How to Play Hytale With Friends in 2026: Share Codes vs. Dedicated Servers

Figuring out how to play Hytale with friends is one of the first things most players want to do after loading into their world for the first time. The good news: in 2026, Hytale makes inviting friends genuinely easy thanks to Share Codes and the built-in Online Play menu. The catch: the quick method has real limitations that aren't obvious until your friends suddenly can't join. This guide walks through the fast way first, then gives you the honest trade-offs, and finally explains when you'll actually want a dedicated server instead. Hytale is still in pre-release (the latest pre-release build at the time of writing is Update 6 Part 4), so a few in-game labels may shift between builds. We've stuck to the confirmed flow below and avoided guessing at anything that could change. Whether you just want a quick co-op session or a persistent world your whole community can hang out in, here's everything you need to know. The fast way: Share Codes and Online Play For most people, the quickest way to play together is the built-in Online Play feature. One player hosts their own world directly from their game, generates a Share Code, and sends it privately to friends. No external software, no port forwarding, no monthly cost. It's the closest thing Hytale has to "click to invite a friend," and for a casual session it works great. Think of a Share Code as a private invite key for your world while you are playing it. It's perfect for a weekend build session with two or three friends, but it isn't a replacement for an always-on server — more on that below. How to invite friends in Hytale with a Share Code (step by step) Here's the confirmed flow for hosting and inviting via Share Code: Host: Load into the world you want to play. Open the menu with ESC, go to Online Play, and choose "Allow Other Players to Join." Host: The game generates a Base64 Share Code — a long string of characters. Copy it. Host: Send that code to your friends privately (DM, group chat, voice app). Do not post it publicly. Friend: Open the Servers menu and select "Join Via Code." Friend: Paste the code and connect. You're now in the host's world together. That's it. When it works, it's a 30-second process and you're playing together immediately. Important: keep your Share Code private This part matters, so don't skip it. A Hytale Share Code embeds the host's IP address. That's how friends connect directly to your machine. It also means anyone who gets the code effectively has your IP. Never stream your Share Code, screenshot it on camera, or post it in a public Discord or forum. Treat it like a password. Share it only with people you trust, through a private channel. If you ever leak one by accident, just close the session and generate a new code next time you host. The honest limitations (and why your Share Code might not work) Share Codes are great until they aren't. Here are the real constraints you should know before relying on them: The host must be online and in the world. This is the big one. Friends can only join while you are actively playing that world. The world is not persistent — close the game and nobody can connect. There's no "leave it running overnight so people can pop in" with this method. Your PC is the server. Performance, uptime, and connection quality all depend on the host's machine and internet. If the host lags or leaves, everyone's session ends. It can simply fail to connect. Share Codes rely on a direct connection (typically via UPnP). Under CGNAT, strict firewalls, or certain ISP restrictions, that direct connection can't be established and your friends get stuck unable to join. Hytale Share Code not working? Try this first If friends can't connect, the cause is almost always the network, not the code itself. Quick things to check: Confirm the host is actively in the world with "Allow Other Players to Join" enabled — not sitting at the main menu. Make sure the code was copied in full. Base64 codes are long; a truncated paste won't work. Check whether UPnP is enabled on the host's router. If it's off, the direct connection may never form. If the host is on CGNAT (common with mobile/5G home internet and some ISPs), direct connections often can't be made at all. This isn't something you can fix in-game. Temporarily check the host's firewall isn't blocking Hytale. If you've tried all of that and it still fails — especially if CGNAT is involved — that's usually the moment to stop fighting your router and move to a dedicated server, which sidesteps these problems entirely. Share Code vs. dedicated server: a clear comparison Here's the honest side-by-side so you can pick the right tool for what you're doing: Uptime — Share Code: only while the host is playing. Dedicated: 24/7, always online. Persistence — Share Code: world stops when the host closes the game. Dedicated: persistent world that keeps running and saving. Players — Share Code: best for a small group of friends. Dedicated: scales to many players with the right hardware. Setup — Share Code: instant, zero config. Dedicated: requires setup (or a host) and some maintenance. Features — Share Code: vanilla co-op. Dedicated: plugins/mods, ranks, economies, custom rules. Cost — Share Code: free. Dedicated: hardware or a monthly hosting fee. Network reliability — Share Code: can fail under CGNAT/strict firewalls. Dedicated: stable, properly addressable connection. In short: Share Codes win on speed and simplicity; dedicated servers win on everything that requires the world to outlive a single play session. When you actually need a dedicated server You don't need a server to play Hytale with friends — but you'll want one once you outgrow Share Codes. Consider going dedicated if you want: 24/7 uptime so friends in different time zones can play whenever, without you hosting. A persistent world that keeps progressing and saving even when you're offline. More than a small handful of players, or a growing community. Plugins, mods, ranks, economies, and custom gameplay you can't get from vanilla co-op. To escape network issues like CGNAT that block Share Codes. The official baseline for running a dedicated server is modest: a minimum of 4 GB RAM, Java 25, and UDP port 5520 open. Both x64 and arm64 are supported. As a rough RAM heuristic, plan for around 4 GB for a small friends group, 8–10 GB for 20–30 players, and 12 GB+ for 50 or more, with a recommended max view distance of around 12 chunks. If you want the full walkthrough on specs and setup, see our Hytale server hosting guide for 2026. How to find players (and find servers to join) If you'd rather join a community than run one, you have options. Since Update 5, Hytale includes Server Discovery — an in-game browser for community servers — so you can find places to play without leaving the game. And if you're hosting, you can list your server on HytaleCharts to get it in front of players actively looking for somewhere new to play. Browsing is the easiest place to start. Explore the Hytale server list to see what's out there — survival worlds, creative builds, roleplay, minigames, and more — vote for your favorites, and bookmark the ones you want to come back to. It's the fastest path from "I want to play with people" to actually being in a world with them. The bottom line For a quick session with a couple of friends, Share Codes are the answer: open ESC → Online Play → "Allow Other Players to Join," share the Base64 code privately, and have friends use "Join Via Code." Just remember it only works while you're playing, your world isn't persistent, and CGNAT or strict firewalls can break it. The moment you want a world that's always on, supports more players, and runs mods and plugins, it's time for a dedicated server — and a place to put it in front of people. Ready to jump in? Browse Hytale servers on HytaleCharts or read more guides over on the blog. Happy adventuring.