No. Out of the Park Baseball does not support SFTP. OOTP connects over plain FTP or FTPS — shown in the game as "Secure FTP (SSL/TLS)" — on port 21.
This trips people up constantly, because "SFTP" gets used loosely to mean "FTP, but secure." The two are unrelated protocols.
SFTP vs FTPS vs FTP
| Protocol | Default port | Encrypted | Works with OOTP? | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FTP | File Transfer Protocol | 21 | No | Yes |
| FTPS | FTP over TLS | 21 | Yes | Yes — commissioners only |
| SFTP | File transfer over SSH | 22 | Yes | No |
SFTP is not "FTP with security bolted on" — it is a completely different protocol that runs inside an SSH session. OOTP has no SSH client, so it cannot speak SFTP at all, regardless of settings.
Why this matters when picking a host
Plenty of hosting plans advertise SFTP access as the secure option, and some offer nothing else. If a host gives you SFTP on port 22 and no plain FTP or FTPS on port 21, OOTP cannot connect to it.
Before you buy, confirm the host offers:
- FTP or FTPS on port 21
- Passive mode support (Active fails behind home routers)
- The ability to create more than one account, or at least a shared account your managers can use for team exports
The commissioner and manager split
There is a second wrinkle that catches even people who picked the right host.
Commissioners get a full FTP Mode dropdown in Game Settings → Online League → Online League Settings, including TLS options.
General managers do not. The manager-side dialog at File → Online League → Online League FTP Options offers only Active and Passive — there is no Secure FTP option anywhere in it.
Managers also inherit the commissioner's FTP Mode through the quick-start file. So if a commissioner sets "Passive; Secure FTP (TLS)" on a section managers use, every manager is configured for a TLS connection their client cannot make, and team exports fail with Error -201.
The practical rule: commissioners should use "Passive; Standard FTP" on League File Download and Team File Transfer. Report Upload can stay on TLS, because managers never touch it.
What to use instead of SFTP
If you want the transfer encrypted, use FTPS on port 21 — that is the "Secure FTP (SSL/TLS)" option in OOTP's dropdown, and it works fine for commissioner-only sections.
For anything your managers touch, plain FTP on port 21 is the only thing that works for everyone. League files and team exports are not sensitive data, so this is a reasonable trade for a working league.
How SimHosts handles it
SimHosts serves both plain FTP and FTPS on port 21, so either setting connects. Each league gets its own isolated account with the folders OOTP expects already created, and a one-click tester that opens the exact connection OOTP will make. See plans.