Unofficial Civ4 GameSpy Multiplayer Firewall/Router Port Forwarding Guide

[niffweed17]

IMPORTANT: this may explain why people are having problems!

according to http://kbserver.netgear.com/kb_web_files/n100495.asp

VOICE CHAT PORT IS NOT 3783. it is 3784.

 

[Vladdrac]

I have changed that, and i think now we have to get everyone to do the same for everyone to resolve the issue. I think it would take a miracle for everyone to get there ducks in a row anytime soon

 

[juxtaposedjoker]

I realize this is going to sound kindof bad but I have no firewalls on. Windows is turned off and norton turned off and I still can't always get into a game. Got into about 1 out of 10 if that and when I tried to host it disconnects after I launch.

Do I have to add the ports to windows even though its off? My connection is also hardwired so no router to add anything to. Or is all the people who haven't added the ports the problem?

 

[dimitris340]

I have a problem! I have a router and i tried to openthe ports to play. The problem is that through my router's setup i can only open 8 ports as there aren't any other empty slots available!!!! So what can i do to solve this issue and if there is nothing that can be done, which are the 8 more important ports that might solve my problem???
I have a Level One router FBR-1407B

 

[CanuckSoldier]

I realize this is going to sound kindof bad but I have no firewalls on. Windows is turned off and norton turned off and I still can't always get into a game. Got into about 1 out of 10 if that and when I tried to host it disconnects after I launch.

Do I have to add the ports to windows even though its off? My connection is also hardwired so no router to add anything to. Or is all the people who haven't added the ports the problem?

If you are disconnecting on launch it's more likely that it's your system specs are not able to keep up with the other computers/players and you time out and are dropped, what are your system specs btw?

And to play the game you only really need port 2056 open, all the other ports are just for the GS lobby, which doesn't use voice chat so don't worry about that one especially.

CS

 

[kenneth]

I have set up port forwarding on my computer using the DMZ host option, yet i still get the contact peer infinite loop on almost all games i try to join. No one joins my game even when i create game. Any ideas?

 

[cheesestrife]

when it says contacting peers it means there is a problem with someone else, not you.

 

[arrummzen]

wrong thread.

Thank you for your time,
Arrummzen

 

[He-Who-Hunts]

Ok guys, I need a little help in identifying how this works....

In my router config, under my port settings I have a set of:

Start port(s) / end port(s)/ server IP Adress(s)

I'm not very good at this kind of thing... where do i put the port numbers that wc3promet listed? under the start or end port selection? and what do i put under server IP adress...?..?...?

Please help!

 

[CanuckSoldier]

Ok guys, I need a little help in identifying how this works....

In my router config, under my port settings I have a set of:

Start port(s) / end port(s)/ server IP Adress(s)

I'm not very good at this kind of thing... where do i put the port numbers that wc3promet listed? under the start or end port selection? and what do i put under server IP adress...?..?...?

Please help!

The start port and end port should be the same port, 2056, your router gives you the option of routing it to different ports incase you have a unique situation were you want to change ports inside your lan.

The IP address should be the internal IP of the computer that you play Civ4 on, bring a DOS box(type cmd in the run dialog) and then type in ipconfig and that will tell you what your internal IP is for that machine, it'll likely be something in the 192.168.. area.

CS

 

[MaHoHo]

Did anyone try connecting to a Game by way of an SSH Tunnel? Or does anyone know if the game server for direct IP-connection listens for incoming connections on a different port than 2056?

I set up a tunnel with local/remote port 2056 and I only get the "Unable to negotiate with host firewall" message... Although there is no firewall...

Any ideas or pointers?

Cheers,
MaHoHo

 

[He-Who-Hunts]

thanks CanuckSoldier, but I have another quiestion...

It seems there are only 11 forward port slots in my selection.... but as you can see, there are 13 ports that need to be open... is there any way around this?

 

[ecbean]

I've followed the advice I've read on this forum but I still can't get my laptop to log in to the GameSpy lobby. When I try to log in with my username and pw I get the following message:

"Server Unreachable: The connection to the game browsing server has failed."

