You see it. That dreaded yellow triangle. The words “Relayed Tunnel” next to your friend’s name. Your Minecraft server might as well be on Mars. Your ping is 400ms. The “direct tunnel” dream is dead.

Most guides will tell you to forward ports (UPnP, port 12975, blah blah). But you don’t control your dorm’s router, and your friend doesn’t know their ISP password.

Stop using Hamachi for gaming. I said it. Use (same idea, but built for direct tunnels) or Tailscale (even easier, uses WireGuard). Both are free for small groups and treat “relayed” as a failure, not a feature.

Here’s an interesting, actionable post for a gaming or tech community (like Reddit, Steam forums, or a blog). It frames the problem as a puzzle with a clear payoff. 🐟 Hamachi Hell: Why You’re Stuck on “Relayed Tunnel” (And How to Finally Fix It)

In a perfect world, Hamachi creates a direct tunnel —your PC and your friend’s PC talk to each other like two people sitting next to each other in a coffee shop.