How to Find Your Public Minecraft Java Server Address

Playing Minecraft with friends on a public server can be an incredibly fun and rewarding experience. However, before you can join a public server, you need to know the server’s address. This article will provide a step-by-step guide on how to find your public Minecraft Java server address.

What is a Minecraft Server Address?

A Minecraft server address, also known as an IP address, is a unique identifier that allows Minecraft clients to locate and connect to a Minecraft server. It consists of a string of numbers separated by periods.

Some examples of Minecraft server addresses are:

  • 192.168.1.10
  • 10.10.5.33
  • 209.122.23.152

Without the proper server address, you won’t be able to direct your Minecraft client to connect with a Minecraft server.

Finding Your Computer’s IP Address

Before opening a public Minecraft Java server, you first need to find your computer’s IP address. This will serve as the server address that others can use to connect to your Minecraft server.

Here are the steps for finding your computer’s IP address:

  1. Press the Windows key + R on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box.
  2. Type cmd and press Enter to open the Command Prompt.
  3. In the Command Prompt, type ipconfig and press Enter.
  4. Under the “IPv4 Address” section, you will find your computer’s IP address next to “IP Address”. This is your public server address that others can use to connect to your Minecraft server.
  5. Take note of this IP address.

Port Forwarding Your Router

After finding your IP address, some additional router configuration needs to take place to allow external connections from the internet to your home network.

This process is called “port forwarding” and it allows traffic from the outside world to be directed to a device on your home network, like your computer running a Minecraft server.

Here is how to port forward your router:

  1. Log in to your router configuration page, usually by typing an address like 192.168.1.1 into your browser.
  2. Navigate to the port forwarding or virtual server section.
  3. Create a new rule to forward port 25565 (the default Minecraft port) to your computer’s IP address.
  4. Save your router configuration.

With port forwarding set up, your public IP address will now direct Minecraft traffic to your computer running a Minecraft server!

Testing External Connectivity

As a test, you can try connecting to your public IP address from another internet connected computer to see if your port forwarding is working correctly.

Here are the steps:

  1. Launch Minecraft on another internet-connected computer.
  2. Click Multiplayer.
  3. Click Direct Connect.
  4. Type in your public IP address with the port number 25565. It will look something like this: 209.122.23.152:25565
  5. Click Join Server.

If configured properly, this should successfully connect you to your home Minecraft server from the external network!

Allowing Connections Through Your Firewall

If the above test doesn’t work, you may need to check your computer’s firewall settings to ensure connections to port 25565 are allowed.

Here’s how to do that in Windows:

  1. Open your Windows Firewall settings.
  2. Navigate to Inbound Rules.
  3. Make sure there is a rule that allows connections on port 25565. If not, create a new rule.

With both port forwarding and firewall rules set up properly, you should now be able to connect to your public Minecraft server from anywhere!

Launching a Public Minecraft Server

Once all the network configuration is complete, you can launch your public Minecraft server by:

  1. Installing the Java Edition server directly from Mojang.
  2. Accepting the EULA by changing eula=false to eula=true in the eula.txt file.
  3. Launching the Minecraft server by double-clicking the server.jar file.

Your Minecraft server should now be publicly accessible to allow your friends to connect over the internet!

Give your friends your public IP address and have them connect using the steps outlined earlier in this article.

Configuring Server Settings

To customize your Minecraft server further with settings like changing game modes, difficulty, motds and more, you can modify the server.properties file in your Minecraft server directory.

Some settings you may want to configure:

  • gamemode – change between creative, survival, adventure or spectator modes
  • difficulty – makes monsters and other challenges harder
  • motd – set a custom message that players see when selecting your server
  • white-list – only allow certain players based on their Minecraft usernames

There are many more server settings you can tweak to create a personalized Minecraft server experience.

Installing Helpful Admin Tools

To properly manage your server, there are some helpful admin tools you can install:

  • WorldEdit – allows you to quickly modify massive areas of the Minecraft world
  • CoreProtect – logs all player activity so you can roll back griefing and cheating
  • Essentials – provides useful admin commands and server controls

These mods can usually be installed by placing the .jar files into the mods folder located in your Minecraft server directory.

Conclusion

Finding your public Minecraft server address opens up limitless multiplayer possibilities with your friends from around the world. Port forwarding your router, allowing firewall connections, launching your server and configuring your server settings are all key steps in the process. With the right prep work, you’ll be able to create memorable Minecraft experiences for your online community.

So get your public IP address ready and let the fun begin! Just be sure to keep your server updated, safely backed-up and monitored to ensure smooth performance for all your players. Happy mining!