First, tell three different faults apart
"Not running", "not listed" and "not reachable" look identical to the people complaining, and they need opposite fixes. Read the server's console output before you touch any setting. A server that is restarting in a loop, waiting on a missing file, or failing to load an add-on will never appear anywhere, and that is a startup fault. Scroll back to the first error rather than reacting to the last one; later messages are usually consequences of the first.
If the server did reach a ready state, try to join it directly by address and port before changing anything else.
- Joins directly but does not appear in the browser: a listing or identity fault. Keep reading.
- Refuses a direct join: a reachability fault. Check ports and route, and skip ahead.
- Never reaches a ready state: a startup fault. Fix the first console error instead.
Check the server's Steam identity first
Source and Source 2 servers need their own Steam game-server identity to be joinable from the public internet. Valve's own Counter-Strike 2 documentation is blunt about it: "In order for other players to be able to join your server, you must generate and include the Game Server Login Token (GSLT)." The token is created at steamcommunity.com/dev/managegameservers using 730 as the game ID, and applied on the launch line with +sv_setsteamaccount <TOKEN>.
Garry's Mod is a softer version of the same cause. Facepunch documents that since the May 2020 update all Garry's Mod servers should have a token, and that "Servers without a GSLT will suffer a severe penalty in server list ranking." A server buried at the bottom of a long list and a server that is genuinely missing are hard to tell apart. The Garry's Mod token uses app ID 4000, not 730.
Facepunch also notes that "Specifying an invalid / expired key will prevent the server from starting" — so a token problem can present as a startup fault too. If you want a test server hidden on purpose, +hide_server 1 is the documented way to keep it out of the master list.
No host ever needs your Steam username or password for this. You create the token on your own account and hand over the token only. Our Counter-Strike 2 and Garry's Mod availability pages both assume you bring your own.
One token, one running server
A token that works perfectly on one server will break both if it is reused on a second one at the same time. Facepunch states it in capitals — "EACH SERVER MUST HAVE UNIQUE LOGIN TOKEN!" — and names the symptom: Connection to Steam servers lost. (Steam error code 6) printed in the server console while clients are being disconnected. If you cloned a server to make a test copy, you almost certainly cloned its token with it.
Tokens also stop working for reasons that have nothing to do with the server. Facepunch documents that "Changing your Steam password (via any means) will invalidate all active GSLTs". That catches operators badly, because nothing about the server changed. Steam Support adds a harsher consequence: a server caught misreporting inventories can earn a GSLT ban, and then "Your account is now permanently banned from operating game servers". Never run someone else's token, and never hand yours out.
Confirm the query path, not just the game port
Browsers do not find servers by the game port alone. A separate query port answers the listing request, and several games reserve a second port next to the first. A server can accept direct joins on a working game port and stay invisible because nothing is answering queries.
| Game | Ports the vendor documents |
|---|---|
| Rust | +server.port 28015 (UDP) and +rcon.port 28016 (TCP). Facepunch: "If server.queryport is not explicitly set it defaults to 1+ server.port or rcon.port (whichever is greatest)." |
| ARK: Survival Evolved | UDP 7777 game, UDP 7778 peer ("always Game port +1"), UDP 27015 query "for Steam's server browser only". |
| Valheim | "Valheim uses the specified Port AND specified Port+1. Default Ports are 2456-2457." |
| Terraria | TShock's -port documentation: -port 7777 "will use the default port for Terraria". |
| Counter-Strike 2 | -port sets "the game server game/query port". |
When you change a port, change it everywhere the server expects it — the launch line and the configuration file both — then restart cleanly rather than reloading. A mismatch between the port your host allocated and the port written into the server's own config is one of the most common causes of a server that runs and never answers a query. Per-game details sit on the Rust, ARK, Valheim and Terraria availability pages.
Make sure you are looking in the right list
A surprising share of invisible servers are sitting in a list nobody checked.
- Visibility settings. Iron Gate documents
-public 1as the default that "will make the server visible in the browser", and says to "Set it to 0 to make the server invisible and only joinable via the 'Join IP'-button". One stray zero explains a lot of Valheim reports. - The wrong backend. Valheim's crossplay backend "transmits data via a relay server and therefore does not require Port Forwarding". A crew split between the crossplay backend and the Steam one will each swear the server is missing.
- The wrong tab. Rust's browser splits community and modded listings; a server with plugins loaded may not be where you are looking. ARK players need the unofficial listing, not the official one.
- Filters left over from last session. Region, ping ceiling, password, mode, and the "hide empty servers" toggle all hide servers silently — and a brand-new server is always empty.
Before concluding the server is unlisted, have someone outside your household search for it with every filter cleared, and ask them what they actually see rather than whether it "works".
Test the route, then keep a change log
If some players connect and others cannot, the difference is usually route, provider or platform rather than the server. Test from at least two independent connections before drawing a conclusion.
Players who cannot make their own machine reachable are a separate case. Carrier-grade NAT and restrictive home providers can make inbound connections impossible no matter how correctly a router is set up, which is why so many port-forwarding threads end with no answer. That is a network limitation, not a mistake you can configure away, and moving the server off the home connection is the fix.
Whatever the cause, keep one short log: the symptom, the exact console line, the single change you made, and whether it helped. If you open a support request anywhere, paste the console output covering startup and the result of the direct-join test — a specific message gets diagnosed quickly, "it is not showing up" does not.
Where RadarHost fits
RadarHost rents game servers hosted in Beauharnois, Quebec, Canada, priced in Canadian dollars, with no setup fee and cancel any time. Sixteen games are listed in Standard, Premium and Diamond plans — Minecraft (Paper, Forge or Vanilla), Rust, ARK: Survival Evolved, Garry's Mod, Terraria, Valheim, Palworld, Enshrouded, Satisfactory, Factorio, Project Zomboid, 7 Days to Die, DayZ, Conan Exiles, Arma 3 and SCUM. Counter-Strike 2 and every other title are request-only and are never priced in advance. After payment, our team reviews the order and emails setup details or next steps within 24 hours. You can read the current plans and prices before you decide anything.