How To Host Public Sessions with Scooby (BE Disabled)

How To Host Public Sessions with Scooby (BE Disabled)

Getting a public lobby to fill up is not just luck - it comes down to a handful of factors you can actually control. This guide covers what makes players join your session and what to do when nobody shows up.

Everything here assumes you have launched GTA 5 with BattlEye disabled in the Rockstar Launcher settings, which is required for Scooby. If you have not done that yet, see First Time Setup.

There are four factors behind a lobby that actually fills: your NAT type, your aim type, the region and time you host in, and a fair amount of luck.

1. NAT Type

Your NAT type affects how easily other players can connect to your lobby.

• Open NAT - best results for hosting
• Moderate NAT - usually works fine
• Strict NAT - may reduce player joins and connectivity

Important things to know:

• NAT type is normally controlled by your router and your ISP, not by the game.
• Some tools and scripts offer NAT spoofing, which presents a different NAT type to GTA Online. Results vary a lot and it does not work the same for every player.
• If you consistently struggle to attract players, check your NAT type and confirm your ISP is not putting you behind CGNAT (see below).

2. Aim Type

Your aim setting decides which pool of players can even match with you.

• Free Aim - largest player pool on PC, attracts the most players
• Partial Aim Assist - still a decent number of players
• Full Aim Assist - smallest player pool on PC, expect fewer joins

For the highest chance of filling a lobby, start with Free Aim.

3. Region and Timing

Timing matters as much as the region itself. Aim for hours when people are:

• Getting home from work
• Finishing school
• Already gaming during the evening

Good windows to try:

• North America, evenings
• Europe, evenings
• Weekends beat weekday mornings by a wide margin

If one region is quiet, switch to another and try again.

4. Luck

Sometimes everything is set up perfectly and the lobby still will not fill. You can host a session that fills instantly, then host the exact same session 30 minutes later and get nobody. GTA Online matchmaking is unpredictable, so persistence is part of the process.

Bonus: Check for CGNAT

Some ISPs place customers behind Carrier Grade NAT (CGNAT), which shares one public IP between many customers. This can hurt your connectivity, your matchmaking and your hosting reliability.

• Contact your ISP
• Ask whether your connection is behind CGNAT
• Request a public IPv4 address if they offer one

Bonus: Use a VPN

A VPN can sometimes improve how visible you are in matchmaking. Best practice:

• Connect to a VPN server in a densely populated area
• Match your VPN region to the audience you are trying to attract

Locations players commonly report good results with: New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Frankfurt. Results vary, but busy metro areas generally give better lobby population.

Still Alone?

Be patient. Try different combinations, restart the session, switch regions and keep experimenting. An empty lobby after one attempt does not mean your setup is wrong.

If All Else Fails - Get Friends to Join First

A lobby that already has a few players inside attracts far more players than an empty one. Once the first few people arrive, GTA Online matchmaking tends to do the rest. You can also turn on Player Magnet in the Network tab to help pull players in.

In short: hosting is a combination of NAT type, aim type, region, ISP quality and a little bit of luck.