Discover How to Join a Lan World in Minecraft and Play with Friends

If you’re a Minecraft player looking to connect with friends and play together in the same world, setting up a Lan World is the way to go.

We’ll explore what exactly a Lan World is in Minecraft and guide you through the steps of setting one up. Whether you’re on PC or consoles, we’ve got you covered on how to join a Lan World and troubleshoot any issues you may encounter.

Let’s dive in and get ready to enjoy some multiplayer fun in Minecraft!

What Is a Lan World in Minecraft?

A LAN world is a Locally Accessed Network for Minecraft gaming. With a LAN on the same local (usually Wi-Fi) network, friends using the same connection can instantly join and play in a shared virtual environment in a manner not fundamentally different from a classroom setting or training exercise with multiple users on a single local network.

This is not intended for wider accessibility via the internet and offers the fastest speeds in the virtual gaming experience. The Minecraft game concept really stresses users playing together, with nearly no difference between what players on the same or different networks experience. As outbound LAN ports on a local network are nearly always open, users do not normally need to tinker with network settings for firewalls or other protective measures to join a LAN world.

How to Set Up a Lan World in Minecraft?

You do not need to set anything up to have a LAN World in Minecraft. The computer that is hosting the game will automatically broadcast that hosting on the local network, and everyone else’s Minecraft game (which is running on a machine likewise connected to this network) will pick up that LAN game within their `Multiplayer` menu. This is why LAN play is so popular. One does not need to do anything more than start hosting the multiplayer game and let the local network do the rest.

If you want a little fun technical information, here is how the Minecraft wiki describes the inner workings. “It should be noted that starting a LAN game does not change the server.jar file the game uses, and no server is installed. In Minecraft versions before 1.3.1, opening a single-player world that then gets converted into a LAN world did create a server.jar file, so technically the game has the potential to create a server file even in LAN mode.”

How do you know if your game is being hosted on the local network? The message `Local game hosted on shared port will appear on the pause menu at the bottom of the screen`.

Connect to the Same Network

Players connecting to a LAN world in Minecraft need to first be connected to the same network. A local area network can be formed physically and wired, or wirelessly over a shared router, such as in a home or corporate Wi-fi network. Once players are set up on the same network, they will need to locate their own IP and local network game port number.

Note that connecting to a user on the same local network does not require establishing an official game server. The user who will be hosting the game has it automatically available. Simply discovering that their gaming neighbors are nearby on the local network allows them to join each other’s games.

Enable Lan World in Minecraft Settings

When opening a Lan World in Minecraft, one must manually enable it. This is done through the following steps:

1. Open main Minecraft Options. If you do not see the Open to Lan option available, you likely need to make some minor adjustments to your game settings as described in steps 2 and 3 below.
2. Go to Video Settings.
3. Set your Graphics.mfable to Fast instead of Fancy. Ensuring mipmap levels are off seems to help, as well as switching from Fullscreen to Windowed Mode.
4. Save and enable the Lan World Feature in Options. At this point, you should be able to click the Open to Lan option in the Esc game menu under Minecraft Menu selections. You will then have the option to select which mode to host the game in and what sort of Player permission settings to include.

How to Join a Lan World in Minecraft on PC?

Here is how you can join a Lan World in Minecraft on PC. It should be noted that most players refer to this as a Lan server. Technically it is a client as you do not need to install any mods to join another player’s Lan game. One person opens an offline world and the other joins it using a local IP address.

Step 1: Double-click on Minecraft to open it.

Step 2: Click on Single Player and select the file that you want to play.

Step 3: Click on Esc (Escape) and select Open to LAN at the bottom-right part of the screen.

Step 4: Choose the settings you want. Game Mode is the most notable option. Select Creative or Survival mode and click Start LAN world. A Local IP address may also be assigned, but players do not need to enter this. The host player’s world will become a LAN world that can be joined by others.

Step 5: Tell other players who are using the same Wi-Fi connection to open Minecraft and click on Multiplayer.

