How to Connect to Your Ships at Sea Server

Ships at Sea servers are found by name in the in-game multiplayer list. There is no address to paste, so the server name is the thing you share with your crew.

Find your details

Open your server at https://panel.playnhost.com. The overview shows the IP and the ports assigned to SERVER_PORT and BEACON_PORT. You need those for troubleshooting rather than for joining.

The name players search for is DedicatedServerName in the server settings file. See our configuration guide.

Join the server

1. Launch Ships at Sea.
2. Open the Multiplayer list.
3. Search for your server name.
4. Select it and join.

Choose the name carefully

Two things follow from servers being found by name:

• Make it unique and easy to type. A generic name is buried among everyone else's.
• Password protection is not in the game yet. Until it arrives, the name effectively is the key. If you want a private crew, choose something nobody would search for by accident.

The first start takes a while

A new server sets up before it is listed. Watch the panel console rather than the multiplayer list.

If you cannot find the server

• Check the panel console for the server reporting it is ready.
• Confirm the name in the settings file matches what you are searching for, including capitalisation and spaces.
• Give it a few minutes after starting before deciding it is missing.
• A version mismatch after a game update hides the server from updated clients. Restart the server so it pulls the new build.