Insurgency: Sandstorm and Proxies: Which Traffic Enters the Tunnel?
The Insurgency: Sandstorm client talks to several different endpoints at once, and only some of them fall under the proxy rule. This page explains which traffic goes through the tunnel, why match packets stay outside it in most setups, and what can be tried on restricted networks.
Traffic separationHow the store, download, account and match flows behave independently of one another.
02
Compliance limitsWhere to stand with respect to anti-cheat components and terms of service.
03
Restricted networksDiagnosing closed doors on campus and office networks, and realistic solutions.
04
The truth about latencyThe cost of adding an extra hop to the gaming experience, and how to measure it.
The first thing to separate out when discussing proxies on the Insurgency: Sandstorm side is that the game does not do a single job on the network. The interface that opens the library generates web requests, update packages come down from an entirely different distribution infrastructure, the account session goes through a separate authentication path, and the actual match traffic resembles none of these.
Setups that skip this distinction end up with a similar outcome: the interface opens through the proxy, the server list arrives, but when you join a server the connection either fails or is established and runs over your ordinary line. The problem is not that the configuration is wrong, but that its scope is not as broad as assumed.
The sections below open up that scope layer by layer; they also separately mark the places where a proxy genuinely helps and the limits that no setting can solve.
How many separate connections does a single evening of gaming generate?
The moment you launch the client, four different flows come into play. The first is the distribution platform's interface: store pages, the library, the friends list and the news feed are ordinary HTTPS requests and run over TCP. The second is content downloading; patches and repository files are pulled from geographically distributed nodes. The third is the account session. The fourth is the match itself.
The first three are the natural job of an HTTP proxy. For HTTPS targets, the client CONNECT target.example:443 opens a tunnel in this form and the proxy carries the encrypted bytes; the details of this method are explained in the CONNECT method . The fourth is different: in shooters, the packets carrying position, shot and hit information are sensitive to latency and are commonly carried over UDP.
UDP does not enter a TCP tunnel on its own. A classic HTTP proxy carries only TCP; SOCKS5, on the other hand, can carry UDP via the UDP ASSOCIATE method, but for this to work both the proxy server must keep that method enabled and the game client must support sending UDP over SOCKS5. On most desktop game clients this second condition is not met.
The practical upshot is this: the proxy's scope will most likely remain limited to the store, download, account and web side. Accepting this not as a shortcoming but as the limit of the setup, and setting expectations accordingly, prevents hours of misdiagnosis.
DIAGRAMFour separate traffic flows in an Insurgency: Sandstorm session
You can scroll the diagram horizontally to inspect it
The first three flows run over TCP and fall within the natural scope of an HTTP proxy; the fourth has a separate transport model.
The launcher window and the match client do not read the same rule
The distribution platform's client and the game's executable are separate processes. On Windows, the system-wide proxy setting essentially affects applications that use the WinINET/WinHTTP stack; the platform client's interface may be affected by that setting, whereas the game's own network layer usually opens a socket directly and never reads it.
For this reason, the picture of "I enabled the proxy but the game still connects from the old IP" is not a fault but expected behaviour. A setup that does not differentiate per process cannot see this; in tools that route on a per-application basis, however, you can select one by one which process enters the tunnel. The proxy field in the platform client's own settings screen likewise covers only that client's requests; for setup steps see distribution platform proxy settings guide.
The second distinction is in authentication. The account session is opened through the platform client, and the game presents a ticket obtained from that session to the server. Opening the session from one country and entering the match from another exit can lead to extra verification being requested on the account side. When you change the setting, change it in one go and consistently.
Note
Before declaring a setup "working", carry out two separate checks: view your exit IP from a browser and observe the platform client's download speed. If the two are going over different paths, it is better to know now than to find out mid-match.
Patch day: where does download traffic come from, and what does the proxy do?
Update packages come down not from the game server but from a content delivery infrastructure. Under normal conditions that infrastructure directs you to a node close to your network. When you put a proxy in between, the routing decision is now made according to the proxy's exit location rather than yours. The result is sometimes better and usually worse: the packet passes through another country and comes back to you.
