How to play Minecraft with friends: LAN, a server or Realms in 26.3
The three ways Java players join each other, as 26.3 has them: the new World Options screen that replaced Open to LAN, running your own server, and Realms.
There are three ways for Java Edition players to be in the same world. They differ in who has to be online, who pays, and whether your friends have to be in the same house. Everything below is checked against the Java 26.3 client and server.
| way | friends must be | costs | the world runs while you are away? |
|---|---|---|---|
| open your world to LAN | on your home network | nothing | no — only while you play |
| your own server | anywhere, if you open a port | nothing but a PC left on | yes, while the server runs |
| Realms | anywhere | a subscription | yes, always |
Java and Bedrock players cannot join each other in the vanilla game: a Java world only takes Java players.
Opening a singleplayer world to LAN
The old Open to LAN button has moved. In 26.3 the pause menu has World Options…, and its Multiplayer section is where LAN lives:
- Pause, choose World Options….
- Under Multiplayer, switch LAN from OFF to ON.
- Set Command Access (can the people who join use commands?) and Force Game Mode (do they play in your world's default game mode, or keep their own?).
- Optionally type a port between 1024 and 65535; leave it empty for a random free one.
- Apply Changes. Chat shows "This world is now open to LAN. The port number is …".
The same screen also holds the world's own settings — default and personal game mode, difficulty, whether commands are allowed — and the button to its game rules. The command form still exists for world owners: /publish, optionally followed by whether guests get commands and a port.
On the other computer, open Multiplayer. The host announces itself on the local network every 1.5 seconds (a multicast to 224.0.2.60, port 4445), and the world appears in the list under "Scanning for games on your local network". If it never shows up — some routers and firewalls drop multicast — use Direct Connection with the host's local IP and the port from the chat message, for example 192.168.1.20:51234.
A LAN world exists only while you are in it. Close the game and everyone else is disconnected.
Friends outside your house: a server
For friends elsewhere, the simplest free route is the official server jar, left running on a PC with TCP port 25565 forwarded on the router. Our step-by-step guide covers it: how to make a Minecraft server. Remember the 26.3 detail — new servers start with the whitelist on, so add each friend with whitelist add <name>.
Realms
Realms is Mojang's own paid hosting: the world stays online without your PC, and friends join by invitation from the Realms button on the title screen. According to Minecraft's free-trial page, first-time users get a free 30-day trial when they sign up for a 10-player Realms subscription.
The Friends list
Java now has a Friends list (default key O), which Mojang announced on 12 May 2026 during the 26.2 snapshots. You add friends by their Java profile name — Xbox friends who own Java show up too — and see who is online and what they are doing: "Online (LAN)" when they are hosting a LAN world, for instance.
It does not add a new way to connect. Mojang's announcement says peer-to-peer play on local worlds was removed before release, and in 26.3 the only network choice is still LAN on or off — the game's text even contains an unused "Online — Friends online can join" option.
If the Multiplayer and Realms buttons are greyed out entirely, the problem is not your network: see how to fix "Multiplayer is disabled".
For a server, the Server Setup Tools generate a server.properties file with the settings above and a coloured server-list MOTD for your friends to spot.