How to Find Your Minecraft Server IP Address: A Simple Guide

So, you’re looking to share your awesome Minecraft world with friends? Fantastic! Hosting your own Minecraft server is a blast, letting you create unique adventures and experiences together. But to get your buddies online, you’ll need to give them your server’s IP address. Don’t worry, it’s not as complicated as it sounds. This guide will walk you through exactly how to find the IP address for your Minecraft server, step-by-step.

Understanding IP Addresses: Local vs. Public

Before we dive in, it’s helpful to understand there are actually two main types of IP addresses you’ll be dealing with:

Local IP Address (LAN IP): This is the address of your computer within your home or local network. Think of it like your house number on your street. Other devices on your home Wi-Fi use this to find your computer. This is what your friends on the same network would use to connect.
Public IP Address (WAN IP): This is the address your internet service provider (ISP) assigns to your entire home network. It’s how the internet sees your connection, like your street address for the whole neighborhood. Friends connecting from outside your home network will need this.

For most cases where your friends are playing from their own homes, you’ll need both of these addresses, along with your server’s port number, to get everything set up correctly.

Step 1: Finding Your Local IP Address

Your local IP address is essential for setting up port forwarding and for friends on your home network to connect. Here’s how to find it:

Using the Ping Command (Windows, macOS, Linux):

Open your command prompt or terminal:
- Windows: Press the Windows key, type cmd, and press Enter.
- macOS: Press Command + Spacebar, type terminal, and press Enter.
- Linux: Open your terminal application (usually Ctrl+Alt+T).
Type the following command and replace [Your Computer Name] with your computer’s name. You can usually find your computer name in your system settings.
```
ping [Your Computer Name]
```
For example, if your computer name is MyPC, you would type:
```
ping MyPC
```

Press Enter. The command will attempt to “ping” your computer. Look for the line that starts with “Reply from…” This line will show your local IP address, usually in the format of four numbers separated by dots (IPv4), like 192.168.1.XXX, or a longer alphanumeric address (IPv6).

Pinging MyPC [192.168.1.100] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 192.168.1.100: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.100: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.100: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 192.168.1.100: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 192.168.1.100:
    Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
    Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

In this example, the local IP address is 192.168.1.100.

Alternative Methods:

Windows (ipconfig): Open Command Prompt and type ipconfig. Look for “IPv4 Address” under your network adapter (e.g., “Ethernet adapter Ethernet” or “Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi”).
macOS/Linux (ifconfig or ip addr): Open Terminal and type ifconfig (macOS/older Linux) or ip addr (newer Linux). Look for your network interface (e.g., eth0, wlan0, or en0) and find the inet address (for IPv4) or inet6 address (for IPv6).

Step 2: Finding Your Minecraft Server Port

You likely already know your Minecraft server port if you set up the server. The default port for Minecraft servers is 25565. However, if you changed it during setup, you’ll need to use that custom port.

Check your server configuration files: Look for the server.properties file in your Minecraft server directory. Open it with a text editor and find the line server-port=. The number after the = is your server port.

Step 3: Finding Your Public IP Address (WAN IP)

Your public IP address is what people outside your network will use to connect. The easiest way to find it is using a website:

Open your web browser.
Go to a website like http://whatismyipaddress.com/ or simply search “what is my ip” on Google.
The website will instantly display your public IP address. Write this down.

Step 4: Setting Up Port Forwarding on Your Router

Port forwarding is crucial for allowing connections from the internet to reach your Minecraft server on your local network. You’ll need your local IP address, server port, and router access for this step.

Access your router’s web interface:
- Usually, you can do this by typing your router’s IP address into your web browser’s address bar. Common router addresses are http://192.168.1.1, http://192.168.0.1, or http://10.0.0.1.
- If you’re unsure, you can find your gateway address in your network settings (often the same as your router address). In Windows, use ipconfig in Command Prompt and look for “Default Gateway.” On macOS/Linux, use route -n or ip route show.
Log in to your router: You’ll need your router’s username and password. These are often found on a sticker on the router itself or in your router’s documentation. Default usernames and passwords are often admin/admin or admin/password, but it’s best to change these for security.
Find the Port Forwarding settings: The location of port forwarding settings varies between routers. Look for sections like “Port Forwarding,” “NAT Forwarding,” “Virtual Servers,” or “Gaming.”
Create a new port forwarding rule:
- Protocol: Select TCP/UDP or just TCP. Minecraft primarily uses TCP.
- Start Port: Enter your Minecraft server port (usually 25565).
- End Port: Enter the same port number again (25565).
- WAN (or External) IP: In most cases, you can leave this blank or it might be pre-filled with your router’s WAN IP. You are forwarding to your WAN IP, so the router already knows this.
- LAN (or Internal) IP / Server IP: Enter the local IP address of the computer running your Minecraft server (the one you found in Step 1).
- Internal Port / Local Port: Enter your Minecraft server port again (25565).
- Description (Optional): You can add a description like “Minecraft Server” to help you remember this rule.
Save the port forwarding rule: Make sure to save your changes and sometimes routers require a restart to apply the settings.

Step 5: Share Your Public IP and Port with Friends

Now you have everything your friends need to connect!

Give your friends your Public IP Address (WAN IP) that you found in Step 3.
Tell them your Minecraft Server Port (usually 25565, or your custom port).

They will enter your Public IP address and port in their Minecraft client when adding a server, in the format: [Your Public IP Address]:[Your Port]. For example: 123.45.67.89:25565.

Dynamic IP Addresses

Keep in mind that many home internet connections use dynamic IP addresses. This means your Public IP address can change periodically. If your friends can no longer connect, your WAN IP might have changed. You can check your current WAN IP again using the “whatismyipaddress” website.

For a more permanent solution if you plan to host your server often, you can consider using a Dynamic DNS (DDNS) service. This will give you a hostname that always points to your current IP address, even if it changes. Setting up DDNS is a more advanced topic but worth exploring if dynamic IPs become an issue.

Hosting a Minecraft server can be incredibly rewarding. By following these steps, you’ll be well on your way to creating your own online Minecraft world for you and your friends to enjoy!