How to port forward a Enshrouded server
Enshrouded needs two consecutive UDP ports: the game port and the query port directly above it. Both are named explicitly in the server's configuration file, so there is nothing hidden to discover.
Your setup
Pick the firmware family, not the exact model — the menus are identical across a range.
Default is 15636. If you changed it, it is the value of gamePort in enshrouded_server.json.
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.
- 15636-15637 UDP
15636UDPGame trafficgamePort.15637UDPQueryqueryPort, one above the game port by default.
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
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
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
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
Create one rule per line
a description field, if there is one External / WAN / Public / Service port Internal / LAN / Private port Protocol Internal IP / Device / Server IP Enshrouded 15636-15637 15636-15637 UDP your 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
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
Enshrouded — port forwarding rules ---------------------------------- 15636-15637 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
Because both ports are configurable independently, it is possible to set them to values that are not adjacent — and then forward a two-port range that covers only one of them. If you have edited the configuration, read both values rather than assuming the second is the first plus one.
Not forwarding at all
Enshrouded holds the whole explored world in memory, so the requirement climbs with map progress rather than with player count. A server that was comfortable at launch may need more room by the time the group has crossed the map.