I have a desktop with a cable modem and a Linksys router for the laptop. I have had absolutely no problems with the desktop, I can host and connect to Internet games using it. It's just the laptop that has problems.

I followed the steps in the sticky on this forum and on portforward.com:

1. Set static IP
2. Set port forwarding (2033, 2056, Both, IP Address, checked enable)
3. Checked that Civ IV was on the Windows Firewall exceptions list

And I still get the error. Any idea what might still be the problem?

Thanks!

 

[Vladdrac]

It could be related to some kind of cache issue

try start menu->Run then type cmd

from the command prompt type:
ipconfig /flushdns

 

[vital619]

this sucks... i forward ports 1-50000 and i still only get connected 1/10 times

 

[CanuckSoldier]

I've followed the advice I've read on this forum but I still can't get my laptop to log in to the GameSpy lobby. When I try to log in with my username and pw I get the following message:

"Server Unreachable: The connection to the game browsing server has failed."

I have a desktop with a cable modem and a Linksys router for the laptop. I have had absolutely no problems with the desktop, I can host and connect to Internet games using it. It's just the laptop that has problems.

I followed the steps in the sticky on this forum and on portforward.com:

1. Set static IP
2. Set port forwarding (2033, 2056, Both, IP Address, checked enable)
3. Checked that Civ IV was on the Windows Firewall exceptions list

And I still get the error. Any idea what might still be the problem?

Thanks!

You are only forwarding the port(2056) that the game uses, the GS lobby has a few more ports that are used to provide all the functions in the lobby.

Listed here: http://www.gamespyarcade.com/support/firewalls.shtml

And btw 2033 has nothing to do with Civ4 unless you were to change the default port to that port in the ini.

CS

 

[enchanter100]

I was hosting a game with three players. Each of them could connect to me individually, but once one of the connected, the other wouldn't be able to. They both would get the contacting peer problem. Whoever connected last. SOOOO, when one of them fixed the problem, they still couldn't connect in the same manner. This proves to me that even if you are "fixed" and open and working correctly, you can still get that error.. It can also be your fault if other people can't join even if you are in the game. In short, everyone has to be setup properly for anyone but the host to join.. AND it still could be you if you get the contacting peer message.. In my opinion. because if you are the first person to join just the host, it'll work and screw everyone else.

 

[risa2000]

Few things (and what is all you need for "Direct IP connection" setup):

1) Civ 4 game needs only port 2056 (UDP). All the other ports are not necessary. If you do not need GameSpy stuff or built-in VoIP you should be fine with only UDP 2056 port.

2) You only need to open port if it is really blocked . By this I mean that if you are not hosting the game (just connecting to the server out there), you probably do not have ports blocked. Most router firewalls automatically allow (by default) all outgoing connections from local network, they block only incoming connections - and I mean really connections here (not packets).

3) I did not test in-game VoIP, but the UDP 3784 port is (coincidentally?) used by Ventrilo (http://www.ventrilo.com/). I do not know, whether this is because Civ4 uses internally Ventrilo technology, or they simply found this port convenient, but if you plan to use Ventrilo, you might encounter problems when mixing both.

Facts 1) and 2) were tested in situation where I hosted "Direct IP" game (have router configured) and two friends were connected to my system. They also use routers (with NAT and firewalls), but they did not need to configure anything at all, because theirs routers handle this kind of traffic by default.

Note: When configuring home router/firewall(s) you might need to configure firewall (adding the proper rule to let the incoming traffic in) and router (i.e. configuring NAT or NAPT so the incoming traffic is routed to the right machine on local net).

 

[CanuckSoldier]

Risa, were did you determine that Civ4 uses 3784 for voice, according to the GS firewall help page, voice in the lobby(which Civ4 lobby doesn't use anyway) is 3783. In game voice chat uses 2056 as does everyother Civ4 network function.

CS

 

[ensignyu]

I'm not sure that GameSpy even needs you to open any ports on your firewall, except 2056 for Civ4. It seems to be listing *outgoing* ports, not inbound, and hardly any firewalls or routers block outgoing ports (usually it just asks "do you want app X to be able to connect to computer Y". Seems highly unlikely that you'd be running an IRC server (6667) on your computer just to use GameSpy.