Trouble with my own server (port forwarding)

[21's bitch]

So i got my server set up and i can play on it and it's working well.

My problem is with the port 7777, for some reason my friends can't join my server or even see it in the server browser, meaning the port forwarding isn't working and my server is on LAN only.

I have another port open and working but i can't get this to work, can someone please help me?

[Buc-ees Pulled Pork & Hamstrings]

Hey, so first Linux or Windows? That shouldn't matter much but details help. Also what is your network setup? Do you have a router and a modem (2 devices)? Or do you have a modem/router combo (one device)?

If you have 2 devices then you definitely have to port forward on both of them. For a combo device I'd assume only one port foward is needed (but that could be false). Also gotta make sure you are port forwarding all the ports listed on TW's dedicated server wiki.

Oh if you have 2 devices then the IP needed for the port forward on the modem is the IP of the router

[21's bitch]

Originally posted by Rapid Sustenance Eatery:

Hey, so first Linux or Windows? That shouldn't matter much but details help. Also what is your network setup? Do you have a router and a modem (2 devices)? Or do you have a modem/router combo (one device)?

If you have 2 devices then you definitely have to port forward on both of them. For a combo device I'd assume only one port foward is needed (but that could be false). Also gotta make sure you are port forwarding all the ports listed on TW's dedicated server wiki.

Oh if you have 2 devices then the IP needed for the port forward on the modem is the IP of the router

Thanks for the answer!

I'm on Windows.

I've always had a modem and a router, my desktop is connected to my modem which is
CBN CH6643E and i have a TP Link Archer C1200 router.

I used to be able to port forward without any problems only accessing the default gateway shown on the ipconfig command.

Originally posted by Cap'n Saccade:

From your game screenshots it seems like you are using a windows computer, Jorge?

Idk how you found out that port 7777 is the issue (maybe server logs?), but, you seem to know what you're doing.
Either way, I'll write some tests you can run to help narrow down what the problem might be.
I'll write them how i'd test it.

First off, make sure you know your local and external IP.
Local starts with something like 192 and external is in your country's range and will be leased by your ISP every now and then, so it might change occasionally (I think mine's 54. at the moment, by last month it was 72 perhaps, i can't remember).

Don't think I'm insulting your intelligence, cos I'm fed up of being banned every month from KF2 hub - but make sure you're giving your friends the external IP.

(which might have changed since you set up the server, so double check that)

Run the server and wait for it to start, then start your game. Then you can make a party in the game and invite your friends to the lobby and then connect through the LAN server browser - if that works then yay, if not then you can try joining your server and asking them to join through Steam (from your profile or thru friends list), cos sometimes this works when console "open IP.address" doesn't work or it doesn't show up in serverbrowser).

But if that doesn't work and If I'm right and you are on Windows:

• Start up the KF2 server, but not the game, and see if anyone can connect
  
• You gotta start KF2 server and let it be ready before opening KF2
  
• Ask if your friend can connect by IP - ask them to open the game console from the main menu by pressing F3 and to type: open [your external IP] (you can find your external IP by google "my ipv4") and press enter to see if it will connect.
  
  
• If that doesn't work, make sure that the server and game are both up to date (there is an update for me today, so I would update the server also by following SteamCMD instructions from KF2 wiki: https://wiki.killingfloor2.com/index.php?title=Dedicated_Server_(Killing_Floor_2)
  
  If they can't connect and you are sure it's port 7777 that's the problem, first is to check your windows firewall to make sure that you didn't accidentally say "no" to letting KF2 server through - or just turn it off for a while for testing. Just type firewall into the windows box and open that and check it's there and on the right profile (domain, public or private) - if you're unsure just tick all of them and make sure it's inbound and outbound.
  
  
• Close KF2 server and the game, if that's running
  
• Into the windows box, type: cmd (and press enter)
  
• This opens the Command Prompt window
  
• Then type: netstat -an | find "UDP" (with the quotes, | is shift and the key left of z) and press enter
  
• This will list all the UDP ports in use
  [*[ If it says anywhere "ip.what.eve.r:7777" then something else on your network is using that port, so you know to start closing things or turning off other computers in case it's being blocked. If it is port forwarding or server config issue, then it won't appear.
  
  But it's a good idea to double check anyway:
  
  
• Into the windows box in the bottom left, type: run (and press enter)
  
• This will open the Run command window.
  
