Port forwarding so friends can join

This is for someone who has never logged into a router. You are making one hole so friends outside your house can reach a game server on a Windows PC. The PC has to stay on, and it has to be the same machine the game is listening on.

Every router looks a bit different. The names below are the ones you actually click. If yours says Virtual Server or NAT instead of Port Forwarding, that is the same thing.

1. Write down this PC's home address

1. On the PC that will run the server, click Start, type cmd, press Enter.
2. Type ipconfig and press Enter.
3. Find Wireless LAN adapter or Ethernet adapter. Write down IPv4 Address (it usually starts with 192.168). That is this PC on your home network. The router will send the game traffic here.
4. On the same block, write down Default Gateway. That is the router. You will type it into a browser in a minute.

2. Write down the address friends will type

1. On this PC, open a browser and search what is my IP. Use a normal search result, not a random app.
2. Write that number down. That is the public address. Friends type that, plus the game's port, to join.
3. If that public number looks like the IPv4 you wrote in step 1 (both start with 192.168, 10., or 172.16 to 172.31), your provider is sharing the address. Skip to the last section. Forwarding will not help.

3. Allow the port in Windows Firewall

Do this on the same PC, before the router. Otherwise Windows will block friends even if the router is right.

1. Click Start, type Windows Defender Firewall, open it.
2. Click Advanced settings on the left.
3. Click Inbound Rules, then New Rule on the right.
4. Choose Port, then Next.
5. Choose TCP or UDP to match the game (see the list below). If the list does not say, pick TCP and UDP and make two rules. Type the port number. Next.
6. Leave Allow the connection selected. Next through the profiles (Domain, Private, Public). Name it something you will recognise, like Terraria 7777. Finish.

4. Log into the router

1. Open a browser on this PC.
2. Click the address bar. Type the Default Gateway from step 1. Press Enter. You should see the router's login page, not Google.
3. The username and password are often on a sticker on the router itself. Try that before guessing admin.
4. If the page never loads, you are on the wrong number, or the router uses an app instead. Check the sticker again.

5. Add the forwarding rule

1. Look for Port Forwarding, Virtual Server, NAT, or Applications. It is often under Advanced or Firewall.
2. Add a new rule.
3. External (or WAN) port: the game port from the list below. Internal (or LAN) port: the same number.
4. Internal IP (or Device): the IPv4 from step 1. Some routers let you pick the PC by name. Pick this PC.
5. Protocol: TCP, UDP, or both, matching the list. If the router only has Both or TCP/UDP, use that.
6. Save or Apply. Some routers need a reboot. If it asks, let it.

Leave the PC on. Sleep, hibernate, or shutting a laptop lid stops the server, and the rule has nothing to send traffic to.

6. Which port to use

Use the listen port for the game you are hosting. Forward every number in the row. Pairs sit next to each other, so you can enter a range if the router allows it.

• Terraria: TCP 7777
• Necesse: UDP 14159
• Romestead: 8050 (TCP and UDP if the router asks)
• Don't Starve Together: 10999 and 11000 (forest plus caves)
• Mindustry: 6567 (TCP and UDP if the router asks)
• Valheim: 2456 and 2457
• Core Keeper: 27015 and 27016 (game plus query)
• Vintage Story: 42420 (TCP and UDP if the router asks)
• Factorio: 34197 (TCP and UDP if the router asks)

The game's own server window or config file is the source of truth if you changed the port. Forward the number it is actually listening on.

7. Check it before friends try

1. Start the game server on this PC and leave the window open.
2. From a phone on mobile data (not your home Wi-Fi), or ask a friend outside the house, try to join using the public IP and the port.
3. A PC on the same Wi-Fi joining via the public IP often fails even when the rule is right. That is a router quirk. Test from outside.

If friends still cannot join

• The server window is closed, or the PC went to sleep.
• Windows Firewall was skipped, or the rule is the wrong protocol.
• The rule points at an old IPv4. Home addresses change. Run ipconfig again and update the rule.
• The public IP from step 2 is not the same as the WAN/Internet IP on the router page. Your provider is sharing the address. Forwarding cannot fix that.

If you would rather skip the router

A hosted world does not need this. omnipass.gg runs the dedicated server for you, so friends join without you opening ports or leaving a PC awake.