Geo Routing & Server Clusters for Hytale
Hylist geo routing is the easiest way to send every player on your Hytale server to the node closest to them. Give players one address, and Hylist routes each connection to the right region and the least busy node. No plugin, no proxy to host, one DNS record.
In short
- Geo routing sends each player to the cluster nearest to them, based on continent, country or IP range.
- Clusters group your game server nodes and balance players across them, skipping offline nodes.
- Players use one address (e.g.
play.yourserver.com) worldwide. - Setup is one CNAME record to
director.hylist.io. No plugin, and no extra latency once the player is in: Hylist only directs the join. - Clusters on every plan, geo routing from Growth. See pricing.
Why ping decides whether players stay
A player in Sydney connecting to a server in Frankfurt sits at roughly 250-300ms of round-trip latency before your server does any work. Combat feels delayed, blocks pop back, and players leave for a server that feels smoother. Running servers in more regions fixes that, but only if players actually end up on the right one. Separate IPs per region and "pick your region" channels rarely work: most players just join whatever address they saw first.
Geo routing removes that choice. Everyone connects to the same address, and Hylist sends them to the closest region automatically.
Why use Hylist geo routing
Lower ping, automatically
Every player lands on the server closest to them. No region picker, no separate IPs per continent, no "which server should I join?" in your Discord.
One address for the whole world
Advertise a single address like play.yourserver.com. Hylist decides per connection which node the player should reach.
No plugin, no proxy to host
Routing happens at Hylist's edge with a single CNAME record. Hylist only directs the join and never sits in the connection, so gameplay traffic goes straight to your node. Nothing to install and no proxy machines to maintain.
Built-in load balancing
Clusters spread players across nodes by fewest players or round robin, skip offline nodes, and let you drain a node before maintenance.
Analytics included
Every routed join shows up in your telemetry dashboard: countries, client versions and join trends, so you can see where to add your next region.
Minutes to set up
Create a cluster, add your nodes, add a few rules and point one DNS record at Hylist. Most setups are live in under 15 minutes.
How it works
- A player connects to your hostname, e.g.
play.yourserver.com, which is a CNAME todirector.hylist.io. - Hylist looks up the player's location from their IP address.
- Your geo rules for that hostname are checked in priority order, lowest number first.
- The first matching rule picks a cluster. If nothing matches, the hostname's default cluster is used.
- The cluster picks an online node using its strategy, and the player is handed off to it. From then on the player is connected directly to your node; Hylist does not keep the connection open.
- The join is recorded in your telemetry dashboard.
Server clusters
A cluster is a group of game server nodes that serve the same players, usually one cluster per region. Each node has an address, port and optional region label. Hylist tracks whether each node is online and how many players it has.
Lowest players
New players go to the node with the fewest players, so load evens out on its own.
Round robin
Connections rotate across nodes in turn. Node weights let bigger machines take a larger share.
Health checks
Offline nodes are skipped automatically, so a crashed node does not turn into failed joins.
Draining
Drain a node to stop new players reaching it while current players finish, then restart it safely.
Geo rules
Rules belong to a hostname and point to a cluster. Four match types are available:
| Match type | Example value | Use it for |
|---|---|---|
| Continent | EU, NA, SA | Broad regional routing |
| Country | US, CA, BR | Country-specific nodes |
| CIDR | 10.0.0.0/8 | Specific networks or IP ranges |
| Fallback | (any) | Catch-all for everyone else |
Example: priority 0 sends EU to your EU cluster, priority 1 sends NA, SA to your US cluster, and everyone else uses the hostname's default cluster.
Who it is for
Global networks
Run nodes in Europe, North America and Asia behind one address. Players everywhere get the low ping they would get from a local server.
Growing servers adding a second region
Add a US node next to your EU server without asking players to change addresses. Existing players keep connecting the same way.
Minigame and lobby networks
Group identical lobby or game nodes in a cluster so new players always land on the least crowded one.
Events and launches
Spin up extra nodes for a launch weekend, add them to the cluster, then drain and remove them when traffic drops.
Country-specific communities
Send players from specific countries, or specific IP ranges like a partner network, to a dedicated node.
Zero-downtime maintenance
Drain a node so it stops receiving new players, update it, and bring it back while the rest of the cluster carries the load.
Running a single server in one region? Start with free player telemetry to see where your players come from, then add a region where it pays off.
Set it up in 4 steps
- Add a telemetry hostname. In your server's Telemetry Dashboard, add a hostname like
play.yourserver.com. See the telemetry guide for details. - Point DNS at Hylist. Create a CNAME record from
playtodirector.hylist.io. On Cloudflare, set it to DNS only (grey cloud). Most providers update within 5-15 minutes and the hostname turns "Active". - Create clusters. Under "Clusters", create one cluster per region, pick a strategy and add each node's address and port.
- Add geo rules. On the hostname, add rules that send continents, countries or IP ranges to the right cluster, and set a default cluster for everyone else.
Set the hostname as the public address on your Hylist listing so visitors see one clean address instead of a raw IP.
Plans
| Plan | Clusters | Nodes | Geo routing |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter (free) | 1 | Up to 2 | - |
| Growth | Unlimited | Up to 5 | Up to 5 rules |
| Professional | Unlimited | Up to 20 | Unlimited rules |
| Enterprise | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited rules |