Start your Hytale server and authenticate it

The first start downloads Hytale and then asks you to approve the server with your Hytale account. Here is each step in order.

4 min read · Updated Sep 23, 2026 · By GuavaHost Team

The first time your Hytale server starts, it downloads the game files and then needs to be linked to a Hytale account before players can join. Both steps use a short code that you approve in your browser. This guide goes through them in order, and the whole thing usually takes about five minutes.

Before you begin

• A Hytale account that owns the game. Hytale only lets servers run when they are authorized by a real account, so use your own, as the server owner.
• Your server open in the game panel. Sign in at guavahost.com/account and click Game Panel on your Hytale service. You land on the Console tab.

Keep a browser tab free, because you will be opening a link from the console twice.

Step 1: Start the server and approve the download

1. On the Console tab, press Start.
2. Before anything else, the server fetches Hytale using the official Hytale Downloader. The game files come through your Hytale account, so the downloader prints a link and a short code in the console, then waits for you.
3. Open the link in your browser and sign in to your Hytale account. If the page asks for a code, type the one from the console. Approve the request.
4. Go back to the Console. The download starts on its own. It is a large download, so give it a few minutes and let it finish.

If the console seems to be sitting still right after you press Start, scroll up a little. It is almost always waiting on this approval.

Step 2: Log the server in

Once the files are in place, the server boots. With Auth Mode set to authenticated (the default on the Startup tab), it now needs its own login, separate from the download. Until you do this, the console warns that no server tokens are configured, and players will not be able to join.

1. Click the command box at the bottom of the Console tab.
2. Type /auth login device and press Enter.
3. The console prints a link and a code.
4. Open the link, enter the code if asked, sign in with the same Hytale account and approve it.
5. Back in the console, wait for the message saying authentication succeeded.

The code only lasts a few minutes. If it expires before you get to it, run /auth login device again for a fresh one.

Step 3: Make the login stick

By default the server only keeps its login until it stops. To have it remember the login across restarts, run this in the console straight after Step 2:

/auth persistence Encrypted

This stores the login in encrypted form in your server's files. To check it worked, restart the server from the Console tab and watch it come back up without asking you to log in again.

Why two approvals?

Downloading the game and hosting games are separate permissions on your Hytale account. The first lets the downloader fetch the server files. The second lets the server host sessions and check that every player joining is who they say they are. Both logins are saved on your server once approved, so ordinary restarts need neither again.

Treat the saved login files like a password. Anyone with access to your server files could use them, so only give panel or SFTP access to people you trust. See Adding sub-users for how to give friends limited access instead.

Updates on every start

Each time the server starts, it asks the downloader whether a newer Hytale build is out on your patchline and installs it before booting. That keeps your server in step with your players after a Hytale patch, but it means a start right after an update takes longer than usual.

If the downloader's saved login ever runs out, you will see a new link and code in the console during startup. Approve it exactly as in Step 1. If the running server starts warning that no server tokens are configured, repeat Steps 2 and 3.

Take a first backup

Once the world has generated and you have had a quick look around, open the Backups tab and create a backup. It gives you a clean point to roll back to before you start installing mods or changing settings. The backups guide covers restoring and scheduling them.

Troubleshooting

• Nothing happens after pressing Start. Scroll up in the console. The downloader is probably waiting for you to approve the download.
• The code was rejected or expired. Codes are short-lived. For the download, restart the server to get a new one. For the server login, run /auth login device again.
• Approved, but the server still says no server tokens are configured. Make sure you approved with an account that owns Hytale, then run /auth login device once more and follow it with /auth persistence Encrypted.
• It asks you to log in after every restart. You skipped Step 3. Log in again, then run /auth persistence Encrypted.
• Auth Mode is set to offline. Offline mode skips account checks and is meant for testing. Set it back to authenticated on the Startup tab for a normal server, then restart.

Once the server is running and authenticated, you are ready to invite people. Next up: How to connect to your Hytale server.

Still stuck? Jump into our Discord at discord.gg/GuavaHost and the team will help you out.

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• authentication
• auth
• first-start
• setup
• device-code

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