Hytale – Failed to Connect to Server

"Failed to connect to server" in Hytale is one of those errors that can mean half a dozen different things. This is the checklist I run through when someone reports it, roughly in the order I'd check things.

Before anything else, an important factual correction: Hytale uses QUIC over UDP on port 5520 by default. There is no TCP component. If you find another guide telling you to forward both TCP and UDP, ignore it – that's wrong. Everything below assumes UDP-only.

1. Is the server actually running?

Obvious, but it's the thing that catches people out most often. If you're the server owner, log in to your hosting panel and check that the server is showing as online. If you're a player, ask the owner – or try reconnecting in a few minutes in case there was a scheduled restart.

On LOW.MS, Current Activity & Stats shows you whether the server is up and what it's doing right now.

2. Is the server authenticated?

Hytale servers have to complete a one-time authentication step on first launch before anyone can connect. In the server console:

/auth login device

That prints a URL and a device code; you open the URL in a browser, sign in with your Hytale account, and the console should show "Authentication successful!" when it's done.

On LOW.MS this is done for you at provisioning, so you'll almost never hit it. If you're self-hosting and seeing an auth-related error, the dedicated session token troubleshooting guide walks through the full flow.

3. Is the IP and port correct?

Connection details look like IP:PORT. Typos in either are the single most common user error for this class of issue – if a friend is asking you for help, ask them to read the address back to you before you do anything else.

The canonical Hytale default port is 5520 UDP, but on shared hosting your provider will assign you a port from a range, so double-check the exact one on your panel dashboard. Don't just assume it's 5520.

4. Firewall or port forwarding blocking UDP

This is the one that bites self-hosters. Hytale needs UDP 5520 (or whatever custom port you've set with --bind) open in two places:

• Your firewall on the server machine – Windows Defender, ufw, iptables, whatever you're running.
• Your router's port forwarding, if the server is behind a home NAT. UDP 5520 needs to forward from the router to the machine running the server.

Both rules need to target UDP, not TCP. If you paste in Minecraft-style TCP firewall rules, nothing will work. The port forwarding guide has the full walkthrough including example commands for Windows, ufw, and iptables.

On LOW.MS the port is opened automatically at provisioning, so if you're on a hosted plan this is almost never the problem.

5. Whitelist or password

If the server owner has set up a whitelist, you need to be on it before you can join. If they've set a password and you haven't entered it, same story. Both can return a connection failure rather than a friendly "you're not whitelisted" message, which makes them easy to mistake for something else.

If you're the owner, check whitelist.json in the server directory – or Configuration Files in the panel if you're on LOW.MS. If you're a player, ask the owner to add you (they'll need your exact Hytale username).

6. Version mismatch after a Hytale update

This one catches everybody at least once. Hytale updates often in Early Access, the client auto-updates, the server doesn't, and now nothing can connect until the server is updated too. Symptoms: the error hits everyone at once, right after a client update. Fix: update the server. The update guide covers the process on LOW.MS (usually one click).

If your friends tell you "Hytale just patched and now I can't join", this is almost always what happened.

7. Network or VPN issues

If a single player is failing to connect while everyone else is fine, it's almost always on their end:

• VPNs – some cause routing issues for UDP traffic. Ask the player to disconnect the VPN and try again.
• ISP routing – rare, but occasionally an ISP has a broken route to a specific data centre. Trying a mobile hotspot is a quick way to rule this in or out.
• Home router – rebooting the router is a cliché for a reason. If nothing else has worked, it's worth trying.

8. Server is full

Hytale returns a connection failure rather than a friendly "server full" message when the player cap is hit. If you've just expanded a community and suddenly people can't join at peak time but could an hour earlier, check the max players setting in config.json.

Still stuck?

If you've been through the list and none of the above is the problem, the next move is the server logs. On LOW.MS, Log Viewer has historical logs and Web Console has live output – the error the server itself logs is usually more specific than what the client sees.

If you're on LOW.MS hosting and you're still stuck after that, open a support ticket from the panel with the server logs attached. We usually spot it within a few minutes.