Step 6: Everybody can wait for the host player’s name to appear. It will be very similar to mixing Wi-Fi game play with showing who is playing on a multiplayer server.

Step 7: The host player types /publish to announce to others that the world has been opened. Others do not have to enter anything.

According to the DjangoCorp IT website, players can experience the following technical challenges during this process. A version mismatch can happen between the host and person looking to play.

1. A firewall error; if this occurs players need to look for the firewall icon that typically appears in the system tray.
2. Infinite world loading screen or game hang: Land problems, local I.P. addresses and server ports could possibly all be the cause of the eternal game-starting screen.
3. Latency issues: The addition of other internet-enabled devices could weaken network connections and cause network lag. An unclosed program frequently leads to computer lag, which can be resolved by closing Minecraft and any other unnecessary programs.
4. Corruption of the Minecraft game: Existing versions of the game should be updated when prompted to stop crashing or malfunctioning.

Open Minecraft on the Host PC

To create a LAN network in Minecraft, the host player on the LAN network must first open Minecraft. You must be in the network on a computer to create a LAN party, and the network must be open for the host players to run Minecraft.

Open Minecraft on the Guest PC

Once you have configured LAN settings on your host Minecraft, your guest must now load Minecraft and join the same local network as the host. To do this, your host computer must have the local network settings enabled for your guest to join. Ensure that local LAN settings are turned on in the computer’s OS and firewall.

Select the Lan World Option

After clicking on the Play Multiplayer button in Minecraft Main Menu, Description of Lan Worlds will show up on the multiplayer server list if you or a friend in your network is hosting a Lan World. You must click on that server’s image to join. You Expand subsections from the Table of Contents based on matching information from the Introduction. The Description of Lan Worlds phrase was chosen as an indicator to create web quotes.

How to Join a Lan World in Minecraft on Consoles?

These are the steps to join a LAN world on Minecraft for these consoles:

1. How to join a LAN on Switch Minecraft
   • To join a LAN world on the Nintendo Switch, you must be connected to the console for gaming by Wi-Fi, and nearby to the person hosting the LAN world with another device that is connected to the same local internet as the host.
   • Simply join the world of the host in the friend’s tab in the multiplayer menu (the login credentials of the LAN network the hoster is on may be required).
2. How to join a LAN on PS4 Minecraft
   • To join a LAN world on the PS4, you must be connected to the console for gaming by Wi-Fi, and nearby to the person hosting the LAN world with another device that is connected to the same local internet as the host.
   • Simply use the system to join the world of the host in the friend’s tab in the multiplayer menu (the login credentials of the LAN network the hoster is on may be required).
3. How to join a LAN on XBOX minecraft
   • To join a LAN world on the XBOX, you must be connected to the console for gaming by Wi-Fi, and nearby to the person hosting the LAN world with another device that is connected to the same local internet as the host.
   • You will find the game among local games and join it from there (the login credentials of the LAN network the hoster is on may be required).

Connect to the Same Network

Connecting gaming devices to a Local Area Network (LAN) means they are all sending and receiving data directly, not across the internet. This configuration provides greater reliability and often lower latency compared to online multiplayer gameplay. If you want to know how to join a LAN world in Minecraft, make sure all gaming devices are connected to the same LAN, which your WiFi router defines.

In homes and many locations with private WiFi, it is simply connecting to that network’s hotspot (no internet is required to form a LAN, furthermore, it is faster without it). Most open WiFi networks in private homes (as opposed to public locations) are LANs to which Minecraft gamers can connect for a local gameplay experience without using the internet.

In homes and modern private or public buildings using a mesh network system, this is often the same as choosing what is known as the primary network SSID (Service Set Identifier) name. The primary network (router) is the device that links the private local network to the broader internet. Every connected device, handheld or desktop, must choose the same SSID name in order to be on the same local network and therefore eligible for the LAN gaming you are seeking.

Minecraft will not see a connection via cellular networks or satellites.

