Should I use Active or Passive FTP in OOTP?

Always Passive. In Active mode the server opens a connection back to your computer, which home routers block. Passive mode makes both connections outbound from your machine, which works behind NAT.

What port does OOTP use?

Port 21. Port 22 is SFTP, which OOTP cannot use.

Which FTP Mode should a commissioner choose?

Use "Passive; Standard FTP" on League File Download and Team File Transfer, because managers inherit that mode and cannot do TLS. Report Upload can use "Passive; Secure FTP (TLS)" since only the commissioner touches it.

OOTP online league FTP settings: the exact values that work

Host, port 21, Passive mode, and the correct FTP Mode for each section — plus why Standard FTP beats TLS on anything your managers touch.

OOTP's Online League mode moves files over FTP. Get these settings right once and the league runs; get one wrong and your managers hit errors you will spend a week debugging.

All of this lives in Game Settings → Online League → Online League Settings, which is commissioner-only.

The values

Setting	Value
Host	Your FTP server's hostname
Port	21
FTP Mode	Passive; Standard FTP (see below)
Username / Password	From your host
League file directory	`/leaguefile`
Reports directory	`/reports/html`
Team exports directory	`/exports`

Port 21 is not optional. Port 22 is SFTP, which OOTP cannot use.

Always use Passive

Active mode requires the server to open a connection back to your computer. Home routers block that, so transfers fail — usually as Error -201. Passive mode opens both connections outbound from your machine, which routers allow.

There is no benefit to Active mode for league play.

Standard FTP vs Secure FTP (TLS) — per section

This is the setting that causes the most trouble, and it is not obvious.

Managers inherit the commissioner's FTP Mode through the quick-start file. But the manager-side FTP dialog has no TLS option at all — only Active and Passive. So if you pick a TLS mode on a section managers use, you configure every manager for a connection their client cannot make.

Section	Who uses it	Recommended FTP Mode
League File Download	Commissioner + managers	Passive; Standard FTP
Team File Transfer	Commissioner + managers	Passive; Standard FTP
Report Upload	Commissioner only	Passive; Secure FTP (TLS) is fine

If you take one thing from this page: Standard FTP on anything managers touch.

Set the League File URL

OOTP ships with a yourdomain.com placeholder in the League File URL field. If you leave it, managers cannot download the league file — OOTP points them at a domain that does not exist.

Replace it with the real HTTP(S) URL where your league file is served. On SimHosts that is:

League File URL: https://yourleague.simhosts.com/leaguefile/
Reports URL: https://yourleague.simhosts.com/reports/html/

Note these are HTTP URLs, not FTP paths. Managers download over the web; only uploads go over FTP.

This is worth understanding properly: OOTP can distribute the league file over HTTP instead of FTP, and the OOTP manual calls HTTP "the most secure option available and requires the least configuration." If you leave "Use FTP to download league file" unchecked and supply a League File URL, managers never need download credentials at all.

If you do use FTP download, you must also check "Save FTP account data for league file download in league file". The manual is explicit that without it, "human managers will be unable to download the league file via FTP" — the credentials are not embedded in the file you distribute. This is a very common cause of "the commissioner can connect but nobody else can."

Full comparison: HTTP or FTP for league file downloads.

Test before you invite anyone

Every FTP section in OOTP has a Test button. Click each one and confirm success before sending out quick-start codes. Debugging a broken connection with twelve managers already waiting is considerably worse than spending two minutes on it now.

If you host with SimHosts, the setup page also runs a server-side test that opens the exact connection OOTP will make, which catches credential and permission problems the in-game test can miss.

Paths are relative to your FTP account

OOTP paths are relative to the root of the FTP account, not your server's filesystem root. If your FTP login already lands in /home/leagues/myleague, the league file directory is /leaguefile — not /home/leagues/myleague/leaguefile.

Getting this wrong produces error -103 ("wrong path") on download or -203 on upload. See every OOTP error code.

Common mistakes

Port 22 instead of 21. That is SFTP. OOTP cannot connect.
Active mode. Fails behind essentially every home router.
TLS on manager-facing sections. Managers cannot do TLS; exports fail.
Leaving the yourdomain.com placeholder. Managers cannot download.
Wrong directories. Files land somewhere OOTP will not look for them.
Absolute server paths. Use paths relative to the FTP account root.
Forgetting "Save FTP account data…" when using FTP download — managers cannot download without it.