This has two concrete costs. The first is time; a large patch takes visibly longer when pulled from a distant node. The second is cost: because residential and mobile plans are billed on transferred data, pushing a download of tens of gigabytes through the tunnel burns the quota quickly. If you want to do the maths in advance, bandwidth calculation gives the formula.
The right arrangement is usually separation: do large downloads over your ordinary line and keep the proxy only on the work that genuinely requires it. If you are working on a restricted network and downloading over the ordinary line is not possible, a datacenter exit is the most suitable for this job; it carries volume and its unit cost is low. Datacenter proxy is suitable for exactly this kind of high-volume, low-session-sensitivity work.
At which stage does the connection break?
The fastest way to troubleshoot is to determine on the spot at which step the break occurs. The order is clear: the client opens, the platform session is verified, the server list is retrieved with a query, a join request goes to the selected server, and then a separate session is established for the game stream. Each step looks at a different component.
If the server list does not arrive, the problem is usually in the list query, and that query is independent of match traffic. If the list arrives but the join request times out, the path is blocked at the point where the match session is established. If you get into the game and drop a few seconds later, the picture changes again: the session was established but the continuous stream could not be sustained.
The proxy's place in this chain is narrow and clear. It can be effective on the web and list side; in the match session, however, it is not in play unless the UDP ASSOCIATE chain is fully established. How this method works and under which conditions it works SOCKS5 UDP support goes into detail on the topic.
Proceed with one variable at a time during diagnosis. Turn the proxy off and repeat the same step; if the step also fails with the proxy off, the source of the problem is elsewhere and fiddling with settings is a waste of time. Whether the exit itself is up with the proxy checker tool verify separately as well.
DIAGRAMThe connection chain and the steps where the break occurs
You can scroll the diagram horizontally to inspect it
Diagnosis starts with finding which link the break is in; each link looks at a different component and calls for a different solution.
Choose an exit for work around Insurgency: Sandstorm
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Most corporate networks limit outbound traffic to a few known TCP ports and largely close UDP apart from DNS. For a game client this is a fatal restriction: the web interface opens, the store works, updates even download; but the match session is never established. The symptom is very typical, and a significant share of users mistake it for a fault in the game.
The second layer is content inspection. Some organisations operate a middlebox that decrypts and re-encrypts TLS traffic; in that case you see a certificate warning in the browser. On a corporate device this is a deliberate configuration. If you see an unexpected warning on your own device, stop right there.
The list of realistic solutions is short, and none of them is magic. If the organisation's network policy allows it, the connection request is opened by talking to administration. If there is no permission, what remains is connecting over a mobile line or not playing the game on that network. A user trying to change the network policy on their own is, at most organisations, a breach of the acceptable use agreement. A broader account of this picture access blocks on corporate networks article.
Warning
This page does not explain how to disable the security policies of corporate networks. Opening game traffic on a corporate network is the network administrator's decision; a configuration you make on your own device does not substitute for that decision.
What is covered depends on where you put the configuration
The same access details produce a completely different scope depending on where they are written. At the narrowest end there is a single browser profile: only that window is affected, it has nothing to do with the game, but it is enough to check forums, community pages and the regional store view. One step broader, per-application routing takes the sockets of the process you select into the tunnel and leaves everything else on the ordinary line.
The system-wide setting is in theory the broadest scope, but in practice it is misleading, because game clients that open their own sockets can ignore it. The broadest real scope is the router level; a rule defined there affects every device in the home, including consoles and devices with no settings screen. The price is that a single mistake affects the whole network.
On the protocol side the decision is simple: if you are only interested in web and platform requests, an HTTP proxy is enough. Most non-gaming tools offer both; writing a line without reading from the panel which line belongs to which protocol is a common mistake. The port number itself does not determine the protocol; this distinction proxy port numbers is explained in that article.
Field
Example value
Scope note
The server sends
proxy.example.com
The hostname in your panel
Port
8080
Read the protocol from the panel, do not infer it from the port
Username
username
Required if you are not using IP authorisation
Password
password
Keeping it separate per device is recommended
DIAGRAMConfiguration points and the area they cover
You can scroll the diagram horizontally to inspect it
The scope widens from left to right; each widening step covers more traffic and affects more things when a mistake is made.
