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, yet infinite game. There are millions of players so it's easy for you to find other Minecraft players. However, it can be confusing to figure out how to play multiplayer games with your friends.

You can play multiplayer Minecraft with different editions of Minecraft, depending on whether you have the console-friendly Bedrock edition or the more classic Java edition. You can only play with your friends, regardless of which edition you have.

Java can be used to play with friends in a variety of ways.

Hosting a multiplayer Minecraft Server should take only a few minutes.

Here's everything you need to know.

Quick tip: You must all be playing the same version Minecraft to be able to play with other players.

How to play with friends on Minecraft: Java

Minecraft's multiplayer mode is built around servers. Everyone who is playing together must be on the exact 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. You'll have to share these servers with many other 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 that doesn't fit your bill, check out one of the other options.

Here are the steps you need to follow in order to join an existing Minecraft Java Edition server or create your own multiplayer servers.

Join a server

1. Launch Minecraft and select Multiplayer.

2. Click Add Server.

3. Xwcb In the Server Address area, enter the address of the host-server and click Done. This could be an address on the Internet 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 steps below describe how to set up a server on a Windows 10 PC. However, the steps should be similar, if not largely the same, for both Mac and Linux computers as well.

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

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

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 all your server files will be kept.

4. Next, you will need to create plain text documents. Right-click in the folder and select New, then Text Document. Name the text document "start.txt."

Quick tip: You can create an.txt document on a Mac by using the TextEdit program. You can use "cat" to access Linux's terminal.

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

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

Notice that the numbers nearing the end will vary depending on Minecraft's latest version.

6. Paste the command text string in your start.txt.

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

8. This line of code allows you to change the RAM allocation on your server. The more RAM your server has, the faster it can run, and the more stress it puts on your computer.

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

Quick tip: Unlike with storage space, when it comes to RAM, one gigabyte equals 1,024 megabytes - not 1,000. As such, set the RAM amount in multiples of 1,024 megabytes.

1. Launch Minecraft while your server has been up and running. Next, select Multiplayer.

2. Select Add Server at the bottom-right corner.

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

Use a LAN server

1. One player should launch a new solo game world. The other player should then enter the pause list and 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) on the same network should launch Minecraft. Instead of jumping into a Minecraft world and clicking the Multiplayer option, click the main menu.

5. Minecraft will automatically scan for games on the shared network. When the right world appears click on Join Server.

6. If the server doesn't appear to be found, players should click Direct Connection. Under Server Address, enter the IP Address of the computer hosting your server. Here we go again A colon (:) is followed by the five-digit port numbers.