Short answer. You can host a Hytale server yourself without paying for hosting: install Java 25, download the server files with Hytale's own Downloader, start HytaleServer.jar, sign the server in with your Hytale account and open UDP port 5520. Or rent a Hytale server and skip the Java, the ports and the updates.
Give players your server's address and port together (for example 203.0.113.10:5520): Hytale does not support SRV records yet, so a domain name cannot stand in for the port.
Checked on 5 November 2026 against Hytale server 0.7.5, the newest release version on Hytale's own Maven repository.
This guide uses two sources: Hytale's own Server Manual and Downloader instructions, and how the PlayNHost panel sets up a Hytale server. Hytale ships new server versions often, so if a step no longer matches, Hytale's Server Manual has the current one. To skip to the rental route, go to Option 2.
What you need
A Hytale account: the server runs on its owner's Hytale account. Hytale limits one game license to 500 servers.
Java 25: Hytale recommends the Adoptium build. The server runs on both x64 and arm64, but the Hytale Downloader used below comes only for x64 (amd64).
The server files: the Server folder with HytaleServer.jar, plus Assets.zip. Hytale offers three ways to get them: copy them from a game launcher install, use the Hytale Downloader, or bootstrap from HytaleServer.jar. This guide uses the Downloader, which Hytale recommends for production servers.
Memory: Hytale's Server Manual lists the minimum. How much you really need depends on your players: view distance is the main driver of RAM use, and Hytale recommends 12 chunks at most.
A machine that stays on: a spare PC, a home server or a cloud virtual machine.
Network: UDP port 5520, reachable from the internet. Hytale uses the QUIC protocol over UDP, not TCP.
Option 1: host it yourself
These steps are for Linux. The commands and flags come from Hytale's manual.
Install the server
Install Java 25 from Adoptium, then check it:
java --version
The output should name version 25.
Download the Hytale Downloader from https://downloader.hytale.com/hytale-downloader.zip and unzip it. It holds a Linux and a Windows program. Make the Linux one executable:
chmod +x hytale-downloader-linux-amd64
Download the server. On the first run the Downloader prints a link and a code: open the link in a browser, log in and approve it.
Unzip game.zip. The files are checked against a SHA256 checksum automatically. If you get a 401 error, delete .hytale-downloader-credentials.json and run it again. Add -patchline pre-release to get the pre-release channel instead of the release one.
Hytale ships a pre-trained cache, HytaleServer.aot, that makes boot faster. The unzipped download also contains a start.sh launcher that starts the server with backups on and applies updates; Hytale's manual describes it.
Sign the server in. In the server console type:
/auth login device
It prints a link to accounts.hytale.com/device and a code. Open the link, enter the code and approve. The code expires after 900 seconds. Until the server is signed in, players cannot join.
Open the port. Allow UDP 5520 on the machine's firewall and forward it on your router:
sudo ufw allow 5520/udp
Forward UDP only: TCP forwarding is not needed, and Hytale's first check when players cannot connect is that the forward is for UDP, not TCP.
Join. Players enter your public IP address and port together, for example 203.0.113.10:5520. A website that tests ports over TCP can report the port closed even when the server works, because Hytale listens on UDP.
Settings and updates
Name, message, password, slots: these live in config.json in the Server folder as ServerName, MOTD, Password and MaxPlayers. Hytale reads the file at start and writes to it during play, so edit it only while the server is stopped.
Another port: add --bind 3500 to the start command, then open that UDP port instead.
Mods: put .zip or .jar mods in the mods folder inside Server.
Updates: client and server must be on the exact same protocol version. When Hytale releases an update, the server has to update at once or players on the new version cannot connect. By default the server checks for updates every hour, and it has the commands /update check, /update download and /update apply --confirm.
Option 2: host it on PlayNHost
Renting removes the Java install, the downloads, the port forwarding and the update routine. You still sign in with your own Hytale account, because Hytale servers run on their owner's account.
Pick a plan. Open the Hytale server hosting page and compare the plans: COPPER, IRON, THORIUM and ADAMANTITE. Press Create Server (Customize Plan on ADAMANTITE) and finish the order.
Start the server. It appears in the panel. Press Start and open the Console.
Sign in. The first start waits for your Hytale account. On the Overview page press Sign in, log in with the account you play on and approve the code. The code lasts 10 minutes, and a new one appears if it runs out. Once you approve, the server downloads the game files and starts. It is ready when the Console prints Hytale Server Booted!.
Name it. On the Settings page, under Game Settings, set the Server Name, the Message of the Day and, for a private server, a Server Password, then restart. (The Server Name row on the Overview page renames the server in the panel only.)
Invite your players. Give them the address and port shown on your Overview page, typed together.
What the panel does for you:
Your port is assigned and open from the start, and the server listens on it without any setup.
The Overview page shows the sign-in and its end date: it lasts 30 days and is renewed every time the server starts. A server left stopped past that date asks you to sign in again.
With Auto Update on (under Show advanced on the Settings page) and Server Version left on latest, both the defaults, the server installs the newest Hytale version each time it starts, so a restart is an update. With those settings, when Hytale ships a new release, the panel restarts a running server to install it once nobody is on, or about 2 hours after the release at the latest. You can switch the Patchline between release and pre-release.
The name, message, password and player limit are written into Server/config.json at every start, so you change them in the panel, not in the file. Max Players is set by your plan.
Mods go in Server/mods, and early plugins in Server/earlyplugins (they load only while Load Early Plugins is on).
One trap the panel guards against: the name, message and password are written into a JSON file, so the panel does not accept a double quote (") or a backslash in them. Each also needs at least one letter, and a password needs at least 4 characters.
Self-hosting or renting: an honest comparison
Cost: the server software is free. Self-hosting costs power, hardware and bandwidth, or a cloud machine. Renting is a fee set by the plan and the billing period you pick.
Uptime: a home server is only up while your PC, power and internet are. A rented server runs on the host's hardware.
Exposure: at home, players connect to your public IP address and you look after the firewall and router. A rented server keeps your home IP out of it.
Setup: self-hosting needs Java 25, the Downloader, a UDP forward and a sign-in. Renting needs a sign-in, a name and an address to share.
Updates: self-hosting means updating the moment Hytale ships, or players on the new version cannot join. On the panel, with the default settings, a restart installs the update.
Control: self-hosting gives you every file and every JVM flag. Renting gives you the panel settings and your server files.
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