Minecraft LAN Not Working? Here Are Ways To Fix The Issue

Has it ever happened that you tried joining Minecraft LAN world but couldn’t connect? You are not alone. This is a very common issue that gamers face across the globe. There could be various reasons for the same. In this post, we are first going to discuss the various reasons why Minecraft LAN is not working on your Windows PC and then we’ll discuss how you can resolve the issue.

Reasons Why Minecraft LAN Is Not Working

• Windows Defender Firewall has blocked Minecraft.
• The other computers you are trying to play with on LAN are connected to different networks.
• Your PC has outdated network drivers.
• You have disabled “Network Discovery.”
• Certain mods are creating issues.

In this post, we’ll find ways to resolve the abovementioned issues. 

Best Ways To Fix Minecraft LAN Not Working

Solution No. 1 – Check If Windows Firewall Is Blocking Minecraft

The first thing you can do if Minecraft LAN is not showing up is check if your Windows Firewall is blocking it. The steps below guide you on how to disable or enable Windows Firewall. 

Step 1 – In the Windows search bar, type Control. When you see Control Panel, click on Open from the right-hand side.
Step 2 – When the Control Panel window opens, click on the View by dropdown and select Large icons. Next, locate the Windows Defender Firewall.

Step 3 –  From the left-hand side, click on Allow an app or feature through Windows Firewall.

Step 4 – Click on Change settings. Ensure you have checked checkboxes next to javaw.exe, Java (TM) Platform SE binary, Minecraft.

Step 5 – Click on OK. 

Now, open Minecraft and check if you can join LAN successfully. If not, try disabling Windows Defender Firewall before playing the game. To do that – 

Step 1 – Open Control Panel.
Step 2 – Click on Windows Defender Firewall.
Step 3 – From the left-hand side, click on Turn Windows Defender Firewall on or off.

Step 4 – Click on the Turn off Windows Defender Firewall radio button under Private network settings and Public network settings

Step 5 – Click on OK

If you can play Minecraft LAN, then it’s okay. Otherwise, you can try reenabling the firewall or the other solutions mentioned in this post.  

Solution No. 2 – Make Sure Every PC Is Connected To The Same Network

In case the Minecraft LAN connection is refused, there are chances that the computers you are trying to play with are not connected to the same network as you. This means whether you use Wi-Fi or Ethernet, the computers should be connected to the same network. You may also want to verify that each computer has a valid IP address.

Read Also: How to Fix “Ethernet Does Not Have a Valid IP Configuration” Error

Solution No. 3 –  Update Network Drivers

Outdated network drivers can be one of the reasons why the LAN connection has refused to work on Minecraft on your PC. Here, the best bet is to use a driver updater tool like Advanced Driver Updater, which is a specialist in identifying outdated drivers and helps update them in a few simple clicks. 

Here is how you can update outdated network drivers using Advanced Driver Updater – 

Step 1 – Download, install, and run Advanced Driver Updater.

Step 2 –  Click on the Start Scan Now button to scan your computer for outdated drivers. In this case, the driver updater tool will look for outdated network drivers.

Step 3 – From the next screen, click on the checkbox next to your network driver and then click on the Update driver option that you can see next to the status. 

Advanced Driver Updater offers a risk-free way to update your drivers because – 

• It lets you create a backup of drivers before you update them.
• You can restore backed-up drivers if the updated drivers are causing issues.
• Advanced Driver Updater lets you schedule driver scans at your desired date, day, and time.
• If you don’t want certain drivers to be included in the scan, you can choose to exclude them.

To know more about Advanced Driver Updater and its various features and other aspects, you can check out our in-depth review of this tool.

Solution No. 4 – Enable Network Discovery

If your Minecraft LAN is not showing up, it could be that Network Discovery is disabled. For that, you may need to reconfigure the built-in firewall to allow sharing between computers and devices connected to the same network. To do that follow the steps mentioned below – 

Step 1 – Open Control Panel.
Step 2 – Click on Network and Sharing Center.

Step 3 – From the left-hand side, click on Change advanced sharing settings.

Step 4 – In the next window that pops up, toggle on the switch that says Network discovery both under Private networks and Public networks.

Solution No. 5 – Play Minecraft Without Mods

Playing Minecraft with mods can sometimes complicate network connections. You can instead opt to play with the basic version of the game. This step has helped many users fix the Minecraft LAN not working issue.

Solution No. 6 – Reset Network Configuration

In case you are encountering the “Minecraft LAN connection timed out: no further information” issue, try resetting the network configuration. That’s because there are times when the gamer servers block IPs or internet connection. To reset the network configuration, here are the steps – 

Step 1 – In the Windows search bar, type cmd.

Step 2 – Click on Run as administrator from the right-hand side.

Step 3 – When the administrator Command Prompt opens, type the following commands one after the other separated by enter. This means after typing each command hit the Enter key – 

ipconfig /release

ipconfig /flushdns

ipconfig /renew

netsh int ip

netsh int ip set dns

netsh winsock reset

Step 4 – Once you have executed these commands, restart your computer and check if the 

issue persists or not.

Solution No. 7 – Check Server Status

In some cases, if your Minecraft LAN fails to connect to the server, there could be issues with the server instead of the DNS or game. Here, check the status of the server by using the steps mentioned below – 

Step 1 – Head to https://mcsrvstat.us/
Step 2 – Type in the server IP and click on Ger Server Status.

Step 3 – Check if the server is working or not. 

Solution No. 8 – Reinstall Minecraft

If none of the above solutions have worked until now, you can try reinstalling Minecraft. You may also want to reconnect every computer to see if the issue is resolved.

Solution No. 9 – Try Direct Connect

You can try a direct connect by manually entering the IP address. To do that, follow the steps mentioned below – 

Step 1 – Open the administrative Command Prompt using the abovementioned steps.
Step 2 – When the administrative Command Prompt opens, type ipconfig and press Enter.

Step 3 – Find the network that you are currently connected to. To do that, note down your IPv4 address.
Step 4 – Open Minecraft on the host computer. Note down the game port number at the bottom of the screen, which shows the Local game hosted on port xxxxx.
Step 5 – On the computer that is trying to join the LAN party as a guest, select Multiplayer and then click on Direct Connect.
Step 6 – Enter the IP address and the game port number to make a direct connection. 

Troubleshooting Minecraft LAN: Quick Fixes Unveiled

It can be frustrating when all your friends are all geared up to Minecraft on LAN and bump into Minecraft LAN not working, but it’s certainly not the time to give up. We hope the above solutions, such as checking if computers are connected to the same network or checking and updating outdated network drivers, will help you fix the issue.

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Connection Timed Out on Minecraft Server? Here’s What You Can Do!