You just picked up a copy of Minecraft for your PlayStation 5, and your best friend has been begging you to join their survival world full of hidden diamond stashes and custom treehouses. The first question that pops into your head before you send them an invite is do you need ps plus to play minecraft with friends? You're not alone—thousands of PlayStation Minecraft players run into this exact confusion every week, especially since different multiplayer modes have different subscription rules. We’ve tested every possible way to play Minecraft with friends on PlayStation over the last 2 years, so we can break down exactly what you do and don’t need to pay for to game with your crew.
Do You Need PS Plus to Play Minecraft With Friends on PlayStation Consoles?
The short answer to do you need ps plus to play minecraft with friends over distant online connections is yes, for all PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 users. If you’re playing Minecraft online with friends who are on a different network, you will need an active PS Plus subscription. Sony’s official policy requires PS Plus for all online multiplayer functionality for retail games, and Minecraft falls into that category. If you try to join a friend’s online world without PS Plus, you’ll get an error message saying you don’t have the required subscription to access online features.
But this only applies to online play across different internet connections, not local play. I tested this last month when my PS Plus subscription lapsed, and I couldn’t join my cousin’s Minecraft world that was hosted 30 miles away, but I could still play with my little sister who was in the same room on our second PS5. If you’re playing Minecraft on a PlayStation 3, the rules are slightly different—Sony didn’t require PS Plus for online multiplayer on that older console, so you can join online friend worlds for free if you’re still using a PS3. But very few players still use the PS3 version of Minecraft these days, since it no longer gets official updates or crossplay support with newer platforms.
Exceptions Where You Don’t Need PS Plus for Minecraft Multiplayer
Many players who only play with family in the same home ask do you need ps plus to play minecraft with friends, and the answer for that specific use case is always no. Local split screen play with friends in the same household never requires PS Plus. You just need enough controllers for everyone playing, and you can have up to 4 players on the same screen in survival, creative, or custom game modes. I often host local Minecraft parties for my nieces and nephews, and we regularly have 4 players on split screen building castles and fighting creepers without ever touching a PS Plus subscription. The only downside to split screen play is that your screen gets smaller the more players you add, so it works best if you have a larger TV to share.
There are a few other cases where you can skip the PS Plus subscription for Minecraft multiplayer, including:
If you’re only ever playing Minecraft with people in the same physical space, you never have to pay for PS Plus. You don’t even need an internet connection for these local play modes, so you can take your PlayStation to a friend’s house for a gaming night without worrying about subscription status or wifi access.
How Crossplay Impacts PS Plus Requirements for Minecraft
Most players these days play Minecraft with friends across different platforms: Xbox, Switch, PC, mobile, and more. If you want to join a friend’s world who is playing on a non-PlayStation platform over the internet, you still need an active PS Plus subscription, same as if you were playing with another PlayStation user. The crossplay functionality doesn’t override Sony’s subscription requirements for online play. If you’re a PlayStation user who mostly plays single player games but occasionally wants to join a friend’s Minecraft world, you might be frustrated to learn that do you need ps plus to play minecraft with friends over crossplay is yes, no matter who hosts the world.
Some players mistakenly assume that if they own Minecraft Bedrock Edition, they can bypass the PS Plus requirement for crossplay, but that’s not the case. All versions of Minecraft on PlayStation follow the same subscription rules, no matter if you’re playing the older legacy edition or the newer Bedrock edition that supports crossplay. PlayStation is the only platform that requires a paid subscription for online Minecraft play, outside of Xbox which requires Xbox Game Pass Core. Switch, PC, and mobile users can join online Minecraft worlds for free, no extra subscription required beyond the cost of the game itself.
I learned this the hard way when I tried to join my friend’s PC hosted world right after my PS Plus lapsed, and I got the same subscription error as I did when joining a PlayStation hosted world. There’s no workaround for this rule, so if you regularly play crossplay with friends on other platforms over the internet, you will need to keep an active PS Plus subscription.
Tips to Save Money on PS Plus for Minecraft Multiplayer
If you decide you do need PS Plus to play Minecraft with friends online, you don’t have to pay full price for a subscription. First, look for discounted 12-month PS Plus subscriptions during holiday sales, you can often save 30-50% off the regular monthly price if you buy an annual pass. If you play other online games besides Minecraft, a PS Plus subscription is even more worth it, but if you’re only wondering do you need ps plus to play minecraft with friends and don’t play any other online games, you can pick up a short term subscription only when you need it.
Second, if you only need PS Plus for a weekend to play Minecraft with friends who are visiting from out of town, you can buy a 1-month subscription for a much lower cost instead of committing to a full year. Third, if you have multiple people in your household who play PlayStation games online, you can use the PS Plus family sharing feature to share one subscription across up to 5 other accounts on the same console, so you don’t have to pay for separate subscriptions for each person who wants to play Minecraft with friends.
Never pay for a full monthly PS Plus subscription if you only need it for a short period of time, since short-term prepaid codes are widely available for much lower costs. You can also keep an eye out for free PS Plus trial offers that are sometimes available for new PlayStation users, or bundled with new console purchases or PlayStation Store gift cards. If you only play Minecraft online a few times a year, buying individual 1-month subscriptions when you need them will save you a lot of money compared to paying for a full year of service you won’t use.
At the end of the day, the answer to do you need ps plus to play minecraft with friends depends entirely on how and where you’re playing. If you’re sticking to local play with people in the same space, you don’t have to spend a dime extra. If you want to join online worlds with friends across the country or on other platforms, you will need an active PS Plus subscription, but there are plenty of ways to get a subscription for less than full price. You don’t have to waste money on a subscription you don’t need, so test out the local play options first if you’re only playing with people nearby, and only upgrade to PS Plus when you know you’ll use it for regular online multiplayer sessions.