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Minecraft LAN not working: 10 Fixes

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  • 6 min read

Minecraft is one of the most popular action-adventure survival games and is still strong thanks to amazing community support and new multiplayer features. However, you don’t always need the internet to play Minecraft online, as the game also supports LAN multiplayer. 

However, while creating and joining LAN games might be easy, it doesn’t always go that swimmingly. In this article, we’re taking a look at LAN servers not working in Minecraft, the reasons behind it and what you can do to fix the problem.

What causes this problem?

More often than not, LAN games don’t show up because of the following reasons:

  • Players aren’t on the same network.
  • Incorrect host IP address.
  • Firewall or Antivirus blocking the game.

Also read: How to join LAN world in Minecraft?

How to fix this?

Here are 10 fixes you can try out.

Restart your router 

Restarting devices that could potentially be causing issues should be the first item on your troubleshooting checklist. In this case, since we’re facing a network issue, restarting your router or modem can help fix a bunch of seemingly random issues. 

Restart the game

Restarting the game or your PC (or console) is also a good idea. Sometimes temporary bugs in the game won’t let you load into worlds or crash while loading a certain biome. In such cases, restarting the game or your PC can potentially resolve the error.

Is everyone on the same network?

Keep in mind that LAN games only work when the host and client machines are on the same network. Since your local network isn’t exposed to the internet by default, any client not connected to it will not be able to see any servers or other network activity. Check to ensure that everyone is on the same network and try again.

Enable Network Discovery

Network Discovery allows programs to see network activity and hence is important for LAN games like Minecraft. Check to see if network discovery is enabled on both host and client machine. 

Check out our detailed guide on how to enable Network Discover in Windows  11 here.

Check your Antivirus or Firewall

If you have a third-party firewall or antivirus on your system, it could very well be blocking outbound connections from Minecraft that can cause other players to not see the server. Try disabling any third-party firewalls or allowing Minecraft through the Windows Firewall to see if that resolves the error. 

Check out our detailed guide on how to change Windows Firewall settings here. 

Disable AP Isolation

AP Isolation is a security feature on some routers that allows connected devices to access the internet but doesn’t let them communicate with each ohter. This can cause problems for LAN games including Minecraft.

Check your router’s configuration page to see if it supports AP isolaton and if it does, make sure the feature is disabled or allowlist the IP addresses of your and your friends’ machines so that they can communicate over the network.

Use Direct Connect

The game should automatically scan and show any LAN games running on the network and you should be able to join them from the Multiplayer screen. However, if you don’t see any games, go ahead and try Direct Connect.

Step 1: Open Minecraft and click Multiplayer.

Step 2: Go ahead and click Direct Connect.

Step 3: Enter the IP address and port number in the following format

123.456.78.90:1234

Step 4: Click Join Server and you should be good to go. 

Note that the IP address for the host machine can be found by opening a terminal on the host machine and typing ipconfig on Windows and ifconfig on Linux and macOS. The commands will show you the machine’s IP address and you can combine this with the port number that the game server is running on to join the world. 

Check your drivers

Your network adaptor’s drivers could be causing connectivity issues. Try connecting to the internet using either an ethernet connection or any other alternative and follow these steps to get your drivers in place.

Step 1: Press Windows key + R, type in devmgmt.msc and hit enter.

How to fix the 'WiFi connected but no internet access' issue?

Step 2: Double-click Network adaptors to expand it and right-click your Wi-Fi card or ethernet adaptor, depending upon what you need to fix. Click on Update driver.

How to fix the 'WiFi connected but no internet access' issue?

Step 3: Select Search automatically for drivers, and Windows will find and install any available updates. 

How to fix the 'WiFi connected but no internet access' issue?

Now restart your PC and try again. 

Update Windows and Minecraft

Updating the game and your OS can also help resolve the issue by eliminating any underlying bugs hindering functionality. It’s also important to ensure that you and your friends are on the same game version. 

Check out this guide to quickly update Windows or pause updates if it's hindering your game. 

You can also check out this guide to update Windows 10 from Command line and Powershell. 

If you're facing issues while updating Windows 10, go here.

Reinstall Minecraft

If nothing else works, your best bet is to reinstall the game from scratch. That’ll get rid of any corrupt data files or configurations that might be causing issues for you and start the game afresh. 

Also read: How to tab out of Minecraft without pausing?

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