Open Minecraft on the Host Console

Locate the Minecraft app on the Android home screen. The image on the right demonstrates how to open Minecraft on our fictitious Android host console named Gerald. The guest is named Barbara Pitcairn.

1. Touch the small square icon that has nine little squares inside of it on the host Android phone. This opens all the available Apps.
2. Locate and select the Minecraft icon.

At this point, the world should become visible in the LAN Worlds group. Now the world can be joined using the steps mentioned in Step 3.

Use one of the Three Most Recent Worlds that appeared when starting the game to launch the LAN world. As per the screenshot below, choose the middle thumbnail by touching the Play icon on the right. Play opens all the player’s worlds in a multi-screen grid. Select your world.

It will then connect to the world and permit the guest user to join the host user in the Minecraft world. The host can now return to the PC or another similar device, where Minecraft was being executed; and the guest can now play with the host user.

Do keep in mind that doing this connection over a mobile network rather than a Wi-Fi network on Android devices where it works will lead to data charges depending on the mobile service provider and the data package provided to the customer.

Open Minecraft on the Guest Console

Open Minecraft on the guest’s gaming console. Similar to the host console, guests should have connected or disconnected to the LAN/WiFi network prior to opening Minecraft or refreshing the world list once they have opened the app. And then, guests usually need to exit their cloud worlds and reopen Minecraft before refreshing worlds.

Once this is done, their gaming console should shown in the Multiplayer tab of the LAN world in Minecraft, and the host’s world name appears below.

Select the Lan World Option

After the player’s game has been opened to LAN, the following notification will automatically display in the active chat:

`Local game hosted on port 59890`

If you are trying to join a friend’s LAN game, ask them what their displayed port is, because Minecraft chooses one at random.

Now select the `Multiplayer` tab on the `Main Menu` of Minecraft. If done correctly, the game the player wants to join will now show up on the screen under LAN Worlds. You have successfully joined the LAN World in this case.

From your host’s perspective, once they click on the `Open to LAN` option, a simple command line will appear like this to inform them that the server is up and running:

`[02:27:33 p.m.] [Server thread/INFO]: Local game hosted on port 59890`

Players can then disconnect the LAN server by selecting `ESC` and turning `Open to LAN` back to off, which will prevent other players not already logged in from joining their game.

What to Do If You Can’t Join a Lan World?

If you can’t join a Lan world in Minecraft, the root cause is either the host computer, the computer trying to join, your wireless network, the wireless network you are trying to connect to, your local network routers, or the basic network equipment these devices are plugged into.

Before trying to diagnose what is wrong, it is important to first eliminate that you do not have cellular data selected as your network source. Your carrier may or may not allow Lan world connections via this network medium, but your personal connection to Minecraft’s servers which verifies license rights will not work with mobile data.

If you have selected an incorrect network source, and disconnect from your Lan, your world name will disappear from the list on your host computer. This is a good sign as it means that your connection settings are likely correct and the issue lays further down the network pipeline.

Most home network difficulties are resolved by the Unplug, replug, restart philosophy, which means to Unplug the piece of equipment, remove the power source, wait for a short period (not a microsecond but also not so long you can’t remember why you unplugged it in the first place), then replug it in, and hit that power button on any piece of equipment.

Check Network Connection

Ensure all systems connecting through the network are connected, and working by checking other devices. This ensures the Minecraft application can interact with the network itself, can detect a local The Minecraft connection and internet-capable network connections.

A computer programmer, Gameli Akakpo, noted that firewalls are often turned on in Windows by default even if there is a pending restart. Make sure the machine you are hosting from, and all machines that are trying to connect to it use the same network. No local Minecraft connection will work across different internet networks.

Restart Minecraft and Devices

If a player keeps timing out of the Lan world they are trying to join, a good solution is to restart their device (tablet, mobile, or computer) and Minecraft. Restarting the game by clicking ‘Save & Quit to Title’ then clicking the X to close Minecraft is a quick way to refresh the game without having to quit entirely.

