Enable Multiplayer Testing

Running your server locally and allowing friends or testers to connect to it is a great way to get feedback on your game or debug it with multiple players. You can quickly allow players to connect by using ngrok.io.

1. Setup an ngrok.io account and install ngrok

Head to https://ngrok.io/ and sign up for an account. You'll be given instructions to install ngrok during their onboarding flow.

Unfortunately, during our alpha development, you'll need to use ngrok.io's cheapest paid plan. This is due to tunnel and bandwidth constraints with ngrok.io.

Note: ngrok is a temporary solution while we are actively working on HYTOPIA's server infrastructure. When HYTOPIA servers become available, you'll be able to test and publish your games for free with full multiplayer compatibility and auto-scaling out of the box.

2. Start a tunnel

Next, make sure your HYTOPIA server is running, by default it runs on port 8080. If you've forgotten how to start your server, see this link from our Initial Setup guide: 3. Run the project

Now, start your tunnel in your terminal, pointing at your local server:

# Start our tunnel!
ngrok http https://localhost:8080

Once started, your console should look something like this:

3. Share your ngrok link & play

Copy the complete url from ngrok in your terminal under the forwarding section, the correct url is the one that ends with .ngrok.app . Your link will be different each time you use ngrok!

Now, others can connect to your server and play! Share your ngrok url with anyone else you'd like to play on your server, have them go to https://play.hytopia.com and enter your ngrok url.