Bug Type:
Gameplay → Multiplayer → LAN/Local Play
Platform(s):
Windows 11 (host)
Tested with Xbox, Android, and Windows clients on the same local Wi-Fi
Expected Behavior:
When a player opens a world with Multiplayer Game and Visible to LAN Players enabled, any other players on the same local Wi-Fi network should be able to see and join the hosted world via the “Friends” or “LAN Games” tab.
Observed Behavior:
The host player appears online to other players on the network, but the hosted world does not show up under "Friends" or "LAN Games" as expected. This occurs even when:
Both devices are on the same Wi-Fi network and subnet
No firewall or AP isolation is present
All multiplayer and LAN settings are enabled on both devices
This issue appears to be consistent and repeatable.
Additional Observation:
If the player manually adds the LAN host’s local IP and port to the "Servers" tab, the hosted world temporarily appears under “LAN Games” — but only while the connection is active. As soon as the player disconnects, the LAN listing disappears again. This suggests that the LAN visibility mechanism is functional, but automatic LAN discovery or broadcast-based detection is broken in recent versions.
Steps to Reproduce:
On a Windows 11 PC, start Minecraft Bedrock 1.20.81.
Create or load a world.
Ensure:
Multiplayer Gameis enabledVisible to LAN Playersis onXbox Live privacy settings allow multiplayer
On a second device (Android or Windows), connect to the same Wi-Fi.
Open Minecraft Bedrock.
Go to the “Friends” tab.
Observe:
The host player appears online
The LAN world does not appear in the list
Now manually add the host’s local IP:port in the "Servers" tab.
Connect to the server.
Observe:
The LAN world now appears in the LAN list
Once disconnected, it disappears again
Network Environment Verified:
Devices on the same subnet (e.g.,
192.168.86.x)No guest network or isolation
IGMP snooping disabled
UDP broadcast verified via tcpdump
Local firewalls tested both enabled and disabled
Bedrock server and client tested on same device and on different devices
Impact:
This breaks local multiplayer for friends, families, and classrooms who rely on the simplicity of LAN gameplay. Workarounds require technical knowledge (manual IP entry), which is not feasible for most casual or console players.
Linked issues
is duplicated by 1
Comments 5
I’m having what I think may be the same problem, but:
The PCs on my LAN connect via Ethernet, not Wi-Fi (I don’t think the physical layer matters for this problem).
When I open a multiplayer world, the other PC sees it. When they open one, I can see it for about 1–2 seconds, but then it disappears.
Even though I can’t see their world, I can join it via the Friends drawer.
Both worlds have “Visible to LAN players” enabled and we’re both signed into Xbox Live.
I tried reinstalling Minecraft but it didn’t make any difference.
It occurs to me that the problem might have something to do with Xbox privacy settings, but it seems unlikely. Nevertheless, I'll investigate when I get a chance and update if it seems relevant.
Hi!
Thank you for your report, however the issue has been temporarily closed as Awaiting Response.
Is this issue stil present on the latest version of Minecraft?
Did console have an Xbox Game Pass?
Does this issue occur when the host is on a different device than PC?
We cannot confirm the issue as we cannot reproduce. The ticket will automatically reopen once you reply, thanks!
Quick Links:
📓 Issue Guidelines – 💬 Mojang Support – 📧 Suggestions – 📖 Minecraft Wiki
This is still happening in 1.21.94. On my PC, the other player’s world appears in my Worlds list as a “LAN world” for a few seconds, then disappears. This only happens once per launch of Minecraft. If I exit and relaunch, it happens again. This is repeatable.
I recently joined PC Game Pass, but it still behaves the same way. The other PC on my LAN is not on Game Pass.
On my Android phone, the other world initially appears twice, both as a “LAN world” and a “Friend’s world”. Then after about 2-3 seconds the LAN world disappears but the Friend’s world persists. As on the PC, the LAN world doesn't reappear unless I relaunch Minecraft.
Speculation: As an experiment, we turned off “Visible to LAN players” for the world. It still showed up on my phone as a “Friend’s world”, so maybe what’s really happening is this: Minecraft checks for both LAN worlds and friends' worlds, but if a friend is playing on the same LAN, their world would be listed twice, which might be confusing, so the game suppresses the LAN world in this case. The bug would be that in this case, the Windows edition suppresses the LAN world but also fails to list the friend’s world. So the problem isn’t detecting LAN worlds, it’s listing Friend’s worlds. (Remember, I can still join the unlisted world by clicking Join in the Friends drawer, I just can’t see the name of the world that way.)
This MIGHT no longer be an issue. In 1.21.101 the worlds show up as “Friend’s world”, which suggests that the explanation I speculated about at the end of my last comment might have been correct and has, perhaps, been fixed. However, I also traded up to a new PC since that comment so Minecraft has now been reinstalled on a PC it had never been installed on before, and that may have circumvented the problem, in which case the problem probably still exists. Since I can’t reproduce it any more, it’s up to somebody else watching this bug report to weigh in.
Your steps say to open Bedrock 1.20.81. That version is outdated and no longer supported. Can you reproduce this issue in 1.21.72/73?