How to join a Minecraft Server on PC

Introduction

Minecraft servers are a fun way to enjoy the game with your friends but if you don't know how to join them you will not be able to join your friends to play the game together. If you continue reading you will find out how to join any Minecraft server with ease!

Finding the Server IP

The server IP is what allows the player to join the specific server, it tells the game which server you are trying to join and it is required to connect to any server. It usually is a string of numbers or words containing full stops; for example the server IP for Hypixel (The most popular Minecraft server) is “mc.hypixel.net“. I will now show you the way to find it.

If it is a Private Server

If the server you are attempting to join is a private server (which is a server, usually owned by someone you know, which restricts who can join it by invitation) belonging to your friend, you will need to ask them for the server IP to be able to join the server. The server IP will usually be located in the admin panel of their server host depending on how they are hosting their server. They may also have to type the command /whitelist add username (replacing the word username with your Minecraft username).

If it is a Public Server

If the server you are trying to join is a public server (which is a server that will allow anyone to join from anywhere in the world which you do not need to be invited to join) then you will usually be able to find the server IP by asking a friend for the server IP if you are trying to play with them or by searching the server name on a search engine such as Google or Ecosia.

Joining the Server

Now that you have found the server IP, if you have not already, you will now need to open Minecraft. Once the game is open, click on the button that says multiplayer. Once you have clicked it you should see a screen similar to the one below:

This is where you will enter the server IP to join the server. There are two options you can use to join the server; you can press the “Direct Connection” button if you are only going to play on the server once to have a look at it or you can click on the “Add Server” button to be able to join it multiple times with ease. I recommend choosing the “Add Server” option as it makes it really easy to add and organise all the servers you enjoy playing on.

Joining via Add Server

If you are going to join the server via the Add Server option you should see the following screen when clicking the “Add Server” button:

At first, this screen might look quite complicated but it is actually quite simple. The first box, the “Server Name”, is where you can type what you want the server to be called in the server list; it does not matter what you put the name as but it is helpful to put it to something descriptive such as the server name but you can just keep it as Minecraft Server if you want.

The next box, the “Server Address”, is where you should enter the server IP to be able to join the server. The final box is the box labelled: “Server Resource Packs”, you can keep it as it is unless you have been told to change it to something else for that specific server. Below is an example of what it might look like if you were adding the Minecraft server, Hypixel:

Once you have entered the information into the boxes you can click the “Done” button to add it to the server list. Once you have done that your server list will look like this:

You can now just click on the server in the server list and click join server and it should start connecting you to the server.

Joining via Direct Connection

If you are instead joining via the Direct Connection option then you should see the following screen upon clicking the button:

You can now just enter the server IP into the text box (The box under the words, “Server Address”) and click the button labelled “Join Server”. Once you have clicked “Join Server” if you wait for a few seconds (2-30 seconds) you should be in the server and able to play (provided you entered the server IP correctly).

Congratulations, you now know how to join any Minecraft server that you want to with absolute ease!