Help setting up a Minecraft server

[Mattata]

Me and my pals are bored so we tried setting up a MC server just for the meme. But for whatever reason, neither of the 3 of us were able to get one working on our systems. Anyone able to walk me (us) through how to get this working correctly? We have tried: 

 

* Checking for typos in port forward

* Allowing it through firewall on pc and modem

* Disabling firewall on pc and modem

* Using ipv4 and ipv6 (separately of course)

* Using different ports (e.g. not 25565)

* Disabling and uninstalling antivirus

* Letting other people host and try (out of the 3 of us)

* Setting local ip in adapter properties to a static one

 

We have watched countless videos on how to set it up, and despite how easy it is, we still cant get it to work. Ill send any screenshots i need to, I just want to see what we have been doing wrong.

 

Also, we have a suspicion that it could be our ISP (we all have Xfinity) thats the issue but i havent found anyone else online having an issue that could be traced to that. Not ruling it out though, just something to consider.

 

Thanks in advance

[DarkEnergy]

I haven't set one up in years buuuut....

It should still be 25565. Make sure the ip being port forwarded is the external ip, not ipv4. You can test if it works by connecting to your server via your external ip. 

[TheKDub]

I haven't had an issue with hosting a Minecraft server on Comcast internet in the past.

 

Make sure they're using your external IP, and make sure you have the correct internal IP for the server host when port forwarding.

[tatte]

1. Undo everything you have done (reset everything to defaults).
2. Install the newest JDK, and the newest server directly from Mojang.
3. Make sure you can join your own server first. Joining it locally should always work.
4. If any of you is using Avast, get rid of it. Whenever someone has had issues joining my servers, 95% of the time it has been their Avast. Use literally anything else.
5. Start with the default port (25565), but if the rest of this list doesn't help, try 22. It's used for SSH and most likely open regardless of ISP.
6. Open CMD and type "ipconfig". The IPv4 address you find here is for the final redirect in the next step.
7. Map the entire route from wall to your PC. Each link from the wall redirects to the next link, not straight for the PC. For e.g. if you have a modem and a router, modem redirects to router, and router redirects to PC. If you use a dumb switch, try bypassing it temporarily. If you forward to the same IP in every device, you're most likely doing it wrong.
8. Google "show my IP", confirm with a couple of sites (they all look bad) for good measure.
9. Google "is my port open" so you won't have to rely on your friends to press refresh. Server has to be up and running for the port to show as open. (If unused ports report as open, you have other problems to solve.)
10. Make sure all of you are using the correct version of Minecraft. You can only host your own server for the Java Edition, and connecting to the server will happen with IP:PORT (for e.g. 123.123.123.123:25565). If you're trying to host the server using the same client you play with, you're doing it wrong. This is not a Realm.

Do not skip step #3. If that fails, everything else is a huge waste of time.

[Tedstonegenious]

I had this problem with my server. Thankfully my brother is an IT. long story short my ISP was giving me a dynamic IP address. And that basically doesn't allow you to host anything on the network. at least not anything public. If this is the case, you can either upgrade your internet and get a static IP, or ask a friend with a static IP to host it.

[tatte]

3 hours ago, Tedstonegenious said:

I had this problem with my server. Thankfully my brother is an IT. long story short my ISP was giving me a dynamic IP address. And that basically doesn't allow you to host anything on the network. at least not anything public. If this is the case, you can either upgrade your internet and get a static IP, or ask a friend with a static IP to host it.

No. Dynamic IP only means that it may change, usually (and still rarely) thanks to rebooting your networking hardware. Dynamic vs. static IP has nothing to do with being able to host a server. with dynamic IP you'll just have to share the new IP to your friends whenever (if) it changes, and using a domain streamlines/circumvents that easily. Look it up yourself before you argue back, your brother was either lazy or unable to figure out the real issue.

[Mattata]

@DarkEnergy @TheKDub @tatte @Tedstonegenious Thanks for the helpful hints. I can indeed connect to the server by typing in my external ip. however, none of my friends can join it when they try to connect to it. I have tried using port checkers to see if it can see the port open, and it says it cant see it.

 

Heres something to consider: this is what i see when i log onto my router:

 

 

my router "doesnt" have an ipv4 address. Now, if i type in "whats my ip" in google, i get the ipv6. but, i can find an ipv4 on certain websites that can display it to me (such as ipchicken, etc). can this be the problem?

[DarkEnergy]

1 hour ago, Mattata said:

@DarkEnergy @TheKDub @tatte @Tedstonegenious Thanks for the helpful hints. I can indeed connect to the server by typing in my external ip. however, none of my friends can join it when they try to connect to it. I have tried using port checkers to see if it can see the port open, and it says it cant see it.

