How to port forward a V Rising server
Two consecutive UDP ports: the game port and the query port above it. Both are set explicitly in the server settings file.
Your setup
Pick the firmware family, not the exact model — the menus are identical across a range.
Default is 9876. If you changed it, it is the value of Port in ServerHostSettings.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.
- 9876-9877 UDP
9876UDPGame trafficPort.9877UDPQueryQueryPort, one above by default. Required for the in-game browser.
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 V Rising 9876-9877 9876-9877 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
V Rising — port forwarding rules -------------------------------- 9876-9877 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
Without the query port the server does not appear in the in-game browser, which for V Rising is more damaging than it sounds — the browser is how most people join, and telling everyone to add a favourite by IP is a lot of friction for a public server.
Not forwarding at all
V Rising's castle decay runs on server time, which means a server that is only up when you are playing punishes everyone else's buildings. That mechanic is the strongest argument for hosting somewhere that stays online.