Join your Minecraft server (and fix errors)

A new Minecraft: Java Edition server can't take players until its first start has finished. From then on, anyone with the full address and a matching game version can join, unless you've turned the whitelist on.

Start the server for the first time

1. Log in to the dashboard. A server you've only just bought shows Setting up and then Preparing while its game files install, and its card unlocks by itself when it's ready.

2. Press Open on your server.

3. In the Console tab, press Start.

4. The first time, the panel asks you to accept the Minecraft EULA. Read it and press Accept & start.

5. Wait for the Done (…s)! line in the console. The status in the left rail then reads Running, and players can join.

   

Find your server address

The address sits in the panel's left rail, under your server's name, labelled Server address. On a phone or a narrow window the label is hidden, but the address is in the same place. It's an IP address, a colon and a port number, such as 203.0.113.25:25571.

1. Press the copy button beside the address. It copies the whole thing, including the port after the colon.
2. Keep the port. Each server has its own port, which may not be Minecraft's standard 25565. Without it, the game can't find the server.

The same address is in the IP row of your server's card on the dashboard, hidden until you press Show IP (the eye button).

Join from Minecraft: Java Edition

1. Open Minecraft: Java Edition and click Multiplayer. If a warning about third-party online play appears, tick Do not show this screen again and click Proceed.
2. Click Add Server.
3. Type any name into Server Name, and paste the full address into Server Address.
4. Click Done. Your server shows up in the list with its player count once the game reaches it.
5. Double-click the server, or select it and click Join Server. The world loads and you spawn in.

To join once without saving the server to your list, click Direct Connection, paste the same address and click Join Server.

Can't connect to your Minecraft server?

1. Is the server running? The left rail should read Running. If it reads Offline or Stopped, press Start in the Console tab and wait for the Done line.
2. Did you copy the full address? Copy it again with the copy button. A missing or mistyped port stops the game finding the server.
3. Do the versions match? Your game has to run the same Minecraft version as the server. The left rail shows the server's Version and Mod loader, and the JAR Manager tab changes them.
4. Did you just install or change the server software? Restart it once. A brand-new server can come up on the wrong port on its first boot. After the restart, the console line that starts Starting Minecraft server on should end with the port marked Primary under Network ports in the Settings tab. Failed to load properties from file: server.properties covers the wrong-port case.
5. Are you on a school, work or public network? Those networks can block game ports, and so can a VPN or the security software on your PC. Try another connection, such as your phone's hotspot.

What each connection error means

Minecraft shows the reason under Failed to connect to the server, or as red text beside your server in the Multiplayer list. Find the words you see:

• Connection refused: getsockopt or Connection refused: no further information - nothing answered on that address and port. The server is stopped or still booting, or the port after the colon is wrong. Start the server, wait for the Done line, and copy the full address again. A long io.netty.channel.AbstractChannel$AnnotatedConnectException prefix often comes before it.
• Connection timed out: getsockopt, Connection timed out: no further information or Connection timed out - your connection never reached the server. Check the address and port for typos, then try another network (check 5 above).
• Unknown host or Can't resolve hostname - the game couldn't look up the name before the colon. Check the spelling. If you claimed or changed a custom address recently, wait a few minutes and try again.
• Can't connect to server in the Multiplayer list - the same problem as a refused or timed-out connection, so work through those two lines.
• Timed out after you'd started loading in - the connection dropped part way. Check the Console for a crash, or for Can't keep up! Is the server overloaded? warnings, then rejoin.
• Incompatible client! Please use 1.21.4 or Incompatible version! - your game and the server run different Minecraft versions (the message names the server's version). Launch that version, or move the server to yours: Change Minecraft server version or loader.
• Outdated client! Please use 1.21.4 - your game is older than the server. Some server software, such as Paper, words a version mismatch this way. Launch the version the message names.
• Outdated server! I'm still on 1.21.4 - your game is newer than the server. In the Minecraft Launcher, open Installations, click New installation and pick the version the message names, or move the server to your version.
• You are not white-listed on this server! or You are not whitelisted on this server! - the whitelist is on and your name isn't on it. The server owner adds you in the Players tab, or with whitelist add <name> in the Console. See Minecraft whitelist: add players, set ops.
• Invalid session (Try restarting your game and the launcher) - Minecraft couldn't confirm your account. Close the game and the launcher, open them again, and sign in if asked.
• A list of missing or mismatched mods - the server runs mods your game doesn't have, or has at different versions. Install the same mod loader and the same mods, at the same versions, in your game. Install Fabric and Forge mods on your server covers the server side.
• ICE failed - this error doesn't come from a hosted server. It appears when joining a friend's world through the Essential mod. Add your server's address under Multiplayer, then Add Server.

If none of these fixed it

Note these down before you ask for help:

• the exact error text, copied or as a screenshot
• the address you pasted into Minecraft
• your Minecraft version, and the modpack or mods you run
• the network you're on (home, school, work or a mobile hotspot), and whether a VPN is on
• whether anyone else can join the server