• Then in the new window that opens, type: pkgmgr /iu:"TelnetClient" (with the quotes, and press enter)
  
• Click Ok - this will make sure telnet is installed on your computer
  
• Into the Command Prompt box that's still open:
  
• Type: ipconfig (and press enter)
  
• Make a note of your IPv4 address (mine is 192.0.0.6)
  
• Make sure you only have one instance of KF2 server running (not the game yet)
  
• Then, type: telnet [your IPv4 address] 7777
  
• It will say "connecting to..." for a while
  
  If the port is definitely not open to the server, it will say it fails.
  
  This way, we've narrowed down that it isn't something else that's blocking the port and also that it isn't a server config issue or version mis-match - so verifying that it's a port forwarding issue.
  
  Since we've checked that the port is not in use and there's no other devices on your network that are using it (another computer playing a game, cos it's a common port to use, or a phone or something like this), it's onto the router again to double-check everything.
  
  
• The first thing is to double-check on your router setup that the Game Port 7777 is set to UDP (or "both" or "TCP/UDP") on your router and not only TCP or something like FTP or HTTP
  
• Then make sure it is forwarded to the right computer, either by the computer name or the IPv4 address (in my case, it would be "Pete-PC" or "192.0.0.6")
  
• Next is to check that all the port forwarding rules for KF2 are going to the computer you are running the host (which are on the KF2 server setup wiki page) and make sure all the rules are entered and that 7777 is set up as 7777 - 7777 as a range and not just 7777 with nothing, same as all the others.
  
  My router needs me to say 7777-7777 and go to Pete-PC, but my old one was fine with only 7777 but needed the local IP... Some routers are "user friendly", which is annoyingly simple.
  
  Sometimes I forget I have to save it, and sometimes I forget that it's so "user friendly" that I have to make and name a new rule for each port - and not lump them all together in one rule called "KF2 Server" and forward that to my computer and I sometimes save it but forget to press "apply", which is really annoying, because I have such a user friendly router...
  
  
• Then, make sure you have the correct external IP address for your friend to connect
  
• You can find that by googling "myipv4" and it will pop up
  
• Then you can start the KF2 server anduse this tool to check all ports from an external connection:
  https://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/open-ports/
  
  
• If it still says that it can't connect using your external IP address to port 7777 then gonna need more info about your router

But those are the kinds of troubleshooting steps I'd take in order to confirm that it is a port-forwarding issue and not that another device or programme is using the port, or that it's blocked by a firewall, and it's a server/game version mis-match or config error, or that I didn't save and apply the rules to the right IP and I gave my friend the right IP to test.

If it's definitely a port forwarding issue and you're 100% certain that you've set everything up correct - sometimes some routers don't "forget" an old rule even though it's not in the list ... so it might be that the router needs a reset or a hard reset to default.

It would help to know the exact model of your router, if nothing works at all, if you need help.

It's always good to provide as much detail about the hardware and config and what you've already tried or how you figure out it was port 7777 that's the issue, when asking technical stuff - unless you want a massive reply like this with a bunch of stuff that might not be necessary.

Whatever - there's a lesson in "have you tried turning it off and on again" level tech support.

I did network security, penetration testing and worked as a social engineer, and for some reason people think that means I know how to fix their printer when it's broken.

The answer to that is: www.lmgtfy.com

GL HF & that's my good deed for the day.

Thanks for the answer!

Yep i'm on Windows.

It's not like it's the port 7777 that's making this not work, i can't port forward any port...

Actually, that's not true, for some reason which i have no idea why, i have the port 1400 open according to the gateway page (192.168.0.1) and when i test it with any port checking tool (like the one you linked me) it says it is open, even though as i said i have no idea what its use is.

The local IPV4 set on that port's configuration is 192.168.0.229, which is different from my desktop's 192.168.0.81.

I've tested everything you told me, nothing worked, meaning the issue really is on the port forwarding side as i'm doing everything else correctly. Also as i said, i used to do this a lot on Garry's Mod and Minecraft (yep) without any problem.

My router is TP Link Archer C1200.

Let me mention one thing that might have to do with my problem: around the time when port forwarding stopped working for me, my father apparently got another router for better connection downstairs or something (i don't know exactly what he did).

