Microsoft KB Archive/240429

= DirectX: Ports required to play on a network =

Article ID: 240429

Article Last Modified on 1/25/2007

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Windows XP Professional
 * Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
 * Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Edition
 * Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition
 * Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition
 * Microsoft Windows 98 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q240429



SUMMARY
This article describes the default ports that are required to play Microsoft Windows DirectX multiplayer games through a firewall, a proxy server, a router, Network Address Translation (NAT), or Internet Connection Sharing. For the specific ports that are required by your game, see the game product documentation. For the ports that are required by games that are published by Microsoft, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/games



MORE INFORMATION
If you have installed Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2), see the following articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

842242 Some programs seem to stop working after you install Windows XP Service Pack 2

875357 Troubleshooting Windows Firewall settings in Windows XP Service Pack 2

To verify that these ports are open or to open these ports, contact your network administrator or Internet service provider (ISP).

If you are the administrator of the network, see the documentation that is provided with your networking software to determine the steps that you should follow to open these ports.

To play DirectX games through a network firewall or proxy server, the following requirements must be met:  To guarantee DirectPlay compatibility, the latest version of DirectX should be installed on the computers that are used by all players who participate in the game.  The following TCP and UDP ports must be open on the firewall or proxy server:

Using DirectX 8 or a later version


To determine the DirectPlay method for games that use the DirectPlay Lobby service, follow these steps:
 * 1) Click Start, click Run, type dxdiag in the Open box, and then click OK.
 * 2) Click the Save All Information button to save a Dxdiag.txt report.
 * 3) Click Desktop, and then click Save.
 * 4) Open the DxDiag.txt file on your desktop and find the section marked "DirectPlay Lobbyable Apps".

Note that each game listed here will report either "(DX7)" or "(DX8)" which corresponds to its DirectPlay connection method.

Note DirectPlay8 games can work with the Internet Connection Firewall (ICF) capabilities of Microsoft Windows XP. When the game starts to host, enumerate, or connect, the appropriate ports will automatically open and when the game quits, these ports will automatically close.

Additionally, Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me) Internet Connection Sharing, Windows XP Internet Connection Sharing, and UPnP-compliant NATs cooperate with DirectPlay8 to make it possible to run full-featured, DirectPlay8 sessions through the NAT. Users can host or join DirectPlay8 sessions that are hosted inside or outside the NAT. No special configuration is required.

If you are using UPnP compliant network devices and are having difficulty, verify the following:
 * When you use Windows XP, make sure that you log on as an administrator.
 * If you use a hardware NAT, contact the manufacturer to see if the hardware is UPnP-compliant or if there are any updates for it, if it is not.
 * When you use Windows XP Internet Connection Sharing, make sure that the Allow other network users to control or disable the shared Internet connection and the Protect my computer and network by limiting or preventing access to this computer from the Internet check boxes are selected in the shared network device's properties.
 * A client on a Windows Millennium Edition (Me) Internet Connection Sharing computer must join the session before any client behind the NAT joins the session or else the Internet Connection Sharing computer cannot join.

For more information about Internet Connection Sharing, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

234815 Description of Internet Connection Sharing

327299 Cannot use DirectPlay programs on the Internet after you install Windows XP Service Pack 1

310563 Description of Internet Connection Sharing in Windows XP

Additional query words: direct-x dx fire wall dplay networking multi-player

Keywords: kbpubtypekc kbenv kbfaq kbinfo kbnetwork KB240429

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