Snes9x’s built-in netplay lets several people at different computers play the same SNES game together over a network, each with their own controller, as if sharing one console and a multitap. This guide explains how a session is set up, what the host needs to do, and — just as importantly — the honest limits of the feature in version 1.63, because the program’s own documentation flags them and any guide that skips them is selling you something. Start from a working single-player setup via the Windows setup guide, setup hub and download page.
How a session works
One machine acts as the server. Its user is player 1 — the “master” — and chooses which game is played. Everyone else connects as a client and joins in order as players 2, 3, 4 and 5: netplay supports up to five players in total, mirroring the SNES Multitap. Clients connect through the Netplay menu’s “Connect to server…” option and enter the server’s IP address or host name. The bundled readme’s advice on choosing a host is simple: the server should be the fastest machine on the fastest connection, because everyone else’s experience is paced by it. All machines need TCP/IP connectivity between them, and for internet play the readme notes you need short ping times — SNES netplay of this design assumes a responsive link, not a high-bandwidth one. When a player joins late, the server brings them into sync by sending SRAM data plus a reset, or a freeze file.
Before starting, get every player’s game ready: everyone needs the same game (the host picks it, and mismatched ROMs are a recipe for a session that falls apart), and each player needs their pad mapped — the controller setup guide covers that in five minutes. Agree your save approach too: battery saves get synced by the host’s flow, and the save states and .srm guide explains which files hold what.
The port, and making the host reachable
Snes9x netplay listens on default TCP port 6096. On a home LAN that is usually all you need — clients point at the host’s local address and connect. For a friend connecting from the internet, the host must be reachable: in practice, on a typical home router that means forwarding TCP port 6096 to the host PC and giving the friend the host’s public IP address. (To be precise about sourcing: “port forwarding” is our practical how-to wording for this requirement — the readme itself documents the server model and port rather than using that phrase — and it is also how the Emulation Gametech Wiki summarises this netplay.) No account, service or VPN is involved or needed: it is a direct connection between the players’ machines, and you should be suspicious of any guide that tries to sell you one for this.
The honesty caveat — read this before planning a session
We will quote the bundled readme’s maintainer note in full, because it is the single most important fact about Snes9x netplay: “NOTE 2017 OV2: netplay has not been maintained and tested in a long time, so it might be broken.” That note still ships with version 1.63. Concretely, this means: some sessions will work fine, especially on a LAN or a low-latency internet link; others will fail to connect or will desync — the readme itself warns that client machines which cannot keep up desync the session, leaving players watching different games. Set expectations by game choice, too. Netplay of this design sends inputs between machines and expects every emulator to stay in lockstep, so it suits games where all players share one screen and one pace — racers, fighters, co-op platformers, puzzle battles. It is a poor fit for anything where a dropped connection strands hours of progress, which is another reason the checklist’s “agree what happens on a desync” step matters more for a long RPG session than for a best-of-five in a fighting game.
If a session desyncs, the realistic fixes are unglamorous: fewer players, the strongest machine hosting, wired rather than wireless connections, and the lowest-latency link you have. There is no setting that guarantees success, and no honest guide can promise you one.
A pre-session checklist
Most failed sessions are lost before the game starts, so run the boring checklist first. Everyone installs the same Snes9x version from the same source and loads the host’s chosen game once, alone, to confirm it runs. The host — the fastest machine on the fastest connection — starts the server and confirms the router forwards TCP port 6096 to that PC if anyone is joining from outside the LAN. Each player maps their controller locally, in their own copy, before connecting; netplay does not share or fix mappings. Join in order, so player numbers match what everyone expects, and agree in advance what happens on a desync: who re-hosts, and from which save. Five minutes of this is the difference between an evening of Mario Kart and an evening of router administration — and if the session still will not behave, that is the cue for the alternative below, not for buying anything.
The maintained alternative: RetroArch netplay
If netplay is your main reason for playing rather than an occasional extra, the maintained path is RetroArch netplay with the Snes9x libretro core — the libretro documentation explicitly lists the core as “Recommended for netplay”, and RetroArch’s netplay is actively developed in a way the standalone feature, by its own author’s note, is not. You still get the Snes9x emulation core; only the surrounding program changes. Our Snes9x RetroArch core guide explains how the core relates to the standalone program. Trying standalone netplay first costs nothing and keeps everything in the program covered by the setup hub — just go in with the expectations above and a fallback plan.