Multiplayer

Multiplayer is the style of playing Minecraft that involves multiple players interacting on a single world, available on a server, allowing them to work together to mine ores, build structures, and fight mobs (or each other), or to simply play together.

Gameplay

The gameplay of a multiplayer game still retains the same structure from the singleplayer counterpart. Take for example, in a Survival multiplayer game, players advance by gathering resources, fighting monsters, exploring the world, and reaching the End. However, multiplayer puts more emphasis on collaboration between players. Tasks such as resource gathering, farming, and building structures can be divided among players, making progression much faster compared to a singleplayer game.

Multiplayer allows for player-driven activities beyond the main game objectives. Players often establish in-game economy by building shops to trade valuable resources like diamonds and enchanted items. They can also engage in elaborate building for their homes and structures, such as houses, bridges, castles, pixel arts, statues, and more – usually forming into town or city.

Multiplayer games can also deviate from the base game experience; competitive games like player versus player (PvP) and many minigames are heavily community-based. In addition, most custom adventure maps are also playable in multiplayer. These activities often rely on the chat system for communication between players, which can be managed on the Social Interactions screen.

Differences from singleplayer

The game runs an internal server for singleplayer mode, allowing for better parity between the multiplayer and singleplayer experience. However, there are still some differences between a multiplayer and singleplayer game, one being that the game cannot be paused by a player.

Opening the pause menu in multiplayer does not pause the game. For example, if the player has items being smelted in a furnace, pressing the pause button (Esc by default) does not stop the smelting process. Mobs and entities don't pause and continue to work regardless. Although, in Java Edition, server operators can simulate pausing by using /tick freeze command. In this state, non-player characters and interactions such as physics, daylight and weather cycle, mob AI and movements, item smelting, certain animations, and other actions are frozen. Players and player-ridden entities are still able to continue play, regardless if they are operator status or not.

In multiplayer mode, the locator bar is enabled and keeps track of other players' waypoints. This is absent in singleplayer, though in Java Edition, it can be enabled manually for tracking entities using /waypoint command and waypoint_transmit_range attribute.

Server list

In order to join a Minecraft server, the game includes a menu where players can join a server, and save the ones they've visited. This feature is called the server list, and it's available inside the Multiplayer menu,‌ or the Servers tab on the Play menu.‌ From the list, players can check if a server is online, check their ping time to the server, and see how many players are in the game. In Bedrock Edition, the server list includes featured servers which are partnered with Mojang Studios. In the console versions, the featured servers are the only servers available to the players, and external servers cannot be added or accessed.

The Official Minecraft Server List by GamerSafer and Mojang features a variety of servers for the player to choose, which are categorized into options such as minigames, SMPs, and creative builds. All servers listed on the website are required to comply with Minecraft Usage Guidelines (MUG) and End-user license agreement (EULA), and have been vetted by both GamerSafer and the Mojang Enforcement Team.

LAN connections

Minecraft lets players host their singleplayer world as a multiplayer game on the local area network (LAN), usually in Wi-Fi or router, allowing other players on the same network to join their game.

Java Edition

In Java Edition, multiplayer game on LAN is not enabled by default, and must be activated on "Open to LAN" menu under the pause menu. Upon activation, the multiplayer game provides additional settings:

• "Game Mode", which sets the game mode of other players once they join the world for the first time. Once a player rejoins, they retain their previous game mode even if the game mode on join was changed.
• "Allow Commands", which allows or denies other players access to execute commands depending on the selected option. Once a player rejoins, they do not retain their cheats permissions unless enabled again.
• "Port Number", which specifies the port number for the LAN-based server. If not specified, the game randomizes the server port. The port is automatically shown on the chat when the LAN game is activated.

Players can also open their game to LAN by using /publish command, which provide arguments to configure the same settings.

Once published, the host's game sends a UDP multicast to the multicast address 224.0.2.60:4445 every 1.5 seconds, notifying other players of the host's presence, and making their LAN world pop up automatically in the server list.

Bedrock Edition

In Bedrock Edition, the game features multiplayer connections using local area network (LAN) and the Xbox network. By using Microsoft accounts, the host can let players join their game by invites or their friend status in the Xbox network. Multiplayer game is enabled by default upon a world creation, which can be changed in "Edit World" → "Multiplayer".

