When trying to join another player's Minecraft world online, you may encounter a Multiplayer is disabled error or otherwise be unable to connect. Here are some suggestions to troubleshoot Minecraft multiplayer issues.
Update your game version
You may encounter problems connecting to multiplayer games if all players aren’t updated to the most recent version of Minecraft.
- Enable automatic updates: Check your game platform settings to ensure you have the latest version.
- Select Latest release from the launcher: Make sure you’re not using Latest preview or Latest snapshot.
- Manually update your game: See these articles for additional help:
Check account permissions and subscriptions
- Enable multiplayer settings: Visit Managing Multiplayer Game Access for a Child Account in Minecraft for more instructions. These steps may apply even if you don’t have a child account.
- Verify platform subscription: If you’re playing Minecraft multiplayer on a console, you must be subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Core, Nintendo Switch Online, or PlayStation Plus to play with friends.
Check your network connection
- Disable custom DNS and open ports: Even if you have general Internet access, Minecraft may conflict with specific DNS and port configurations. See Troubleshoot Minecraft Network Connection Errors for details.
- Contact the game host: If you’re playing with a friend on a local network (LAN) or personally hosted server, the host must be online and actively running the world with the Allow multiplayer games permission enabled. See Invite Friends to Your Minecraft: Bedrock Edition World for more information.*
*This does not apply to Minecraft Realms. Realms owners do not have to be online for guests to play.