Direct Connection

From The Starport

Direct connection is a process through which a player can append a server address to the game's shortcut, effectively forcing it to load that IP address into the LAN and Internet lists. It has gained wide appeal when the GLS went down and has since been used by most servers in addition to other, automated methods. In order to use it, you must first know the IP address (or DNS hostname) of the server in question (this address and detailed instructions on how to proceed are usually available on the server's website). Then, you must right-click on your shortcut and select Properties in the menu.

You will find a textbox with a full path to the EXE, usually in quotes. After the quotes, you must add

-sXX.XX.XX.XX:YYYY Where XX.XX.XX.XX is the IP address (or hostname) and YYYY is the port number (by default, 2302). You can add as many of these as you want, separated by spaces.

Once this is done, the server will be loaded immediately and should be available.