@IFamStudios the -local option is for testing on one system without a server setup. you would run the server.exe on your local computer and then start the client with a shortcut adding -local to the end of the startup command. this allows you to test before you push it up to the external server.
If your running a dedicated server on an external ip and are behind a firewall you may simply have the port forward incorrect. the bible states 7779 is the default for unreal. however we found ours was actually on 7790. i am not sure how we arrived at that but some further reading and searching yielded up the 7790 which in fact worked. so you may need to do some noodling about to get it sorted.