How to Self-Host a Hytale Server (What Actually Works)

Hytale released this morning, and if you’re reading this, you’re probably trying to figure out how to get your own server running. The official documentation gives you the basics, but there are some things you only learn by actually running the server - and some of them will crash you or compromise your world if you don’t catch them early.

We spent launch day testing Hytale hosting, and this guide covers what actually works based on that experience. Whether you’re setting up on your own hardware or considering a managed host, here’s what you need to know.

Why Self-Host a Hytale Server?

Running your own server gives you control over the world, who plays, and what rules apply. You’re not at the mercy of a public server that might change ownership, go offline, or enforce rules you don’t agree with. For friend groups or small communities, it’s the difference between playing on someone else’s terms and building exactly what you want.

The tradeoff is that you’re responsible for setup, maintenance, and troubleshooting. If you’re running on your own hardware, that includes networking configuration/port forwarding, and keeping the server online 24/7. If something breaks at 2 AM, you’re the one fixing it. You don’t have any technical support standing by to help.

System Requirements (What Actually Works)

Hypixel Studios recommends a minimum of 4GB of RAM for a Hytale server. That’s technically true - it will run - but our testing found that 4GB crashes frequently once you have multiple players online. The server starts fine, but as people play and the world loads more chunks, you’ll hit memory limits and crash.

What we recommend: 6GB of RAM for small groups (4-8 players). This gives you enough headroom to avoid constant crashes while keeping costs lower if you’re paying for hosting.

If you’re running more players or planning to add mods once they’re available, you’ll want more. But for launch day and getting started, 6GB is the sweet spot we’ve seen actually work without issues.

Beyond RAM, you’ll want a reasonably modern CPU (anything from the last 5 years should be fine for small servers) and at least 10GB of storage space for the server files and world data. NVMe SSD storage is strongly preferred - chunk loading on a hard drive will make the experience painful for everyone.

Critical Security Setting: Disable Open Operators

This is the big one that will bite you if you’re not careful. By default, Hytale allows any player to make themselves an operator by running /op self in-game. That means anyone who joins your server can give themselves admin permissions without you knowing.

A rogue operator can grief your world, ban legitimate players, change server settings, and generally destroy everything you’ve built. This isn’t a minor inconvenience - it’s a server-killing vulnerability if left open.

The fix: Don’t use the --allow-op startup flag, or make sure it’s configured to restrict who can become an operator. If you’re running the server via command line, simply omit this flag. If you’re using a control panel or startup script that includes it, remove it or configure it to use a whitelist approach. If you’re hosting with us, we handle this for you with a tickable “Allow Operators” startup parameter.

The exact configuration depends on your setup method, but the principle is the same: if --allow-op is present and unrestricted, anyone can admin themselves. Lock this down first.

Networking & Port Configuration

Hytale servers run on port 5520 by default. If you’re self-hosting on your own hardware, you’ll need to forward this port through your router and make sure your firewall allows traffic on it.

The router configuration varies by manufacturer, but the general process is:

1. Find your server’s local IP address
2. Log into your router’s admin interface
3. Set up a port forward from external port 5520 to your server’s IP on port 5520
4. Save and restart your router if needed

If you’re behind multiple layers of NAT or using certain ISP setups, this can get complicated. Some residential connections don’t allow inbound connections at all, which makes self-hosting impossible without a VPN or tunneling solution.

Docker users: If you’re running Hytale in a container, you must explicitly map the port when you start the container. The container network is isolated by default, so even if the server is listening on 5520 inside the container, it won’t be accessible from outside unless you map it. The specifics depend on your container runtime, but you’ll need to expose port 5520.

For most self-hosting scenarios, once the port is forwarded and the firewall allows it, players can connect using your public IP address and port 5520. You can find your public IP by searching “what is my IP” in a browser.

Common Issues & Troubleshooting

Out of Memory Crashes

This is the most frequent problem we’ve seen. The server runs fine for a while, then suddenly stops responding and crashes. If you check the logs, you’ll see it ran out of memory and killed itself.

The fix depends on your situation:

• If you haven’t allocated enough RAM to begin with (running on 4GB for example), you need more RAM. Upgrade your plan or add more to your hardware.
• If you’re using a container and allocated 100% of RAM as heap space, reduce your heap allocation to 50-75% of total available RAM. The container needs headroom.
• If you have a high view distance value, lower it. Hypixel Studios has confirmed the process that uses the most RAM is view distance.
• If neither of those apply, you might have too many players for your current RAM. Add more or reduce player count.

Operator Security Issues

If you find that players have admin powers they shouldn’t have, check whether --allow-op is enabled. Remove it from your startup configuration and restart the server. You’ll need to manually grant operator status to trusted admins through the server console instead.

Connection Problems

If players can’t connect, the usual suspects are:

• Port 5520 isn’t forwarded through your router
• Firewall is blocking the port
• Server isn’t actually running (check process manager or logs)
• Wrong IP address (players need your public IP, not your local network IP)

Test the connection yourself from outside your network first - use your phone’s mobile hotspot to try connecting with your public IP. If you can’t reach it, the problem is on your end (port forwarding or firewall). If you can reach it but others can’t, it’s likely an issue with the IP or DNS they’re using.

Self-Hosting vs Managed Hosting

If the networking configuration, RAM tuning, and security hardening sounds like more work than you want to deal with, managed hosting is an alternative worth considering. Admittedly, you lose some control, but you also don’t have to troubleshoot port forwarding at midnight when something breaks.

We’re obviously biased, but WinterNode exists because we wanted hosting that didn’t nickel-and-dime people. All our game servers are priced at $1.99/GB of RAM, and we don’t charge extra for CPU usage, storage space, or basic features that other hosts mark up. For Hytale, we start at 4GB ($7.96/month), but based on our testing we’d recommend 6GB ($11.94/month) for small groups if you want to avoid the frequent crashes that come with running at minimum specs.

When you host with us, you don’t need to worry about port configuration, startup parameters, or networking - we handle all of that. The --allow-op flag is disabled by default, so you won’t accidentally leave your server vulnerable. And if something does go wrong, our support team responds to tickets with actual humans (we’re also active on Discord if you prefer real-time chat).

Everything’s backed by our 48-hour refund policy, so there’s no risk in trying it out. If Hytale doesn’t run well or you decide self-hosting is more your style, you can get a refund within the first two days.

The advantage of self-hosting is that it’s free (aside from electricity and hardware costs) and you have complete control. The advantage of managed hosting is that someone else deals with the infrastructure headaches and you just play the game. Pick whichever matches your technical comfort level and how much time you want to spend on server administration versus actually playing Hytale.

Launch day is always chaotic, and Hytale is no exception. These are the issues we’ve seen most frequently in testing - hopefully catching them early saves you some headaches. If you run into something not covered here, the Hytale community on Reddit and Discord is pretty active and will likely have answers (or at least shared frustration).