How To Run Your Own Minecraft Server On A Mobile
My son wanted to play Minecraft last night with his friends. It's easy if you are in the same house or at the same WiFi access point. He spent New Years Eve with his friends, creating new worlds on the sofa, iPads in hand.
They were all in the exact same house, so they all connected to one WiFi hotspot.
However, if you're in different places it can become a bit tricky. It involves connecting to a server on the internet, but if you want to make one yourself you'll have to download a Windows executable or a Java file which you can run on Linux. You may have a Windows machine lying around your house. But do you really want it on constantly? It will only display this screen...
This will mean that you will need a computer (or a server on an internet server) to run the program. You'll also need to open the appropriate ports.
All of this can be done with an old Android phone. This PocketMine app is all you need. Before you can do all that, however, you need to understand how your broadband router works. Most routers are pretty locked down, and your broadband provider doesn't like you messing around with the settings too much. Here are the details if you want to "fiddle" with your router settings.
Download the app to get the version that you want. The stable version worked for me.
I'll return to the rest in a minute, but it's all fairly self-explanatory. All you need is a name.
You'll see this little symbol at the top of Minecraft if you open it and click "Play" then “New".
That is a feat that not many people can achieve. They just create a whole world and then go. However, it will ask for the name and IP address of your world and port.
This is where you need to adjust your broadband router. Find the IP address of your broadband connection. Just type "my IP" into Google or head to a free IP detection tool like turboluck.com/my-ip. You will need to give this information to your relatives or friends so that they can insert it into their iPads, phones, or tablets to join your server. They'll only be able to connect on one port. This port can be anything on Minecraft. Choose one or keep the default one and then go to the advanced settings of your broadband router. You're going to be looking for something called "NAT / PAT". Your router will ask for the request to be sent to the appropriate internal port at your LAN's internal IP address.
Yes, it can be confusing. Let's start with the the PocketMine app. Run it and it'll ask you to create a server name, a port and what sort of game you want to create (Creative, Survival, Adventure, Spectator). You can put the phone anywhere you like after you have started it. You will need to know the local IP address for that phone. plugins To find out, go into your WiFi settings. It could be 192.168.0.7, or something similar. Make a note.
Next, head to your router and go into your NAT / PAT rules and set it so that any requests for your magic port (say, 22535) go to 192.168.0.7 (your phone) on port 22535. You're basically doing some routing.
Then it's just a matter of getting your friends to whack in your IP address, the port you set and away you go. You're good to go. Everyone can play together as long as the app is running on an Android phone. Job done.
