For an open-world sandbox game released over a decade ago, Minecraft has amassed an incredible number of active players.

Use the in-game settings to add friends in Minecraft Java (Image via Mojang Studios) The second and free method to play Minecraft with a friend involves hosting your own LAN server.

How to host a Minecraft server Our comprehensive guide will tell you all you need to know about Minecraft server hosting so you can jump into MC multiplayer with friends.

The Bedrock Edition of Minecraft is playable with friends using peer-to-peer online multiplayer, where you can join your friends’ active sessions for free. But if you want a server that will ...

Java Edition users of Minecraft will need Java installed. After doing that, you’ll need to download the version of Minecraft Forge that matches your server version.