I've tried solving this issue before and i talked to someone at the time, he told me to try trace routing and other tests and ended up concluding that my connection wasn't going directly from my router to for example google's server.

It apparently was going through my downstairs router or something (i don't know how to explain this properly as i don't understand much about all this sorry) and that might be what's causing the problem.

That's pretty much all i can add to this, hope you can help me :P

[Buc-ees Pulled Pork & Hamstrings]

So you're running the server on your desktop, which is only connected to the modem? If that is true then you don't need to worry about port forwarding on the router, just the modem. It does sound like you know what you're doing, just gotta make sure. Outside of that I am lost, might be another firewall issue or windows thing.

I host my server on a linux box hard wired to my router. Once I had port forwards good, in the immortal words of Todd Howard "It just works".

Everything that Cap'n Saccade wrote looks solid too. The only thing I can think of right now is to try a different port, like 7778 or whatever you choose. You'll need to change that in the server's config file (for me it's the KFEngine.ini file under the config folder) as well as port forwards. Maybe your hardware just doesn't like 7777 lol. From time to time I host 2 servers (vanilla surviv and custom game mode) from my machine and the primary is setup to use 7777 and the secondary uses 7779 so changing up ports definately works.

[21's bitch]

Originally posted by Rapid Sustenance Eatery:

So you're running the server on your desktop, which is only connected to the modem? If that is true then you don't need to worry about port forwarding on the router, just the modem. It does sound like you know what you're doing, just gotta make sure. Outside of that I am lost, might be another firewall issue or windows thing.

I host my server on a linux box hard wired to my router. Once I had port forwards good, in the immortal words of Todd Howard "It just works".

Everything that Cap'n Saccade wrote looks solid too. The only thing I can think of right now is to try a different port, like 7778 or whatever you choose. You'll need to change that in the server's config file (for me it's the KFEngine.ini file under the config folder) as well as port forwards. Maybe your hardware just doesn't like 7777 lol. From time to time I host 2 servers (vanilla surviv and custom game mode) from my machine and the primary is setup to use 7777 and the secondary uses 7779 so changing up ports definately works.

I don't know if my connection also passes through the router or not...idk how to check either.

I'm pretty sure the problem doesn't lie on port 7777, as i can't seem to get any other port besides the one that's already working and open (1400, for some reason, i don't know why it's even open or how someone did it).

[Buc-ees Pulled Pork & Hamstrings]

If your desktop is hardwired to the modem then you don't need to worry about the router. If no other ports are opening I'd say it's some odd security setting on your modem or a hardware flaw.

[21's bitch]

Originally posted by Rapid Sustenance Eatery:

If your desktop is hardwired to the modem then you don't need to worry about the router. If no other ports are opening I'd say it's some odd security setting on your modem or a hardware flaw.

I still have no idea how to fix this, what should i do?

[21's bitch]

Originally posted by Cap'n Saccade:

I'll try to use normal language:

Sounds like you have a linked network cos of some black-spot with ur wifi or something.

This is pretty simple, but it makes port forwarding a little more tricky because you have to do it twice.

On the router that comes from the phoneline/broadband to forward those ports to the other one, to which your computer connects.


So, say it's the TP-Link (TP doesn't stand for "toilet paper") and this then connects to the CBN, and your computer connects to this.

Going backwards - to connect to the 'net, your computer goes to the CBN then to the TP, then internet.

Or to the TP then CBN, whichever way - one or the other.

What you're gonna have to do is figure out which one your computer connects to first, which sends the traffic to the router that connects to broadband or phone line.

Maybe you and your dad can draw a network map, to make it easier.

like... Internet > TP > CBN > Jorge or however it goes.

I usually do a quick network map from my phone when connecting to a network that I want to use, to make sure it's secure, using a tool called NMAP - I think there's an online version - but that might not be so useful.

So perhaps something like:
https://www.spiceworks.com/free-network-mapping-software/

would be easier.

Once you've figure the LAN IP's out - you can forward from the 1st router in the link to the 2nd one, which then forwards to you.

The TP link has a pretty simple way to set the rules to send data from the internet that goes through the first router (eg, the TP Link):
https://www.cfos.de/en/cfos-personal-net/port-forwarding/tp-link-archer-c1200.htm

To the second router (you'll need the IP to set in the first):
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1288994/Cbn-Ch6643e.html?page=47

and then set the 2nd to forward the ports to your desktop.


