Hytale Server Ports: Open UDP 5520 (and Why TCP Doesn't Work)

Which port Hytale uses

Hytale connects with the QUIC protocol, which runs over UDP. The default port is UDP 5520, and it's the only one it needs: the official manual says no TCP forwarding is required.

Plenty of routers and guides assume TCP because that's what Minecraft Java uses. If you're coming from there, that's the change: the same rule on UDP, or nobody gets through.

When you don't need to open anything

If you only play with friends now and then, you can share your world from inside the game with a code, without setting up a server: see how to play Hytale with friends. The game tries to open the port itself with UPnP.

If your friends are in the same house, you don't need to touch the router either: the PC's firewall just has to let the port through.

Open it on the PC's firewall

On Windows, open PowerShell as administrator and type New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Hytale" -Direction Inbound -Protocol UDP -LocalPort 5520 -Action Allow.

On Linux with ufw, sudo ufw allow 5520/udp. If you changed the port, use yours instead of 5520.

Open it on the router

1. Give the server PC a fixed IP

   On the router, reserve its local IP so it doesn't change after a restart.

2. Find port forwarding

   It's usually called NAT, port forwarding or virtual server. Every router puts it somewhere else: look up the manual for your model.

3. Create the rule on UDP

   External and internal port 5520, protocol UDP, with the PC's local IP as the destination. If the router offers “TCP/UDP” or “both”, that works too, but TCP alone doesn't.

4. Give your friends your public IP with the port

   It's written together, with a colon: your public IP, a colon and 5520. You, on the same PC, join with the local IP or 127.0.0.1.

5. Test it with someone outside

   The most reliable test for Hytale is a friend trying to join, or you joining from another PC on mobile data: it's a QUIC server and ordinary port checkers look at TCP.

If it's open and nobody can join

Check the IP your router reports on its status page. If it doesn't match the one any “what's my IP” site shows you, your ISP has you behind CG-NAT and opening ports won't help: nothing can reach you from outside. Is my port open? tells you whether your connection has CG-NAT. Your options are asking your ISP for a public IP, sharing your world with a code from inside the game, or renting a server.

If it isn't that, check that the rule is UDP, that it points at the PC's current local IP and that the server is on and linked. The other causes, in order, are in can't connect to a Hytale server. A VPN or an antivirus can also cut UDP, on your side or your friend's.

Change the port

You change it at startup, with --bind and the address and port: java -jar HytaleServer.jar --assets Assets.zip --bind 0.0.0.0:5521. Two servers on the same IP need a different port each, and each port needs its own firewall and router rule.

Hytale doesn't use SRV records: with your own domain, you still write the port after the colon, even if it's 5520.

On NapNodes

You don't have to open anything. Each server has its own UDP port, which won't necessarily be 5520: you'll see it on the “Address to play” card. “Copy” gives you the whole address, with the port, to paste when you add the server in the game.

On paid plans, “Change port” moves it to the next free one and restarts the server if it was on. After that, your friends have to join with the new address.

If you don't want just anyone with the address to get in, see private Hytale server. And if you don't have a server yet, the free Hytale server comes with 4 GB and no router work: no UDP rules, no CG-NAT.

Frequently asked questions