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Port forwarding for a Abiotic Factor server

Abiotic Factor needs the game port, 7777 by default, and the Steam query port, 27015 by default, both passed to the server as launch arguments (-PORT= and -QueryPort=). Both are UDP.

Your setup

Choose the firmware family rather than your exact model — every router in a family shares the same menus.

Out of the box it is 7777. If you changed that, use whatever you set in -PORT= launch argument.

The local address of the computer that runs the server. Find it with ipconfig on Windows or ip addr on Linux; it will begin with 192.168, 10. or 172.

Open these

Your firmware takes ranges, so each line here is one rule.

  • 7777 UDP
  • 27015 UDP
  • 7777UDPGame trafficPlayers connect here over UDP.
  • 27015UDPSteam querySet with -QueryPort=. This is how the server is advertised on Steam.

Do not open these

Good news: this game has no remote-admin port that could be exposed by mistake. Forward the ports on the left and stop there.

Step by step: your router

  1. 1

    Give the server a fixed local IP

    A forwarding rule targets a single local address. If the server comes back from a reboot with a new one, the rule quietly points at an empty address — which is how forwards seem to "break by themselves".

    On this router:look for DHCP Reservation, Address Reservation, Static Lease or Manually Assigned IP

  2. 2

    Open the router admin page

    From a device on the same network, open one of these in a browser:

    • 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. 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. 4

    Create one rule per line

    a description field, if there is oneExternal / WAN / Public / Service portInternal / LAN / Private portProtocolInternal IP / Device / Server IP
    Abiotic Factor77777777UDPyour server’s local IP
    Abiotic Factor2701527015UDPyour server’s local IP

    Use the same number for the external and internal port. You can make the external one different, but then every player has to connect on that new number, so keep them identical unless you have a specific reason not to.

  5. 5

    Let the server through its own firewall

    The router is now sending traffic to the right computer, but that computer can still turn it away. Windows Defender Firewall is the usual offender: it blocks a newly installed dedicated server by default, and from outside that is indistinguishable from a broken forward.

Take it with you

Abiotic Factor — port forwarding rules
--------------------------------------
7777  UDP  ->  <server local IP>
27015  UDP  ->  <server local IP>

Check whether it worked

Always test from outside your network. A connection from another device in the house proves nothing: that traffic stays on your LAN and never passes through the rule you just created.

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The usual mistake

The official dedicated server is Windows-only; running it on Linux relies on community workarounds, which is where many "it will not connect" reports come from. And without the query port forwarded, Steam cannot advertise the server even though direct connections work.

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Skipping port forwarding

For a small team, having one player host from inside the game avoids forwarding altogether, but the facility only exists while that player is online.

Rather not run the server yourself?

These tools are free and funded by the two hosting services we run. If you want a server that is already set up, here they are.

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