What ports?

[WolfStar76]

I keep reading here and there about the various nifty port forwarding and nat detection schemes this game seems to use with gamespy and the like, but my question is far simpler.

I have a hardware firewall I need to get around, and while I *can* put my PC into the DMZ, I'm not terribly comfortable with that option.

So, I'm curious to see if anyone has managed to find out exactly what ports this game is using yet, so I can setup my firewall to only allow the needed access, instead of opening myself up to the world to play with friends.

HUGE thumbs-up to the devs for including multipplayer right out of the box, but they lose 2 points for not telling me how to secure my network and still allow play.

[CanuckSoldier]

The default port is 2056, it's configureable in the ini. The GS NAT system should, in most cases, trick your firewall into allowing incoming packets but if your firewall is stubborn you can port forward 2056 or change that to another port if you have need too.

CS

[WolfStar76]

My firewall does a pretty good job of not being fooled, and when I tried a direct IP game this weekend, it didn't work until I DMZed myself, which, frankly, makes me more comfortable.

Thanks for the port #, however. I've already added that to my firewall and will test it when I get home.

[CanuckSoldier]

Yes Direct IP will require you to have 2056 open, as it bypasses the GS servers completely. DirectIP games will not show up in the games list in the GS lobby either.

CS

[WolfStar76]

That's exactly what I'm looking for.

I'd rather get beat-down by my friends the first few times, than by total strangers.

Problem is, while I love the Civ games - I'm not particularly GOOD at them.

[Daleus]

There was mention either somewhere else on Apolyton, or over at CivFanatics, that the port is 2056. The message is question was more a description of how GameSpy works and it suggested that UDP was the protocol required.

For my own NAT firewall, I had to open 2056 for both UDP and TCP, so if you find UDP doesn't work by itself, add TCP as well.

There was also another message addressing the port questions and the author provided a number of other ports the game was using. I can't speak to the veracity of his post, but I notice some folks are also having difficulty using the VOIP in game.

I suspect there are other ports that need to be opended, in order for VOIP to work - I haven't investigated as I already have my own gaming chat server setup at home.

If anyone has discovered other ports in use and knows what they are used for by the game, please post them to this thread. I think folks would be particularly interested in which ports the VOIP uses.

Cheers!

[CanuckSoldier]

All the info I have from the developers states that only UDP port 2056 is required, but I'll inquire about the ingame voice chat.

CS

[Daleus]

CanuckSoldier

Thanks for that. I wasn't able to get anyone connected until I added the TCP protocol too. If you get a chance you might ewant to test that though - I have a cheap discounted router and it has already forced me to have kittens on some other config options, so I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the TCP port addition is particular to my own setup

Cheers!

[Yossi]

I have a problem with me hosting a direct IP game. Only one player can connect, others get "connecting to peer", and they are unable to connect.

??

[CanuckSoldier]

Do you have some complicated router or LAN setup?

CS

[CanuckSoldier]

Ok I've got a little more clarification on ports, CIV(while playing) only uses port 2056. But the lobby is "powered by Gamespy" so GS uses a few more ports to take care of all the functions in the lobby, it's basically a highly modified IRC system.

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

If you are behind a firewall/proxy and are able to change its settings, Arcade needs the following TCP ports open in order to function:
6667 (IRC)
3783 (Voice Chat Port)
27900 (Master Server UDP Heartbeat)
28900 (Master Server List Request)
29900 (GP Connection Manager)
29901 (GP Search Manager)
13139 (Custom UDP Pings)
6515 (Dplay UDP)
6500 (Query Port)


The only one I'm still waiting for clarification on is the Voice chat port, we don't have voice chat in the lobby but that doesn't mean GS isn't wanting to open it.

CS

[zooK]

Thanks for the info re: port, far more satisfactory than setting up a DMZ!
Just womndering why norton doesnt like GS. Is there spyware within aphex.exe?? Should I just 'permit all' where gamespy is concerned?

[CanuckSoldier]

Arcade will display some ads within it's interface but it doesn't spy on you, so it's safe to let it have permissions. But the CIV interface isn't arcade it's just powered by the GS servers so it uses there ports for the lobby.

CS