Troubleshooting Server Visibility and Browser Listing

Requirements for Browser Visibility

Your server will only appear in the in-game server browser when all of the following conditions are met:

1. A valid, non-expired Klei server token is present in cluster_token.txt
2. The server is online and has successfully connected to Klei's authentication service
3. cluster_name is not blank in cluster.ini
4. offline_server = false in cluster.ini
5. The server's UDP ports are reachable from the internet (no firewall blocking)

If any one of these conditions is false, the server will not appear in the browser.

Step 1: Check the Console for Token Errors

The most common cause of missing browser listing is a token problem. On startup, look for:

[00:00:05]: Failed to authenticate with cluster token

If this line appears, your token is invalid, expired, or malformed. See the Klei token guide for how to regenerate and correctly place the token.

A successful authentication looks like:

[00:00:02]: Connecting to Klei...
[00:00:05]: Connected

Step 2: Verify cluster.ini Settings

Check the following values in cluster.ini:

[NETWORK]
cluster_name = My Server Name
offline_server = false

• cluster_name must not be blank
• offline_server must be false (not true, not absent)

A typo such as offline_server = False (capital F) will be treated as a string, not a boolean, and may default to true depending on the parser.

Step 3: Token Expiry

Klei server tokens expire after 30 days of inactivity. If your server was offline for more than 30 days, the token has expired. Regenerate it at:

https://accounts.klei.com/account/game/servers?game=DontStarveTogether

Replace the contents of cluster_token.txt with the new token (no extra characters, no line breaks). Restart the server.

Step 4: Check Firewall and Port Accessibility

Even with a valid token, the server must be reachable on UDP port 10999. If the firewall blocks inbound UDP traffic on this port, Klei's backend may register the server but clients will fail to connect, and the server may be filtered out of browser results.

Verify that:

• UDP 10999 is open inbound on the host firewall
• The port is allocated in your Pterodactyl/WISP panel instance settings
• No upstream network device (cloud firewall, load balancer) is blocking UDP

Step 5: Browser Propagation Delay

After fixing a token or firewall issue, the server may take 2–5 minutes to appear in the browser. Klei's listing service updates on a polling interval. If you just started the server, wait a few minutes before concluding it is not listed.

Direct Connect as a Fallback

While troubleshooting visibility, players can connect directly without using the browser:

1. In-game, go to Browse Games → Other Servers
2. Enter the IP and port: your.server.ip:10999

Direct connect bypasses Klei's browser entirely and works as long as the server is running and the port is open, even if the token is invalid.

Checking the Token File for Common Errors

Open cluster_token.txt and verify:

• The file contains only the token string
• No leading or trailing spaces
• No quotation marks around the token
• No label text like token= or key:
• The file encoding is UTF-8 (not UTF-16 or UTF-8 with BOM)

Some text editors add a BOM (byte order mark) at the start of UTF-8 files, which the server reads as part of the token and causes authentication failure. Use a plain text editor that saves as UTF-8 without BOM.

Server Appears in Browser but Players Cannot Connect

If the server is listed in the browser but connections fail:

1. Verify UDP 10999 is open and the port is correctly allocated in the panel
2. Check that the server did not crash after listing (look for errors after the "Connected" log line)
3. Confirm the server has not hit max_players — full servers are grayed out in the browser

Related

• Generating and Configuring Your Klei Server Token
• Configuring Your Server with cluster.ini
• Port Configuration and Firewall Setup
• Installing Don't Starve Together Dedicated Server