Portal and Server Browser

Battlefield Portal is Battlefield 6's built-in sandbox for player-made modes, and from Season 5 Phase 2 (staged rollout after Nov 10, 2026) it sits behind a real server browser with Official, Player-Hosted, Verified and Custom servers. Verified servers give full XP; Custom ones give reduced XP.

10:00 Battlefield Portal is Battlefield 6's built-in sandbox where players build and host their own modes, and as of Nov 8, 2026 it is about to get the server browser EA announced on Nov 3, 2026, rolling out in stages "shortly after" Season 5 Phase 2 begins on Nov 10. Every owner of Battlefield 6 can play and make Portal experiences, and REDSEC's free players can too. In the clip IGN shows players already using Portal in Oct 2025 to build practice servers for pilots, made in the browser at portal.battlefield.com.

Quick facts

What it is	Battlefield's sandbox for player-made and official custom modes, its second version after Battlefield 2042
Who can play	Every Battlefield 6 owner; Portal is also part of free-to-play REDSEC
Where to make modes	portal.battlefield.com (web builder) and the Portal SDK
Full-XP servers	Official and Verified (Verified with Bot Backfill off)
Reduced-XP servers	Custom ("Modified XP")
Verified templates	Conquest, Rush, Breakthrough at launch; King of the Hill and Domination since Sep 15, 2026
Custom Lobbies and Spectator Mode	Since Aug 18, 2026 (Season 4, Top Gun)
Server browser	Staged rollout after Nov 10, 2026: Official (Studios), Official (Player-Hosted), Verified, Custom
Empty player servers	Delisted after 7 days without players

What is Battlefield Portal?

Portal is a toolkit for making Battlefield matches with your own rules. EA's Portal 101 guide of Oct 10, 2025 calls Battlefield 6's version the second iteration of the sandbox, and the experiences people make are "Community Experiences". You find them in the Community tab in game, in the online Community Experience Library, or in the server browser, and you can search by tag, map, mode, keyword or the experience's code. A host sets the server's name, its description, a welcome message and repeating messages, an optional password, and whether the server stays up while the host is offline.

EA also uses Portal for its own showcases, and limited modes that leave the main playlists can live on there: Gauntlet left REDSEC's active playlist on Oct 13, 2026 and stays as a Verified Portal mode (Gauntlet). REDSEC's maps came along too: Downtown, Marina and Sandbox became available in Portal through REDSEC in Dec 2025, and EA's REDSEC launch release said Portal creation on Fort Lyndon is free.

How to make a Portal experience

0:31 There are two levels. The web builder at portal.battlefield.com gives you settings, a map rotation, teams, modifiers and bots without writing code, and EA's PC Portal post of Aug 28, 2025 lists mutators such as Hardcore and closed weapon loadouts. For deeper work the Portal SDK adds spatial editing (moving, scaling and duplicating objects on a map), scripted AI soldiers and custom UI. The Season 2 Nightfall phase (Mar 17, 2026) improved the SDK tool and added a scripted camera, Wake Island joined the SDK on Sep 15, 2026, and Casino Heist (Nov 10, 2026) brings a Marked Soldier bot option, Necromorph and Shadow Silhouette effects and 10 new screen effects.

1:26 Map editing happens outside the game. In Ducain23's Oct 9, 2025 beginner tutorial the SDK, downloaded from the Portal website, opens its levels in the Godot editor, where you place objects, spawns and capture areas.

8:56 When the level is done you export it from the editor and import the file back on the website, where it joins the rest of your experience's rules.

A published experience moves through the statuses in EA's Verified experiences guide, Unpublished, Pending, Under Review, Action Needed and Published, before it can be hosted. A flat desert map, the Portal Sandbox, arrived on Nov 18, 2025 for builders who want an empty canvas in Siege of Cairo's environment.

Verified and Custom: what earns XP

This is the question most players ask, and the rules changed a month after launch. Portal servers built only to farm bots appeared within days, and on Oct 17, 2025 EA said many were "created primarily to earn XP, inflate player stats, and earn special accolades through defeating bots" and made every experience republish. The rules EA then set, on Oct 24, 2025, still stand as of Nov 8, 2026:

Server type	Career XP	Weapon and Hardware XP, missions	Notes
Official (EA's own, BattlefieldOfficial or BFPortalOfficial)	Full	Full	Persistent official servers
Verified, Bot Backfill off	Full	Full	Built from EA's templates, no scripting
Verified, bots on	Reduced	No	Stats not tracked where AI backfills
Custom	Reduced ("Modified XP")	Reduced	Higher match-completion award

Insider Gaming reported on Oct 21, 2025 that lobbies with bots stopped paying Mastery XP and challenge progress while keeping the 150% match-completion bonus. EA's own pre-Season 1 update adds that stats are not tracked in Casual or Portal modes that backfill with AI. For the general XP rules see Progression and Unlocks.

We think the split is the right one, and that the server browser will make it clearer, not looser: putting Verified and Custom on separate tabs tells a player what a server pays before joining, which was the real complaint in Oct 2025.

Practice servers for pilots and solo play

12:14 Portal is the safest place to learn to fly. IGN's Oct 21, 2025 guide recommends a one-hour, near-unlimited-ticket match full of bots that also use vehicles, hosted yourself with a password so you train alone before facing people. EA confirmed on Oct 21, 2026 that anyone can play solo by hosting a Portal experience locally. The flying itself is on Jets and Helicopters.

11:48 Some practice servers are EA's own. Ace Pursuit, a checkpoint race for jets, was made by the Battlefield team as a Portal showcase, and in the clip IGN calls it a good way to learn jet controls outside open combat.

