Summary:
Multiplayer worlds via Xbox Live do not appear in the Friends tab when a player’s Microsoft/Xbox Live online status is set to “Appear offline.”
Expected behavior:
Online multiplayer worlds via Xbox Live appear in the Friends tab on friends’ devices when a player’s Microsoft/Xbox Live online status is set “Appear online.”
Online multiplayer worlds via Xbox Live appear in the Friends tab on friends’ devices when a player’s Microsoft/Xbox Live online status is set “Appear offline.” (Observed behavior for versions prior to 1.8.x)
Observed behavior:
Online multiplayer worlds via Xbox Live do not appear in the Friends tab on friends’ devices when a player’s Microsoft/Xbox Live online status is set “Appear offline.”
Note: Players on mobile and Nintendo Switch platforms are unable change their Xbox Live account’s online status via the mobile Xbox App or Xbox.com website.
Steps to Reproduce:
Host: Change Microsoft/Xbox Live online status to “Appear offline” via the Xbox App (Windows 10) or Xbox Dashboard (Xbox One).
Note: Players on mobile and Nintendo Switch platforms are unable change their Xbox Live account’s online status via the mobile Xbox App or Xbox.com website.
Host: Create a world with multiplayer enabled in World Settings → Multiplayer
Friend: Observe if world appears in Friends tab
Configuration:
I have tested and can reproduce this issue using version 1.8.0/1.8.1 on Nintendo Switch, iOS, Windows 10, and Xbox One with four different Microsoft Xbox Live accounts and each acting as the host.
Game
Create and load a world with multiplayer enabled in World Settings → Multiplayer
Set multiplayer setting to “Friends Only” or “Friends of Friends”
Toggle “Visible to LAN Players” off (to isolate to Xbox Live broadcasting; also tested toggled on with same results except on Switch where it’s not an option)
Microsoft/Xbox Live Account
All players are signed in to their own Microsoft/Xbox Live account
"Join multiplayer games” is set to “Allow”
“Others can communicate with…” is set to “Friends”
Online status set to "Appear offline" (Either by default or set by player)
Devices
All devices connected to Wi-Fi with an open NAT type
Nintendo Switch account has a Switch Online membership
Microsoft/Xbox Live account has Xbox Live Gold subscription
iPhone 8, iOS 12.1
Lenovo Yoga 720, Windows 10 (1809)
Xbox One S, OS 10.0.17763.3065
Nintendo Switch, OS 6.2.0
Workaround(s):
All platforms: Friends can still join the host’s world if the host player manually sends them a game invite.
Mobile and Nintendo Switch platforms: No workaround available using these platforms. Players who also have a Windows 10 or Xbox One device, see workaround for those platforms.
Windows 10 and Xbox One platforms: The multiplayer world will appear in the Friends tab if the host player changes their Xbox Live account’s online status to “Appear online” via the Xbox App (Windows 10) or Xbox Dashboard (Xbox One).
Linked issues
is duplicated by 1
relates to 2
Comments 4
After further testing, I can confirm that this issue does seem to be caused by player’s Xbox Live online status and not a platform issue as previously thought.
Multiplayer worlds do not appear in the Friends tab when a player’s Xbox Live online status is set to “Appear offline.”
Multiplayer worlds do appear in the Friends tab when a player’s Xbox Live online status is set to “Appear online.”
Note that 2 of the accounts tested are primarily used on mobile and Switch and did not change their status. I am not sure if the default setting was “Appear offline.”
In versions prior to 1.8.x, multiplayer worlds appeared in the Friends tab for both “Appear offline” and “Appear online” statuses. Changing the status appears to be a workaround for players on Windows 10 and Xbox One platforms, but not for mobile or Nintendo Switch as this setting is not changeable via the mobile Xbox App or site.
I presume further investigation would focus on whether this change in behavior is caused by changes to the game or Xbox Live.
Wait, is this intended or not? This whole time I thought that it's not supposed to show Xbox Live broadcasts when the player's Xbox Live status is set to "Appear offline"
Thank you for your report!
However, this issue has been closed as Working as Intended.
Choosing the Online XBL status should allow the invites to work correctly. If you need help or have a suggestion you might like to follow a link below.
Quick Links:
📓 Issue Guidelines – 💬 Mojang Support – 📧 Suggestions – 📖 Minecraft Wiki
Are you able to confirm that the host has their XBL profile set to 'Appear Online'?
Using the Windows 10 Xbox App, this can be changed by right clicking your avatar and choosing 'Open Profile', then clicking the 'Appear Online' button if necessary.