How to Join a Minecraft Server on PS4, PS5, Xbox or Switch

Why the console won't let you add servers

On PlayStation, Xbox and Switch you play Minecraft Bedrock, just like on mobile and Windows. But on mobile and Windows, “Servers” has “Add Server”, and on consoles it doesn't: only the featured servers show up, the ones with a deal with Mojang.

The fix almost everyone uses is BedrockConnect, a free, open project since 2019. With its DNS, the console thinks it's joining a featured server and instead opens a server list where you type your server's address and port. Then it passes you on to your server and you play normally: BedrockConnect is only the front door.

If you have the old PS4 or Xbox 360 edition (“Legacy”, the one from before 2019), it can't be done: that version doesn't join servers. Today's version from the console store is Bedrock.

First: make your server accept Bedrock players

A Minecraft Java server doesn't understand Bedrock by itself. With the Geyser and Floodgate plugins on a Paper server it does, and console players join the same world as PC players without a Java account. With mods (Fabric, Forge, NeoForge) it doesn't work: Geyser doesn't translate mods.

1. Turn on Bedrock in the panel

   Inside your server, “Mods & plugins” → “Bedrock” tab → “Turn on Bedrock”. It installs Geyser, Floodgate and ViaVersion and the server restarts twice: a couple of minutes. It also works on the free Minecraft server, which comes with Paper.

2. Write down the address and the port

   When it's done, the same tab shows the address and the port for Bedrock. You need both: Java players can join with just the address, but Bedrock doesn't read that way of finding the port and you have to type it.

Nintendo Switch and Xbox: change the DNS

DNS is what turns the names of websites and servers into addresses. With BedrockConnect's, only the names of the featured servers change; for everything else the secondary one, Google's, is used and the console goes online as always.

1. Open the console's internet settings

   On Switch, in the system settings, “Internet” and the network you connect with. On Xbox, in “Settings”, the network settings and their advanced options. The exact names change a little with each system version.

2. Set the DNS manually

   DNS on manual: primary 104.238.130.180 and secondary 8.8.8.8. Save and let the console test the connection.

PlayStation 4 and PS5: change the DNS

On PlayStation the project itself recommends a different DNS: the main one sometimes fails on PS4 and PS5.

1. PS5

   “Settings” → “Network” → “Settings” → “Set Up Internet Connection”. Pick your network, go into its advanced settings and set the DNS settings to manual: primary 45.55.68.52 and secondary 8.8.8.8. Confirm and wait for it to test the connection.

2. PS4

   “Settings” → “Network” → “Set Up Internet Connection”, your connection type (wifi or cable) and “Custom”. IP address automatic, DHCP host name do not specify, DNS manual (primary 45.55.68.52, secondary 8.8.8.8), MTU automatic and no proxy server. At the end, test the connection.

Open the list and add your server

1. Open a featured server

   In Minecraft, “Play” → “Servers” tab and join one of these: Mineville, Lifeboat, Enchanted, Galaxite or The Hive. With the DNS changed, instead of that server the BedrockConnect list opens.

2. Press “Connect to a Server”

   In “Server Address” type your server's address and in “Server Port” the port, the two the panel's “Bedrock” tab gave you.

3. Save it for next time

   Turn on “Add to server list” (and give it a name in “Display Name”, only letters, numbers and spaces). Next time it'll be on the list and you just press it.

4. Play

   It passes you on to your server. If the list window closes by accident, crouch or hit something and it comes back.

If it doesn't work

The real featured server opens, not the list: the DNS wasn't saved or the console is on another network (check which one it's connected to). On PlayStation, try 45.55.68.52 if you used the other one. Turning the console fully off and on again also helps.

The list doesn't load or only works sometimes: BedrockConnect is a volunteer service, not ours, and it goes down now and then. Its GitHub page (Pugmatt/BedrockConnect) shows its status and other community addresses to use instead. Meanwhile, from a phone or Windows you join directly with “Add Server”.

It opens the list but not your server: check that the server is on, that Bedrock is turned on and that the port is the one from the “Bedrock” tab. If it kicks you saying the version doesn't match, the console has updated and Geyser hasn't: in “Mods & plugins” → “Bedrock”, “Turn off Bedrock” and then “Turn on Bedrock” again downloads the newest Geyser.

It says you can't play multiplayer: that's the account, not the server. In Minecraft you have to sign in with the Microsoft account, and if it's a child account, the Microsoft family settings have to allow multiplayer. If your console asks for a subscription to play online (on Switch, Nintendo Switch Online), it applies here too.

Console players on your server

Floodgate puts a dot in front of Bedrock players' names so they don't clash with Java ones (and turns spaces into underscores): the player “Ana Gamer” shows up as .Ana_Gamer. To make them an admin, in the panel's “Console”: op .Ana_Gamer.

If you have the whitelist on, Bedrock players are added with fwhitelist add and their Xbox name, not with whitelist add.

To undo the console trick when you're done, set the DNS back to automatic. While you have it, the featured servers we named open the list instead of their own server.

Frequently asked questions