NightCoop guide

Server not responding

Last checked: 2026-11-04 · Official version: v0.2.0-beta (2026-11-02) · Protocol 164 · Free · Windows 10/11 64-bit · Up to 8 players · RED4ext only (no CET) · Phantom Liberty not required

The English string is “The server does not answer.” The corresponding Russian phrase is «Сервер не отвечает», and they also describe the client failing to find servers or dropping a connection that had already started. The host and the guest can both sit on the connect step.

Why the path dies

NightCoop tries a direct link first. If the router blocks that path, traffic is supposed to fall through to a relay. The independent network notes and the project guides agree on that hybrid. The front door on the relay is UDP 47800. If that port is closed, or the hub process is down, the client reports that the server does not answer. On a hub you run yourself, the worker threads listen on 47810 and upward through 47873. Closing those does not always abort the session. The hub README says creation just waits an extra five or six seconds when the range is incomplete.

What to change

1. Confirm the hub you selected is actually up. Auto: nearest is the default the first beta described for Europe, the USA, and Asia.
2. Allow UDP 47800 through the PC firewall and the router. On your own hub, also allow 47810–47873.
3. If you added a custom server, include the fingerprint after the address. A bare address cannot prove which hub you reached. That failure is the key-check page, not this one.
4. Retry after the port change. If the string remains, zip the logs from the logs page and post the time plus your role (host or guest).

How this differs from a lost session

A hub restart, in the first open-beta notes, does not end a session that is already running. “The server does not answer” is a connect-time failure, before that session exists. People also search the Russian phrase for a lost connection after play has started. A failure after joining and a connect-time failure happen at different stages. The beta page separately lists one-second hitches tied to the Discord overlay and NVIDIA frame generation. Those hitches are not this error string.

For a private hub, send the server owner the selected address and the time the connection failed. A reachability failure and a fingerprint mismatch need different fixes: opening a port cannot correct a mistyped key. Evidence: 2 independent publishers (NightCoop project documentation and the independent network analysis). The current guides document these strings; the analysis covers older October builds.