Dedicated server?

[Sköll]

Is there any way to let others connect to my dedicated server WITHOUT port forwarding? I have no intentions of allowing my IP to be publicly accessed for a single game. Hamachi maybe? If so, how?

[Weaver]

The only way that I know of to do this without port forwarding is to have others connect to you via Steam while you host the game on your personal computer. I have never needed to port forward when others do it this way. I just got done hosting my second session of my weekly game, in fact, using this exact method.

The trouble there is that it requires all players who want to join...to be on your friends list. I don't know of another way to get this done. Please note that this does not mean that there isn't another way...only that I do not know of one.

[Sköll]

Originally posted by Weaver:

The only way that I know of to do this without port forwarding is to have others connect to you via Steam while you host the game on your personal computer. I have never needed to port forward when others do it this way. I just got done hosting my second session of my weekly game, in fact, using this exact method.

The trouble there is that it requires all players who want to join...to be on your friends list. I don't know of another way to get this done. Please note that this does not mean that there isn't another way...only that I do not know of one.

My intention is to have the world running all the time without me having to have the game open. IE, dedicated server.

[umop-apisdn]

I think you might have a misunderstanding about how networking... well, works.

If people are joining your game, then your IP is publicly accessible; whether that's through Steam, or Hamachi, or whatever system is in place to make sure the packets get from the client to the server. The packets are coming from the outside world (ie, the Internet) into your computer, and if your IP wasn't publicly accesible, then that couldn't happen.

Port forwarding is simply telling your router that incoming packets on the port(s) you specify should be sent to a specific machine on your LAN (ie, the server). The services that "do that for you" are simply using UPnP and/or some "existing connection" trickery to make it happen; they're no more "secure" than simply giving your friends your public IP and making sure your router is configured properly.

Here's a link to some more detailed information on what port forwarding is and does: https://learn.g2.com/port-forwarding

The exact procedure to set it up will vary depending on your router's make and model, but here's the information you need:

Avorion uses the following ports:
27000 (TCP/UDP)
27003 (UDP)
27020-27021 (TCP/UDP)

You can get your public IP address by visiting several websites; I'm kinda partial to https://ipchicken.com because it's a silly name... and thus easy to remember.

The only other thing you need is the internal IP of the server. Depending on which operating system that machine is using, there are several methods to retrieve that information; I would recommend typing your operating system's name and the words "find LAN address" into Google.

There's a simple guide here, if you need more assistance: https://portforward.com/avorion/
I'm not recommending their services, this was literally just the first Google result for "what port does Avorion use?"

Oh, and RCON uses 27015 by default, but you probably don't want to forward that one; it allows remote control of the server, which is something you might like to keep inside your local network (or even disable completely, unless and until you need it).