How do you play Minecraft with friends on PC single player?

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Written By Jonny

The simple yet limitless game of Minecraft has millions of players, so its easy to find friends to play with. However, its not always clear how to play multiplayer with your friends.

How you play multiplayer Minecraft will vary depending on whether you have the newer, console-friendly Bedrock edition, or the classic Java edition. Whichever edition you have, you can only play with friends who have the same version.

If that version is Java, there are few different ways to go about playing with your friends.

Whether you feel up to the task of joining a public server or creating your own server (which is less scary than it sounds), want to host a local LAN server, or would prefer to use the paid “Realms” server-hosting option, hosting a multiplayer Minecraft game should only take a short time.

Quick tip: In order to play with others, you must all be playing the same version of Minecraft.

Launch Minecraft, then click Play. Head to Friends and click on Join Realm. Enter the invite code you received from the Realm owner and click Join. You’re all set!

How To Play Minecraft with Your Friends on PC (Java Edition)

How to Play Minecraft with Friends on PC

In Minecraft, you have the ability to connect with friends through LAN. This will be accessible only to others within your local network. For example, if your friend is over at your house and connected to your wifi, you can create a LAN world to join.

How to make a LAN world

  • Open up Minecraft, and join your single-player world.
  • Press the escape key to open up your Game Menu.
  • Press “Open to LAN”, then select if you want to allow cheats and what game mode you want the other users to have, then press “Start LAN World”.
  • How to join a LAN world

  • In Minecraft, click on the “Multiplayer” tab.
  • Scroll to the bottom of the list, you should see a message that says “Scanning for games on your local network”.
  • Once it finds the world, you will see a listing named “LAN World” with your friends username and the world name under it.
  • Double click it to join, or select it and press “Join Server”.
  • Typically, you can join a server by copying the server’s IP address you wish to join. Then, navigate to the multiplayer screen in your Minecraft client and click on Direct Connection or Add server. Here, you have to paste the IP address into the Server Address box and click Join Server.

    Minecraft is one of the most popular and sought-after games. Gaming enthusiasts always have a blast when playing this game as they get to build and craft according to their preferences. But if you want to play the game with your friends, you need to have the same game version as your friends and be on the same server version. If your game version is different from the server version, you have to update or change the game version.

    Minecraft Bedroom Edition (BE) is slightly different. You have to start Minecraft BE > click Play > head to Worlds and select Create New > select Create New World again > click Creare on Realms from the left pane > choose two to ten players for your Realm.

    After you’ve opted for the free trial or have the subscription plan, open Minecraft and select Minecraft Realms. Click to start your new Realm if this is your first time creating a Realm. You can name your Realm and even enter a description before selecting the world type. You can choose between uploading a previously saved world, generating a new world, or exploring the world templates, experiences, and adventures of the Realm.

    Hopefully, the steps and tips mentioned above have cleared your doubts on how you can play Minecraft with your friends on PC. The easiest method would be to join a Minecraft server and connect with hundreds of online players. But if you want complete privacy, you can set up a LAN connection to only invite people with who you want to share the game.

    Using LAN Multiplayer Mode

    Minecraft has an option to turn your singleplayer world to multiplayer with a click of a button. In short, you can turn on the LAN for your world, and your friends in the same network can join in your world.

  • Launch the game and start the world you want to play. You can create a new world if you’re going to start a fresh playthrough with your friends.
  • While in the game, press Esc and go to Open to LAN.
  • You can then toggle the game mode for the multiplayer mode and cheats before starting the LAN world.
  • Press Start LAN World in the bottom left, and your world will now be open for other players in the same network.
  • You can manually activate LAN multiplayer in the Java Edition of the game. However, it is already on by default in the Bedrock Edition. But if it is not, you can follow the steps below to make sure that LAN visibility is active by the following steps.

  • Launch the game and create a world or edit an existing world.
  • Ensure that the option, Visible to LAN Players is active under the multiplayer section.
  • Play or create the same world and start the game.
  • Open Minecraft and go to Multiplayer.
  • Your game will scan for games on your local network.
  • Once it finds the game, you can select it and press Join Server.
  • You will be loaded in the game that is open for LAN.
  • Joining a LAN game in Bedrock Edition is also a different process.

  • Hit the Play button in the game.
  • Go to the Friends tab and select the LAN game you want to play.
  • You will then spawn in the world that is visible to LAN.
  • If you are the host, the Save File for the world you opened to LAN will be on your PC. You can always play offline in the same world as well. Your friends can join the world where you, as the host, will leave the game.

    FAQ

    Can you invite friends to Single Player Minecraft PC?

    In the server settings (preferebly in the server pannel) change the world name to your world’s name. Share the server IP and port with your friends. Connect to the server from minecraft by entering the same IP you gave to your friends.

    How do you Play multiplayer on Minecraft PC single player?

    Playing on a Local Area Network (LAN)
    1. Choose a host computer. …
    2. Launch the game and click Single Player.
    3. Create a new world or open an existing one.
    4. Inside that world, press the Esc key, and click Open to LAN.
    5. Choose a game mode to set for the other players.

    Can other players join a single player world in Minecraft?

    Yes you can have people join your world if it is offline. It is called opening the world to lan through pausing the game and choosing the option OPEN TO LAN… Make sure you have internet connection.

    How do you Play 2 player on Minecraft PC offline?

    Yes you can have people join your world if it is offline. It is called opening the world to lan through pausing the game and choosing the option OPEN TO LAN… Make sure you have internet connection.

     

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