If you've failed to connect to the server in Hytale, you are not alone. The long-awaited survival-crafting sandbox game is now live in Early Access, but players are experiencing a rather annoying issue. The “An unexpected error occurred” message in Hytale informs players that they cannot join the world they wanted. What does “The host may be offline or behind a strict firewall” mean here? Let's find out.
Hytale Failed to Connect to the Server Explained
Just like you, more than a million other players are rushing right now to join Hytale early access launch and try the game they have been waiting for almost a decade at this point. With such a massive influx of players in a single moment and the game in early access, some technical issues are bound to arise, particularly with connection and joining servers. Players are currently experiencing the following errors.
The Host May Be Offline or Behind a Strict Firewall
This message pops up when you try to join a server from another player, and it usually means that the server host has something that prevents other players from connecting to their server. The server host should check whether their ports are forwarded and whether their firewall isn't blocking other players.
This message usually pops up when a player tries to join their own server, and we currently don't know why this happens. Many players are already reporting the same issue in the official Hytale Discord server, and as soon as we learn more about this problem, we will update our guide and share more information with you.
How to Fix Failed to Connect to the Server Error in Hytale
There's currently only one proven and tested workaround for this issue. Namely, a number of players have reported that in order to fix this issue, you need to follow these steps:
- Disable your internet connection (turn off your router or unplug the cable).
- Start the launcher.
- Enter the game.
- Re-enable your internet connection.
- Enter a world.
According to various reports, including our own testing, this solution has successfully resolved the issue preventing players from joining Hytale servers. We hope the developers will address the underlying problem soon, and in the meantime, we’ll continue searching for additional solutions and update this guide as new information becomes available.
If you want to learn more about Hytale, be sure to check out our dedicated Hytale hub, where you’ll find guides, recipes, tier lists, walkthroughs, how-tos, and more.
Nikola is a Senior Staff Writer at Pro Game Guides with over 13 years of experience in gaming journalism. He has been playing video games since his father bought him an NES and a Sega Mega Drive in the early 1990s. Over the years, he has mainly become a PC gamer with a love for narrative-driven RPGs, real-time strategy games, and psychological/survival horror titles. Still, he enjoys any game that’s worth his time.