If you’re a player who's had enough of enjoying Minecraft all by your lonesome and wish to share the experience with your friends and peers, then playing multiplayer will be just what you’re looking for. For those that are relatively still new to the game, however, you will most likely not know how to accomplish this. To remedy this problem we will be delving into how to play multiplayer with your friends on Minecraft, and the different methods that the different versions of the game requires.
In a Nutshell:
To play with friends in Minecraft on the Java Edition, you have to create a new world with the LAN settings switched to open. On Bedrock Edition, all players must be on the same Wi-Fi or network with the “Visible to LAN Players” selected. Lastly, on the console version, all you have to do is to invite other players to join when you create a new world.
In the Minecraft Java edition, you are going to want to either edit an already existing world that you have on the deck or to create a new one altogether.
Either method will yield the same result of obtaining your multiplayer. Once you are editing or creating the world of your choosing, you will want to focus on the LAN settings in options and then switch it to open which will allow your aforementioned peers and friends to enter your world at their leisure. If you are creating a new world altogether, keep in mind you need to finish the rest of its setting and actually physically create it for friends to join in.
Before you can begin to set up the process of everyone playing in the same world, you need to make sure that all players are either playing on the same Wi-Fi or network.
After you go to your setting and click the play on one device option, you will then create a new world or edit an already existing one and select the option “Visible to LAN players”. Much like with the JAVA version this will allow any and all friends to join your game world at their convenience.
The Console version has probably one of the more straightforward methods. Whenever you create a new world within the game, all you have to do is to invite other players to join you, and once they receive the invite, the invited player will be free to join.
If all of these methods are unsatisfactory for you then fret not. Mojang has actually developed a separate method that is managed by them through the program of Minecraft Realms.
This is a paid multiplayer server service that allows ten players in total to share an existing server together. With this method, you can do away with inviting or worrying about network connectivity with all players sharing this one single world together. Here is the link if you or your friends are interested: Minecraft Realms | Minecraft
Also keep in mind that much like how there are different versions of Minecraft there are different versions of Realms as well, meaning you will have to download the realms version of Minecraft that you and your friends play.
There is no doubt that Minecraft can be enjoyed on your own. To truly enjoy the entire experience, however, one shouldn’t be afraid to branch out to have a blast with your fellow friends and share in the experience this game can give you. Remember, however, to keep in mind that in order for each method to work, every player needs to be playing on the same version of Minecraft for actual functionality. It won’t do you any good if you and your friends are playing on different versions of the game.