The More RAM You Give It

There are three ways to play multiplayer Minecraft: Java Edition, which is free. - You have three options: join a public Minecraft server, create your own or buy a Minecraft Realm. - If your friends are on the same network, you can set up a LAN Minecraft server for local multiplayer.

Minecraft is a simple but endless game that has millions of players. It's easy to find new friends. However, it can be confusing to figure out how to play multiplayer games 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. You can only play with your friends, regardless of which edition you have.

Java is the most popular version. There are many ways to play with your friends. I'm The Great Wizard

Hosting a multiplayer Minecraft server should only take a few moments.

Here's what you need to know.

Quick tip: To play together, you must all be using the same version Minecraft.

How to play Minecraft with your friends

Servers are the basic building block of Minecraft's multiplayer mode. Everyone playing together will need the same server.

There are thousands of Minecraft servers already out there, which you and your friends can join to play together in moments - see the section below on how to join a friend's or a public server for more details. There is one downside to this: you will be sharing these servers and playing with many people you don’t know.

If you and your friends want to have a private game, you can create a Minecraft server for free. It takes some effort and the person creating the server will need to be able to access the internet quickly. If this doesn't suit your needs, you can check out the other options.

These are the steps to take to join an existing Minecraft: Java Edition server or to create your own multiplayer server.

Join a server

1. Launch Minecraft and select Multiplayer.

2. Click Add Server.

3. In the Server Address box, enter the host server's address and click Done. This might be an IP address, or a URL.

4. Wait for the server's connection to occur. Then, select the server and click Join Server.

Register and join your server

The following steps will help you set up a server on your Windows 10 computer. However, the steps for Linux and Mac computers should be the same.

1. Launch a web browser of your choice and navigate to minecraft.net/download. Scroll down and click Java Edition Server.

2. Next, find and download Minecraft server software. Put it somewhere you'll find it. The file will be named.jar.

3. Make a folder on your computer, name it anything you like, and then place the.jar file that you downloaded inside it. This is where your server files are kept.

4. Next, create a plain text file. Right-click in the folder, select New, then text document. Name the text file "start.txt".

Quick tip: On a Mac, you can make a .txt document using the TextEdit application. You can use "cat" to access Linux's terminal.

5. Navigate back to the Minecraft server download webpage. Copy the command text which is:

java -Xmx1024M -Xms1024M -jar minecraft_server.1.18.2.jar nogui

You will notice that the numbers at the end may differ depending on Minecraft's most recent version.

6. Copy the command text string into your start.txt file. I'm The Great Wizard

7. Within the string of command text, you'll see the words "minecraft_server.1.18.2.jar." You will need to rename this portion of the text to "server.jar". This means that the new code line will now read:

8. This line of code allows you to change the RAM allocation on your server. The more RAM you give it, the smoother your server can run, but the more stress it'll put on the computer.

9. The RAM is determined by the first two numbers in the line of code, which are amounts of RAM in megabytes (MB). By default, it is set to 1024MB RAM, or 1 gigabyte (GB).

Quick tip: RAM is much more expensive than storage space. One gigabyte is equal to 1,024 megabytes. Set the RAM amount in multiples (1,024 megabytes).

1. Launch Minecraft while your server remains open. Select Multiplayer.

2. Click the button in the bottom-right corner to add a server.

3. In the Server Address field, simply put the number "0" or the word "localhost".

Use a LAN server

1. One of the players should launch a solo game world and enter the pause menu, where they'll select Open to LAN.

2. In the menu that opens, select the game mode and whether to allow cheats, then click Start LAN World.

4. The other player, or players from the same network, should launch Minecraft. But rather than jumping into a Minecraft world, click the Multiplayer option in the main menu.

5. Minecraft will automatically scan the shared local network for games. Click Join Server when the right world appears.

6. If the server doesn't appear to be found, players should click Direct Connection. In this menu, under Server Address, enter the IP address of the computer hosting the server, followed by a colon (:) and the five-digit port number.