Where to stand with respect to anti-cheat components and terms of service
Multiplayer shooters ship with an integrity component that runs on the client side. What that component does and what it counts as a violation is determined by the publisher; the right attitude on the user side is not to interfere with its operation. A proxy placed at the network layer is not in itself a cheating tool, but a setup that tries to modify traffic or cut the component's communication with the server will cause problems.
In practice, three rules make things easier. First, do not block the integrity component's own connections; if a firewall rule or a narrowly scoped route leaves that component stranded, the game may not launch. Second, do not change your exit country out of the blue. Third, do not stack multiple tunnelling layers on top of one another; diagnosis becomes impossible.
There is a limit on the account side too. Regional pricing and access rules are defined in accounts' terms of service; working around those rules is not the subject of this page and is not recommended. Legitimate use of a proxy is something else: the need for a static exit on a corporate network, verifying the regional view of community sites, observing network behaviour in test environments. Is it safe to use a proxy covers the trust dimension of choosing a provider.
Symptoms, likely causes and latency expectations
The table below matches the pictures most often seen in the field with their causes. Work through it in order; fiddling with settings without reading the second column usually does not change the first column.
Symptom
Possible cause
First check
Interface opens, server list is empty
The list query is not going through the tunnel, or the exit is blocked
Pull the list again with the proxy off
Server join request times out
The path needed for the match session is closed
Query the network policy and the state of UDP
407 Proxy Authentication Required
Credentials are not being sent, or IP authorisation changed
Verify the authorised address list from the panel
Download speed dropped noticeably
The distribution node was selected according to the proxy's country
Do large downloads over the ordinary line
Sudden spikes in game
Congestion on a shared exit, or path length
Verify whether match traffic is in the tunnel
Extra verification is requested on the account
The session and connection countries are inconsistent
Stay in one country, avoid sudden changes
Expectations on the latency side need to be set correctly from the outset. A proxy adds a hop to the path; the packet goes first to the exit, from there to the target, and returns the same way. For this reason a proxy does not reduce game ping; in most setups it increases it somewhat. The rare exception is when your ordinary route is unnecessarily long and the exit sits on a more direct backbone; this is not a rule and can only be established by measurement.
Do not measure just once. Apply it to the same exit at different times of day ping test and compare the results with the values you took with the proxy off. A detailed discussion of the topic proxies and ping in games .
Frequently asked questions about Insurgency: Sandstorm and proxies
01Why does the game still connect from the old IP after I enable a proxy?
Because the game's executable opens its own socket, it may not have read the system-wide proxy setting. That setting essentially affects applications that use the compatible web stack. Unless you route on a per-process basis, match traffic will keep leaving over your ordinary line.
02Can match traffic never pass through a proxy?
In theory it can, via SOCKS5's UDP ASSOCIATE method. However, this requires both that the server keeps that method enabled and that the game client supports sending UDP over SOCKS5. Since the second condition is not met on most desktop game clients, in practice the scope remains limited to web and platform traffic.
03Does it make sense to download the patch through a proxy?
In most cases, no. The distribution node is now selected according to the exit's location rather than yours; the download takes longer, and on plans billed by data the quota is consumed quickly. It is more efficient to do large downloads over your ordinary line and keep the proxy narrowly scoped.
04The game won't launch on the campus network — will a proxy fix it?
It can open the web and store side, but usually not the match session, because the block often stems from UDP being closed. The lasting fix is to talk to network administration. A user trying to get around an institutional policy on their own may breach the acceptable use agreement.
05Does a proxy conflict with the anti-cheat component?
Routing that does not block the component's own connections and does not modify traffic generally causes no problems. By contrast, narrowly scoped rules can prevent the component from reaching the server, and the game may not launch. Complying with the publisher's terms of service is the user's responsibility.
06Which exit type suits the work around this game?
For high-volume downloads and test work, a datacenter exit is sufficient and economical. In scenarios where you want the account session to look consistent, a static ISP exit sitting in a provider ASN is more predictable. A frequently changing pool increases the likelihood of extra verification in session-based work.
07Is it right to try with a free proxy list?
It is suitable for learning and one-off testing; it is not for continuous use around gaming. You do not know who operates the server, stability is low, and carrying those two unknowns on a path your account session travels is not reasonable.