How to Setup and Host Your Own Video Game Server


For anyone who plays video games, you are aware of the advantages of running your own game server. Not to mention how cool it will make you among your friends. What you may not know is how easy it actually is. Follow these simple instructions and get started today!

Here are the steps to follow:

1. If you haven’t already, create and activate a No-IP account. Note that you can click on “Create my hostname later” to just create the account.

2. Add a host to your account if you have not done so yet. In order to create a hostname from inside your No-IP account, please navigate to Dynamic DNS > No-IP Hostnames > Create A Hostname. You will then be prompted fill in the details of your new hostname.

3. Fill in the “Hostname” box with a name of your choosing. It can be anything you like. If you choose a name that’s already in use, an error will generate and ask you to try a different hostname. Since hostnames are unique per domain, you can try using the same hostname and just select a different domain from the domain field drop down box to see if that combination is available. Note: Certain domains are reserved for No-IP Enhanced customers only.

4. Choose the Host Type. The default choice, DNS Host A, is usually the correct one. Do not choose any of the other host types unless you’re trying to solve a particular problem that a DNS A record won’t accommodate. If your ISP blocks Port 80 for example, and you’re trying to run a web server or other service on port 80, you can choose Port 80 Redirect (at that point you’ll be asked to specify the port to use for the redirection).

5. In the field marked “IP Address” you should already see your current IP address. If you wish to set the IP address of the host to be somewhere other than your current location, you can enter that address now.

6. When you have filled in the information for your new hostname, simply click the Create Host” button at the bottom of the page to save it.

7. Now you will want to set up an update client to provide our update servers the correct IP address of your network. An update client can be either your router if it supports Dynamic DNS with us, a Dynamic DNS capable device or by downloading our No-IP Dynamic Update Client. (If your ISP provides you with a static IP address, you can skip this step.) The configurations should be set as such (if applicable):

DDNS/Service Provider: No-IP
Username: Your DDNS Key Username / Email
Password: Your DDNS Key Password
Hostname/Domain: all.ddnskey.com
Server/Server Address: dynupdate.no-ip.com
Not every device will ask you for a server or server address. The service will still work without issue, if the device does not ask for it.

DDNS Key usernames and passwords are created individually for each hostname or group of hostnames. They are generated from the DNS Records page in your account.

8. If you use a router to connect to the Internet and/or have a firewall in place on your computer, you will need to make sure that it is configured to direct the appropriate traffic from the Internet into the destination machine on your network. This is done using a router function called Port Forwarding. You can use any port or whatever is specified by the game software. Just be sure that the ports match at the firewall/router. You can visit PortForward.com for step-by-step guides on port forwarding for your specific router.

9. Next, verify that your router and firewall are set up correctly, you can visit the website at www.portchecktool.com to see if your port is open.

10. You’re done! As long as the port is visible and your hostname resolves back to your network you should be ready to have your friends join you online to play your favorite video game!

It is important to note that depending on which game you are playing, it will either ask for the hostname and port separately, or it will just ask for the host. You may need to have your friends connect as host.domain.com:portnumber