How to Play Minecraft With Friends: Every Way on Java, Bedrock, Console and Mobile (2026)

Here's how to play Minecraft with friends, the short version. If you're on the same Wi-Fi, play over LAN. It's free, and on Java it's a couple of clicks from the pause menu: Open to LAN in your singleplayer world, and your friend joins from their own game. If you're far apart, Bedrock players can join each other's worlds through their friends list, while Java players usually need a server, either one you run or a Realm you rent from Mojang.

The rule that trips up more families than any other: Java and Bedrock are two different games. Xbox, PlayStation, Switch and Android all run Bedrock. A Bedrock friend can't join your Java world, over LAN or online, and a Java Realm only takes Java players. So figure out which edition each of you has first, then pick your route.

Which way to play together fits you

1. Same Wi-Fi: how to play Minecraft LAN

LAN is the cheapest, simplest way to play with someone in the same house. One of you hosts, and everybody else joins over your home network.

Java: Open to LAN

1. The host loads their singleplayer world and opens the pause menu.
2. The host clicks Open to LAN, and can set the game mode for joiners and whether they can use commands.
3. The host clicks Start LAN World. A chat message confirms it with a port number, like "Local game hosted on port 2121". Jot it down.
4. Everyone else on the network clicks Multiplayer on the main menu. The LAN game shows up on its own at the bottom of the server list.

The world only exists while the host is playing.

Playing Java snapshots? In 26.2 Snapshot 7 (May 2026), Mojang swapped Open to LAN for a Multiplayer Options screen, and its Local setting does the same job.

Bedrock: Visible to LAN Players

On Bedrock, LAN is on by default, so other Bedrock players on the same network can see the world you're playing and join it from inside the game. If it's been switched off, the host turns it back on under Edit World → Multiplayer → Visible to LAN Players. You can't change that while you're in the world, so do it before loading in. The host also has to be on a local network (your router or a Wi-Fi hotspot), or the world won't show up.

Same couch: couch co-op on console

If your friend's sitting right next to you, Bedrock on console has couch co-op, where everyone plays on the same screen. It's the easiest route on a console.

2. Bedrock online: joining a friend's world

On Bedrock, your friends list comes with your Microsoft account, and you can join friends in their world while they're online and playing.

• To host: load your world, open the pause menu and hit Invite to Game. Pick friends from the list, then hit Send invites. If someone's missing, add them by gamertag with Add Friend first.
• To join: from the main menu, hit Play and open the Friends tab. It shows friends who are playing right now and any Realms you belong to.

Mojang's play-with-friends page also mentions Parties, still labelled a beta, which let you invite up to 14 friends on Bedrock on Xbox, PlayStation, PC, Android and Switch.

Do you need Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Plus or Nintendo Switch Online?

For online play on a console, yes. You've already paid for the game, so this one stings, and it's a long-running complaint on Minecraft's own feedback site.

• Xbox: online multiplayer needs an active Xbox Game Pass subscription that covers online play.
• PlayStation: online play needs PlayStation Plus.
• Switch: online play needs Nintendo Switch Online.

Plans get renamed and reshuffled, so check your platform's current plans before you pay for anything. Realms doesn't get you out of it, either: Minecraft's own Realms page says multiplayer on consoles needs a platform-specific online subscription, sold separately.

3. How to play Minecraft Java with friends

Java works differently. In May 2026, Mojang added a built-in Friends List to Java Edition. You can send, accept, decline and cancel friend requests by searching someone's Java profile name, see whether friends are online, and chat with anyone on your list.

What it can't do, in the version that shipped, is drop you into a friend's world without a server. Mojang announced that and then pulled it before release.

Joining is being tested separately. In Java 26.2 Snapshot 7 (May 2026), the new Multiplayer Options screen sets who can get into your world: Off, Local (your network only) or Online (friends from anywhere). Friends then get in through Invite to world or Request to join world. Snapshots are test builds, though, so as of October 2026 I wouldn't plan your weekend around it. Wait until it turns up in the release you actually play.

How to play Minecraft Java with friends without a server

• Same network: Open to LAN, as above. It's the one truly free, no-setup option. If the world doesn't appear in the list, your friend can click Direct Connection on the Multiplayer screen and type in the host's local IP address plus the port from that "Local game hosted on port" message. Still nothing? The host's firewall needs to allow that port.
• Different houses: tunnelling software that exposes your LAN world to the internet. It works, but you're running someone else's program on your PC, so only use one from a publisher you trust, from their official site. The world's still only up while your game is running.

If neither sounds good, a server is the reliable way to play with friends far away on PC.

4. Run your own server (and modded Minecraft with friends)

A server is a world that doesn't need any one player's game to be open, and you can run one on your own PC. My guide to making a Minecraft server on Java goes from the first download to letting friends in from outside your house. Bedrock families should read how to make a Minecraft Bedrock server instead.

If you want to play modded Minecraft with friends, a server is the way to go, and there's one hard rule: everyone needs the same mods, ideally the exact same modpack. Settle on the pack first, then build the server around it. The Java server guide links on to the modded setup.

5. Realms: pay Mojang and skip the setup

Realms is Mojang's own rented world. You pay, you invite friends, and there's nothing to install or forward. Here's what it costs as of October 2026, from minecraft.net:

Prices can change, so check the Realms page before you subscribe. Only the owner pays; friends you invite play free. But Realms is same-edition only: a Java Realm is for Java players, and a Bedrock Realm works across Bedrock devices and consoles. If the subscription lapses, Mojang keeps the world for 18 months so you can download it.

My take: if you're the parent and the "server" conversation is making your eyes glaze over, the $3.99 Bedrock Realm for a kid and two friends is money well spent.

Why can't I join my friend in Minecraft?

• You're on different editions. It's the number one cause. Java and Bedrock can't join each other, so check which one each of you actually has.
• Your friend isn't in the world. On LAN or when joining a friend's world, the host has to be online and playing. If they quit, the world's gone until they load it again.
• You're on different versions. On Java, your game has to run the same version as the host or server, or you won't get in. If you've been playing snapshots, switch back to the latest full release. Otherwise, update both games and try again.
• Family settings block multiplayer. On a child's Microsoft account, the fix isn't in the game. A parent signs in at account.xbox.com/settings, opens the child's Online Safety tab and sets You can join multiplayer games to Allow. To let them add friends, also allow You can add friends on Xbox Live.
• The console subscription ran out. On Xbox, PlayStation or Switch, online play stops without the platform's online subscription, Realms included.
• You're on the free trial. The trial blocks servers. My Minecraft free trial explainer lists what it does and doesn't let you do.
• Your own server works at home but not for friends. Friends outside your house only get in once the port is forwarded on the host's router, and they connect with the host's public address, not the local one. The server guides above walk you through it.

How to play Minecraft with friends for free

LAN costs nothing beyond owning the game, and on PC and mobile neither does joining a friend's Bedrock world online. The paid parts are Realms and, on consoles, the platform's online subscription. And you do need the actual game. The free trial won't get you onto servers.

FAQ

Can you play Minecraft with friends on Switch?

Yes. On the same Wi-Fi, use a LAN world. For friends elsewhere, join their world or a Bedrock Realm, which needs Nintendo Switch Online. Bedrock Realms work across Bedrock devices, but not with Java players.

Do my friends have to pay for my Realm?

No. Only the person who owns the Realm pays.