Hytale server guides: play with friends, set it up, mods and errors
Hytale ships its own official server, and setting one up to play with friends is easier than it looks. It's in early access and updates often, so every guide says which version it covers (today, Update 7). Here they all are, in the order you're likely to need them.
Start here
How to Play Hytale with Friends: Share Code or Server
With a code from your world or with a server: what suits you before you set anything up.
How to Make a Hytale Server: Requirements, Port and How to Join
Requirements, the port and how you and your friends get in.
Link Your Hytale Server to Your Account: the Auth Link and Code
The step you can't skip: until it's linked to an account, nobody can join.
How Much RAM Does a Hytale Server Need?
How much RAM to get for your players and mods.
How to Move Your Hytale World to a Server (and Keep Your Character)
Moving your world to the server and keeping your character.
Setting it up and running it
The files with the server stopped; permissions and commands, from the console.
Hytale Server config.json Explained, Option by Option
What every option in a Hytale server's config.json and each world's config does: password, max players, game mode, PvP, view distance and updates.
Hytale Server Permissions: Groups, /op, /perm and the Whitelist
How to give permissions on a Hytale server: make yourself operator, the built-in groups, /setgroup and /perm to grant only what's needed, and the whitelist.
Hytale Server Admin Commands
Hytale server admin commands: making yourself operator, whitelist, kick and ban, game mode, time, backups and stopping the server, with the right syntax.
Reset Your Hytale Server World: New World, Seed and Backups
Start a new world on your Hytale server without losing the old one, choose the seed, reset the same world or go back to a backup.
Mods and plugins
In Hytale, mods live on the server: your friends don't have to install anything.
How to Install Hytale Mods: the In-Game Browser and Your Server
Install Hytale mods with the in-game mod browser or by hand: the types of mods, whether your friends need them, versions and how to add them to your server.
How to Add Mods to a Hytale Server
How to install mods on a Hytale server: where to upload them, where to download them, how to tell if they load and what to do if the server won't start.
The Best Hytale Mods for Playing with Friends (Update 7)
Hytale mods up to date with Update 7 for a server with friends: shared map, parties, levels, dungeons, bosses, pets and how to install them.
When something goes wrong
Hytale Server Not Starting: Errors and Fixes
Why a Hytale server closes on startup: Java that isn't version 25, the launcher folder, a mod, config.json, memory or an update, and how to fix each one.
Can't Connect to Your Hytale Server? Causes and Fixes
Why Hytale won't let you join a server (“Failed to connect”): not linked, no port, a different version, the whitelist or your network. How to fix it.
Hytale Server Lag: Why It Happens and How to Fix It
Stuttering, terrain that loads late and mobs moving in jumps in Hytale: view distance, RAM, CPU, mods and your connection. How to tell which one it is.
Hytale Server Backups: Where They Are and How to Restore One
Where a Hytale server keeps its automatic backups, how to make one on the spot with /backup and how to restore your world if it breaks or loads empty.
Free or paid
Free Hytale Server: the Real Options and Their Catches
How to get a free Hytale server: open your world with a code, run the dedicated server on your PC or use a free server from a host. What each one can handle.
Hytale Server Always Online: Let Your Friends Join Without You
How to keep your Hytale server always on so your friends can join without you: your PC, an old computer or a host, and how to keep it from falling behind.
By version
Update 7 “Chapter I” (0.7.x, October 2026)
The one our servers install today (0.7.2). The server won't start inside the launcher's folder, view distance goes from 1 to 32 chunks, and you can link the account again without unlinking it first.
Explained in: Hytale Updates for Servers: What Changed in Update 5, 6 and 7 · Hytale Server Not Starting: Errors and Fixes · Hytale Server config.json Explained, Option by Option
Update 6 (0.6.x, August 2026)
The network protocol changed (plugins had to be rebuilt), the in-game mod browser arrived and the whitelist became a permission, hytale.server.join.
Explained in: Hytale Server Permissions: Groups, /op, /perm and the Whitelist · How to Install Hytale Mods: the In-Game Browser and Your Server
Update 5 (0.5.x, May 2026)
The official in-game server list (Server Discovery) arrived, along with group permissions no longer tied to the game mode.
Explained in: How to Get Your Server on Hytale's Official Server List · Hytale Server Permissions: Groups, /op, /perm and the Whitelist
Frequently asked questions
How do you play Hytale with friends?
By opening your world with a code from “Online Play” (only while you're playing) or with a dedicated server, which everyone joins whenever they like.
Does a Hytale server have to be linked to an account?
Yes: the first time, the server is linked to a Hytale account (a link and a code) and then it downloads the game. At NapNodes the panel shows you the link and the code (step by step).
Do you need the port to join a Hytale server?
Yes: Hytale doesn't look up the port by itself, so you type the address and the port. If you still can't get in, go through why you can't connect.
Can you get a Hytale server for free?
Yes: on your own PC, or at NapNodes, which gives you a free server that starts when you want to play and stops by itself when nobody is on (the options and their catches).
Create your free Hytale serverNo card needed. Or see the Hytale plans.