How to port forward a DayZ server

DayZ opens a block of four consecutive UDP ports from the game port upward, plus a separate Steam query port that does not move with them.

Your setup

Pick the firmware family, not the exact model — the menus are identical across a range.

Default is 2302. If you changed it, it is the value of -port=.

The private address of the machine running the server — ipconfig on Windows, ip addr on Linux. It starts with 192.168, 10. or 172.

Open these

This firmware accepts ranges, so each line below is a single rule.

  • 2302-2305 UDP
  • 27016 UDP
  • 2302UDPGame trafficThe connect port.
  • 2303UDPVoice / RakNetPart of the block DayZ opens above the game port.
  • 2304UDPVoice / RakNetPart of the block DayZ opens above the game port.
  • 2305UDPVoice / RakNetPart of the block DayZ opens above the game port.
  • 27016UDPSteam querysteamQueryPort. Fixed by default — it does not follow the game port.

Do not open these

This game has no remote-administration port to get wrong. Forward only what is listed on the left and nothing else.

Step by step: your router

  1. 1

    Give the server a fixed local IP

    A forward points at one address. If the server picks up a different one after a reboot, the rule silently starts pointing at nothing — this is why forwards "stop working" on their own.

    On this router:look for DHCP Reservation, Address Reservation, Static Lease or Manually Assigned IP

  2. 2

    Open the router admin page

    Try these addresses in a browser on the same network:

    • 192.168.0.1
    • 192.168.1.1
    • 192.168.2.1
    • 10.0.0.1

    Almost always printed on a sticker on the router itself.

  3. 3

    Find the port forwarding page

    Port Forwarding, Virtual Server, NAT, Applications & Gaming, or Port Mapping

    Vendors use at least six names for the same feature. Whatever it is called, the page you want is the one asking for a port, a protocol and a device on your network. If the external and internal port fields both exist, set them to the same number.

  4. 4

    Create one rule per line

    a description field, if there is oneExternal / WAN / Public / Service portInternal / LAN / Private portProtocolInternal IP / Device / Server IP
    DayZ2302-23052302-2305UDPyour server’s local IP
    DayZ2701627016UDPyour server’s local IP

    External and internal port are the same number here. Changing the external port is possible, but then everyone connects on the new one, so keep them matched unless you have a reason.

  5. 5

    Let the server through its own firewall

    The router now sends traffic to the machine, and the machine can still refuse it. Windows Defender Firewall in particular blocks a freshly installed dedicated server by default, which looks exactly like a failed forward.

Take it with you

DayZ — port forwarding rules
----------------------------
2302-2305  UDP  ->  <server local IP>
27016  UDP  ->  <server local IP>

Check whether it worked

Test from outside your own network. Connecting from a machine in the house proves nothing — that traffic never leaves the LAN and never touches the rule you just wrote.

What usually goes wrong

The query port being fixed rather than offset is the detail that breaks a relocated server. If you moved the game port to avoid a conflict and forwarded a matching block, you have still not forwarded the query port, and the server will not list. Check its value explicitly rather than deriving it.

Not forwarding at all

DayZ persistence files grow steadily and the server rewards being left running rather than started when people want to play. That combination is what makes home hosting awkward long before performance does.

Check whether your DayZ server is reachableHow much RAM a DayZ server needsDayZ server hostingAll games
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