Connecting

Connect to your game server with its IP and port, join Minecraft Java and Bedrock from PC or console, and fix a server missing from the server list.

• When a firewall or network blocks your game port

  If one player times out while everyone else is in, something between that player and your server is dropping the traffic. This shows you where blocking happens, how to test it in a minute, and which networks genuinely cannot be worked around.

  6 min read · connecting, firewall, networking · Updated Oct 21, 2026

• Address, IP and port: what to give your players

  A server address is a host and a port joined by a colon, and almost every failed join comes down to one of those two parts being wrong or quietly mangled on the way. Here is the format, the exceptions, and the mistakes to watch for.

  6 min read · connecting, ip-address, port · Updated Oct 21, 2026

• LAN versus internet: why the address is different

  A local address only works inside one home network, and a hosted server is always reached over the internet instead. This explains the difference, why Open to LAN is not server hosting, and exactly what to give your players.

  6 min read · connecting, lan, networking · Updated Oct 21, 2026

• Your friends cannot connect: a checklist that finds it

  When a friend cannot join, the cause is on one of three sides: your server, that player's own setup, or the game's login and matchmaking services. This checklist tests each side in order so you stop guessing.

  6 min read · connecting, troubleshooting, multiplayer · Updated Oct 21, 2026

• Allowlist and whitelist explained

  What the allowlist (Bedrock) and whitelist (Java) do, the commands to manage them, and the classic trap where turning it on with no names blocks everyone, including you.

  2 min read · minecraft, allowlist, whitelist · Updated Sep 24, 2026

• Finding Your Server IP and Port (and Sharing It With Friends)

  Your server IP and port are the address your friends type into the game to join you, and both are shown right at the top of your server in the GuavaHost control panel.

  3 min read · ip-address, port, join · Updated Oct 4, 2026

• Join your Minecraft Bedrock server

  How to add your server in Minecraft Bedrock, and the one trap that catches almost everyone: the port field already has 19132 in it, and you must change it to your server's actual port.

  2 min read · minecraft, bedrock, connecting · Updated Sep 24, 2026

• Join your Minecraft Java server

  How to find your server's address in the panel and add it in the Minecraft Java client, and why matching your client version is usually the fix when you cannot connect.

  2 min read · minecraft, java, connecting · Updated Sep 24, 2026

• Play Bedrock on console (Xbox, PlayStation, Switch)

  Xbox, PlayStation and Switch have no Add Server button, so console players join custom servers through a free workaround. Here are the ones that work.

  4 min read · bedrock, console, xbox · Updated Sep 24, 2026

• Server not showing in the server list

  The three usual reasons a server does not appear in your Minecraft server list, and how to check each one: the server is still starting, the IP or port is wrong, or your version does not match.

  2 min read · minecraft, troubleshooting, connecting · Updated Sep 24, 2026

About these guides

Nearly every connection problem is one of three things: the server is not running, the address is not quite right, or something between you and the server is in the way. These guides take them in that order, because checking in the wrong order is what turns a two minute fix into an afternoon.

Start with finding your server IP and port, which is the address you give players and the first thing to get right. Then the guide for your game: Minecraft Java and Bedrock each have their own, consoles cannot type an address the way a PC can, and a server missing from a public list is usually a different problem from a server you cannot join at all.