Frequently Asked Questions

  1. The game is cool, but [INSERT FAVORITE PET PEEVE HERE] irks me a bit
  2. I'd like to suggest some features!
  3. How can I contribute to the project?
  4. I can't connect to any rooms! It gets stuck at the "Connecting to host" phase.
  5. My nick turned red. The game said I'm desynchronized.
  6. The game is all laggy!
  7. What do the two ping numbers in n/n format mean?

The game is cool, but [INSERT FAVORITE PET PEEVE HERE] irks me a bit.

The game is still in beta phase and in very active development, so it still has some problems, but most of those are going away and the game will only get better with time. If you have any suggestions please read the question about suggesting features below.

I'd like to suggest some features!

Email your suggestions to haxball@gmail.com

Alternatively, you can contact basro in the official HaxBall IRC channel (#haxball @ irc.freenode.net), or if you're redditor you can subscribe to the HaxBall subreddit and try posting suggestions there.

How can I contribute to the project?

Development is closed-doors at the moment and handled solely by Basro, but you can help by testing the game and reporting issues, or making a donation so Basro can keep focusing on this and other cool game projects.

I can't connect to any rooms! It gets stuck at the "Connecting to host" phase.

If you're experiencing problems connecting to host then you are one of the unfortunate few people who have evil routers.

The reason you have this problem is because the NAT hole punching tech used to make P2P connections in Flash is not compatible with your network topology. This is not a problem with the game, it is a problem with Flash, there is nothing the dev can do about it.

Players have reported a few ways to solve this problem:

  • Forwarding all the UDP ports in the range 1024..65535 (a lot I know, Flash will pick one at random from that range).
  • If you are behind two routers enable UPnP in the first one.
  • Configure your router to point to your computer as a DMZ host.
  • Removing your router from the equation entirely and connect directly to the internet.
  • If you are unable to enact the above fixes, don't worry, there are some hosts that you will always be able to connect to, make sure to try every game available. You will be able to connect to at least one of them.

If you find any method to fix this that isn't mentioned in this FAQ please let us know and we'll add it here.

My nick turned red. The game said I'm desynchronized.

Your game got desynchronized and what you see on the screen will not be the same as what other players are seeing.

This happens in old computers that dont have the SSE2 instruction set. The only way to fix this issue is to play in a more modern computer.

If everyone in the room desynchronizes at the same time then it means that the host is to blame. In this case, try joining another room.

The game is all laggy!

HaxBall is a peer to peer game, if the game is lagging then maybe the room you joined is too far away or being hosted on a poor connection.

It is recommended that you close any apps that abuse your internet connection (BitTorrent clients!).

What do the two ping numbers in n/n format mean?

The two numbers are average/max ping times (from a sample of the 20 last ping messages).

In general ping times under 100 will make for a smooth game with virtually no lag. From 300 upwards lag will begin to be quite noticeable, though skilled players are often able to play decent games even under high ping times, so keep practicing!