How to set up Minecraft Realms multiplayer server

Minecraft Realms allows you to create your own private online server for you and up to 10 friends to start mining and producing together. The main attraction of Minecraft Realms over a regular online Minecraft world is that you don’t need the creator of the world hanging around and hosting, as Realms are always online. Any invited member can enter and exit the Realm at any point. However, it is important to know that Minecraft Realms is a subscription service, so you will pay monthly to keep your Realm server up. Those are just the important details, so we’ve got everything you need to know about Minecraft Realms below, including the cost of a Realm and how to set it up.

• What are Minecraft Realms?
• How much does a Minecraft Realm cost?
• How to start Minecraft Realm
• How to invite your friends to your Minecraft Realm
• How do you backup your Minecraft Realm?

Minecraft Realms and Minecraft Realms Plus announced

Minecraft Realms are private, always online multiplayer servers where you can invite a limited number of other players. You can create a new world as a Realm or transform one of your existing worlds into a World. But Realms is a premium feature and you have to pay a monthly subscription to keep Realm open to other players. Depending on your subscription, you can also get new content every month such as maps, mini-games and character skins.

More importantly, your Realm will be online 24/7, so you don’t need to be online all the time to host the server and anyone you invite to join Realm will be able to play whenever they want. Because you have full control over who can play on your realm – you can revoke access for problem players – it’s also a safe space for young players to gather and play with their friends without worrying about who they might interact with.

Minecraft Realms; Available on PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch and mobileand you can access your Realm from any of them provided you are signed in with the same Minecraft account. Crossplay is also enabled on Minecraft Bedrock Edition Realms so friends on any of the above platforms can join the same Realm. Note that while there are Realms in Minecraft Java Edition, crossplay does not work between Bedrock and Java Editions of Minecraft. If you are a Java Edition PC player, for example, you cannot join the Realm of a Bedrock Edition Xbox Series X or PC player.

Another thing to note is that Minecraft Realms – for Java and Bedrock versions – does not support mods. Bedrock Realms Plus includes a set of Marketplace packs and supports user-generated content, while Java Realms includes community-created content but does not support the Minecraft Marketplace. If Minecraft mods are something you care about, you may need to look for an alternative.

Minecraft Realms price and contents

As mentioned, you pay a monthly fee to keep your Minecraft world open as a Realm. However, there are three versions of the Realms subscription, each with its own advantages:

• Realms (Bedrock Edition) = $3.99/3.29/month
  The basic Minecraft Realms for Bedrock Edition costs $3.99/3.29 a month and lets you invite two more players to gain access to your private online world. This subscription also supports the Minecraft Marketplace, includes three World Slots, supports user-generated content, and has crossplay on Bedrock devices.
• Realms Plus (Bedrock Edition) = $7.99/£6.69 per month
  Minecraft Realms Plus is the advanced version of Realms and includes all the benefits of this subscription plus monthly Minecraft Marketplace content and access to over 150 Marketplace packs. The other big advantage is that you can invite up to 10 other players to join your Realm. you will get 30-day free trial when you start Minecraft Realms Plus subscription if you’ve never signed up for Realms before.
• Realms (Java Edition) = $7.99/£6.69 per month
  The single Java Edition option costs the same as Realms Plus but offers much less. You can still invite up to 10 Java Edition friends to join your private Realm server, with 24/7 access and three World Slots, but the Java Edition does not support the Minecraft Marketplace. This means you can’t buy or use anything from the market and you won’t be able to access monthly updates and 150+ content packs. Instead, Java Edition Realms gets free community-created content.

Remember, for any of these subscription tiers, there’s always the option to cancel later if you feel like you’re not taking advantage of it. After canceling your subscription, you have 18 months to download your Realm worlds before they are permanently deleted. If you sign up for Minecraft Realms again, you can replace your new world with a downloaded backup of one of your previous Realm worlds – more below.

If you opted for the 10-player Realms Plus subscription, you should pay attention to the monthly updates. New maps, character skins, and mini-games are constantly being added, and since these are available for free with Realms Plus, it seems silly not to at least look at what’s on offer.

It’s worth noting that if you have an Xbox Game Pass or PC Game Pass subscription, you can play Minecraft at no additional cost, but you still have to pay for Realms. You can also play Minecraft for free in a limited browser-based version of the game.

How to install Minecraft Realms?

If you want to start from scratch and create a new world in Realms, go ahead and start building the world the way you want with difficulty, mod (Survival, Creative) along with other options to add. Once you are satisfied with your settings, select the ‘Build in Realms Server’ button. You are then given the choice of a 10-person Zone or a 2-person Zone. After accepting the Terms and Conditions and completing the transaction, you will have immediate access to your new Realm and Marketplace items if you have selected the 10-player option.

If you want to change your current Realm world setting, you can click the ‘Edit’ button next to the Realm name to bring up the game setting menu. From there you can adjust the game mode, difficulty, change the name of the world or add cheats. You also get three World Slots as part of any Minecraft Realms subscription, so you’re not limited to just one world.

How to invite your friends to your Minecraft Realms

The good news is that the friends you want to invite to your Realm don’t need their own Minecraft Realms subscription to join you. To invite your friends to your Realm, click the Edit button next to your Realm, then select ‘Members’. Here you will be able to invite other players and manage players who already have access to the territory. You can ‘un-invite’ players who are over the welcome time or who have also been inactive on this page for a while.

It seems the number of invites you can send is almost unlimited, but who can play simultaneously on your Realm will be limited by your subscription type.

How do you backup or change your World in Minecraft Realms?

You don’t have to stick to the same World when using Minecraft Realms. If you want to start a whole new World or replace the existing one with another, you can do that too. But before doing so, you may want to back up your current World, otherwise you will lose any progress you have made on it.

To backup your current World in Minecraft Realms, click the “Edit” button next to your Realm world and select “Download World”. This will save the World to your device and you can play locally or reload later if you change your mind.

To change your current World in Minecraft Realms, click ‘Edit’ again next to your Realm world and select ‘Change World’. You will then be asked to confirm this action before you are presented with a list of available worlds that you can change. Once selected, the new world will load and you’ll be ready to go.

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