How to make a Minecraft server to play with friends
To play Minecraft with friends you need a server they can all reach. On JetRift you make one by signing in, naming a world, and typing your friends’ Minecraft usernames. They get an address like yourworld.play.jetrift.com that never changes. There is no port forwarding, no software to install, nothing left running on your PC, and no monthly fee. It runs Minecraft 26.2 on Java Edition.
Why this is usually harder than it should be
The obvious way is to open your own world to LAN, which works until somebody is not on your network. The next way is to run the server jar yourself, which means leaving a computer on whenever anybody wants to play, opening a port on your router, and giving out your home IP address.
That last part is the bit most guides skim past. Your home IP identifies your house, it changes when your router restarts, and forwarding a port to a Minecraft server exposes it to anybody who scans for one.
How to make one
- Sign in with Google. No password to invent, no card.
- Pick what you want to play. Survival, Creative, Hardcore, Lifesteal, Skyblock or OneBlock.
- Name the world. You can rename it later without breaking the address.
- Type your friends’ Minecraft usernames. Only those names can connect.
- Send them the address and start playing.
Nobody has to leave a computer on
The world runs on our machines, not yours. When the last person leaves it saves and sleeps ten minutes later, and sleeping costs you nothing.
Connecting wakes it up again. The first person to join after a sleep waits about a minute while a machine starts, and everybody after that joins straight away.
Who can get in
Only the usernames you added. There is no public listing, no server browser, and no way for a stranger to find the address by scanning.
You can add and remove people whenever you like, and removing somebody takes effect immediately, including if they are online at the time.
What it costs and what the limits are
Nothing, and the limits are worth knowing before you start rather than after.
- Three worlds per account
- A hundred hours of server time a month, shared across all three
- Worlds sleep ten minutes after the last person leaves, and sleeping time is free
- Three saves kept per world, with a new one every time it stops
- Java Edition only, on Minecraft 26.2 or newer
Make one now. Free, no card, and about ninety seconds from here to an address you can send your friends.
Start a worldCommon questions
Do my friends need to pay or make an account?
Neither. They need Minecraft Java Edition, which they already own if they are playing, and their username on your list. They never visit JetRift.
Do I have to forward a port on my router?
No. The server is not on your network, so there is nothing to forward and your home IP address is never involved.
Can my friends on Xbox, PlayStation, Switch or phone join?
No. Those run Bedrock Edition, which cannot connect to a Java server. That is a Minecraft limitation and no host can work around it. Everybody needs Java Edition on PC, Mac or Linux.
What happens if we all stop playing for a month?
The world sits there saved and costs you nothing. Your hours reset at the start of each calendar month, and the address still works when somebody comes back.
Can I move a world I already have onto it?
Not yet. Uploading an existing world is not built, and we would rather say so than imply otherwise. New worlds start fresh.