Hytale Multiplayer: How to Play With Friends

Three Ways to Play Together

Hytale has three ways to play with other people: invite friends from the in-game friends list, share a code that lets friends join your world, or join a community server. The friends list and the in-game server list both arrived in Update 5 on May 26, 2026. Source: Update 5 patch notes.

Invite Friends From the Friends List

Update 5 added the Social Sidebar. From the Main Menu you can add friends, see who is online, invite them to your world and join their worlds directly. Discord friends can be added as Hytale friends, and friends can be favorited to keep them at the top of the list. Source: Update 5 patch notes.

• A pop-up notification appears when a friend sends a request or invites you to a world.
• Incoming friend requests can be turned off in the social settings.
• Players you do not want to interact with can be blocked.
• The Social Sidebar is not available on parent-managed accounts.

Host a World With a Share Code

Share codes have been part of Hytale since the Early Access launch, and Update 6 fixed share codes failing on some routers, such as BT Smart Hubs. Source: Update 6 patch notes.

The steps below come from guides written at the January 2026 launch, and both guides describe the same steps. Update 5 added the friends list and Server Discovery since then, so menu names may look slightly different in the current version. Sources: PCGamesN, January 15, 2026 and Insider Gaming, January 13, 2026.

• Step 1: Load your world and press Esc.
• Step 2: Open Online Play and turn on Allow Other Players to Join.
• Step 3: Add a password if you want to keep strangers out.
• Step 4: Save the settings, copy the share code and send it to your friends.

Share a code only with people you trust: Insider Gaming notes that the details you share to invite players include your IP address.

Join a Friend With a Share Code

• Step 1: From the main menu, open the Servers tab.
• Step 2: Choose Join via Code.
• Step 3: Paste the code your friend sent and join the world.

The world is only available while the host is playing. When the host goes offline, friends cannot join that world. Sources: PCGamesN and Insider Gaming.

Join a Community Server With Server Discovery

Since Update 5, an in-game Server Discovery page lists community-run servers. It includes featured servers hand-picked by the Hytale team and servers that pass a manual review. You can search by title or description, filter by tags, mark servers as favorites and reopen recently played servers. Server Discovery is not available on parent-managed accounts. Sources: Update 5 patch notes and Official Server Lists, April 28, 2026.

Server owners submit a listing through Server Profiles on the Hytale account page, verify their domain and keep the server sending a regular heartbeat; listings without a heartbeat can be hidden. Source: Official Server Lists.

When a Friend Cannot Connect

Update 6 (August 27, 2026) made several connection changes. Source: Update 6 patch notes.

• NAT problems: many players who could not join friends because of NAT issues can now connect without extra software such as Tailscale or a VPN.
• Double NAT: this setup still does not work.
• Port forwarding warning: when you open a world to friends and automatic port forwarding is unavailable, the game shows a message that players outside your local network may not be able to connect.
• Slow connections: joining a server now has more time to finish connecting, and joining a friend's hosted world is generally faster.
• Router fix: share codes no longer fail on some routers, such as BT Smart Hubs.

If a friend still cannot connect, check that both players are on the same game version, and look for the port forwarding message when you open your world.

Spectating Friends

Update 6 added spectating. When your run ends, you stay in the world and can switch between the players still alive or fly the camera freely. Spectators are invisible, enemies ignore them, and they do not count toward the number of players some events need. Source: Update 6 patch notes.

Not Covered by These Sources

• The maximum number of players in a friend's world.
• Whether share code menu names changed after Update 5.

Sources

• Update 5 patch notes — May 26, 2026; friends list (Social Sidebar) and Server Discovery.
• Update 6 patch notes — August 27, 2026; connection changes, share code router fix and spectating.
• Official Server Lists — April 28, 2026; how Server Discovery listings work.
• PCGamesN multiplayer guide — January 15, 2026; share code steps at launch.
• Insider Gaming: inviting friends and joining servers — January 13, 2026; share code steps at launch.