Trying to connect to a Minecraft world and getting the “Unable to connect to world” error? In this article, we outline 7 ways that you can fix the issue with detailed instructions.
Minecraft is one of the most popular sandbox adventure games where you will embark on a journey with your friends to build your own realm. Although the game can be played solo as well, it’s much more fun when it is played with friends.
Minecraft users sometimes encounter a frustrating issue when connecting to their friend’s world. The game displays an error stating Unable to connect to world and throws players back to the main menu. If you’re lucky, you can reconnect to the world and join successfully, but in most cases, the error is displayed continuously.
Fortunately, there are a couple of solutions that can fix the problem.
As usual, we’re here to solve this problem and in this guide, we’ve outlined some of the troubleshooting steps that you could take to connect to a Minecraft world without any issues.
Table of Contents
Why Am I Unable to Connect to My Friend’s World in Minecraft?
After reading several user reports, I’ve realized that this issue is due to various reasons such as incorrect network configuration, unstable internet connection, issues with the Friend List, firewall problems, and more. A more common reason for this problem is using an outdated version of Minecraft, therefore, ensure that you’re on the latest version.
7 Ways to Fix the Minecraft World Connection Error
Here are some of the solutions that could fix the Minecraft error when connecting to a world.
1. Update Minecraft
Oftentimes, users ignore or forget to update Minecraft and this leads to unexpected problems. Minecraft developers regularly release updates and it’s important to install these updates because they usually contain important bug fixes.
Therefore, the first step is to ensure that you’re using the latest version of Minecraft. If not, download and install the newer version and check if the problem gets fixed.
2. Remove and Re-add Your Friend
This solution is applicable if you’re attempting to connect to a world where your friend is playing. Due to data corruption in Friend List, players are sometimes unable to join their friends’ world. The solution for this is to remove your friend from Minecraft and re-add him/her.
1. Find and note the username of the friend that you want to remove.
2. Enter the following command to remove your friend:
/f remove [username]
For instance, if your friend’s username is JackSeptic, the command to enter would be /f remove JackSeptic.
3. Now add your friend back to the game and try joining their world to check if the issue is fixed.
3. Configure Your Multiplayer Settings in Xbox
With an incorrect multiplayer configuration, you could run into issues when playing with friends on Xbox, such as the one that you’re facing now. Here are some of the important changes to make to your multiplayer configuration:
1. Go to the Xbox account settings.
2. Go to Xbox One/Windows 10 Online Safety.
3. Make the following changes:
- Set You can join multiplayer games to Allow.
- Set You can play with players outside of Xbox Live to Allow.
- Set You can create and join a club to Allow.
4. Click the Submit button.
Now launch Minecraft and check if you can connect to your friend’s world.
4. Quit Your Private World
As absurd as this may sound, some users have had success with this solution. By exiting from your private world, Minecraft is able to connect to another world.
1. Go to Minecraft and choose your world.
2. Open the menu and select Save & Quit.
3. Go to the Friends tab and try joining your friend’s world.
5. Disable your Windows firewall
The firewall in Windows monitors the incoming and outgoing traffic to ensure that your computer is secure. However, it is a common issue for the firewall to incorrectly block legitimate traffic. In this case, the firewall may be blocking Minecraft’s traffic so try disabling it to check if the issue gets resolved.
6. Use a VPN
The reason that I’m listing this as a possible solution to the problem is that Minecraft could be blocked in your network or by your ISP. Alternatively, your IP address may have been banned from the game. By using a VPN, your computer’s IP address is changed to spoof your geographical location.
Once you turn on a VPN, you would be able to bypass any restrictions imposed by your ISP on Minecraft and connect to the game without any issues. There are a lot of VPN services in the market, the most popular ones being PureVPN and NordVPN.
7. Disable Your Anti-Virus Program
As mentioned in the previous step, your anti-virus program could also be the reason why you’re unable to connect to a world in Minecraft. The reason is that some anti-virus programs mistakenly filter traffic from Minecraft which leads to unexpected problems when playing the game, just like the one you are facing now.
Therefore, disable your anti-virus program temporarily and launch Minecraft to check if you can connect to your friend’s world. If you can, then it is evident that your anti-virus program is the culprit. In that case, whitelist Minecraft so that your anti-virus doesn’t block the game again.
Wrapping Up
It’s a very frustrating experience when you want to play with your friends but keep on getting unexpected Minecraft errors. With the solutions listed above, you should be able to fix the world connection error and get back to playing with your friends again.
