Monitor types
Game server monitors
How FastPing queries Minecraft, Steam A2S games such as CS2, Rust and Valheim, and FiveM or RedM servers, which port to enter and how player alerts work.
- API type
game- You enter
- Hostname or IP
- Default port
- Game default
- Runs at most every
- Plan minimum
- Needs
- None
A game server monitor asks the server for its status with the same query the game's server browser uses, so "up" means the server process answers, not just that the machine is on. Each check reads the player count, the maximum number of players and, depending on the game, the version, map or mode.
| Game setting | Protocol | Default port | What is read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minecraft: Java Edition | Server List Ping over TCP | 25565 | MOTD, version, players online and maximum, a sample of player names when the server shares them |
| Minecraft: Bedrock Edition | RakNet unconnected ping over UDP | 19132 | MOTD, version, players online and maximum, world name, game mode |
| Steam / Source (A2S) | A2S_INFO over UDP (including the challenge step newer servers require) | 27015 | Server name, map, players, maximum, bots, version, VAC and password flags |
| FiveM / RedM | HTTP requests for dynamic.json and info.json | 30120 | Server name (colour codes removed), players, maximum, map, game type, server version, resource count |
The monitor is up when the server answers, for example 14/40 players · 1.21.4, and down when it does not answer in time (8 seconds for TCP and HTTP queries, 5 seconds for UDP queries) or answers with something that is not a valid status response. The response time is the duration of the query.
| Field | API option | Default | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hostname, domain or IP | host | Required | For example play.example.com |
| Port | port | None | Leave empty for the game default. |
| Game | game | Minecraft: Java Edition | One of: Minecraft: Java Edition (minecraft), Minecraft: Bedrock Edition (bedrock), Steam / Source (A2S): CS2, TF2, GMod, Rust, ARK, Valheim, DayZ… (source), FiveM / RedM (GTA V & RDR2 roleplay) (fivem) |
| Warn below players (optional) | minPlayers | None | 0 to 100,000 |
| Alert when the version or map changes | alertChanges | None | |
| Check interval | interval | Your plan's minimum | From your plan's minimum up to 24 hours |
- Game selects the query protocol. All Steam games that support A2S use the "Steam / Source (A2S)" setting.
- Warn below players puts the monitor in warning when fewer players are online, for example to notice that a normally busy server emptied after a bad update. Leave it empty to turn it off.
- Alert when the version or map changes sends a change alert such as
Server changed: version 1.21.5, map world, useful after updates and wipes.
Enter the port the query answers on. For many games that is the game port, but not for all of them:
| Game | Port to enter |
|---|---|
| Minecraft: Java Edition | The server port (25565 by default). Leave it empty to use the domain's _minecraft._tcp SRV record, as the game client does. |
| Minecraft: Bedrock Edition | The server port (UDP 19132 by default). |
| Counter-Strike 2, Garry's Mod | The game port (27015 by default): Source-engine servers answer queries on it. |
| Rust | The query port set with server.queryport, which differs from the game port. Use the value from your start-up command or host panel. |
| ARK: Survival Evolved | The query port (QueryPort, 27015 by default), not the game port 7777. |
| Valheim | The game port plus one (2457 when the game port is 2456). Valheim only answers queries when the server is started as public (-public 1). |
| DayZ | The steamQueryPort from serverDZ.cfg, not the game port 2302. |
| FiveM, RedM | The server port (30120 by default), reachable over TCP. |
ARK: Survival Ascended lists its servers through Epic Online Services instead of Steam queries, so it cannot be queried with A2S. Monitor its host with a ping monitor or, if you enabled RCON, a TCP port monitor on the RCON port.
Every check stores the player count, and the monitor page charts players online over the last 24 hours. The embeddable widget shows players instead of uptime for game servers, and status pages show the current player count next to the server. See Uptime badges and status widgets and Create a public status page.
To tell your community about outages automatically, attach a Discord webhook channel to the monitor.
| Message | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
No response (timed out) | A UDP query (Bedrock or A2S) got no answer within 5 seconds. | Check the query port, that the server allows queries and that the firewall lets UDP through from FastPing. |
Timed out | The Minecraft Java status request got no answer within 8 seconds. | Check the port and the firewall; a server stuck while starting can also time out. |
Connection refused | Nothing listens on that TCP port. | Check the port, or whether the server process is running. |
Invalid status response | Something answered on the port, but not with a Minecraft status response. | Make sure the port belongs to the Minecraft server and not to a proxy or panel. |
Split/compressed responses are not supported | The A2S server sent its answer split over several packets. | This is rare for server info. Contact support with the server address. |
Server answered HTTP 404 | The FiveM/RedM server did not serve dynamic.json. | Check the port; a proxy in front of the server must pass these requests through. |
Not a FiveM/RedM server | Something answered over HTTP, but not with FiveM data. | Check that the address and port belong to the FiveM or RedM server. |
A step-by-step checklist is in Game server shows offline but players can join. The free Game server status tool runs one query from the same server, which is the fastest way to test a port.
Minecraft server monitoring, Minecraft Bedrock server monitoring, CS2 server monitoring, Rust server monitoring, ARK server monitoring, Valheim server monitoring, Garry's Mod server monitoring, DayZ server monitoring, FiveM server monitoring, RedM server monitoring