GameDash is licensed per node. Each node registers with the GameDash licence server when its daemon first starts, and a node beyond your licensed count will not be permitted to run.
Instances are not counted. A licence sized to your node count covers however many game servers those nodes host.
When a daemon starts on a new machine it registers itself with the licence server before bringing up its services. If registering would take you past your licensed node count, the daemon does not start.
This is why licence headroom is worth checking when a newly installed node will not come online — the symptom looks like an installation or firewall problem, and is not. See Adding your first node.
Licences are re-checked at a regular interval rather than only at startup. If a licence is downgraded while nodes are running, the platform shuts down nodes to bring the fleet back within its entitlement — and which nodes are chosen is not something you control. Downgrade deliberately, at a time you choose, having decided which nodes you want to lose.
Nodes do not fail closed the moment a check fails. If the licence server cannot be reached the daemon keeps retrying for at least three days before shutting down.
A network problem between your fleet and the licence server is therefore not an outage. It is something you have several days to resolve, and worth alerting on so it does not quietly run out.
Licences can be upgraded and downgraded at any time through the GameDash licensing portal. Upgrades take effect for new nodes as they register; downgrades are subject to the shutdown behaviour above.
Domains can be checked publicly, so a customer can confirm a host is running a genuine GameDash licence. See Public licence checker.