Can't Host Server [SOLVED]

For some reason when I try to host RoR it doesn't work. It can't find an IP, says all the ports are closed, and when I start one even if it says successfully hosted sometimes it includes a port, sometimes not, but never gives me an IP either.

I know my IP so I have my friend try to join me anyway, but no such luck.

I know my ports are forwarded properly because I've used the same ports to host a variety of gaming/social servers. This seems to be the only one with an issue, and when I try to use Hamachi but it doesn't host either. None of my friends can join. It tells them it's failed.

I don't really know what happened, it used to work perfectly and now... nothing.

EDIT: MORAL OF THE STORY! Make sure your damn files are all proper before thinking it's broken!!!

 

Yeah! I've been hosting Starbound, Minecraft, openCanvas, Nyan-Chat, and all sorts of other things. I thought I broke it but I guess I'm glad I'm not the only person with this issue, even if it epically sucks.

 

I am not sure if you are suffering the same problem as I was, but in my case the IP address was not being displayed. The port on the other hand was being displayed but it was telling me that it was closed while in fact it wasn't. However, when I tried hosting as a I normally would everything worked perfectly fine and my friends were able to join. Therefore, I assumed it was a UI visual bug as oppose to something related to hosting/networking. This bug happened to me after some update for RoR.

 

I thought that'd be the case too, but my friends are still unable to join me for some reason. I mean I'm pretty sure I have all my ports done proper. Is making a static IP necessary? I've realized a lot of games that call for it don't really need it so I assumed it was more a suggestion so you don't have to keep changing settings [I don't really mind, though, because I don't know how to make one properly with two routers and Linksys lately refuses to tell me how because they're butts].

 

It would be wise to make your IP static yes. I had to remote into my friends computer and setup his Att 2wire device to forward the ports and set his pc to be static. if not the lease time on your private IP may run out and force a change and thus making the data being sent to the wrong IP address or a null and void one.

 

No, it is not necessary to have a static IP in order to host a game server. However as GigabitPony said, it would be better to do so. That is because if you were using dynamic IP addresses, you would have to reconfigure your port forwarding settings on your router every time the router assigns you a new IP address (usually after 24 hour time frame or if you reboot your router).



As for some suggestions to fix the problem, I have a couple in mind:

Firstly, considering how other games are working perfectly fine on the port that you are trying to use for RoR ( <--- test this statement once more before proceeding), it might well be an external software issue. Basically, double check your firewall settings AND your antivirus settings and see if they are blocking RoR. I had an experience where after a RoR update, my antivirus (Norton) decided it was time to block RoR.

If the above suggestion doesn't work, then it might be because the port you are trying to host on is already being used. Make sure that other games or applications are not using currently using that port (multiple applications/games cannot use the same port simultaneously).

Alas if that does not resolve the issue, then one temporary solution is trying to use this software called "Evolve HQ" (https://www.evolvehq.com/). It is like Hamachi in the sense that it is a VPN software (Virtual Private Network). Although, the MASSIVE difference is that it is by FAR easier to use (you will need to sign up to use it though but everything is free). With Evolve, you don't need to port forward to host so this might serve as potential solution.

Another less convenient temporary solution is to join online servers (servers hosted by random people that play RoR). You can view these servers here: http://riskofrain.cyber-dev.net:11100/ Some joinable servers are hosted from time to time and you can even chat to people that host the servers via the instant messaging system on that website.

Hopefully, one of the suggestions above can solve your issue


EDIT: I have been reading around in terms of ports and IP addresses (noob in training) and I have learnt a way to determine whether an application is using a specified port. In your case, you can determine whether RoR is using your specified port or not.

Basically if you are running windows, search for "CMD" in your search bar and then click on "cmd.exe.". This would be the command prompt of windows. Now type in:

netstat -a -n |find "port"

(meaning: network status. -active. -numerical then find a specific port)
Note: "port" in the above command would be the port used when hosting RoR (e.g. netstat -a -n |find "7777")

If successful, you should see a line of text containing some information. Copy and paste that into this forum (command prompt has a special way of copy and pasting. Just drag and create a box over the desired text then right click to copy the data).

(Note: You will need to run and host "RoR" before you do any of the "cmd" stuff!)

 

.u. I'll see about static again, though I never know if it's working. I don't really know what I'm doing, unfortunately. Even when I look up how to do it I get confused. Thank you!

[Ozlol mentioned it was mostly just so you don't have to keep updating the port settings? If that's the only case I don't actually mind that much. I'd rather have to keep updating rather than mess something up. [If anything, maybe if you wouldn't mind taking a little to help me get it set up? ;v; If not that's fine, I totally understand.]]