 

Heres something to consider: this is what i see when i log onto my router:

 

 

my router "doesnt" have an ipv4 address. Now, if i type in "whats my ip" in google, i get the ipv6. but, i can find an ipv4 on certain websites that can display it to me (such as ipchicken, etc). can this be the problem?

Woops, I said the wrong thing (it's been awhile). The interal ip is the one that gets port forwarded. I don't have experience with ipv6 but portforward the ipv4 address you see when typing "ipconfig" in the console on the computer you run the server from. Port 25565 and try both tcp/udp protocols. You still give them the external ip to connect. 

 

Example of the address to forward:

 

[Mattata]

@DarkEnergy Alright, mine is a little different but here is what my rule looks like:

 

the "External (Internet) IP Address" Is just what websites told me was my designated IP. I'm still not having any luck having them join. Whats the next thing to check?

[DarkEnergy]

4 hours ago, Mattata said:

@DarkEnergy Alright, mine is a little different but here is what my rule looks like:

 

the "External (Internet) IP Address" Is just what websites told me was my designated IP. I'm still not having any luck having them join. Whats the next thing to check?

As long as the 192.168.0.30 address is from the same computer hosting the server, that should be working. You shouldn't have to but try adding 25565 to the address you give your friends. So it would like this example "xxx.xx.xx.xxx:25565"

 

Make sure in your server.properties file (if you have one) the port is set to 25565

[Mattata]

@DarkEnergy Unfortunately, we gave it a try, and it still didnt work. I resorted to asking around on the Minecraft discord and minecraft IRC for help, and had some of them try connecting and diagnosing the issue, but they couldnt figure anything out either. So as of right now, I still dont have an idea as to what the issue is. Do you have any other ideas on where to try?

[Admiral Koba]

OP - do you know the model of the Gateway you have? Is it a stock Xfinity model or is it a third-party gateway? It may be easier to troubleshoot if we have a better idea of this.

 

Some of Comcast's dual-stack (v4 + v6) gateways are a bit iffy when it comes to port forwarding.

[Mattata]

9 hours ago, Admiral Koba said:

OP - do you know the model of the Gateway you have? Is it a stock Xfinity model or is it a third-party gateway? It may be easier to troubleshoot if we have a better idea of this.

 

Some of Comcast's dual-stack (v4 + v6) gateways are a bit iffy when it comes to port forwarding.

@Admiral Koba uhh, help me out here. How might i find my gateway model? 

 

if that refers to my router/modem, its a motorola MG7550. My pc plugs directly into my router

[Admiral Koba]

6 hours ago, Mattata said:

@Admiral Koba uhh, help me out here. How might i find my gateway model? 

 

if that refers to my router/modem, its a motorola MG7550. My pc plugs directly into my router

Good to know, try setting external IP address to 0.0.0.0 and then power cycle the modem/router and your PC (or disable and re-enable your network card) after you've set the rule.

[Mattata]

16 hours ago, Admiral Koba said:

Good to know, try setting external IP address to 0.0.0.0 and then power cycle the modem/router and your PC (or disable and re-enable your network card) after you've set the rule.

alright, would the "release wan lease" and "renew wan lease" be the buttons to achieve that? or is that for something else?

[Admiral Koba]

8 hours ago, Mattata said:

alright, would the "release wan lease" and "renew wan lease" be the buttons to achieve that? or is that for something else?

I'm talking about in this section 

[Mattata]

12 hours ago, Admiral Koba said:

I'm talking about in this section 

alright. now, what am i gonna want to do after that?

[Admiral Koba]

3 hours ago, Mattata said:

alright. now, what am i gonna want to do after that?

Once you've changed your external IP to 0.0.0.0 - save the rule and then restart your PC & modem.

[Mattata]

21 hours ago, Admiral Koba said:

Once you've changed your external IP to 0.0.0.0 - save the rule and then restart your PC & modem.

Ok, and what have i accomplished exactly by doing this? Please excuse my ineptitude

[Admiral Koba]

15 hours ago, Mattata said:

Ok, and what have i accomplished exactly by doing this? Please excuse my ineptitude

According to the manufacturer of your gateway - to port forward those are the steps you need to follow. Putting in your exact IP may not work correctly.

[Mattata]

2 hours ago, Admiral Koba said:

According to the manufacturer of your gateway - to port forward those are the steps you need to follow. Putting in your exact IP may not work correctly.

I... I cant believe it. Yeah, that worked. I'm actually in awe right now, i spent 6 years trying to figure this out and it was that simple? You have no idea how ecstatic I am. Thank you so much for the help!!