Playing with friends in Minecraft Java
Playing with friends is one of the great joys of Minecraft. Working together, fighting against each other; multiplayer is where memories are made and friendships are strengthened!
While getting together on Bedrock Minecraft is relatively straightforward, thanks to the Better Together update, getting together in Java takes a little bit more work though can be just as easy if you know what you’re doing.
There are multiple ways to play together in Minecraft: Java Edition. Choose the best one for you!
LAN (Local Area Network)
Players connect to a home or local network.
In this instance, players are connected to the same internet network, either via ethernet cable or connected to the same Wi-Fi address. To play together on this network, one player must choose to be the host. Their computer should be fast enough to play Minecraft and host a multiplayer server, so not all devices are suitable.
The host launches Minecraft and creates or opens a single-player world. Once inside the world, press the ESC button and click Open to LAN.
Here you can choose the game settings, such as player gamemode and cheats, etc. Once you’ve settled on your options, click Start LAN world and a message will pop up telling you that a local game is being hosted.
The other players can now open Minecraft and click Multiplayer’ A few moments later, the computer should detect the local game and ask if they’d like to join it.
Online multiplayer servers
Players connect to an externally hosted server
Players can connect to an online server by connecting to their IP address.
To do this, log into Minecraft, using the same version as the server and select Multiplayer in the main menu.
Click Add Server then enter the IP or web address of the server into the correct line.
Some servers will automatically download a resource/texture pack for you to use, while others may have you download and install it yourself.
If you don't know the IP of a server, thousands of public servers can be located by doing a web search so go and explore! There’s always one that will suit your style of play.
Note for parents: Be aware that third party or independent servers are not regulated by Minecraft and may contain content that is unsuitable for younger players.
Minecraft Realms
A personal server hosted by Minecraft that’s always online
Minecraft Realms is a paid multiplayer server hosting service, which creates and hosts servers for you rather than creating your own. These servers can be used by you and up to ten other players on Java, though you can invite many more. Also, unlike self-hosted servers which shut down as soon as you go offline, realm servers are always open, so anyone whose been approved can access the server at any time.
We have full instructions for how to set up Realms for Java and Bedrock here.
Setting up your own server
Players host their own online server for people to play
If you want complete control over your multiplayer experience and your computer is fast enough to do so, you can host your own Java Minecraft server though setting it up can be a bit tricky if you’re a computer novice.
There are plenty of tutorials out there that can help you set up a server but we’ve given you the basic premise here.
There are plenty of other guides, videos and support sites concerning setting up java servers, as well as companies, beyond Minecraft Realms, that offer servers without the faff.
However you want to play, there’s usually a way!