How to Find Your Minecraft Server IP Address and Port

Applies to: Minecraft: Java Edition 26.3 server (tested with Java 25) and Bedrock Dedicated Server 1.26.52; menu names from the 26.3 client

A Minecraft server address is the server’s IP address (or a domain name pointing to it), plus the port if it isn’t the default. Java Edition uses port 25565, so players type just the IP or name; for any other port they type address:port, for example 203.0.113.10:25570.

Find the address of your own server

1. Server on a VPS or dedicated server: use its public IP address. You can look it up on the server itself:

   curl -4 https://ipinfo.io/ip    # public IPv4 address
   hostname -I                     # all addresses on the machine

   More ways: find your server IP address.
2. Server on your home PC: players in the same house use the PC’s local address (ipconfig on Windows shows it). Friends elsewhere need your router’s public IP address and a port forward to the PC: see Minecraft port 25565 and port forwarding.
3. Check the port: look for server-port in server.properties, or at the start of the server log. Our 26.3 server logged:

   [Server thread/INFO]: Starting minecraft server version 26.3
   [Server thread/INFO]: Starting Minecraft server on *:25565

   * means it listens on every IP address of the machine.

Leave server-ip empty

The server-ip setting in server.properties is not where you put the address players use. New servers have it empty (server-ip=), which listens on all addresses. Filling it in only makes sense on a server with several IP addresses. When we set it to an address the machine didn’t have, the server would not start:

**** FAILED TO BIND TO PORT!
The exception was: io.netty.channel.unix.Errors$NativeIoException: bind(..) failed with error(-99): Cannot assign requested address
Perhaps a server is already running on that port?

Give the server a name instead of an IP

1. In the DNS zone of your domain, add an A record, for example play.example.com pointing to your server’s IPv4 address.
2. If the server runs on a port other than 25565, add an SRV record _minecraft._tcp.play.example.com so players don’t need to type the port: how to add an SRV record for Minecraft.
3. Wait for DNS to update, then test the name in the game.

How players join

In Minecraft: Java Edition 26.3: Multiplayer > Add Server, enter a Server Name and the Server Address, select Done and then Join Server. Direct Connection joins once without saving the entry.

Bedrock Edition players (consoles, phones, Windows Bedrock) connect to a Bedrock server, not a Java one. The Bedrock Dedicated Server 1.26.52 package we checked uses server-port=19132 for IPv4 and server-portv6=19133 for IPv6.

When the address doesn’t work

• Can’t connect to server or Failed to connect to the server: the server isn’t running, the port is closed in the firewall, or the port forward is wrong. Check from outside your network.
• Unknown host: the domain name doesn’t resolve yet; check the A record, or try the IP address.
• You are not white-listed on this server!: the address is right. Our new 26.3 server started with white-list=true; add the player with whitelist add <name> in the console.

Want a fixed public IP without port forwarding? Ucartz Minecraft VPS plans run Java or Bedrock with DDoS protection, and a free Vanilla, Paper or Bedrock installation on request. Comparing options first: how to run a Minecraft server.