Teeworlds Dedicated Server Troubleshooting

Teeworlds Server Troubleshooting

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Server Not Appearing in the Public Browser

Check 1 — sv_register must be 1

sv_register 1

If set to 0, the server is LAN-only and deliberately does not contact master servers.

Check 2 — UDP 8303 must be forwarded

The server registers with master servers over the same UDP 8303 port. If the port is blocked, the registration packet never reaches the master server.

sudo ufw allow 8303/udp
sudo ufw reload

Check 3 — VPS/cloud firewall

AWS, DigitalOcean, Hetzner, Vultr, and others have a cloud-level firewall on top of the OS firewall. Both must allow UDP 8303.

Workaround while diagnosing:

Players can connect directly without the browser: in Teeworlds client, go to LAN tab and enter YOUR_IP:8303, or add the server manually.

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LAN-Only Instead of Public

Verify sv_register is not 0 in your config. If you have multiple config files, confirm the correct one is being loaded.

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RCON Not Working

RCON is disabled when sv_rcon_password is blank. Set a password in autoexec.cfg:

sv_rcon_password yourpassword

Then restart the server. After setting a password, press F2 in-game to open the RCON console and enter the password.

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Wrong Maps Loading / Maps Broken

sv_gametype must match the map type:

Mode	Required map prefix
dm	dm1–dm9
tdm	dm1–dm9
lms	lms1
ctf	ctf1–ctf8

Loading a ctf map with sv_gametype dm will result in broken flag positions or missing spawns. Always change both together:

sv_gametype ctf
sv_map ctf5

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Players Cannot Join

Server full: sv_max_clients limit reached. Increase it (max 16) or kick inactive players.

Password set: If password is set in autoexec.cfg, players need to enter it to join. Blank the line to remove the password requirement.

Wrong port: If you changed sv_port, players must connect to that port explicitly. Make sure it is also forwarded in the firewall.

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Linux: Server Crashes on Start / "No such file or directory"

The Teeworlds server binary is 32-bit only. On 64-bit Linux it requires 32-bit compatibility libraries.

Ubuntu / Debian:

sudo dpkg --add-architecture i386
sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y libc6:i386 libstdc++6:i386

CentOS / RHEL:

sudo yum install glibc.i686 libstdc++.i686

After installing, run ./teeworlds_srv -v again to confirm it starts.

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Config Not Loading

If your settings are being ignored:

• The file must be named autoexec.cfg exactly (case-sensitive on Linux)
• It must be in the same directory as teeworlds_srv, or in ~/.teeworlds/
• To use a custom filename, pass it with -f:

./teeworlds_srv -f myserver.cfg

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sv_maprotation Not Advancing

sv_maprotation only advances after sv_rounds_per_map rounds complete. If sv_rounds_per_map is set high (e.g. 10) the server will play many rounds before rotating. Lower the value or use change_map to rotate immediately.

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Checking Server State

From the server console or RCON:

status

Lists connected players, their IDs, and IPs. Use this to confirm the server is running and accepting connections before troubleshooting network issues.