 

Whenever I tried that it didn't work. :c

Microsoft Windows [Version 6.1.7601]
Copyright (c) 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C:\Users\Xivvers>netstat -a -n |find "11100"

C:\Users\Xivvers>netstat -a -n |find 11100
FIND : Parameter format not correct

 

Sure. There is a pretty easy solution to it which effectively makes your IP address on your PC static. Rather than making your router assign IP addresses statically for all devices, you can tell it to assign static IP addresses to specific devices meanwhile all other devices are assigned dynamically. This way, you barely change any settings on your router.

You mentioned previously that your network consists of two routers. Therefore, one of them will act as the DHCP server (the device that assigns IP addresses) while the other one would act as a DHCP relay (just passes the information of IP addresses from the first router to other devices this router is connected to). The router that acts as your DHCP server is your default gateway (essentially the gateway/door that leads to the internet). This is the router you need to access. Go to your windows command prompt ("cmd.exe") then type exactly as follows:

ipconfig

Some text should pop up. Search that text for "Default Gateway" and it's corresponding IP address (the IP address of your router). On a side note, a neat trick to find a word or a phrase in command prompt is to use: |find "somebodyfindme" (e.g. ipconfig |find "Default"). Note, the find function is case sensitive. Once you get this IP address, open your browser and type it in. And now for picture time :






Adding some pictures to keep things lively. Anyhow, once you access your router it should be under the "Setup" tab (the homepage/first page). This picture may differ with yours due to different router models. Once you click on the "DHCP Reservation" button, the following menu should pop:




You see that "Clients Already Reserved" part? You want your PC to be in that section so that your IP address is always reserved (i.e. static). To do so, just select your PC from the "Select Clients from the DHCP Table" and press on the "Add Clients" button. If you can't find your PC in that table, then manually add it using the option below. In the image above, you can see that "Laptop-of-Oz" (Surprisingly, my laptop ) is statically reserved.

Now before I forget, once you successfully statically assign your IP address, recheck your port forwarding settings so that it is port forwarded to this static IP address. And no longer will you have to re-configure your port forwarding settings from today forth

 

The reason why this specific line above didn't work was because of the missing quotation marks around the number 11100.

However, you typed it in the first time correctly:

The text you should be getting once you type the line above in command prompt is some IP address. In your case, it is blank. It seems that your game client, RoR, is not successfully reaching the port. This is consistent with the logic that other games are working on this port but not RoR. Basically, this tells me that there is some rather delightful software that is blocking RoR from accessing port "11100". It also tells me that the port "11100" is not being used by your PC hence no issue of some other software occupying that port and causing problems.

Just to be sure, try running another game and host a server that uses port "11100" and then go to command prompt and type the same line as you did, netstat -a -n |find "11100". You should expect to see some IP address.

On the other hand, there are only two ways that RoR would be blocked. One is due to windows firewall and the other one is due to your antivirus software (which usually has its own firewall). A quick way to check which of the two is causing the headache is by firstly temporarily terminating/shutting your antivirus software. Then go host your RoR server and type netstat -a -n |find "11100" in command prompt. If no IP address is returned then it is your windows firewall. Otherwise, it is your antivirus software. Once you have done this, please post back

 

Also, sorry didn't mean to randomly run in for my first post and do that. Having some game issues myself with multiplayer. (Errors happening in game forcing me to quit.) ANYWAYS, As Ozlol has said the netstat command will return the ip address associated with that port if it is running on it. Another way to test is a port forward checking tool, but that requires downloading and stuff. Easier to command line it. Some helpful info would be your router model so that someone could go and look at what the GUI looks like and point you in the best direction for setting a static IP. If you already did then don't mind me.

 

Disabling both did nothing. D:>

 

I've been using a couple port forwarding sites that seem to work well with other programs. It tells me while I'm playing if it's visible or not.

I /just/ did the static IP thing through the router [I'm using a Linksys E1200 V2] and fingers crossed it'll work. This was much easier than that having to setup the IPV4 thing through all the menus. I always hate having to set up default gateways and junk. Doesn't always work out for me [Unless that sort of thing is better than going through the router?].

Thank you for the help!

 

The best way I have found is using the router interface. Like the main router here is a netgear with the dang genie wizard. I tell it to reserve 192.168.1.4 for my desktop. (It hardly shuts off anyways but i tell it to reserve it to me based on the MAC address) Forward all the ports I need and then configure windows firewall to allow the ports. Make sure you check that as well. Start>Control Panel> Windows Firewall> (Click yes when it prompts for elevated privilages)> advance settings> Inbound rules. You may have to add two new rules. One being TCP the other being UDP for the ports. If you need help let me know and I can post screen shots of doing said thing or better yet I can record it and upload a video to my dropbox for ya.

 

I've already got the ports allowed through my firewall. I'm using ESET so it overrides the Windows firewall, but it also requires every extra port I use to be added to the list [also a killer headache when it comes to Hamachi @_@].

 

Ah okay. Well least you got the ports forwarded. And I personally found it easier with this game to ditch Hamachi. I couldn't get it to work properly.

