PES 2021 is back online.

No. The game's own files stay exactly as Steam installed them; the mod is one extra file next to them, and deleting it puts everything back. Nothing here cracks the game or touches its copy protection, and this project doesn't host or share any game files. You need your own copy of PES 2021 on Steam.

We know of no way it could, but we can't promise anything. Konami's servers are gone, so there's nothing on Konami's side left to check. The mod doesn't touch Steam or the game's copy protection, and it doesn't change the game's files. Like any game mod, use it at your own risk.

eFootball PES 2021 (Season Update) for PC on Steam, at version 1.01.00, the final update. Steam installs it automatically, so a normal Steam copy is already on it. Other versions, other stores, consoles and modified game files aren't supported.

PES 2021 loads a file named dinput8.dll from its own folder when it starts; that's the standard way PC game mods load. While the game runs, the mod:

• answers the game's "where are Konami's servers?" with your host's server, for the six names the game uses online;
• first checks that the address really is your host's server: the server has to prove it holds a secret key that matches the identity written in your file;
• for the game's four network-test names only, skips the certificate check, since those names already point to the host's verified server;
• writes what it did to pes2021-online.log.

That's all. Besides its own settings and log files next to the game (or its log in %TEMP% if the game folder is read-only), it doesn't change Windows, needs no administrator rights, and stops the moment the game closes. Read the source.

Only from friends you trust, like any program. It runs inside your game.

• Get it straight from your host. They send it to you directly, or you download it from their link at home (not on public Wi-Fi; that link isn't encrypted). Avoid copies passed on by other people.
• Check the hash. In the game folder run Get-FileHash .\dinput8.dll on Windows (Linux: sha256sum dinput8.dll) and compare the result with the SHA-256 on your host's download page or admin page (capital or small letters and spaces don't matter). A match means your copy is exactly the file their server hands out; it can't tell you whether you reached the right server in the first place, which is why the first point matters. No match? Ask your host to download it again: the hash changes when the server's address changes.
• The key in your log (the first 16 characters after key in the first line of pes2021-online.log; the friends' page shows them split by a space, the admin page as one block) only tells you which server the file connects to.
• What's inside: the official build with their server's details written into a fixed 2 KB settings area: its key, name, addresses, its web address if it has one, and an address-book field that's empty for now. The rest is the official build of the public source in server/mod, compiled by GitHub from that public source. It can only make your game talk to their server and can't be redirected elsewhere (unless you switch servers yourself with Shift, see below): a server that doesn't hold their secret key is refused.

The server stores your player name, Steam ID, a random ID the mod makes for your game folder, and match results, sees your IP address, and keeps a log of the game's messages on the host's disk. Like any peer-to-peer game, your opponent's PC connects straight to yours during a match, so it sees your IP address too.

Mostly, yes. The build is reproducible: server/mod/build.sh with the MinGW compiler the GitHub workflow installs makes a byte-identical dinput8.dll every time (no build date is stamped in), as long as the compiler version is the same. A server's copy differs from that build only in its 2 KB settings area (the server's key, name and addresses). Every server publishes the exact file's SHA-256 and its key fingerprint (the first 16 characters) at http://<server>/status, on its friends' page and on the admin page. Comparing a server's file to your own build byte by byte, outside the settings area, shows nothing else was changed.

Delete dinput8.dll from the game folder (and pes2021-online.ini / .log if you like), and on Steam Deck / Linux remove the launch option. If the mod was installed from the admin page on the server computer, click Uninstall there instead (it leaves a backup copy of Wine's settings, user.reg.pes2021-backup). Nothing else was changed.

Set up earlier with a join line? That older method changed your hosts file and installed a certificate. Remove both with the undo line for your system, which comes from this website and works even if the server is gone:

irm https://mohamedalirashad.github.io/pes2021-private-server/leave.ps1 | iex

curl -fsSL https://mohamedalirashad.github.io/pes2021-private-server/leave.sh | bash

Yes. Replace the file with the one from another host. Or hold Shift while the game starts: a small box lets you paste another server's address (its IP or name), and the mod switches to it. A server you type there is trusted the first time it answers, so only type addresses you got from your host.

