How to set up Minecraft Realms multiplayer server

Minecraft Realms is what you need if you want to set up your own private online server for you and some friends to mine and craft together. The main bonus of Minecraft Realms compared to playing in a regular online Minecraft world is that you do not need the creator of the world to be around, as the Realms are always online and accessible to all invited members. You can hop on and off to your blocky heart’s content, allowing you to play whenever you want in a shared world. However, there is much more to them – most importantly, they are part of a premium subscription that you have to pay monthly for access. If you want to know what Minecraft Realms is, how much it costs, how to install it and more, we have all the information you need.

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

Minecraft Realms and Minecraft Realms Plus explained

Minecraft Realms are private multiplayer servers that allow you to invite ten other players and give each of them access to the always online server. As a Realm, you can create a new world or transform one of your existing worlds into one. But Realms is a premium feature and you have to pay monthly subscription to keep Realm open to other players. Depending on your subscription, you can also get new content every month, including maps, mini-games and character skins.

Your realm will be online 24/7, so anyone you invite to join you can play for free whenever they want, whether you’re there or not. Because you have full control over who can play in your zone – you can revoke access at any time – it’s also a safe space for younger players to gather and play with their friends without worrying about who they will interact with.

Minecraft Realms is available on PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch and mobile devices, and you can access your Realm from any of them provided you are signed in with the same Minecraft account. Also, by enabling cross-play for Realms using Minecraft Bedrock Edition, you can invite your friends no matter what platform they’re playing on. Note that cross-play does not work between Bedrock and Java Editions of Minecraft; so if you are a Java Edition PC player you cannot join Realm of Bedrock Edition Xbox Series X or PC player for example.

Another thing to note is that Minecraft Realms – for both Minecraft versions – does not currently support mods. Bedrock Realms Plus includes a number of Marketplace packages and supports user-generated content; 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 what’s included

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 listed below, each with their own benefits:

• Realms (Bedrock Edition) = $3.99 / £3.29 per month
  The basic Minecraft Realms for Bedrock Edition costs $3.99 / £3.29 per month and lets you invite two more friends to access your private online world. This subscription also supports the Minecraft Marketplace, includes three World Slots, supports user-generated content, and features cross-play between Bedrock devices and consoles.
• Realms Plus (Bedrock Edition) = $7.99/ £6.69 per month
  Minecraft Realms Plus is the enhanced 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 great benefit is that you can invite up to 10 players to join your Realm. you will get 30-day free trial Also if you have not signed up for Realms before and started a Minecraft Realms Plus subscription.
• Regions (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 getting too much out 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 have chosen the 10-player subscription to Realms Plus, 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 happy with your settings, select the ‘Build in Realms Server’ button. You are then given the choice of a 10 player Realm or a 2 player Realm. Once you accept the Terms and Conditions and complete the transaction, you will have immediate access to your new Realm and the Marketplace goodies if you 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 settings 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 either.

How to invite your friends to 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 have access to the kingdom. On this page, too, you can ‘cancel’ players who have exceeded their welcome time or have been inactive for a while.

The number of invites you can send seems to be almost unlimited, but who can play simultaneously in your Region will be limited by your subscription type.

How to backup or modify 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 if you want to replace your current world 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 saves the World to your device and you can play it locally or reload it 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 a list of available worlds that can be changed are presented. Once selected the new world will load and you are ready to go.

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