My brother and I cannot play Minecraft Java Edition together on LAN

James Rodríguez · Jan 9, 2024

I recently purchased a copy of Minecraft Java + Bedrock edition for my older brother this holiday season with the intent of us to be able to play the game together. However, we have had multiple issues whenever we try to play together on the latest version of Java. Whenever I host a world, it appears on his screen of joinable games on the multiplayer screen. However, his worlds do not appear on my screen. He clicks on the new world for us to play on to join it, and then he is greeted with an error message saying that the game has failed to connect to the server. We initially thought it was due to using a Forge client for 1.20.1 with only Opitfine, a mod that adds no new gameplay elements and just allows for the game to render Resource Packs and to perform better. So, we decided to try playing the latest release without mods. The same problem persists, he is unable to join my worlds, and his worlds do not even show on my multiplayer screen. We have tried countless solutions from YouTube videos such as turning off our firewalls and directly connecting to my world with a code, but the same problem persists. Both of our PCs are powerful enough to run the game, and my PC is even capable of playing heavily modded versions of the game like RLCraft and GregTech: New Horizons. Is his account too new to play on multiplayer words, or is it something else that I am missing? His account is only a few weeks old, while mine is over 6 years old. I just find it odd that we struggle to play the normal game with no mods in the same room, but players from around the world have no problem connecting to and to play heavily modded multiplayer servers.

:)

Jhonkito

Hi James, my name is Jhon, and will be a pleasure help you

I share my experience to play with friends, we connect to the same network, using a program to play through a LAN connection in the same world. Some, there are several on the web, for example radminVPN is one. You could create a server there and connect the 2 PCs. and then go to multiplayer and the world should pop out.

Best regards
Jhon

vahecx

When I try to log in it says on my brother's PC it says he doesn't own it (Minecraft: Java edition) so we can't play

Coherantgull64

I just accessed it with the old launcher and it was able to recognize that I own Minecraft Java Edition. However, I cannot access Minecraft for Windows with that launcher and thus I cannot play Windows Edition.

jake chapman1

Same thing happend to me but i bought the Minecraft java and bedrock sold together but it still says i need to buy Minecraft Java Edition

wi7bit

Hi Neomorph99

Just to add to this, there are two versions of Minecraft for the PC. The bedrock edition (also known as Minecraft for Windows 10) and the Java edition.

The bedrock version is the one needed if you wish to play with friends on their created worlds. This is a cross platform version, which means you can play with friends who use consoles or mobile devices. It also has access to realms and some servers.

The Java edition basically has the same features, but the ability to play with friends is a bit limited. This version will only work with realms, lots of online servers, but limited to local LAN (in the same home) for user created worlds.

So, the bedrock edition is better for playing with friends, as you have more options. The java edition is great if you like to use mods and stuff. Unfortunately, you will be unable to play together on the different versions.

Hope that helps.

My brother and I cannot play Minecraft Java Edition together on LAN