| Chrome, Edge, Brave | Google's push endpoints |
| Firefox | Mozilla autopush |
| Safari (macOS 16+, iOS 16.4+) | Apple Push Notification service |
When a player enables notifications, their browser hands 5stack a subscription URL pointing at its own vendor's service. 5stack sends notifications to that URL directly.
The one piece of configuration is a VAPID keypair, which identifies your panel to those services. It is self-signed and registered with nobody, so 5stack generates it for you on install.
Why people think it costs money
The old GCM protocol did require a Firebase project and a server key. It was replaced by the VAPID standard, which needs neither. If a guide tells you to paste a Firebase key, it's describing the deprecated flow.
Requirements and limitations
These are constraints of the Web Push standard and the browsers, not of 5stack.
HTTPS is required. Service workers only run on a secure origin. A panel served over plain HTTP cannot deliver push notifications at all.
iOS requires the app be installed to the home screen. On iPhone and iPad, Safari has no notification support in a normal tab. Players must open 5stack in Safari, tap Share → Add to Home Screen, and enable notifications from the installed app. This needs iOS 16.4 or newer. The settings page shows this hint automatically on iOS.
The permission prompt is one-shot. A browser only asks once. If a player dismisses or blocks it, 5stack cannot ask again — they have to re-enable notifications in their browser or OS settings.
Delivery is best-effort. There are no delivery or read receipts. Push services may delay, batch, or drop notifications for a device that has been offline for a long time — the spec makes no guarantees. The in-app alert bell is the reliable record; push is the nudge.
Subscriptions expire on their own. Clearing site data, uninstalling the PWA, or a long period of inactivity ends a subscription. 5stack deletes those rows automatically, so the subscriber count reflects reality.
Payloads are small — roughly 4KB, so bodies are trimmed to a short preview. Tapping through opens the relevant page in the app.
Content passes through the vendor's infrastructure encrypted, but avoid putting anything in a notification title or body you wouldn't want on a lock screen.
Troubleshooting
A player sees "Push notifications aren't supported in this browser". They're on iOS in a Safari tab (see above), on an old browser, or the panel is being served over HTTP.
The toggle does nothing and no prompt appears. Notifications are blocked for the site at the browser or OS level. It has to be re-enabled there first; the page will say so when it detects this.
Notifications stopped for everyone at once. The signing keys were rotated — every device has to re-enable notifications. Only rotate if the private key has leaked.