Port forwarding for a Mindustry server
Mindustry uses one port number over both TCP and UDP. The game connection runs on TCP, and UDP handles discovery plus part of setting the connection up.
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 6567. If you changed that, use whatever you set in the port config value.
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.
- 6567 TCP
- 6567 UDP
6567TCPGame trafficMindustry needs the same number on both protocols.6567UDPDiscoveryUDP carries LAN discovery and part of the connection setup.
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
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
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
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 Mindustry 6567 6567 TCP your server’s local IP Mindustry 6567 6567 UDP your 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
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
Mindustry — port forwarding rules --------------------------------- 6567 TCP -> <server local IP> 6567 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
Forward a single protocol and the server behaves unpredictably — discoverable but unjoinable one moment, the reverse the next. Since Mindustry servers are often thrown together for one evening, the game usually takes the blame instead of the rule.
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Skipping port forwarding
Mindustry is so light it runs on nearly anything, so the reason to move it off a home PC is uptime, not speed: a campaign server that is there whenever your group is, without someone having to start it.