How to port forward a Squad server
Squad needs its game port and the port above it on UDP, plus a pair of Steam ports for the server browser.
Your setup
Pick the firmware family, not the exact model — the menus are identical across a range.
Default is 7787. If you changed it, it is the value of Port= in the startup line.
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.
- 7787-7788 UDP
- 27165-27166 UDP
7787UDPGame trafficPort.7788UDPRaw socketClaimed alongside the game port.27165UDPSteam queryQueryPort.27166UDPSteamPaired with the query port.
Do not open these
These are administrative sockets. Plenty of guides list them next to the game ports; opening them puts a remote console for your server on the public internet.
21114TCPRCONSquad RCON. Admin traffic — keep it internal.
If you need remote administration, reach the machine over SSH or a VPN and talk to the port from there. The port stays closed to everyone 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 Squad 7787-7788 7787-7788 UDP your server’s local IP Squad 27165-27166 27165-27166 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
Squad — port forwarding rules ----------------------------- 7787-7788 UDP -> <server local IP> 27165-27166 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
Squad's RCON is a real remote console with a real password and it should not be forwarded. Public Squad servers are also expected to be reachable and responsive at a level that a domestic connection generally cannot sustain during a full round, so a working forward is the beginning of the problem rather than the end of it.
Not forwarding at all
A hundred-player Squad round is a serious networking workload. This is one of the games where a home connection's upload limit is the binding constraint, not the machine.