Probably: one test between two homes connected fine (the match itself then needed the mod fix above). The server opens the host's router ports automatically; the match itself then needs the two players' PCs to reach each other directly. If they can't ("Failed to connect with opponent"), put everyone on one private network with Tailscale, a free app for small groups (this workaround is untested too):

• Everyone installs Tailscale and joins the host's network.
• The host runs the install line again with their Tailscale address (shown in the Tailscale app); the server restarts with it. Friends then open their invite links again for a fresh mod:

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/MohamedAliRashad/pes2021-private-server/main/run.sh | PUBLIC_IP=100.x.y.z sh

The server now has a built-in relay for exactly this case, on by default: when the two PCs can't reach each other, the match runs through the host's server instead (it needs a few more router ports, which the server opens with UPnP). So far it has only been tested on one PC, so Tailscale stays the safe fallback.

• The admin page: on the server's own PC it opens without a password: PES 2021 Server in your apps menu (it also starts a stopped server), pes2021-server open, or http://localhost:8080/admin. Other devices on your Wi-Fi or Tailscale use the address and password on its Server page. Away from home, turn on Admin page from the internet on the Network card.
• In a terminal: pes2021-server shows the server's screen live, as when you installed it (address, password, who's online, results); Ctrl+C closes the view and the server keeps running. pes2021-server stop stops it.
• Update, restart, stop: admin page → Server → The server program. When a newer version is out a banner says so: Update now, or Update when nobody's playing. The server restarts in a few seconds; players, results and friends' mods are kept. Start when I log in switches the background start on or off.
• If something is broken, run the install line again: it repairs the setup and updates the program.
• Remove everything: click Uninstall on the admin page's server-computer card (if you used it), stop the server, run systemctl --user disable pes2021-server, then delete ~/.local/share/pes2021-server, ~/.config/systemd/user/pes2021-server.service, ~/.local/share/applications/pes2021-server.desktop and ~/.local/bin/pes2021-server. This deletes players, results and the server's identity, so old mod files stop working.

Who can join? Anyone who has your server's mod or address; while your router ports are open, that address is public, so share it only with friends. Block on a player's panel (Players) stops that copy of the mod from signing in.

No: their files keep connecting, because the server's identity is kept. Updates can include fixes to the mod itself, though, and a friend only gets those with a fresh copy. When convenient, download the mod again from the admin page and send it; its SHA-256 on the admin page changes when the file does.

The server looks for PES 2021 in your Steam libraries and in ~/Games, and for the game's Proton prefix (its own Windows drive), where it changes only user.reg, with a backup. Install mod puts your server's dinput8.dll next to PES2021.exe and, on Linux, sets Wine to load it for PES 2021 only, so you don't need the launch option (start PES 2021 once before the server, so its Wine prefix exists; otherwise use the launch option). Close the game first. It never replaces another mod's dinput8.dll, keeps a backup of Wine's settings, and Uninstall removes the mod and that Wine setting (the backup user.reg.pes2021-backup and the mod's small .ini/.log files stay).

No: the server runs on Linux or a Steam Deck. Friends who join can play on Windows too. Playing on the PC that hosts works: install the mod from the admin page's server-computer card.

Yes. Player names, results and the server's identity stay on the host's disk through restarts, reboots and updates, and friends' mod files keep working. The only thing that needs a fresh file is the host's internet address changing (unless the server has a web name); on most home connections that's rare, and the server notices within 10 minutes (when PUBLIC_IP isn't set).

No. The software and the admin page are free, with no accounts or paid services. The start line downloads the server from GitHub, and the server asks a free what-is-my-IP service for its public address. The host just needs a computer that's on while you play.

It's an independent fan preservation project, not affiliated with Konami, so that a game people paid for keeps working online. It only reimplements the server side of the network protocol, for interoperability, plus a small mod that points the game at it. It contains no Konami code or game assets, only the interface details needed to talk to the game (message field names and the protocol key built into the game). Every player uses their own copy of the game. The project's code is MIT-licensed. PES and eFootball are trademarks of Konami. (This is not legal advice.)