Your Arma Reforger Server Isn't Showing in the Server Browser

A Reforger server that runs correctly but never appears in the list is one of the most common support topics for the game, and it has about six distinct causes that look identical from the client side.

Work through them in this order. It is roughly likelihood-ordered, and it starts with the checks that need no configuration change — resist the urge to start editing config.json, because a config change made while diagnosing something else is how a working server becomes two problems.

1. Give it time, and refresh properly#

A server does not advertise itself while a scenario is still loading. From a cold start that is typically a minute or two, longer with a large modlist that has to load first.

On the client side the browser is also less reliable than it looks:

• Wait a minute, then hit Refresh.
• If that does nothing, back out to the main menu and re-enter Multiplayer.
• If that does nothing, restart the game client entirely.

This resolves a genuine share of reports on its own. Confirm the server has actually finished loading in the log before you move on.

2. Check the client and server are on the same version#

This is the single most common real cause, and it produces no error message — the server simply is not in the list.

• Server behind a patch. After a Reforger update, a server on the previous build is invisible to updated clients. Update the server.
• Experimental branch. Arma Reforger Experimental is a separate Steam app with its own version. An Experimental client will not see a stable server, or the reverse. Check which one you actually launched — this catches people out constantly, because the branches look identical once you are in the menu.

3. Confirm the server is meant to be visible#

In the game block of config.json:

{
    "game": {
        "visible": true
    }
}

visible: false hides the server from the public browser by design. If you inherited a config or copied one from a guide, check this before assuming a network fault. See config.json explained for the surrounding fields.

4. Test the query port#

The listing and the gameplay use different ports, so they fail independently:

• 2001/UDP carries gameplay. Blocked means joins fail.
• 17777/UDP carries the A2S queries that populate browsers. Blocked means the server runs and accepts direct joins but never appears in the list.

That asymmetry gives you a clean test. Try a direct connect to the server's address and game port:

• Direct join works, listing does not → the query port or the backend registration is the problem. Look at a2s.port and whether 17777/UDP is reachable.
• Neither works → the game port is the problem, or the server is not actually running.

Full detail in Arma Reforger server ports. On a hosted server you can skip this step — the ports are already reachable, which is one of the more useful things about not self-hosting.

5. Rule out the address overrides#

If publicAddress or publicPort have been set to a guessed value, the server registers itself at an address nothing can reach. It runs, it reports healthy, and it is unreachable.

Leave both empty unless you have a specific NAT reason and know the correct values. Auto-detection is right in nearly every case, and hosted servers are configured correctly already.

6. Rule out the browser filters#

A working, visible, correctly-versioned server can still be hidden from you by the client:

• Search by name. Type a distinctive part of game.name rather than scrolling. The list is long and paginated.
• Clear the filters. Player count, mods, crossplay and region filters all exclude servers. An empty server is excluded by a "not empty" filter, which is a frustrating way to lose ten minutes on launch day.
• Check the platform filter if you are on console and the server is PC-only. See crossplay.

7. Self-hosting only: the network itself#

If the server runs on your own hardware:

• Test from outside your network. Many consumer routers do not support NAT hairpinning, so connecting to your own public IP from the same LAN fails regardless of configuration.
• Check for CGNAT. If your ISP has you behind carrier-grade NAT, you do not control a reachable public address and no port forwarding will fix it.
• Check the host firewall, not just the router. Both have to allow the UDP ports.

Verify it worked#

1. Server log shows the scenario fully loaded.
2. Client and server report the same version, on the same branch.
3. game.visible is true.
4. Searching a distinctive part of the server name in the browser, with filters cleared, finds it.
5. A direct connect succeeds. If the listing works but a direct join does not, or the reverse, you have narrowed it to one port.

If all five pass and players still cannot connect, the remaining candidates are a mod mismatch on the client side or a platform restriction — both covered in adding Workshop mods and crossplay.

Trusted references#

• Arma Reforger: Server Hosting — Bohemia Interactive's official hosting documentation
• Arma Reforger: Server Config
• Arma Reforger news and known issues — check here after an update