Public versus private addresses
Addresses like 192.168.x.x and 10.x.x.x are private: they only mean something inside your own network. Devices on your Wi-Fi can reach each other by those addresses, and nobody outside can.
Your router holds one public address that the internet sees. It forwards incoming connections inward, which is the whole job port forwarding performs.
Why home addresses change
Most residential connections are assigned a dynamic public address that can change without warning. When it does, an address you shared with players stops working, even though nothing on the server changed.
This is the strongest argument for joining by domain name rather than raw address: the DNS record can be updated in one place.
Carrier-grade NAT and other dead ends
Many ISPs no longer give each customer a public address, placing them behind carrier-grade NAT where one public address is shared among many households. Incoming connections cannot be routed to you at all.
Double NAT — an ISP modem and your own router both routing — causes the same symptom. Neither is a misconfiguration you can fix; they are reasons self-hosting cannot work on that connection.
Privacy considerations
When you self-host, every player connects directly to your home address, which reveals your approximate location and gives strangers a target on your home network.
Hosted servers keep your personal address private: players connect to a data centre, and your household is not part of the path at all.
FAQ
Common questions
How do I find my server’s public IP address?
Search “what is my IP” from the server machine, or read it from your router’s status page. Inside the network, the machine also has a private address that only local devices can use.
Can I get a static public IP from my ISP?
Some residential plans offer one as a paid add-on. It removes the address-changing problem but not carrier-grade NAT, so confirm the ISP is not sharing a public address before paying for the upgrade.