It might be that the device that's having 7777 forwarded to it is the other router already, which is why the IP suffix is so high - it's been made static when your dad set up the link, so that it's the same every time.


Think of it as running a thread through some plumbing - the water comes out here and fills this tank and also the other one before another pipe sends it down the drain - you just gotta find which tank fills your computer with water, and imagine you're running a piece of string from your computer (the drain) to the water inlet ("the internet"), through these tanks and pipes.

But, when you have that line run - it means water down those pipes won't go anywhere else.
Which might be a pain, cos it will deny all the other devices.

If you can do this - well done - you can get a job in computer networking and also be mario bros.

Since your dad set up the link - it might be a fun thing to do together and also, since he's kinda the "household admin" - it might be good to go through it with him before you start re-routing traffic over his network. Can be annoying if all the other devices can't get traffic from those ports because it's all forced to go to one machine.


So that's probably why you're having issues (the linked routers) and also a good reason to go chat with your dad about working together to figure a way to do stuff.


It might be easier to simply make a party from the KF2 lobby and join an empty server and hope it's not opted out of the "server takeover" (if that's still going - I can't see the tabs for permissions any more in the KF2 serverbrowser).

https://steamcommunity.com/app/232090/discussions/0/1621724915800391877/

Or find a server from outside the serverbrowser:

https://www.gametracker.com/search/kf2/150/ (which is a search within 150 miles) and join that - sometimes they won't be found in KF2 serverbrowser...

Like this one:
https://www.gametracker.com/server_info/185.251.226.70:7797/

Which I can see has a few days where no-one plays on it and then a team of 4-6 join for a few hours (historical data on the right gives a graph). So I could just use that server and it's likely no-one will join it.

Joining that with a party made in the lobby - much easier than messing around setting up a server. There are loads of KF2 servers that will be empty a lot of the time.

No-one's used this one for a few days, and it doesn't get used often at all:

https://www.gametracker.com/server_info/84.92.85.167:7000/

So if I wanted a "private" game, I'd make a party and then then press F3 and type "open 84.92.85.167:7000" and we'd all join it. Or just join it and invite friends.

Seems unlikely anyone would use it and I can't see that name in the KF2 serverbrowser right now.

It's a good, easy alternative to fix your networking issue.
Also - you might meet a few decent players. Who knows.

First off i just wanna say thanks for all the help and suggestions, i really want to fix this problem as it just bothers me so much and i always remember it when we need private server for a game, it'd be awesome to be able to do it again.

I am doing this alone, my dad doesn't want to help he just screams whenever i ask something.

I have the CBN CH6643E and the TP-Link AC1200 here upstairs and then i also have a TP-Link WR841N downstairs (which i used to have upstairs connected to my computer years ago and had no problem port forwarding).

I have a few questions, i can't access the TP-Link AC1200 because i'm directly connected to the CBN CH6643E, also downstairs the TP-Link WR841N is connected to my desktop which is also downstairs (not the one i'm using right now or need for the server).

As i said somehow port 1400 is open and it appears to only be forwarded in my CBN's page, as there are no ports forwarded on my TP-Link WR841N downstairs and i can't acess my TP-Link AC1200 which is here upstairs, might have it forwarded there, in which case all i need is to do the same for any other ports, but how do i access its page and set up the ports?

I'm guessing the problem has nothing to do with the TP-Link WR841N downstairs (which is a different network i'm assuming).

Here are some images just for reference: https://imgur.com/a/CI5zRxW

[Cap'n Saccade]

That box under the nowo - it wouldn't happen to be an AVTECH security camera DVR / network recorder would it..?

That's a remote surveillance device and, if that is a remote surveillance device, and it's connected to the nowo - the IP that's receiving on port 1400 might be that, so a phone or another machine can always connect to remotely view the DVR.

You're getting into spook-land here, mate. I've been in trouble for messing with networks and internet security before - so I stick to the lighter side of grey these days.

[21's bitch]

I connected my desktop to the TP Link AC1200 and saw many ports there along with port 1400, whom internal IP was 192.168.1.10, so i tried doing the same for my 7777 port and then forwarding it to my desktop's IP on the CBN but it didn't work...

Since i don't really know what i'm doing i guess i should just stop, i might even damage something or interfere with what my dad did.