 

Yeah. I used to think Hamachi was great but now I realize it's really laggy and stupid. XD Plus I mean Evolve seems to let you cut off connections much easier, and there's none of that file sharing spit. The only thing is I gotta test it now and compared to Hamachi [at least in my list of friends] Evolve is Zone 0. *pfhhh* Though I am in LOVE with how many games are hosted and the fact that you can find people to play with.~]

 

SQUARE ROOT OF 3!

Hmmm. Your RoR is for some reason refusing to connect to your router (since no internal port is being produced) and it isn't due to your firewall. The conclusion I can draw from this is that something is seriously wrong with your software. I have two suggestions in mind:

1. Verify game cache. Go to Steam then Library. Right click on RoR then click "Properties". Then go to "Local Files" and click on "Verify Integrity of Game Cache". Upon doing this, run RoR then host your server. Check if you are detecting an internal port via command prompt (type netstat -a -n | find "11100", assuming your internal port is meant to be 11100).

2. If that doesn't work. Perhaps a clean uninstall and reinstall will fix the problem hopefully.

3. I said two suggestions didn't I?! But guess what? I lied. If the above suggestions don't work, then host RoR once more. Then right click on cmd.exe and run as administrator. Then type in this command: netstat -a -b -o -p TCP | find "Risk of Rain.exe"
It might take couple of minutes for any results to appear but once they do, copy and paste the results.

If you are using port forwarding sites for testing, they only check whether your networks external port is working (hence your internal port is not checked). In your case, both internal and external ports should be working fine since you can host on various other games. Although, RoR is not connecting to your internal port for some reason.
On a side note, command prompt can check the internal ports of your network. It can also check the external ports of the network your machine is connected to (the other persons external port [e.g. The port of your friends default gateway]).

Well you can set your IP address static via the IPV4 menu without resorting in accessing the router but it will eventually cause IP conflict problems (when your router gives out IP addresses dynamically, there is a limited time duration for how long these IP addresses exist [known as leasing]. So when your PC's IP address expires and your PC is not connected to the network (e.g. it is shut), the router might re-assign this IP address to another device. Afterwards, if your PC turns on and tries to connect to the network, it will be try to connect with the same IP address. Although, it cannot because another device now has your PC's IP address hence IP conflict.)
On the other hand, by setting your IP address through the router interface, you avoid these IP conflict problems since your address is reserved.

Similarly, I myself use Norton which overrides the Windows firewall so in my case I just had to allow RoR through Norton just like your case.

 

OH. WOW. I FEEL LIKE A HUGE DUMB NOW! :rofl:DD Your suggestion to check the friggin' files worked! Now it says my ports are open and when I host that netstat and my port site both say it's listening/open. [But for some reason 11100 still refuses to say open on the hosting menu??]

C:\Users\Xivvers>netstat -a -n | find "30001"
TCP 0.0.0.0:30001 0.0.0.0:0 LISTENING

Is that how it's supposed to look?
[I can't test it yet because my friends are busy. Unless you or GigabitPony are on and want to help me test quick. :rofl:;]
EDIT: AHHHHH MY FRIEND JUST HAD A MIN TO CHECK AND IT WORKS AND WOW EVEN THOUGH 11100 SAYS CLOSED IT WORKS TOO AND JUST OH MY GOD THANK YOU BOTH OF YOUUUUUUUUUU YOU ARE MY HEROES!!!!!!!! <3 <3 <3

 

Don't worry about it . Honestly, it was more of fate than anything else. Basically, I went to play RoR with my younger siblings and they had a screen resolution problem (RoR doesn't have well defined screen resolutions but just a "scale: x1 / x2" feature). I needed to make the scale in order to work on their 1920 x 1080 screen. When I changed the file settings directly from the RoR files, the game no longer functioned even though I undid my changes! I looked up some forums and one suggestion was to verify game cache and it worked xD. At that point I realized, maybe it would work in your case too and it did

I am assuming this only appears ingame on the RoR menu? If so, I know that this is a bug and happens to a lot of people (including myself). It is just a visual UI bug which is good rather than a networking one.

Yes, that looks beautiful. The "LISTENING" part means it is hosting fine on that IP address and port but waiting for someone to join it. Once someone joins that connection successfully, it will change to "ESTABLISHED". Also from what I understand, IP address "0.0.0.0" is a special address and it can mean a lot of things depending on the context. In this case, it means that this application/software (RoR in your case) is listening on all IP addresses on your local network. Basically, the IP address "0.0.0.0" will change to different numbers once a connection has been established by this application/software to some other network (i.e. if someone joins your server).

I see you have resorted to drastic measures in making your friend test it out... Nice. . Very good to hear that it is functioning as intended . I am glad that I can be of assistance . Also, if any other problems occur, feel free to ask again (you can even directly contact me through my profile if you wish; assuming I am available) . Honestly, helping you with this problem was such a great learning experience in terms of networking .