Different internal port and external port

[minonaf]

Hi,

I have a linux server which is connected to the Internet via my router over NAT. I have couple of port forwardings set up for my pc's. These forwardings don't include any ports even close to 270xx. And the linux is under DMZ therefore all the connection requests except those that are forwarded should go to linux.

I set up the server on 27031 and people can connect w/o problems. But sometimes some people fail to connect. When they go to steam's server list they can find the server there and connect. However, server is usally listed there by some random port such as 6xxxx or 4xxxx.

I've seen couple of posts related to this issue and what people suggested was 'port forwarding' w/o any explanation..

1) Why do I need port forwarding if I have DMZ enabled for the server?
2) Who decides on the randomly published port on the server list? Who controls the mapping between 6xxxx and 27031. If router does this why? And i have other server apps which don't have this issue.

I would really aprecciate if someone can explain to me what's going on at the background..

Thanx,

[Drocona]

When you are DMZ'ed you don't need port forwarding. DMZ means that all incoming unknown traffic will be forwarded to the pc in the DMZ.

The port changing is a router issue, something doesnt work correct. It can simply be a stupid thing you forgot to configure or the router not being capable of doing the job.

Thats pretty much all I can say about it. I don't have any experience with routers, I've used a server=>switch setup for a few years now and it works flawlessly. I threw away my router forever!