I still remember the first time I tried to play Minecraft with my best friend back in 2013. We were 14, lived two blocks apart, and spent three hours trying to get our LAN worlds to connect before we realized we were on two different wifi networks. Now, after 10 years of troubleshooting multiplayer across every platform you can think of, I can walk you through exactly how to play with someone on Minecraft without all the frustrating trial and error I went through. No matter if you’re playing with a sibling in the next room or a friend across the world, there’s a simple setup that works for your group.
How to Play with Someone on Minecraft Using a Local Area Network (LAN)
LAN play is the fastest, simplest option if everyone you want to play with is in the same physical location, like a sleepover or family home. It works over your shared wifi connection, and you don’t need any paid subscriptions or extra accounts for most platforms to use it. All you have to do is open the world you want to share, hit the escape or pause button, and select “Open to LAN” from the menu. You can choose if you want to allow cheats, set a default game mode for new players, and then confirm the setup.
Other players on the same wifi network just need to navigate to their multiplayer tab, and the shared world will pop up automatically within 10 to 15 seconds. You all need to be running the exact same game version for the world to show up, so double check for updates if you don’t see it right away. The only downside to LAN play is that it only works when everyone is on the same network, so you can’t use it to connect with friends who live far away.
Cross-Platform Multiplayer Options for Remote Friends
If your friends live across town or across the country, cross-platform online play is the setup you’ll want to use. Mojang now requires all Minecraft players to link their game profile to a free Microsoft account, regardless of what platform they play on, so that’s the first step for everyone in your group. Once you all have linked accounts, add each other as friends directly through your Microsoft account, not just your platform-specific friend list, to make cross-play work smoothly.
When you’re ready to play, the host just needs to open their world, turn on the “Visible to Friends” toggle in their world settings, and the world will show up in all their friends’ “Friends” tab in the multiplayer menu. Console players will need an active subscription to their platform’s online service (PlayStation Plus, Nintendo Switch Online, or Xbox Live Gold) to use this feature, but PC and mobile players don’t need any extra paid subscriptions. If the world doesn’t show up right away, have the host check their Microsoft account privacy settings to make sure multiplayer is enabled.
Setting Up a Shared Server for Persistent Multiplayer Worlds
Both LAN and standard friend play require the host to be online and in the world for other people to join. If you and your group want a persistent world that’s available 24/7, even when the original host is at work or asleep, a shared server is the best solution. You have two main options for setting up a server, and both work for cross-platform groups as long as you’re running the Bedrock Edition of the game:
- Pre-rented server: Costs between $5 and $15 a month depending on how many players you want to allow, requires zero technical setup, and the hosting service handles all updates, security, and downtime fixes. This is the best option for groups who don’t want to mess with network settings.
- Self-hosted server: Free to run if you have an old laptop or desktop that can stay powered on 24/7, gives you full control over all game rules, mods, and access settings, but you will need to adjust your home network’s port forwarding settings to let other players connect. This works best for groups with at least one person who has basic tech knowledge.
Once your server is set up, all players just need to add the server’s IP address to their multiplayer menu to join any time. If you want to add custom mods or resource packs to your server, make sure every player has the exact same mods installed on their own device before they join, otherwise they’ll be automatically kicked from the server.
Troubleshooting Common Multiplayer Connection Issues
Even if you follow every step perfectly, Minecraft multiplayer can glitch out sometimes, and I’ve run into every single one of these issues with my own friend group. The most common fix for almost any connection problem is checking your game version first. Every single player needs to be on the exact same game version, including mod versions if you’re running a modded server, otherwise you won’t be able to connect to each other. You can adjust your game version in the Minecraft launcher’s “Installations” tab for PC, or update the game through your platform’s app store for console and mobile.
If you’re hosting a LAN or self-hosted server on PC, your Windows Defender or third-party antivirus might be blocking Minecraft’s connection. Just add Minecraft as an allowed app in your firewall settings, and that will fix the issue 90% of the time. If you’re playing on a school or work wifi network, the network admin might have blocked Minecraft’s multiplayer ports, so you’ll need to switch to a mobile hotspot or private home network to connect. For console players, make sure you don’t have your platform profile set to appear offline, as that will hide your shared world from your friends even if you have multiplayer enabled.
At the end of the day, figuring out how to play with someone on Minecraft doesn’t have to be a confusing mess of error messages and random settings tweaks. Whether you’re playing a quick survival round with one friend or building a massive custom world with 20 people, there’s a setup that fits your budget and technical skill level. Don’t get discouraged if you run into a glitch the first few times—even long-time players deal with random connection drops every now and then. Once you get everyone in the same world, you’ll have hours of fun exploring, building, and fighting off creepers together, and that’s what makes the game so special for so many people.