How to Find the Server Address on Minecraft

Whether you're trying to join a friend's private world or connect to a public multiplayer server, knowing where to find — or how to read — a Minecraft server address is a fundamental skill. The process varies depending on your version of Minecraft, your role (host or guest), and the type of server you're dealing with.

What Is a Minecraft Server Address?

A server address in Minecraft is essentially the network location of the server you want to connect to. It works similarly to a web address — it tells your game client exactly where to send and receive data.

Server addresses come in a few forms:

• Domain name — something like play.servername.com
• IP address — a numeric format like 192.168.1.100 (local) or 203.0.113.45 (public)
• IP with port — like 192.168.1.100:25565, where the number after the colon specifies the network port

The default Minecraft Java Edition port is 25565. If a server runs on this default, you usually don't need to include the port. If it runs on a custom port, you do.

How to Find a Server Address You've Already Added

If you've connected to a server before and want to retrieve the address again:

1. Open Minecraft and go to Multiplayer
2. Find the server in your list
3. Click Edit on that server entry
4. The Server Address field will display exactly what was entered — whether that's a domain or IP

This is the quickest way to recover an address you may have forgotten.

Finding the Address for a Server You Host Yourself

Local LAN Worlds (Same Network)

If you've opened a world to LAN from the pause menu, Minecraft broadcasts the address automatically to players on the same Wi-Fi or local network. They'll see it appear in the Multiplayer screen under "Local Network Games" without needing to type anything.

However, if someone needs the address manually:

1. On the host machine, open Command Prompt (Windows) or Terminal (Mac/Linux)
2. Type ipconfig (Windows) or ifconfig / ip a (Mac/Linux)
3. Look for your IPv4 address — typically starting with 192.168. or 10.
4. The connecting player enters that IP, plus the port shown in the in-game chat when the LAN world opened (e.g., 192.168.1.5:54321)

Dedicated Servers (Self-Hosted)

If you're running a dedicated Minecraft server from your own machine or a home server:

• Local connections use your machine's local IPv4 address (same method above)
• Remote connections require your public IP address

To find your public IP, simply search "what is my IP" in any browser on the host machine. That number is what external players use to connect — though you'll also need to configure port forwarding on your router for this to work.

🖥️ If you're running a server on a VPS or rented server, the hosting provider's dashboard will display the IP address or hostname directly in your server management panel.

Finding the Address for Third-Party or Rented Servers

If you're using a Minecraft server hosting service (like Apex, Shockbyte, Aternos, or similar providers), the server address is assigned by the host and found in your account dashboard. It typically looks like:

• A subdomain: yourname.apexmc.co
• Or a raw IP with port: 45.77.XX.XX:25565

Log into your hosting account, navigate to your server panel, and look for fields labeled Server IP, Server Address, or Connection Details.

Bedrock Edition: Finding and Entering Server Addresses

Minecraft Bedrock Edition (Windows 10/11, consoles, mobile) handles multiplayer differently. Featured servers appear automatically, but for custom servers:

1. Go to Play → Servers → Add Server
2. Enter the Server Name (your label) and the Server Address
3. The default Bedrock port is 19132 (UDP), not 25565

Bedrock server addresses follow the same formats — domain or IP — but the port number matters more here since it differs from Java Edition.

Key Variables That Affect How You Find the Address

🔍 The type of server and your relationship to it — whether you own it, rent it, or are simply a player — changes exactly where you'd look.

What Can Go Wrong When Entering a Server Address

• Connection refused: Port may be wrong, or the server isn't running
• Cannot connect: IP may have changed (dynamic IPs shift; static IPs don't)
• Timed out: Could be a firewall, port forwarding issue, or the server is offline
• Wrong edition: Java and Bedrock addresses aren't cross-compatible by default

Dynamic IP addresses are a common source of confusion — if a friend self-hosts and their public IP changes, the old address stops working. Some hosts use DDNS (Dynamic DNS) to assign a consistent domain name that automatically updates with the changing IP.

The Part That Depends on Your Setup

The steps above cover the main scenarios, but the specifics shift considerably based on whether you're on Java or Bedrock, whether you're the host or a guest, and whether the server runs on your home network or an external machine. Someone troubleshooting a timeout error on a self-hosted server is dealing with a very different situation than someone simply trying to rejoin a friend's rented server. Which scenario applies to you shapes exactly what you need to look at next.