The first step of assessing the root cause of this issue is to ensure that the issue actually lies with your server, and not with the player(s). Below are some good practices to help determine this:

• Have multiple players attempt to connect to your server, in order to ensure this is not an isolated issue.
• Ask your players what error they are receiving when attempting to connect. If the error shown is “The Specified Host is not available”, your server cannot be reached. If the error is anything else, the issue may be on the player’s end, or this may be a deeper issue. Feel free to open a Support Ticket on our discord if you aren’t sure.
• Ensure that you are giving players your public IPv4 address to connect with. If the IPv4 you are giving your players begins with “192.168.”, or has any numbers greater than 255, that is not your public IPv4. Additionally, if your open port is not 7777, you must specify the open port in the IP you send to your players.
• If all of your players are from one region, have one attempt to connect via a VPN. This will be to ensure your ISP or hosting provider is not geo-blocking certain regions. This has primarily been an issue in the past with servers hosted in Russia, Iran, and Turkey, though it may extend to other countries too.

If, after trying all of these steps, your server remains unreachable with the error “The Specified Host is not available”, then your server is not open to connections. The sections below will cover potential causes, from most to least likelihood. Remember to restart your server after completing a section.

Port Forwarding

In order for other players to connect to your server, you must open a specific port on your router. SCP: SL defaults to port 7777, so we highly recommend this is the port that you open. Additionally, you must open your port for UDP, not TCP or TCP/UDP.

The Northwood Technical Support team cannot assist you with Port Forwarding, as every router is unique. We highly recommend opening a discourse with your Internet Service Provider (ISP)’s support team, or with your Router manufacturer.

In most cases, however, simply typing “How to port forward (Router Name)” into Google will yield a comprehensive tutorial.

Incorrect config_gameplay.txt configuration.

The Topmost settings in your config_gameplay.txt file will include some basic server settings, including a “server_ip” field. This should always be set to your Public IPv4. To determine your Public IPv4, you can use the following site: https://www.whatismyip.com. Please note that this site is not affiliated with Northwood Studios.

Additionally, in most cases the “ipv4_bind_ip” and “ipv6_bind_ip” fields should be left to their default settings. In some rare cases however, setting your “ipv4_bind_ip” to your Public IPv4 will resolve connection issues.