How do you make a local (LAN) server in minecraft?

If you want to create a LAN server to play with your buddies connected on the same network, create a single player world, then from the pause screen, select 'Open to LAN', as pictured below.

Go to your game menu and press "Open to LAN". Next, it will show your IP address. Write down the IP address, and go back to the title screen and click on multiplayer. Then, click on "Add server", name the server and then type in the IP address.

Five steps:

1. Open to LAN
2. It will give you a 5-digit port number
3. Find your IPv4 Address using ipconfig in Command prompt (search CMD in search bar)
4. If your IP address is 123.456.7.8, and LAN is 89072, then you will combine them to make something like: 123.456.7.8:80729
5. Use direct connect and connect to the game

The following worked for me:

Locate your IP address by opening System Preferences > Network. Copy the IP address.

Alternatively, find your IP address from the terminal:

 $ ifconfig | grep "inet "
    inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000
    inet 10.0.0.217 netmask 0xffffff00 broadcast 10.0.0.255

Then, start single player and click "Open to LAN" from the pause menu. It will print a port number, say 51831. If your local IP address is 10.0.0.217 then join the two with a :: 10.0.0.217:51831. Share this address with your friend, and ask them to connect using "Direct Connection" from the multiplayer start menu.

1. Start a Single-Player World

   The first step, if you haven’t already started one, is to create a single-player world. Pretty simple, under the “Singleplayer” tab, select “Create World” and then select your game options.

   There is no specific set of settings for your world; this will not affect your friend from later joining the game.

2. Open to LAN

   

   After you have started your single-player world, press “ESC” on the keyboard (for PC), and this will bring up the pause menu.

   Then, in the lower right corner, select the “Open to LAN” button, customize multiplayer options, then lastly select “Start LAN World” in the lower left corner, and a 5-digit LAN number will pop up in chat. Make sure that you remember it.

   

3. Find Your IPV4 Address in Settings

   How to Find your IPV4 Address Windows and MAC If you’re not sure what this is or how to find it, there are many helpful articles and videos on the web (should look something like '192.168.x.xx', numbers will vary).

4. “Direct Connect” to Server

   Image of The Direct Connect button in Multiplayer Tab Now call up your friend, (or whatever you use to communicate with them) and have them select the “Multiplayer” option on the home screen. Next, they need to click the “Direct Connect” option on the bottom of the screen.

   After they have the Direct Connect screen open, tell them to put in your IPV4 address (with periods and everything):

   

   When they have typed it in character by character, add a colon directly at the end of this string of characters.

   After the colon, they need to put in the LAN number you produced earlier; after you selected “Open to LAN” (There should be no spaces in between any of the numbers or characters).

   When you have completed all the steps above, tell them to select “Join Server” at the bottom, and watch the magic happen!

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Troubleshooting

Often times, while attempting to play with your friends via LAN, you will be confronted with an error message that looks something like this. This can be very annoying, as this has happened to me too many times. There are a couple of ways to try and get around this roadblock;

First of all, after you open “Direct Connect”, give it at least 45 seconds to fully load. I know, you can’t tell that it is loading due to the absence of a loading sign, however if you put in all of the information and try to join your friend’s game before the “Direct Connect” page is finished loading, it will give you an error.

Secondly, especially if you are on Windows, the firewall can play a big role in preventing you from playing with friends. Try turning off your firewall, and try this again.

**** REMEMBER TO TURN IT BACK ON AFTERWARDS! ****

Lastly, you might want to try re-installing Minecraft. The main reason why this is not working is that after you “Direct Connect” to the server, your computer pings for the host – if it finds them, great, you can join them. However, if no computer or user is found with this LAN number/IPV4 address, then you will have no luck. By re-installing Minecraft, you can restart this process.

A more detailed description of this process found here.