Playing Over the Internet

Playing Over the Internet

No VPN and no port forwarding needed. This page explains how other players reach your game, what to do when they can't, and how VPNs fit in.

How it works

Blacklist's matches run peer to peer: your game talks straight to the other players' games, on UDP port 13000. By itself the game only knows your local address (192.168.x.x), which nobody outside your home can reach. That's why the original 5th Echelon needed everyone on one LAN or VPN.

5th Echelon Enhanced fixes that in three steps, all automatic:

1. Your public address. When a match starts, the client asks the server's NAT helper what your public address looks like from outside, and tells the game to advertise that instead. The game's own NAT probing then gets through most home routers.
2. A router port. The client asks your router to forward the match port (UDP 13000) while the game runs, using UPnP or NAT-PMP, when your router allows it. It's removed when the game closes.
3. The relay. When neither works (mobile hotspots, carrier-grade NAT from some ISPs, strict routers, some VPNs), your match goes through the server's relay. It adds a little delay; nothing else changes. The relay carries only your game's players: the players in your party or match, a public match's host you're joining, and players you invited or who invited you. Nobody else can send anything to your game through it.

The overlay's Server tab (F5) shows which one you got, under Other players reach you.

All three need the server's NAT helper to hear from your game. If it doesn't, or stops, the overlay says Other players can't reach you at the top of the screen, with why and what to do (usually: allow the game in your firewall or antivirus). It goes away by itself once the server hears from the game again. See The In-Game Overlay.

Internet play settings

Settings › Network › Internet play:

Mode	Use it when
Automatic (default)	Almost always
Always through the server	Friends can't join you even though nothing is red. Typically a firewall on your PC or a second router in front of yours. Adds a little delay
LAN or VPN only	Everyone is on one LAN or one VPN. The game advertises only your local address, as it always did

Open the game's port on the router (UPnP / NAT-PMP) is on by default. Turning UPnP on in your router's settings, if it's off, is the easiest way to get direct connections.

The connection test

Settings › Network › Run the test (or Connection test under the Status card). Close the game first: it holds ports the test needs.

Step	Passing	If it fails
Config server (port 80)	The server answers	The server is down, or something blocks outgoing port 80 (a work or school network, say). Try another server
API and account	Your account signs in	Press Fix everything on the Play screen
Game service sign-in	The game service lets you in (UDP 21126)	Something blocks outgoing UDP: a strict firewall or network. Try another network (a phone hotspot) to confirm
How players reach this PC	See below
Internet play helper	The server's helper answers (UDP 21128–21129)	Only LAN or VPN play works. Something blocks outgoing UDP to those ports, or the server doesn't have them open (tell its operator)

How players reach this PC can say:

Result	Meaning	Do you need to do anything?
Direct: reachable without any router set-up	The best case	No
Direct, router port opened (with UPnP or NAT-PMP)	Your router forwards the game's port while it runs	No
Through the server's relay: no router port open	Your router didn't forward a port (UPnP off, or another PC on your network already has port 13000), so matches go through the server	No: it works, with a little more delay. Turning UPnP on in your router makes it direct
⚠️ Direct, router port opened …, but the server's packet still didn't arrive	A firewall on this PC, or a second router in front of yours, blocks it. Others may not be able to join you	Set Internet play to Always through the server
⚠️ Direct, no router port open …: Internet play is set to LAN or VPN only		Only if you meant to play over a LAN or VPN

And Internet play helper can say "the router changes ports per destination, so matches go through the server's relay": your router has a strict (symmetric) NAT. It works, through the relay.

VPNs

The VPN	What happens	What to do
Radmin VPN, Hamachi, ZeroTier, Tailscale and other "virtual LAN" VPNs	They can stay installed. Each time the game starts, it uses the adapter that actually reaches the server, so other players aren't given your VPN address	Nothing. You don't need them for 5th Echelon
A VPN that sends all your traffic through it (NordVPN, Proton VPN, Mullvad, ExpressVPN, Surfshark…)	It works, but adds delay, and your matches go through the server's relay. The Status card notes Playing through <VPN>	Turn it off while you play if you can, then Check again
Your group's own server inside a VPN (a Radmin network address, say)	The game plays over the VPN's adapter, since that's what reaches the server	Turn the VPN on before starting the game. To be sure, pin its adapter in Settings › Network › Network adapter and tick Don't start the game without this adapter

Ports

You don't need to forward anything. For reference:

Your PC
UDP 13000	The game's match traffic (forwarded automatically with UPnP / NAT-PMP when possible)

The server (outgoing from your PC)
TCP 80, 443	The game's configuration, the launcher's API
TCP 8000	Content
UDP 21126, 21127	Game sign-in and service
UDP 21128–21129	Internet play: your public address, and the relay

Still can't connect?

See Troubleshooting, and send a report from the launcher right after it happens: Settings › Feedback › Send feedback (Reporting a Problem).