Barotrauma FAQ

You can host a Barotrauma server either through the normal game application by clicking the "Host server" button in the main menu or by using the dedicated server application included with the game. If the computer you wish to run the server on has a private IP, you may need to forward ports in your router to allow players to connect to your server.


Hosting from the game client
--> Open the "Host server" menu from the main menu.
--> Enter a name for your server, select the maximum number of players, enter a password if you wish the server to be password-protected, and select whether you want the server to be publicly visible to others players.
--> Click "Start".
--> If you receive a prompt from Windows Firewall, your antivirus or a similar software asking whether to allow the application to connect to the internet, make sure you allow it to do so.
--> If the computer you wish to run the server on has a private IP, you may need to forward ports on your router (either manually or using UPnP port forwarding) to allow players to connect to your server. See the "forwarding ports" section for more instructions.

Hosting using the dedicated server
The dedicated server is a command line application, meaning that it has no graphical interface. It's more lightweight than the client application, and can be a better choice if you want to leave the server running in the background without playing on it yourself.
--> Launch a file called "DedicatedServer" inside the game folder.
--> If you wish to modify the settings for your server, you can edit a file called "serversettings.xml" inside the game folder. If the file is not present, it can be created by launching the DedicatedServer executable.
--> If you receive a prompt from Windows Firewall, your antivirus or a similar software asking whether to allow the application to connect to the internet, make sure you allow it to do so.
--> If the computer you wish to run the server on has a private IP, you may need to forward ports on your router (either manually or using UPnP port forwarding) to allow players to connect to your server. See the "forwarding ports" section for more instructions.


Forwarding ports
If the computer you wish to run the server on has a private IP, you may need to forward ports in your router to allow players to connect to your server.
Some routers support a feature called UPnP (universal plug and play) that can be used to automatically take care of port forwarding. You can enable it by selecting the "Attempt UPnP port forwarding" checkbox in the "Host server" menu, or when using the dedicated server, setting "enableupnp" to "true" in the "serversettings.xml" file.

Once you've enabled UPnP, you can check if others can connect to your server either by asking some else to join it, or by using some remote tool (see the "Resources" section below).

If others are unable to join your server after UPnP has been enabled, you may need to forward ports manually. We’re working on an alternative solution to remove the need for port forwarding, but for now this is how you can do it:

On many router models you can access the settings by navigating to http://192.168.1.1/ using your web browser, finding the port forwarding settings (sometimes called “application sharing”) and forwarding one of the ports using the following settings:

Game port (used to communicate with clients)
Service/Application: barotrauma
External Port: The port you have selected for your server (27015 by default)
Internal Port: The port you have selected for your server (27015 by default)
Protocol: UDP

Query port (used to communicate with Steam)
Service/Application: barotrauma
External Port: The port you have selected for your server (27016 by default)
Internal Port: The port you have selected for your server (27016 by default)
Protocol: UDP

If you are playing the old, non-Steam legacy version, you only need to forward the game port (14242 by default).


Resources

Remote Port Testing URLs
http://www.yougetsignal.com/tools/open-ports/
http://www.canyouseeme.org/
http://www.t1shopper.com/tools/port-scan/

Help with Forwarding Ports
http://www.howtogeek.com/66214/how-to-forward-ports-on-your-router/
http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_forwarding

Bug reports can be submitted in the GitHub Issue Tracker or via this contact form.

Sometimes! This contact formr or the Barotrauma Collaboration Forum are good places to leave them in. The designers in particular read suggestions regularly and try to work the best ones into the game.

The game’s source code will stay public in our GitHub repository – we want to give modders as much freedom as we can and make sure people can keep developing more extensive mods by modifying the source code itself. However, modders should note that Barotrauma’s EULA does not allow distributing standalone versions of the game, meaning that you are allowed to use the source code to create mods and share the modded files with players, but not to share the entire game in a way that would allow players to play it without purchasing it on Steam.

We’ve tried to keep the game as backwards-compatible as possible with mods developed for older versions. Some mods will directly work on the new version, but others may need minor changes from the developer of the mod to make them compatible with some of code/gameplay changes in the Steam version. The Steam version will also have better built-in modding tools (such as a character/animation editor and a level editor) and full Steam Workshop integration, so the release will also make it much easier to mod the game and to find and install new mods. Read more about upgrading mods a href="https://barotraumagame.com/files/0.9_Mod_Upgrade_Guide.pdf" target="_blank">here.

Unfortunately there’s not much we can do. The servers are not hosted by us, so you should reach out to the owner of the server instead. Server owners may also want to consider giving moderator/admin rights to some trusted players on the server and to enable vote kicking.

When playing multiplayer, you must be using the same content as the server. So, if the server is using mods, you must have the same mods installed.
If you are getting this error when joining the server, despite no mods being used on the server on in your game installation, it's possible that some of the game files have been corrupted (or intentionally modified). You should be able to fix this by right-clicking the game in your Steam library, selecting "Properties", going to the "Local files tab" and clicking "Verify integrity of game files".