5eb224a909
The whole of Horizon is in beta, so the channel that installs every build as soon as it is built is called Alpha; Stable keeps its name. The launcher's Settings, the update-channel command, the MCP tool, the release notes footer and the docs say Alpha. update_channel is saved as "alpha"; "nightly" and the old beta_builds switch still read as Alpha. Co-Authored-By: Claude Sonnet 5.5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
44 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
44 lines
3.1 KiB
Markdown
# Multiplayer
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You can play with friends from your own world, on your local network, or on a server. This page also says plainly what does not work yet: servers that check Minecraft accounts.
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## Play with friends from your own world
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This needs no server and no account.
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1. In your world, open the pause menu and choose **Invite friends**. Horizon opens the world to your network and shows an **invite code**.
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2. Send the code to your friends.
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3. On their side, your friends choose **Join a friend** (on the game's Multiplayer page, or on the launcher's **Play** page), paste the code and choose **Join**.
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There is no Horizon server in the middle. The code holds the host's addresses and a secret key, and the game between you is encrypted with it. A code works for as long as you keep sharing: closing the world or quitting ends it.
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**Can your friends reach you?** The pause menu says what the game found:
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- On the same network, or over a VPN such as Tailscale or ZeroTier, it just works.
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- Over the internet, it asks your router to open the port by itself (UPnP). If the router does not allow it, forward TCP port 25580 to your computer.
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- Some internet providers share one address between many homes (CGNAT), and no port can be opened. Use a VPN such as [Tailscale](https://tailscale.com) instead; the code already contains your VPN address.
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Guests join with the name their game uses. There is no account check, so only share the code with people you trust.
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In Alpha builds, guests can also use the host's workstations: the crafter, loom, stonecutter, grindstone, anvil, smithing table, enchanting table, beacon, lectern and cartography table. Stable gets this once it has passed.
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## Open to LAN
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As in vanilla, **Open to LAN** in the pause menu lets people on the same network join your world. They see it in their server list. A vanilla 26.3 client can join a Horizon LAN world, and Horizon can join a vanilla one. LAN worlds are in offline mode.
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## Joining a server
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The Multiplayer page works like vanilla's: **Add server** saves one, **Direct connect** takes an address, and your servers are listed with their message of the day and ping. Horizon joins vanilla 26.3 servers and Horizon's own.
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**Online mode.** Most public servers run in online mode: they check that each player really owns Minecraft by asking Mojang. To pass that check, the game needs a Microsoft account sign-in, and Horizon cannot do that yet. It needs an app registration and an approval from Mojang that the project does not have. So today:
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- **Horizon can join servers in offline mode only** (`online-mode=false`): your own, a friend's, or a server on your network or a VPN.
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- **It cannot join servers that check accounts.** That is most public servers, and Realms.
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- Skins served over https show the default skin unless they were already cached.
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Anyone can join an offline server under any name, so run one only on your network or a VPN, or share it with people you trust. [Host a server](/docs/hosting) explains the details.
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## Vanilla players on a Horizon server
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A vanilla 26.3 client can join a Horizon server, and in online mode it signs in with its own account as on a vanilla server. Secure chat works for those players.
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