{"id":21081,"date":"2026-06-04T21:56:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T21:56:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/stationeers-multiplayer-setup-port-forwarding\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T23:46:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T23:46:37","slug":"stationeers-multiplayer-setup-port-forwarding","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/stationeers-multiplayer-setup-port-forwarding\/","title":{"rendered":"Stationeers Multiplayer Setup &#038; Port Forwarding Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Stationeers is far better with friends \u2014 one person runs atmospherics while another mines and a third writes IC10 automation. This guide covers the two ways to play multiplayer, how to port forward correctly, and how to get a persistent server your whole crew can join any time.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Two ways to play Stationeers multiplayer<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Host from the game (listen server)<\/strong> \u2014 the simplest option. One player loads a world and hosts; friends join their session. The catch: the world only exists while the host is online, and the host&#8217;s machine carries the whole heavy simulation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Dedicated server<\/strong> \u2014 a separate server process that runs independently of any player. The world is <strong>always available<\/strong>, performance is consistent, and anyone can join whenever they like. This is the right choice for a real community.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Hosting from the game<\/h2>\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Start a new or saved world from the main menu.<\/li>\n<li>Make sure the server is set to visible, or share your IP for a direct connect.<\/li>\n<li>Have friends open the <strong>Join Game<\/strong> screen and either find your server in the browser or use <strong>Direct Connect<\/strong> with your public IP and port.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<p>For anyone outside your home network to connect, you&#8217;ll need to <strong>port forward<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Port forwarding for Stationeers<\/h2>\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Find the <strong>game port (default 27015)<\/strong> and <strong>update\/query port (default 27016)<\/strong> your server uses \u2014 set in your server&#8217;s <code>default.ini<\/code> (see the <a href=\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/blog\/stationeers-server-settings-default-ini\">settings guide<\/a>).<\/li>\n<li>Log in to your router&#8217;s admin page and open the port-forwarding section.<\/li>\n<li>Forward those ports to the local IP of the machine running the server.<\/li>\n<li><strong>If your router asks UDP or TCP, choose UDP<\/strong> \u2014 Stationeers uses UDP for game traffic. Forwarding the wrong protocol is the single most common reason friends can&#8217;t connect.<\/li>\n<li>Save, reboot the router if needed, and test with your public IP via Direct Connect.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n<p>Running a managed server skips this entirely \u2014 the ports are already open and your server has a public IP from the moment it deploys.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why a dedicated server is worth it<\/h2>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Always online<\/strong> \u2014 your station keeps running and your crew can log in on their own schedule.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Consistent performance<\/strong> \u2014 Stationeers&#8217; atmospheric, gas and electrical simulation is heavy; dedicated CPU avoids the lag and calculation errors that wreck hours of engineering on a weak listen-host.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Full control<\/strong> \u2014 choose your world, difficulty, Steam Workshop mods and save schedule.<\/li>\n<li><strong>No home-network exposure<\/strong> \u2014 you&#8217;re not opening ports on your personal PC or sharing your home IP.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Skip the port forwarding and host headaches. <a href=\"https:\/\/xgamingserver.com\/stationeers-server-hosting\"><strong>Stationeers hosting from $8.50\/month<\/strong><\/a>, deployed in ~60 seconds, 30% off with <strong>XGAMEON<\/strong>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How to play Stationeers multiplayer \u2014 hosting from the game vs a dedicated server, port forwarding (choose UDP), and getting an always-on server your crew can join anytime.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":21082,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[135],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21081","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stationeers-server-docs"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.5 (Yoast SEO v26.7) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Stationeers Multiplayer Setup &amp; 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