Can't connect to your game server? Work through this in order — nine times out of ten the problem is in the first two sections, and the game-specific sections below cover the errors people actually search for.
Quick checks (30 seconds)
- Is the server running? Open the server in your dashboard. The status should say Online. If it says Stopped, Starting or Crashed, that's your answer — start it, and watch the Console tab if it won't stay up.
- Right address, right port. Copy the IP and port from the top of the server page rather than typing it. A server address is
IP:PORT— the port matters, and it is usually not the game's default. - Same version on both ends. Your game client and the server must match. If either updated overnight, the other side is now out of date.
- Did it just start? Give a freshly started server a minute. Big modded servers can take several.
Connection timeout / "could not connect"
A timeout means your client never got an answer. In order of likelihood:
- Server still booting. Check the console for the "server started" line for your game.
- Wrong port. Copy it again from the dashboard.
- Your own network. Try from a phone on mobile data. If that works, something between your PC and the server is blocking it — a firewall, a VPN, or a school/work network. Turn the VPN off and retry.
- Server crashed on boot. The console will show a stack trace or an error in the last 20 lines. Search this Help Center for the exact error text.
Minecraft
"Your client is having trouble connecting to the server." This is the generic Java Edition connection error — it does not mean the server is broken. Check, in order: the server is Online; the address uses the port from the dashboard (not 25565 unless that is what the dashboard shows); and your client version matches the server's version (the pause menu shows yours; the dashboard's Software tab shows the server's). A Forge/Fabric server also needs the same loader and mod set on the client.
"Outdated client! Please use X.X.X" / "Outdated server!" Version mismatch. Either change your client version in the Minecraft launcher (Installations → New → pick the version) or change the server version in the Software tab and restart.
Bedrock players can't join. Bedrock (console, phone, Windows Edition) can only join a Java server through Geyser. Enable it from the dashboard, then give Bedrock players the Bedrock address it shows — it is a different port from the Java one.
Connection refused. The server is not listening on that port — almost always Stopped, or still starting. Wait for "Done (X.XXXs)!" in the console.
BeamMP
Server not in the server list. Private servers never appear in the list — use Direct Connect with the IP and port from your dashboard. If it should be public, see server not showing in the list: usually a missing or invalid auth key, or Private = true.
Stuck on "Connecting…" or "Start". A broken client mod. Remove the most recently added mod and try again — players can't join my BeamMP server walks through isolating it.
"Backend failed to respond to a heartbeat" in the console. BeamMP's Keymaster is down, not your server — players can still direct connect. Don't regenerate your auth key. Read why.
Palworld
Palworld has its own set of join errors — "failed to join game", "local player id", Xbox and PS5 players who can't see the server. They're all covered in players can't join my Palworld server, including the crossplay steps for console players.
Project Zomboid
Build 42 servers need two UDP ports open (the game port and the one after it), and a client with the same mod list in the same order. See players can't join my Project Zomboid server.
Still stuck?
Open a support ticket with:
- Your server ID (top of the server page)
- The exact error message, or a screenshot of it
- The last 20 lines of the server console
- What you have already tried from this page
That gets you an answer in one reply instead of three.