In F1 25, switch UDP Telemetry on, keep the IP at 127.0.0.1 and the port at 20777, then check the UDP Format. With the 2026 Season Pack the game sends a new format, 2026, so your HUD has to be set to the same one. In Horizon Labs that means picking the F1 25 profile that matches the format, because the two profiles read different packets.
The settings, one by one
EA documents the UDP options in the game’s settings menu, at the bottom of the list. Open the options menu from the main menu, then settings. These are the values to set when Horizon Labs runs on the same PC as the game:
| Setting | Value | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| UDP Telemetry | On | Starts the stream. Nothing is sent while it is off. |
| Broadcast Mode | Off | Broadcast sends the data to the whole subnet. For one PC you do not need it. |
| IP Address | 127.0.0.1 | Where the packets go. Use the address of the PC running Horizon Labs if the game runs elsewhere. |
| Port | 20777 | Must match the port in Horizon Labs. 20777 is the default on both sides. |
| Send Rate | Your choice | How often the car packets are sent. A higher rate gives a smoother HUD and more network traffic. |
| UDP Format | 2025 or 2026 | The packet layout. It must match what the receiving app expects. |
Two notes from EA’s documentation. When broadcast mode is on you do not set a target IP, only a port for applications to listen on. And the options can be changed during a session and take effect immediately, so you can fix a wrong value without restarting.
What changed with the 2026 Season Pack
The 2026 Season Pack uses a new packet format. EA’s specification for it lists, among other changes, a maximum of 24 cars (so most packet sizes changed) and a new Car Telemetry 2 packet for the 2026 regulations. An app written for the 2025 packets cannot read it as it is.
EA kept the older layouts available: in the UDP options you can set UDP Format to 2025 or 2024, and tools built for those formats keep working. That gives you two valid ways to run the Season Pack game:
- UDP Format 2026 with the 2026 Season Pack profile in your HUD.
- UDP Format 2025 with the plain F1 25 profile.
How Horizon Labs picks the F1 profile
Horizon Labs does not guess. Each F1 game has its own profile, chosen in Settings → Connection, and each profile expects one packet format. The list includes F1 23, F1 24, F1 25 and “F1 25 — 2026 Season Pack”, which expects format 2026. Every profile defaults to 127.0.0.1 and port 20777.
- Set the game: UDP Telemetry On, IP
127.0.0.1, port20777, and the UDP Format you want. - Pick the profile in Horizon Labs that matches that format: the 2026 Season Pack profile for 2026, F1 25 for 2025.
- Start a session and check Live status in Horizon Labs while you drive. Then put the HUD on top in borderless windowed mode.
If the format and the profile disagree, Horizon Labs reports it in its diagnostics: the selected F1 profile expects one packet format, the stream reports another, and you should select the matching game profile. The F1 game page lists the fields each F1 profile provides, such as speed, RPM, gear, pedals, G-forces, DRS, ERS energy and fuel.
Troubleshooting
- The HUD stays empty
- Check that UDP Telemetry is On and that the game is in a session, not in the menus. Then compare the port in the game and in Horizon Labs: both must read 20777, or both the same custom number.
- Horizon Labs reports a format mismatch
- Change the UDP Format in the game, or change the profile in Horizon Labs, until both name the same year.
- The game is on another PC or a console
- Set the IP in the game to the address of the Windows PC that runs Horizon Labs, and keep both on the same network.
- Values reset to what they were
- EA notes that if you edit
hardware_settings_config.xmlby hand, changes made inside the running game overwrite them. Edit the file with the game closed, or use the menu. - Another tool also listens on 20777
- Two apps cannot normally share one UDP port. Close the other tool, or send the stream to a different port and match it in Horizon Labs.
Good to know
- EA’s sample configuration also shows a
yourTelemetryoption (set torestrictedin the sample). It is a privacy option for online sessions; leave it as it is unless a field you need is missing. - For streaming, add the overlay as a browser source: see HUD in OBS and streaming apps. For a second PC, see HUD on a second PC.
- New to the transports? How game telemetry works explains UDP, OutGauge and shared memory.
- Horizon Labs only reads the telemetry the game sends out. Each game’s own terms still apply.
Sources: EA SPORTS F1 25 UDP specification (EA forums), including the “Data Output from F1 25: 2026 Season Pack” document, version 1.2. Checked 2 November 2026.