Port 1944 is a registered port, officially assigned by IANA to the service named close-combat on both TCP and UDP. 1
The Close Combat series is a real-time tactics game franchise set primarily in World War II. Its most celebrated titles cover the Normandy campaign of 1944 — the same year as the port number. Whether the port assignment was a deliberate bit of flavor or a happy coincidence, someone at IANA approved it either way.
Port Range: What "Registered" Means
Port 1944 falls in the registered ports range: 1024 through 49151.
Ports in this range are assigned by IANA upon request. Unlike the well-known ports (0-1023), they don't require root/administrator privileges to use. Unlike ephemeral ports (49152-65535), they're meant to be stable, named assignments for specific applications.
Registered doesn't mean famous. Thousands of ports in this range are assigned to software that most people have never heard of — internal tools, enterprise applications, niche games. Port 1944 is one of them.
The Game
Close Combat was originally developed by Atomic Games and published by Microsoft in 1996. The series simulates small-unit infantry combat with an emphasis on realistic troop behavior — soldiers could panic, go berserk, or refuse orders based on morale and suppression. For its era, this was genuinely unusual.
Later entries were developed by Destineer and Matrix Games. Titles in the series include A Bridge Too Far, Cross of Iron, Gateway to Caen, and others. Multiplayer in these games routes through port 1944. 2
The registration is attributed to David Hua.
Security Considerations
Port 1944 has no known malware associations or active exploit history. Some older port-scanning databases flag it as a "virus port," but this appears to be generic noise applied to any port without a widely recognized service — not a specific threat.
If you see unexpected traffic on port 1944 and you're not running Close Combat, it's worth investigating, but the port itself carries no particular risk.
How to Check What's Using This Port
macOS / Linux:
Windows:
With nmap (from another machine):
Frequently Asked Questions
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