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Even games that are 100% client/server sometimes have issues when the client is behind NAT. Peee-peer games are even a bigger issues. Some games need to use multiple transports (such as UDP and TCP) or multiple connections (such as a different UDP port for voice).

What are some ways to make sure a game works reliably when running behind a NAT router?

  • Peer-Peer: No centralized server exists. Player A starts a game and Player B wants to join
  • Client-Server: A centralized server on a well known address (hostname) accepts all incoming connections. Each client only communicates with that server.
  • Combo: Where the server is just matchmaking, but game updates are peer-peer. Different peers may see each player with a different IP/port potentially (e.g. some clients are behind the same NAT and some are on a different router)
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3 Answers 3

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The technique most commonly used is referred to as NAT punch-through. Here's a decent intro: http://www.mindcontrol.org/~hplus/nat-punch.html

There's an OSS project at least for UDP: http://udt.sourceforge.net/index.html

RakNet supports punch-through, too, I believe. It's commercial, but has a free "Indie" license. See here: http://www.jenkinssoftware.com/

Googling for "NAT punch" will get you plenty more reading material

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    \$\begingroup\$ I know this is a really old question and answer but if anyone reads this, RakNet is acquired by OculusVR and now open-source with 2-clause BSD license. github.com/OculusVR/RakNet \$\endgroup\$
    – Quad
    Jul 30, 2014 at 18:21
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  • Don't have a client inform the server or peer of its own address. In other words, don't embed client A's IP in a game packet and have client B or the server reply to that address. Always reply to the address/port that the message originated from.

  • Minimize the different UDP or TCP ports used for the game. This makes setting up NAT rules easier.

  • Allow the user to override the default port used in the game. This way several servers can be hosted behind the same NAT.

  • Document the ports and any rules they follow in your game documentation (thanks for that one Zorba). In Descent 3 I went as far as creating a stand alone test application that would help you troubleshoot your router or NAT configuration by sending packets to a test server.
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    \$\begingroup\$ In addition to this otherwise-good reply, include a note of the game ports in the game documentation. It's amazing how many games don't do this - people root out the ports manually with "netstat" and get half of them wrong. \$\endgroup\$
    – ZorbaTHut
    Jul 17, 2010 at 14:14
  • \$\begingroup\$ With UDP, you don't really know where the message originated from. Anything can be written in the return address. \$\endgroup\$
    – MickLH
    Jun 11, 2016 at 23:22
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Along with other answers, use an existing wheel : http://miniupnp.free.fr/ This library battles almost all of the annoyances in function form , giving you control over when and how to punch and pull :)

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