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Enable or disable Obfuscated servers

If you want to enable or disable NordVPN’s obfuscated servers, here are the guides for each operating system. 

What to do if NordVPN’s obfuscated servers are not working

NordVPN’s obfuscated servers only work with the OpenVPN (TCP) and OpenVPN (UDP) protocols. If you’re using NordLynx, you may not see the obfuscated server option on your NordVPN app — or it may be grayed out. If that’s the case and you want to connect to obfuscated servers, change the VPN protocol.

Windows

On Windows 7 and 8.1: 

  1. Go to the Settings menu (click the gear icon in the upper right corner).
  2. Find the Advanced settings on the left side menu.
  3. Enable or disable the Obfuscated servers (OpenVPN) option.
    Advanced button

On Windows 10 and 11:

  1. Click More connection options.
  2. Click Obfuscated Servers within the Specialty servers list.
  3. A window will pop up informing you that the protocol will change to make the obfuscated servers available. Click Connect.
    A pop-up window informing the user that the protocol will change.

macOS

  1. Click the Settings icon in the bottom left corner.
  2. Navigate to General.
  3. Select the OpenVPN (UDP) or OpenVPN (TCP) option in the VPN Protocol menu.
  4. You’ll see Obfuscated servers under the Specialty servers section.

iOS

  1. Open the NordVPN app and click the profile icon in the bottom right corner.
     
  2. Tap the gear icon in the top right corner to view the app’s settings.
  3. Click the Protocol tab.


  4. Select OpenVPN (UDP) or OpenVPN (TCP).
  5. Tap the globe icon to go back to the main screen, then Specialty servers.
  6. Tap Obfuscated servers — and the app will automatically choose the best server for you.


    To disconnect, tap the three-dot icon (...), then Disconnect

Android

  1. First, make sure you're using the OpenVPN (UDP) or OpenVPN (TCP) connection protocols.
    1. On your app, tap the profile icon in the bottom right corner.
    2. Tap on Settings at the bottom.
       
    3. Tap VPN Protocol — you’ll be able to change it to OpenVPN (UDP) or OpenVPN (TCP).
  2. Once that’s done, go back to the main page and click Specialty servers.
  3. Choose Obfuscated from the list, and the app will connect you to the best server for you.

Linux

To enable obfuscated servers on Linux, you will first need to run OpenVPN on:

  1. Copy the following command and paste it into the terminal window:
    nordvpn set technology openvpn
    .
  2. Then turn on OpenVPN UDP or TCP. 
    To turn on OpenVPN TCP, use the following command:
    nordvpn set protocol tcp

    To use OpenVPN UDP, use this command instead:
    nordvpn set protocol udp

After you've enabled OpenVPN, you can enable obfuscated servers by pasting the following command in the terminal window:

nordvpn set obfuscate on

To connect to obfuscated servers, paste this command:

nordvpn connect

or

c

To disable obfuscated servers, use this command:

nordvpn set obfuscate off
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