How to Play Minecraft With Friends: Every Option

How to play Minecraft with friends depends on two things: where your friends are and which edition you all own. In the same house, open your world to LAN. Far away on Bedrock, invite them to your world through your Microsoft account. For a world that stays open when you log off, run a server on your PC or rent one that is online 24/7. Java and Bedrock players only meet on a Java server with Geyser.

Below is every option, what each one asks of you and your friends, and a table to compare them side by side.

Every option compared

The player numbers come from the Minecraft Wiki: Bedrock worlds allow 5 or 8 players depending on the host system, and the default max-players in server.properties is 20 on Java and 10 on Bedrock.

Same house on Java: Open to LAN

If everyone is on the same Wi-Fi or router, Java Edition has a built-in option. No server software, no settings files.

1. Open your world in single player.
2. Press Esc and click Open to LAN.
3. Pick the Game Mode your friends get and whether they can use commands with Allow Commands.
4. Leave Port Number empty for a random port, or type one you want to keep.
5. Click Start LAN World. The chat shows a line like “Local game hosted on port 2121”.

Your friends open Multiplayer and wait a moment: the world shows up below their saved servers. If it does not, they can use Direct Connection with your local IP address and that port, for example 192.168.1.20:2121. When nobody can connect, check that your firewall allows Java on that port. The Minecraft Wiki LAN tutorial covers the details.

Three limits to know. It only works on the same local network. The world closes the moment you quit. And each friend needs their own copy of Java Edition on the same game version as you.

Same house on Bedrock: LAN and split-screen

On Bedrock (Windows, phones, tablets and consoles), LAN play is on by default. The setting is Visible to LAN Players, under Edit World and then Multiplayer, and you change it before you load the world. The wiki notes it lets anyone on the same local network join, Xbox friend or not, and needs no internet connection. One catch: on Xbox, PlayStation and Switch, even LAN play requires the console’s online subscription.

On a console you can also play split-screen. Up to four players share one TV: connect another controller while the game is running and press its Menu, + or Options button.

How to play Minecraft with friends far away on Bedrock

Bedrock lets you invite friends to your world over the internet without any server, as long as everyone signs in with a Microsoft account.

1. Sign in with your Microsoft account in the game and add your friends by their gamertag.
2. In your world settings, keep the multiplayer option on. It is on by default for new worlds.
3. Choose who can join under player access: Invited players, Friends (the default) or Friends of friends.
4. Load the world. Your friends find it on the Worlds tab of their Play screen and join from there, or you send them an invite.

This works across devices: a friend on a phone can join a world hosted on Windows or a console. The limits are the same as LAN: 5 or 8 players depending on your device, and the world exists only while you are in it. If a younger player cannot join, the account’s privacy settings may block multiplayer, and a parent has to allow it.

Java and Bedrock do not mix (unless you add Geyser)

Java Edition and Bedrock Edition are separate games. A Java player cannot join a Bedrock world, and a Bedrock player cannot join a Java world, through any of the options above. The fix is a Java server running the Geyser and Floodgate plugins, which lets Bedrock players connect without buying Java. Read can Java and Bedrock play together before you pick a setup if your group is mixed.

Mojang’s official subscription

Mojang sells a monthly subscription that keeps a small world online for you. On Java it fits the owner plus 10 friends at a time, and mods and plugins cannot be installed. On Bedrock the player limit depends on the tier you pay for. It is the simplest paid option, but you get the world Mojang gives you: no plugins, no modpacks, no choice of server software.

Run your own server on your PC

A dedicated server is a separate program that hosts the world, so friends can play even when you are not in the game. Both editions have an official one:

This is where most people get stuck. Friends outside your house cannot reach a server on your PC until you forward that port on your router, and some internet providers do not give you a public address at all. How to port forward a Minecraft server walks through it. The other route is a tunnel or VPN app that every friend installs, which adds a step for each of them.

Then there is the PC itself. It has to stay on, awake and connected for as long as anyone wants to play, and the server shares its CPU, RAM and upload speed with whatever else you do on it. If you only have a phone, read how to make a Minecraft server on mobile first.

Rent a server that stays on 24/7

A rented server is the same dedicated server, running in a data center instead of your bedroom. Friends join whenever they want, with or without you, and you never touch your router. How to keep a Minecraft server online 24/7 compares the ways to get there.

On TheGameHosting Minecraft Java hosting the server is ready about 60 seconds after payment, with its own public IP and port, so there is nothing to forward. Slots are unlimited. The web panel has Version Changer with 28+ platforms, a Plugin Installer, a Mod Installer and a Modpack Installer for Modrinth packs, plus backups. Bedrock groups get the same on Minecraft Bedrock hosting, and crossplay is available on every plan. You pick Dallas or Amsterdam, whichever is closer to your friends.

Which option fits your group

• Everyone in one house, just tonight: Open to LAN on Java, or LAN and split-screen on Bedrock.
• Bedrock friends in other cities, playing together at set times: a friends’ world through your Microsoft account.
• Friends who want to play when you are offline: a dedicated server, on your PC or rented.
• Plugins, mods or a modpack: a Java server you control.
• Some on Java, some on phones or consoles: a Java server with Geyser and Floodgate.

Skip the setup: play Minecraft with friends on TheGameHosting

LAN and friends’ worlds are great for a quick session, but they end when the host logs off. A home server fixes that, then asks you to open ports and leave your PC on. If what your group really wants is a world that is always there, a TheGameHosting server is the short path: no router changes, DDoS protection included, and a panel that works from your phone’s browser. The 2 GB plan at $1.90 USD/month runs a small Java or Bedrock world, and one plan works for every game through Game Changer. See the plans and pricing and use the code FULL2026 for 15% off for life.

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