Resolved How to set up a custom server with Netcode and Unity Transport?

Hello there,

I'm currently working on a project for university. Our task is to create a multiplayer game, so I thought I might have a look at the new Unity Netcode. My goal is to have a Unity server instance running on my PC, so that I'm not dependent on any hosting services like AWS, Photon, ...
I forwarded the port on my router and created a firewall rule to open the port (UDP, right?). This works with the simple UDP example provided here: https://gist.github.com/darkguy2008/413a6fea3a5b4e67e5e0d96f750088a9
I can send from a different network and it arrives at my PC on which the Unity server is supposed to be running.

Problem is: I can't connect a Netcode client in Unity. WireShark shows that the connection attempt from the client is incoming on the server PC, but the connection attempt is not succesful and times out after a couple of tries.

I'm quite confused with the IP and Ports settings. I tried all sorts of different settings.
How I understand it:
Address: Only relevant for the client? Put in the public IP of the server here.
Port: Is the same for client and server.
Server Listen Address: Only relevant for the server? Put in the local/private IP of the server machine.
Is this correct? Or does it need to be different on server and client?



Do I need to open TCP or UDP ports? Or both? Or something completely different?
Do you have an idea why the connection isn't working? Help and hints would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,
Martin

 

Thank you for your quick response! Don't worry, the public IP on the screenshot is fictional.
It turns out that disabling the firewall did the trick.
But the issue is still weird. Even if I let everything through in the firewall settings, the connection fails.


This still leads to an unsuccessful connection attempt.

Do you have an idea what might cause this behaviour? Are there some more things happening in the background of Unity Transport that need special treatment? Are there more firewall settings that need to be taken care of other than opening ports?

 

You may want to give disabling the router‘s firewall a shot (only for a couple minutes!).
Also check the router security settings in case it is aggressively filtering. Things like stealth mode or not responding to ping/icmp have frequently caused me headaches trying to run my own game server.

I‘d first try and get a client connect via local network on two machines before moving on to testing connections over the internet. That way you‘ll have it easier to test and you can rule out any issues with network settings on these PCs as well as your test app.

 

The firewall rule applies to all applications and all domains. When testing it with a console UDP server the traffic comes through. Just not for Unity Transport.

It's strange... I'll continue trouble shooting (though I'm mostly out of ideas, as the connection can be established for non unity apps) and post an update in case I find a solution.

 

Oh my god, Simon, the hint that I might have clicked the firewall popup away was key.
I only tested the server in the Unity Editor. Apparently my home network is seen as a public network (no idea why) and when first starting the Unity Editor I clicked Okay on the firewall popup without thinking about it. And the default is to not allow access in public networks...
In hindsight I really should have made a build, then there would have been a new popup where I could have accepted access on all domains.

So in case anyone else runs in this issue:
Just deactive the "forbidden" rule in your firewall settings and you're good to go (Öffentlich == public).


Damn, finding that simple issue took way too much time.

But thank you all for your support and your ideas!