Hosting a room gives you full control over the lobby: who can join, what game is listed, and how the connection is routed. This guide covers creating the room inside Eden and then making it accessible to players who are not on your local network.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/eden-emulator/mirror/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Prerequisites
- Eden installed and working
- An active internet connection
- Ability to allow programs through your OS firewall
Creating a room
Configure the room
Fill in the options in the popup dialog. All fields except Room Name and Username have sensible defaults.
| Option | Accepted values | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Room Name | 4–20 characters | (none) | How the room appears in the public lobby browser. |
| Username | 4–20 characters | (none) | The name other players will see for you inside the room. |
| Preferred Game | Any game from your library | First game in library | The game label shown in the lobby. You can switch games without recreating the room. |
| Password | Any string, or blank | (none) | Leave blank for an open room, or set a password to restrict access. |
| Max Players | 2–16 | 8 | Maximum number of simultaneous players allowed in the room. |
| Port | 1024–65535 | 24872 | The UDP port the room server listens on. Avoid well-known ports to reduce conflicts. |
| Room Description | Any string, or blank | (none) | Optional message shown to players in the lobby — useful as a message of the day. |
| Load Ban List | Checked / Unchecked | Checked | Whether to load the list of users you have previously banned. |
| Room Type | Public / Unlisted | Public | Public rooms appear in the lobby browser; Unlisted rooms require direct connect. |
You can only forward one port to one device at a time. If you need multiple rooms running simultaneously, each must use a different port, or you must run them on separate machines.
Making the room accessible from outside your LAN
Players on the internet cannot reach your room until you expose it through one of the methods below. Each option has different trade-offs in difficulty, latency, and privacy.Port forwarding — best latency, highest effort
Port forwarding — best latency, highest effort
Difficulty: HighPort forwarding creates a rule on your router that directs incoming traffic on a specific port to your machine inside the local network. External players connect to your public IP address on that port, and the router forwards the packets directly to Eden — no third-party relay is involved, which gives the lowest possible latency.When to use this: You want the best performance, you do not want to install additional software, and you are comfortable accessing your router’s administration interface.When to avoid this: Your ISP manages your router and does not allow configuration changes, or you are behind carrier-grade NAT (CGNAT).
Find your router's admin interface
Typically accessed at
192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 in a browser. Log in with your router’s admin credentials.Create the port forward rule
Add a UDP port forward rule:
- External port: your chosen port (e.g.
24872) - Internal IP: the local IP address of the machine running Eden
- Internal port: same as the external port
Share your public IP and port
Find your public IP address at a site like whatismyip.com and share it along with the port with the players who want to join.
Tunneling service (Playit.GG) — easy, no router access needed
Tunneling service (Playit.GG) — easy, no router access needed
Difficulty: EasyA tunneling service runs a lightweight client on your machine that opens an outbound encrypted connection to a relay operated by the provider. The provider assigns you a public address (e.g.
mygame.playit.gg:12345). When a remote player connects to that address, traffic is forwarded through the established tunnel back to Eden on your machine. Because the tunnel uses an outbound connection, it works even behind CGNAT or strict firewalls — no router configuration needed.When to use this: You cannot do port forwarding, and latency from a nearby relay is acceptable.When to avoid this: The closest relay is geographically far from you or your players, making latency noticeably worse.Sign up for Playit.GG
Create a free account at playit.gg and download the client for your operating system.
Create a tunnel
In the Playit.GG client, add a new tunnel for the UDP port your Eden room is using (e.g.
24872). The client will assign a public address and port.Share the assigned address
Give players the public address and port shown in the Playit.GG client. They enter this in Eden’s Direct Connect dialog.
VPN (Tailscale / ZeroTier) — no relay, requires client on every machine
VPN (Tailscale / ZeroTier) — no relay, requires client on every machine
Difficulty: MediumA mesh VPN connects all participants into a shared virtual network without touching your router. Each player installs the VPN client, and you share your VPN-assigned IP address instead of your public IP. Traffic travels directly between machines (peer-to-peer after the initial handshake), so there is no relay adding latency. The downside is that every player must install and configure the VPN client.When to use this: You want direct peer-to-peer traffic without port forwarding, and you are comfortable asking your players to install a VPN client.When to avoid this: You cannot reliably walk your players through VPN installation and configuration.Recommended services:
- Tailscale — easiest setup, uses WireGuard under the hood
- ZeroTier — more control, slightly more complex
Set up the VPN network
Create an account with your chosen service and follow their onboarding to create a network. Install the client on your machine and note the VPN IP address assigned to you.
Invite all players
Each player installs the VPN client and joins your network using an invite link or network ID provided by the service.