How to play Minecraft with a friend who lives somewhere else
To play Minecraft Java Edition with a friend on a different network, you both connect to a server that is running somewhere else. Opening a world to LAN only works inside one house. JetRift gives you that server free: pick a game mode, name the world, add your friend by Minecraft username, and send them an address like yourworld.play.jetrift.com that they paste into Multiplayer.
Why LAN does not reach them
Open to LAN does exactly what it says. It advertises your world to other machines on the same home network, which is why it works for somebody in the next room and never for somebody in the next town. Nothing you change in the game menu extends it, because the limit is the network and not the setting.
The thing that does reach them is a server with an address on the public internet, which both of you connect to as clients. Your world then lives on that server rather than on either of your computers, which also means it keeps running when whoever started it goes to bed.
The four ways people do this
- Open to LAN. Free, instant, and only works inside one building.
- Port forwarding. Free, runs on your own computer, and needs router changes that many people cannot make and should not have to. Your computer has to stay on, and your home address is exposed to everyone who joins.
- Realms or a paid host. Reliable, and a monthly subscription.
- A free host. No card and no router changes. JetRift is one.
What both of you need
- Minecraft Java Edition on 26.2 or newer, on both computers. Bedrock, the version on consoles and phones, cannot join a Java server.
- One of you makes the world. Only that person needs an account here.
- The Minecraft username of everybody joining, exactly as it is spelled in game.
- The address. It stays the same for ever, so it only has to be sent once.
Different countries, and lag
Distance costs milliseconds and there is no way around physics. Worlds here run in Oregon, so a group spread across North America is comfortable, Europe is playable, and the far side of the world is noticeably behind. That is worth knowing before you plan a Manhunt with somebody twelve time zones away.
What matters more than distance for most groups is that the server is a real machine rather than somebody’s laptop with a game open on it.
Make one now. Free, no card, and about ninety seconds from here to an address you can send your friends.
Start a worldCommon questions
Can my friend on Bedrock join my Java server?
No. Java and Bedrock are separate games that cannot join each other’s servers, no matter what the address is. Everybody has to be on Java Edition.
Does my computer have to stay on?
No. The world runs on our machines, so it keeps going when you close the game, and your friends can play when you are not there.
Do my friends need to make an account here?
No. One person makes the world and adds everybody by Minecraft username. Everybody else just joins the address.
Is a VPN like Hamachi a good idea?
It does work, by pretending everybody is on one network. It is also fiddly to set up every time, slower than a real server, and it stops the moment whoever hosts the world logs off. A server is less work after the first ninety seconds.