How to Join a Minecraft Server on PS5, Switch and Xbox

Want to join a Minecraft server on PS5, Switch or Xbox? Consoles run Bedrock, but Mojang's help center says console versions only show the featured servers: there is no Add Server button. This guide covers the ways in that work, from our free Minecraft Bedrock server or any other.

If you are still setting a server up, start with our free Minecraft server guide and then the Bedrock dedicated server setup.

• The rule today: on PC and mobile you add a server with its address and port; on Xbox, PlayStation and Switch the Servers tab is limited to featured servers.
• Every console needs a Microsoft account signed in, the platform's online subscription and permission to join multiplayer games.
• The simple way in: the console player joins from a phone, tablet or Windows PC with the same Microsoft account.
• Without a second device: Realms (Mojang's paid servers) works on consoles; a community DNS workaround exists, run by third parties, at your own risk.
• What does not work: the Friends tab and parties do not take a console to an address-and-port server.

1. Why consoles differ

All three consoles run Minecraft: Bedrock Edition, the same game as phones and Windows. The difference is the server list. Mojang's help article Play Minecraft: Bedrock Edition Online in a Multiplayer Server, updated on 5 October 2026, says it plainly: "If you play Minecraft on a computer or mobile device, you can modify your server list. Console versions of Minecraft are limited to the featured servers." On a phone you select Play, Servers, Add Server and type the address and port. On a console that button is missing.

You may have read the opposite. The FAQ on Mojang's Bedrock server download page lists Xbox, PlayStation and Switch among the platforms that "can join", and adds that "all players can connect using the same server IP address and port, regardless of platform". Both pages are Mojang's. The help article is the one that describes the console menus, and the Minecraft Wiki agrees with it: console players can only reach a dedicated server through a custom DNS or a LAN connection. We follow the help article.

Three things people try that do not solve it:

• Friends tab. It lists friends' worlds and Realms. The wiki notes that a dedicated server has no invite system for in-game friends, so a PC friend on your server does not show up as joinable.
• Parties. Mojang's parties article says "External servers that require a player to enter an IP/Port are not currently supported."
• LAN. It only reaches a server on the same home network. A hosted server, ours included, is not on your LAN.

2. Pick a way in

A second device. This is what our join page tells console players, and it is the only route Mojang documents for an address-and-port server. That device needs its own copy of Minecraft from its store, as Mojang's buying guide lists one store per platform. Sign in with the same Microsoft account and the player keeps their gamertag, so an allowlist entry works on both.

Realms. The Realms page lists cross-play on Xbox, PlayStation and Nintendo. It is Mojang's own paid server, so you lose the server console and server.properties. We sell server hosting, so weigh our view of it accordingly.

The community DNS workaround. BedrockConnect is an open-source project that redirects some featured server entries to its own server list, where the console player types any address and port. You set the console's DNS to the project's server, open Servers, and join one of the featured servers its README lists as redirect-compatible. Before you try it:

• Every DNS lookup the console makes goes through a server run by volunteers. It is not a Mojang, Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo service, and we do not run or support it.
• It stops working if the featured servers or the public instances change, and Mojang's multiplayer troubleshooting tells players to disable custom DNS when they cannot connect.
• Take the current addresses only from the project's own README. It warns that apps with the same name are not associated with it.

3. Nintendo Switch and Switch 2

1. Nintendo Switch Online. Nintendo's Minecraft store page says any membership and a Nintendo Account are required for online features.
2. Microsoft account. Mojang's accounts article requires both a Microsoft account and a Nintendo account on Switch and Switch 2. Select Sign in with a Microsoft Account on the title screen, open the Remote Connection page on a phone or PC, and enter the code. Your Xbox gamertag then appears in the corner of the title screen, as the Switch sign-in guide shows.
3. Update the game. Mojang's console update guide sends Switch players to Nintendo's software update steps when the version is behind the eShop listing.

The wiki's Bedrock server tutorial goes further for Switch: it says Minecraft on Switch cannot connect to a user-hosted server at all, not even over LAN, and is limited to Realms or featured servers. BedrockConnect's README does give Switch steps, so the two disagree. For a Switch player, the second device is the safe answer.

4. PlayStation (PS5 and PS4)

1. PlayStation Plus. Mojang's multiplayer requirements list it for console multiplayer, and Sony's PlayStation Plus support page says most PS4 and PS5 games need it for online play.
2. Link a Microsoft account. PlayStation needs a PSN account and a Microsoft account. Per Mojang's linking guide: select Sign in with a Microsoft account on the title screen, scan the QR code or visit microsoft.com/link, enter the code and sign in. One Microsoft account links to one PSN account.
3. Update the game with the PS5's own update check.

5. Xbox

1. The online subscription. Mojang's pages still name Xbox Game Pass Core; on xbox.com the plan that lists "Online console multiplayer" today is Game Pass Essential.
2. Microsoft account. On Xbox it is the account you sign in to the console with.
3. Multiplayer permissions. Mojang's child account article covers the settings at xbox.com under Xbox and Windows 10 devices Online Safety: join multiplayer games decides whether the account can join "multiplayer games, Realms, and other servers", and you can join cross-network play decides whether it can play with people on other platforms. The troubleshooting article adds that you may need to allow multiplayer "even if you don't have a child account".
4. Update the game: My games & apps → Manage → Updates.

These permissions follow the Microsoft account, not the device.

6. Let the console player in

Whichever way they arrive, the server sees a Bedrock player with an Xbox gamertag.

• Allowlist. If your 1up server is Invite only, add their gamertag in the Players tab, or turn on Protect with a password so they add themselves from your server's page. Use the gamertag shown on their title screen, not the PSN or Nintendo name.
• Slots. A Free server has 4 player slots.
• Version. Consoles update automatically, and Microsoft's server guide warns that even patch versions can change the protocol. Our Bedrock servers run BDS 1.26.52.3, the build Mojang's download offers on 5 October 2026, but a console update can reach players a few days before it reaches us. If they see «The host is using an older version of Minecraft», the server is behind and nothing on the console will fix it. Our connection troubleshooting guide lists the other messages.

Checked on 2026-10-05 against Mojang's help center, the console makers' pages and the 1up Bedrock template, which ran BDS 1.26.51.1 that morning and runs 1.26.52.3 since the evening release. We did not join from a console for this guide, and we have not tested the DNS workaround against our servers.

NOT AN OFFICIAL MINECRAFT SERVICE. NOT APPROVED BY OR ASSOCIATED WITH MOJANG OR MICROSOFT.

Change log

• 2026-10-05: first version.
• 2026-10-05: 1up Bedrock servers now run 1.26.52.3.