How To Play Minecraft with Friends (Java Edition 1.21.8)

See all of the methods to play Minecraft with your friends in Java Edition 1.21.8 from a LAN server to hosting your own server to even using the Essential Mod. All methods are covered in this video!

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About this video: This video is a complete guide on how to play Minecraft Java Editions with friends in version 1.21.8. We go over all of the different methods that you can use to play with friends in Minecraft, so let’s dive into it!

The first way to join your friends requires you to be on the same internet connection in the same location. This is done using a LAN world. Just join your singleplayer world, pause the game, and click “Open LAN World”. Then, start your LAN world. Your friends will now be able to go to multiplayer and see your world pop-up and click to join it.

What you aren’t at the same location though? Well, we can use a public server in that case. There are thousands of great public servers that you can join, and there is a link in the description above to find public servers. You are friends can then both join the server and play together.

There is a downside to public servers though, and that is they can change and shutdown at anytime. However, you can make your own Minecraft server and you have full control meaning you don’t have to worry about it. You can either host your server on your own computer or use a third party host.

Next is using the Essential Mod. This allows you to invite friends to your singleplayer world similar to Bedrock, but it is 100% in Java Edition. This is great if you want an easy to invite your friends to your single player world even if they aren’t on the same internet connection as you.

Lastly, you can use Minecraft Realms to play with friends. However, I would recommend using a paid host over realms as they give you more control over your server and even more customization than Realms.

So what method are you going to use to play Minecraft 1.21.8 with your friends? Let us know in the comments. Thanks for watching! Be sure to like and subscribe if we helped you out.

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