The multiplayer game visibility in the Xbox network can be changed in "Edit World" → "Multiplayer" → "Player access", which provides following options:

• "Invited players", which allows some Xbox friends that the host invites to join.
• "Friends", which allows any Xbox friends of the host to join them. This is the default option.
• "Friends of friends", which allows the host's Xbox friends and their friends to join them.

A friend's multiplayer game in the Xbox network can be joined through the "Friends" sidebar.

On console versions, playing a multiplayer game requires an online subscription of either Xbox Game Pass, Nintendo Switch Online, or PlayStation Plus.^[1] This includes joining a LAN multiplayer game; hosting it however, does not. On Nintendo Switch, players can only join a local multiplayer game hosted exclusively by other Nintendo Switch players.

The host can set specific permissions for each player in the game. By default, a player upon joining gets "Member" role, which enables mining, building, and interacting with the world and entities. This can be set in the multiplayer settings, which provides "Visitor" and "Operator" roles, and further more on the Player Permissions screen in the pause menu, which provides more granular and custom permissions.

The "Visible to LAN Players" option allows anyone (except Nintendo Switch players) on the same local network (either by Wi-Fi hotspot or router) as the host to join them, regardless if they are an Xbox friend of the host or not, and does not require any internet connection. Friendly fire can be set whether players can damage each other.

On Nintendo Switch, the "Connect to Local Network" option in the title screen can be used to host or join local multiplayer games via Local Wireless Play with other Nintendo Switch systems.^[2][3] Players must be friends with the host in Nintendo Switch to join their game.

There can be a maximum of 5 or 8 players at a time in a world, depending on the host's system, and can be set using /setmaxplayers up to 40 players.

Player list

Java Edition

Players can see a list of players in the server by holding down Tab ↹ key, which is bound to List Players by default. For each player, the face part of their skin is shown alongside their username, and on the right, a network bar indicator that shows how good the player's connection to the server; when more green bar is filled in the indicator, the lower ping time the player has.

Meaning of Ping Icons^[4]

Icon	Player's Ping Time
	Below 0ms[note 1]
	Between 0 and 150ms
	Between 150 and 300ms
	Between 300 and 600ms
	Between 600 and 1000ms
	Above 1000ms

The ping time (or latency) is calculated by (previous latency × 3 + client round trip time) ÷ 4, which the client round trip time is calculated from subtracting the current system time by milliseconds with the client keep alive time.^[5] If no previous latency is set, then the initial latency is zero.

Bedrock Edition

Online players in the server can be seen in the pause menu. Each player is shown with their player permission, and their Xbox profile picture next to the username; otherwise, it shows a LAN icon indicating they are not signed in to Microsoft account.

Realms

Players can pay a subscription service to create their own private Minecraft server. This service is called Realms, and it is provided by Mojang Studios on Java and Bedrock editions. Realms are not available in the server list, players can join Realms only if they're invited by the realm owner. Additionally, realm owners can get custom maps and minigames to play on Realms, included within the subscription.

Video

History

This section is missing information about: Bedrock Edition.

 

Please expand the section to include this information. Further details may exist on the talk page.

Issues

Issues relating to "Multiplayer" or "Server" are maintained on the bug tracker. Issues should be reported and viewed there.

Gallery

Screenshots

• 
  A multiplayer group.
• 
  Some people building on a server.
• 
  Some people mining on a server.
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  Some people fighting on a server.
• 
  Two players in a cave.
• 
  Two players in boats.

User interface

• 
  The disclaimer that appears in Java Edition before going to the multiplayer menu screen.
• 
  Banned from a Minecraft server.
• 
  Banned from online play and Realms.
• 
  Title screen with inaccessible multiplayer and Realms buttons when banned from online play.
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  An error message which can appear on the Friends list in Bedrock Edition.

Historical screenshots

• 
  A multiplayer group taken in Java Edition Beta.
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  A player-made creeper structure in multiplayer Java Edition Beta.
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  A player-made great pillars, assuming to be a massive castle.
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  Player statues, a common trait of creative multiplayer servers.
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  Numerous players on a Pocket Edition server in 2014.
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  An early multiplayer game on Java Edition Alpha.
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  An early Spleef minigame on Java Edition Classic.
• 
  An early Creative mode server on Java Edition Classic.

Development images

• 
  Notch testing multiplayer.
• 
  Early multiplayer.
• 
  Early multiplayer.
• 
  Early multiplayer.

In other media

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  A multiplayer game on a rainy night.
• 
  Players gaining achievements with add-ons enabled.

References

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