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How to open a Minecraft server to friends without a public IP

Create the server in ProximaClient and tick "Create a public tunnel for this server": the app downloads the server and Java itself, and once the server is running it shows the address you send to your friends. No public IP, Hamachi or router setup needed.

This page is about Minecraft: Java Edition. For Bedrock (phones, tablets, the Windows version from the Microsoft Store) there is a separate guide.

A server in ProximaClient​

  1. Open "Game servers" and click "Add server" (or "Create server" if you have none yet).
  2. Pick Minecraft and click "Next".
  3. At the "Build" step, pick the core the server runs on: Paper (selected from the start, faster than vanilla), Vanilla, the original Mojang server, or Forge, NeoForge and Fabric for mods (see the mods guide).
  4. Pick the "Minecraft version" and "Server memory", then click "Next".
  5. Fill in "Server name" and "Install folder".
  6. Tick "Create a public tunnel for this server". If you forget, you can open the tunnel by hand as described below.
  7. Click "Start server". The app creates the server and shows "Server created".
  8. Open the server and click "Start".
  9. On the first start the app asks you to accept the Minecraft license agreement: tick the box and click "Accept and start".
  10. Once the server is running, the server header shows two addresses: localhost:25565 for you and the tunnel's external address for your friends. Click the copy icon next to the external address (tooltip "Copy address") and send it to your friends.

If you already have a server​

If you run the server yourself rather than from ProximaClient, create a TCP tunnel to its port (usually 25565) as on the start page. You can also import the server into ProximaClient, but you still create its tunnel the same way: the address then shows in the server header too. To play your singleplayer world with friends, move it to the server. You don't need the ProximaTunnel mod or plugin on the server: ProximaClient opens the tunnel.

Online mode​

While the server's online mode is on (the server's "Settings" tab, the "Online mode (license)" field), it only lets in players who bought Minecraft.

Without it, anyone who learns the address can join under any name, yours included, with your operator rights, and a whitelist of names won't help. So keep online mode on, and if you do turn it off, install a password login plugin or mod on the server.

How friends join the server​

In Minecraft: Java Edition, your friends open multiplayer, add a server and paste the whole address, including the port after the colon, for example 203.0.113.10:41234. Their game version has to match the server's.

The server and ProximaClient have to keep running on your computer for as long as people play on it. If your friends can't get in, open "Friends can't connect".