Custom Lobbies and Spectator Mode

4:09 Custom Lobbies and Spectator Mode came with Season 4's Top Gun phase on Aug 18, 2026, first as a Battlefield Labs feature in the live game (EA's guide, Aug 17, 2026). A host assigns players to teams, changes match settings and runs private matches or tournaments, with four spectator slots for casters or referees. They launched for Battle Royale Quads and Conquest. In Battlefield's Season 4 deep dive (Jul 17, 2026) the studio describes the Portal side of it: a pre-lobby screen where players sort themselves into teams and squads, admin controls and in-game lobby settings, and spectators watching from several perspectives. Portal changes the rules; Custom Lobbies control who plays.

The Season 5 server browser

The server browser was first promised for Season 5 Phase 3 (Dec 8, 2026), then moved up on Nov 3, 2026 to a staged rollout "shortly after" Phase 2 begins on Nov 10: a limited public scale test first, then a global launch over "a couple of weeks". What EA has said it contains:

Tab	Who runs it	XP
Official (Studios)	Battlefield Studios	Full XP and progression
Official (Player-Hosted)	Players, on official rules	Full XP and progression
Verified	Players, EA templates	Full XP (Bot Backfill off)
Custom	Players, any rules	Partial XP

6:04 jackfrags read EA's announcement on video the day it came out: Official servers are run by the studio, while Official Player-Hosted servers are persistent servers players host on the official templates, with full matchmaking integration when they run modes in the active rotation.

Lobbies persist between rounds, so a server keeps its players and its map rotation the way older Battlefield servers did. You can filter by map and mode, sort by ping and player count, and modes on the main menu fill empty slots through matchmaking backfill. A player-hosted server that stays empty for 7 days is delisted.

7:53 The detail matters for anyone starting a community: an empty player-hosted server stays visible in the browser, so friends can find it, but matchmaking ignores it until one player joins; then backfill starts filling it, and each visit resets the 7-day timer. EA's earlier plan, from its Oct 21, 2026 update, was to make the server browser the first Quickplay tile, beside Verified and Custom tiles in Portal.

Platoons, the clan system planned to launch alongside it, will not: Kotaku reported on Nov 6, 2026 that Platoons and the B-81 Cavalry were delayed to 2027. See Season 5 and Roadmap and Season 6.

Persistent servers

A persistent server stays up with nobody in it. Any host can tick the persistent option in Portal, and a bigger one came as a perk of Battlefield Pro: Season 2's Pro pass included a 100-player persistent Portal server. See Battle Pass and Battlefield Pro for what each season's Pro includes.

What we think

12:00 jackfrags, a long-time Battlefield creator, called it a massive win even without Battlefield 4's level of admin control, because players choose how and where they play instead of being placed by engagement-based matchmaking.

We think the server browser will be the most important change of Season 5 for players who stay, more than either new map: community servers with fixed rules and regulars are what kept Battlefield 4 alive for a decade, and Battlefield 6 has had a year of matchmaking only. We expect the Official (Player-Hosted) tab to fill first, because it pays full XP, and Custom servers to stay a smaller world of training maps, infantry-only rotations and joke modes. We think EA will have to tune the 7-day delisting rule within a season, since small regional communities empty out midweek.

Frequently asked questions

Does Battlefield Portal give XP?

Yes, with limits. Official servers and Verified experiences with Bot Backfill off give full Career, weapon and vehicle XP. Custom experiences give reduced "Modified XP", and lobbies with AI backfill do not track stats.

When does the Battlefield 6 server browser come out?

EA's Nov 3, 2026 update says a staged rollout begins shortly after Season 5 Phase 2 starts on Nov 10, 2026, with a limited test first and a global launch over a couple of weeks.

Can I play Battlefield 6 alone with bots?

Yes. Host a Portal experience yourself, add bots and a password, and you play alone. EA confirmed solo local hosting on Oct 21, 2026. Such matches pay reduced XP.

Is Portal free?

Portal comes with Battlefield 6, and it is also part of free-to-play REDSEC, so players without the full game can use it on REDSEC's maps.

What are Custom Lobbies?

Private matches added on Aug 18, 2026, where a host picks teams and settings, with four spectator slots. They are for scrims and tournaments rather than custom rules.

Sources

Moments

Battlefield 6 - How to Fly Jets and Helicopters (and How to Practice!)

IGN

10:00 Battlefield Portal is Battlefield 6's built-in sandbox where players build and host their own modes, and as of Nov 8…
12:14 Portal is the safest place to learn to fly. IGN's Oct 21, 2025 guide recommends a one-hour, near-unlimited-ticket…
11:48 Some practice servers are EA's own. Ace Pursuit, a checkpoint race for jets, was made by the Battlefield team as a…

How To Get Started In BATTLEFIELD 6 PORTAL! (Beginner Tutorial)

Ducain23

0:31 There are two levels. The web builder at portal.battlefield.com gives you settings, a map rotation, teams, modifiers…
1:26 Map editing happens outside the game. In Ducain23's Oct 9, 2025 beginner tutorial the SDK, downloaded from the Portal…
8:56 When the level is done you export it from the editor and import the file back on the website, where it joins the rest…

Season 4 Naval Gameplay Deep Dive | Battlefield 6

Battlefield

4:09 Custom Lobbies and Spectator Mode came with Season 4's Top Gun phase on Aug 18, 2026, first as a Battlefield Labs…

Battlefield finally has a real Server Browser again...

jackfrags

6:04 jackfrags read EA's announcement on video the day it came out: Official servers are run by the studio, while Official…
7:53 The detail matters for anyone starting a community: an empty player-hosted server stays visible in the browser, so…
12:00 jackfrags, a long-time Battlefield creator, called it a massive win even without Battlefield 4's level of admin…