BedrockTogether not working: why the game does not show up, and what to do

BedrockTogether makes a LAN game appear on your console, hosted by your phone. You join it, and it transfers you to the server typed in the app. If the game does not show up, or the console gets kicked on arrival, the cause is almost always in this list. It follows the app’s troubleshooting page, in the order to check.

The game does not show up in the Friends tab

The phone and the console are not on the same network

The console only sees devices on its own network. The phone must be on the same Wi-Fi, from the same router. A guest network does not count, nor does mobile data. A VPN running on the phone also takes it off the network.

The router isolates devices

Some routers, and most hotel, boarding school or campus Wi-Fi, stop devices from seeing each other. The setting is called client isolation, AP isolation or guest mode. If you can, turn it off in the router’s settings. Otherwise the app can do nothing on that network.

On iPhone: Local Network access

On first launch, iOS asks whether the app may access the local network. If you tapped Don’t Allow, nothing appears on the console. Open Settings › BedrockTogether, and turn on Local Network.

The app went to sleep

The game only exists while the app runs. On iPhone, keep it in the foreground until you are on the server. On Android, remove BedrockTogether from battery optimisation, or the phone shuts it down.

On Switch, the LAN game does not exist

The Switch never shows LAN games. The app offers another method for it, which broadcasts the game over the Xbox network with a Microsoft account. Its website covers the case where that account gets banned: it then advises a separate account, not your main one. Details are in BedrockTogether on Switch.

The console gets kicked on arrival

The game shows up, you join it, and you land back on the home screen. The destination server is refusing you:

• The port. Most Bedrock servers use 19132. Any other port must be typed exactly.
• The server. It is offline, full, or limited to the players on its whitelist.
• The version. After a Minecraft update, the app and the servers sometimes take a few days to catch up. While the versions differ, the connection fails.
• The edition. A Java server only accepts consoles if it has installed Geyser.

The “Unable to connect to world” message at that point means the same thing. The other messages are explained in Minecraft console errors.

What the app needs, even when it works

The phone for every session, the app open while you connect, and the same Wi-Fi as the console. The app is free with ads. According to its website, the ad-free version is paid, and saving more than two servers needs the premium option.

Without a phone: Huby

Huby does the same transfer with no app and no shared Wi-Fi. An Xbox account, HubyOnMC, keeps a world open around the clock. You add it as a friend, join its world from the Friends tab, and its menu transfers you to your server.

1. In Minecraft, Play › Friends › Add Friend: type HubyOnMC and send. The request is accepted automatically.
2. Under Joinable Friends, join the Huby world.
3. Pick your server, or Add a server with its address and port.

It works on PS5, PS4, Xbox and Switch. Huby also has to follow Minecraft updates, and its maintenance is announced on the Discord. The three methods compared put the app, the DNS and Huby side by side.