From whatever LAN world menu is open, press ‘Esc’ on the keyboard. The game will be saved and the user will be sent back to the title screen. After this, players should restart their device and the problematic world. Restarting everything gives all devices a clean slate to create a connection, preventing build-up from previous data that could be throwing the connection off.

Check Firewall Settings

If you are trying to join a LAN world and it is not connecting, you may need to reconfigure your windows firewall settings. Your firewall settings could be interpreted as unauthorized access to your computer and could be blocking the connection. To do this you will need to turn off public and private profiles. To do this type Turn Windows Defender Firewall On or Off to search in Windows and make sure that Turn on Windows Defender Firewall is not selected for the network profiles that you are connected to.

In my case both profiles are turned off which means that the firewall is off. You should also open the Minecraft port of TCP: 25565 in your firewall settings, however most people do not have to do this to allow a LAN connection. Your computer IP address is used by the malicious traffic of spammers, whether it’s your physical address or MAC address, is able for malicious hackers to exploit in any way if your firewall is turned off. You will need to make sure that you trust all the devices that you know personally that are on your network if you disable these profiles.

Use Direct Connect

Instead of choosing Scanning the LAN world and looking through the worlds for the local game, you can use the Direct Connect option to specify the LAN game’s IP directly. If you know the LAN’s world IP number, you can use this to directly connect to the operating game. Direct Connect is an accessible option for users who understand basic networking and can find their game’s IP address.

Make sure that the LAN players have already logged on before you initiate the connection. Here are the simple steps to Use Minecraft Internal Direct Connect to Connect to LAN Game:

1. Select Multiplayer from the main menu.
2. Select Direct Connect from the server choosing menu.
3. Enter the working local game’s IP address with port followed by its name or a local IP of the main machine the LAN is on.
4. Click Join Server to connect.

If the port number is not entered into the server, the local address localhost will connect to the main computer. Here is an example of entering in a sample local game’s IP number to connect directly to virtually.

If the server list is blank it means the game is not opened yet. Be sure to enter the direct connect information first, then open the game. This will allow the server list to recognize the LAN server when it is discovered.

How to Leave a Lan World in Minecraft?

Exiting a Lan world is just as easy as playing one. To leave a Lan world in Minecraft, follow these simple steps:

1. Use the Escape key (Windows) or fn-Esc (Mac) to enter chat mode and ` or / to enter the input box.
2. Type /stop and press Enter or Return.
3. Click the disconnection button in the pause screen from the game.
4. You have safely exited the Lan world! Time for real-world tasks.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do I join a LAN world in Minecraft?

To join a LAN world in Minecraft, first make sure that you are connected to the same local area network (LAN) as the host player. Then, open Minecraft and click on the “Multiplayer” option. From there, you should see the LAN world appear in the list of available servers. Simply click on it and click “Join Server” to enter the LAN world.

2. Do I need an internet connection to join a LAN world in Minecraft?

No, you do not need an internet connection to join a LAN world in Minecraft. As long as you are connected to the same local area network as the host player, you should be able to join the LAN world without an internet connection.

3. What if I can’t see the LAN world in the list of available servers?

If you are unable to see the LAN world in the list of available servers, it could be due to a variety of reasons. Some common solutions include making sure that both players are connected to the same network, checking that the host player has LAN enabled in their game settings, and ensuring that there are no firewall or antivirus settings blocking the connection.

4. Can I join a LAN world on different versions of Minecraft?

In most cases, you will need to be on the same version of Minecraft as the host player in order to join a LAN world. However, some minor updates may not affect the ability to join a LAN world. It is recommended to check with the host player to confirm the version before trying to join.

5. How many players can join a LAN world in Minecraft?

A LAN world in Minecraft can support up to 5 players at a time. This limit may vary depending on the specifications of the host player’s device. Additionally, certain mods or plugins may affect the maximum number of players allowed in a LAN world.

6. Can I use a LAN world in Minecraft for multiplayer games?

Yes, a LAN world in Minecraft can be used for multiplayer games as long as all players are connected to the same local area network. This can be a great option for playing with friends or family in the same household without needing an internet connection.