The short answer
In the Steam client, click View, then Servers, open the
Favourites tab and click Add A Server. Enter the address
as IP followed by a colon and the query port, for example
123.45.67.89:27015, then add it. The server stays in your list permanently.
Key points
- Use the query port, not the game port. They are usually different.
- The server has to be online for Steam to add it.
- Favourites are permanent and survive game updates and wipes.
- The list is shared with the in-game Favourited tab in most games.
Why favourite a server
Server browsers are unreliable by design. They can only ask a limited number of servers for their details at any moment, so a server that is running perfectly well can be absent from a search one minute and present the next.
A favourite bypasses that entirely. You are telling Steam the exact address rather than asking it to find one, which means:
- The server is reachable whether or not it currently appears in search results.
- You do not have to type or remember an IP every time you play.
- It is the fastest thing to give your community when a new server is not listed yet.
Adding the server
-
Open Steam and click the View tab
Launch the Steam desktop client, then use the menu bar along the top of the window. This is the Steam client itself, not the game.
-
Select Servers
From the View dropdown, choose Servers. A separate server browser window opens.
-
Open the Favourites tab
In that window, click the Favourites tab at the top, then press Add A Server at the bottom right.
-
Enter the IP and query port
A box appears asking for the server address. Enter it in this format:
<IP Address>:<Query Port>For example:
123.45.67.89:27015Then click Add This Address to Favourites.
-
Verify and connect
The server should now appear in your Favourites list. Select it and click Connect to join.
Query port vs game port
This is where most attempts fail, so it is worth being precise. A game server usually listens on two different ports for two different jobs.
- Game port
- What the game client connects to once you are actually joining. This is the port in a direct connect command.
- Query port
- What Steam and server browsers talk to when asking the server for its name, map and player count. This is the one you need here.
They are normally close together numerically, which is why they get confused. If Steam refuses to find a server at an address you are certain is correct, the port is the first thing to check. Your control panel will list both.
Joining from inside the game
Once a server is in your Steam favourites, most games expose the same list. Look for a Favourited or Favourites tab in the game's own server browser and your server will be sitting there, without a search.
For a community server owner this is the single most useful thing to get your regulars to do. A player who has favourited your server never has to find it again, which removes the discovery problem entirely for the people who already play there.
When it will not add
- Steam says it cannot find a server there
- Almost always the game port instead of the query port. Try the other one.
- It adds but shows as offline
- The server is stopped, still starting, or the query port is blocked from outside. A server that is mid-restart will look exactly like this.
- It works for you but not for a friend
- Check they typed the address rather than pasting it with a trailing space, and that they used the same colon separator rather than a comma.
- It disappeared from the list
- Favourites are stored per Steam account and per install. A fresh install or a different machine starts with an empty list.
If you have the right address and the server is definitely running, the problem has moved from your client to the server's query port being unreachable, which is something the server owner or host needs to look at rather than you.