Minecraft server ports: which one, and when you need to type it

The default Minecraft ports

Java and Bedrock use different protocols, so 25565 over TCP and 19132 over UDP never get in each other's way.

Only the first two matter to players. Query lets server lists read who is online, and RCON lets a program send console commands from outside. Both are off unless you switch them on.

When players have to type a port

Java has one field for the address. When the server listens on 25565, players type just the address. On any other port they add it after a colon, as in play.example.com:25570. Bedrock has two fields, Server Address and Port, and puts 19132 in the second one unless you change it.

A server on a port other than 25565 can still get an address without a number behind it, for Java at least. An SRV record in DNS with the name _minecraft._tcp plus your domain tells the game which host and port to use. Bedrock does not read SRV records, so Bedrock players always need the right port in the Port field.

Where the address in front of the port comes from is in how to find a Minecraft server IP, and the fields players fill in on each device are in how to join a Minecraft server.

Port forwarding a Minecraft server at home

A server on your own PC is reachable inside your house straight away. Friends elsewhere knock on your router, and the router has to know which computer to send them to. That is what a port forward does.

1. 1

   Give your PC a fixed local address

   Look up the local IPv4 address of the PC that runs the server and reserve it in the router, so the forward keeps pointing at the right machine after a restart.

2. 2

   Forward the port in your router

   Open the router settings, usually under port forwarding, virtual server or NAT. Forward TCP 25565 to that local address for Java, UDP 19132 for Bedrock, or both if you run both.

3. 3

   Allow Java through the firewall

   The first time the server starts, Windows asks whether Java may use the network. Allow it for private and public networks, or add the port as a rule by hand.

4. 4

   Test from outside your house

   Ask a friend to connect with your public IP address, or try from a phone on mobile data. Joining from the same Wi-Fi proves nothing about the forward.

How to change the port of a Minecraft server

On a server you run yourself, stop it, set server-port in server.properties to the new number, save and start it again. Pick a number above 1024 that nothing else on the machine uses, and change the port forward in your router to match. For a Bedrock server the same goes for server-port and server-portv6.

Two servers cannot share one port on one machine. If the port is taken, the Java server stops with FAILED TO BIND TO PORT! and asks whether a server is already running on it. Often that is simply the same server still running in another window.

Ports on a Lodehost server

• Java players type no port. Every server gets a name like yourname.mc.minecrafthosting.cc. Players type only that, and our address router sends them to the right machine and port.
• Bedrock players on a Crossplay plan type the address and the Bedrock port shown in your panel. Java and Bedrock crossplay walks through it.
• Leave the game port alone. The port players join on is set by the panel, which is why server-port is not in the settings list. The same goes for the port in Geyser's config on a Crossplay plan: a copied guide that says 19132 there closes the server to Bedrock players.

Need a second port for a plugin, such as voice chat or a web map? On a server in Poland you open it yourself in the panel, see how to open an extra port below.

How to open an extra port on your Minecraft server

Some plugins need a port of their own. Simple Voice Chat and Plasmo Voice send voice over UDP, BlueMap, Dynmap and squaremap serve a web map, and server lists read your player count through query. On servers in Poland the panel has a Ports tab for this. You open the port yourself, at no extra cost, and traffic on it reaches only your server.

1. 1

   Open the Ports tab

   Open the panel of your server and click Ports in the menu. Only the owner of the server sees this tab. Staff you invited do not, whatever their rights.

2. 2

   Add a port and pick what it is for

   Click Add a port and choose Simple Voice Chat, Plasmo Voice, Web page, Bedrock (Geyser), Server list query, RCON or Something else. The choice fills in TCP, UDP or both.

3. 3

   Choose who may connect

   Everyone suits voice chat, a web map and Geyser. Only these addresses takes up to 20 IPv4 addresses or ranges, and RCON only opens with such a list. Strict flood protection allows one address at most 300 UDP packets per second, 20 new TCP connections per minute and 8 at once.

4. 4

   Click Open port

   The port gets a number between 30001 and 30999 on your play address, such as yourname.mc.minecrafthosting.cc:30012, and the panel shows the server port your plugin has to listen on. A server can have 10 ports.

5. 5

   Set the plugin to the server port and restart

   For Simple Voice Chat, Bedrock (Geyser) and Server list query, Set it for me writes the number into the config and keeps a copy of the old file ending in .voor-poort. For the others, put the server port in the plugin's config in the Files tab. Then restart the server once.

6. 6

   Press Test

   Test checks the port from our network and from the internet, through your play address like a player would. No reply on a UDP port is normal for voice chat. When the test says your server refused, the plugin listens on another port than the panel shows.

A Crossplay plan already has its Bedrock port. You only need the Bedrock template for a second Geyser.

Turn off closes a port and keeps its number. Delete removes it, and the number comes back first when you add a port again. History lists every change with the time and whether it worked.

What port errors mean

More connection problems and how to track them down are in can't connect to a Minecraft server.