Hytale Server Port Configuration (UDP 5520 QUIC)
How to open the correct port for a Hytale server — UDP 5520 on the QUIC protocol, not TCP.
Hytale Server Port Configuration (UDP 5520 QUIC)
Hytale uses a single UDP port 5520 for all game traffic. This is a key difference from most game servers — Hytale uses the QUIC transport protocol, which runs exclusively over UDP. Opening a TCP port for 5520 will not help; you must open the UDP port.
If players are getting "Connection timed out" errors, a missing or misconfigured UDP 5520 rule is the most common cause.
Default Port
| Protocol | Port | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| UDP | 5520 | Inbound |
No other ports are required for normal gameplay. You do not need to open TCP 5520.
Firewall Configuration
Linux — UFW (Uncomplicated Firewall)
sudo ufw allow 5520/udp
sudo ufw reload
sudo ufw status
You should see a line like:
5520/udp ALLOW Anywhere
Linux — iptables
sudo iptables -A INPUT -p udp --dport 5520 -j ACCEPT
sudo iptables-save | sudo tee /etc/iptables/rules.v4
Windows Server — Windows Firewall
Open PowerShell as Administrator:
New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName "Hytale Server" `
-Direction Inbound `
-Protocol UDP `
-LocalPort 5520 `
-Action Allow
Cloud Providers
If your server is hosted on a cloud provider, you also need to update the provider's security group or firewall rules in addition to the OS-level firewall.
AWS EC2 — Security Group:
- Type: Custom UDP
- Protocol: UDP
- Port range: 5520
- Source: 0.0.0.0/0 (or your desired CIDR)
Google Cloud — Firewall Rule:
gcloud compute firewall-rules create hytale-server \
--allow udp:5520 \
--direction INGRESS
DigitalOcean: Add a UDP inbound rule for port 5520 in the Networking tab of your Droplet.
Changing the Default Port
If you need to run on a different port, update config.json:
{
"port": 5521
}
Then open the new UDP port in your firewall and close 5520 if it is no longer needed.
Verifying the Port Is Open
From the server machine, you can check whether something is listening on UDP 5520:
sudo ss -ulnp | grep 5520
To test from an external machine, use a UDP port scanner or simply have a player attempt to connect. QUIC connections cannot be tested with standard TCP tools like telnet or nc -z.
Why QUIC?
Hytale uses QUIC to provide lower latency and better connection resilience compared to TCP. QUIC handles packet loss more gracefully and supports multiplexing without head-of-line blocking. This is the same protocol underlying HTTP/3. The trade-off is that standard TCP-based monitoring tools will not detect the port as open.