Minecraft on Xbox shows you Mojang's featured servers and nothing else. There is no field to type an address into, so joining a friend's server or a private SMP takes a workaround. Three of them work in 2026. Here they are in the order you should try them, with the exact menus.
Why Xbox has no "Add Server" button
On phones, tablets and Windows, Bedrock Edition has an Add Server button under Play, then Servers. The console builds ship without it. What you get instead is a curated list of partner servers, and there is no supported route from that screen to an arbitrary address. That is a policy choice by Mojang and Microsoft, not a technical limit, which is why every working method below is a way of putting a server in front of the console through a door it already has open: local-network discovery, or the featured list itself.
Method 1: BedrockTogether, a phone app on the same Wi-Fi (recommended)
BedrockTogether is a free iOS and Android app. It runs on your phone, pretends to be a Minecraft world on your home network, and when the Xbox joins that world it transfers you to the real server. Nothing is installed on the console and no settings change. This is the method most people should use on Xbox because it takes two minutes and survives updates.
What you need
- An Xbox with Minecraft (any model from Xbox One to Series X).
- An iPhone, iPad or Android phone with BedrockTogether installed.
- Both devices on the same Wi-Fi network. Not a guest network, not mobile data, not a VPN.
- The server address and port. Hosted servers are often not on the default
19132, so copy the exact number from the host's panel.
Step by step on the phone
- Open BedrockTogether and stay on the PlayStation · Xbox tab.
- Type the address into the IP field and the port into the Port field.
- Tap Watch Ad and Run. The app checks it can reach the server and then starts broadcasting.
- Keep the app open and the phone awake until you are in. If it goes to the background the broadcast stops.
IP: yourname.spawnfort.host Port: 25600
Step by step on the Xbox
- Launch Minecraft and open Play.
- Look in the Worlds tab (older builds list it under Friends, then LAN Games). Your server is there with the name the app gave it.
- Select it. Minecraft joins the phone's fake world and is transferred straight to the real server.
The free version saves two servers and shows an ad before each run. An ad-free version is sold from the app's Info screen. The address is remembered in the app, so the next session is open the app, tap Run, open Minecraft.
Why it works, and why there is an ad
Minecraft on every platform, Xbox included, always shows worlds it can see on the local network. That is how two consoles in one house play together. BedrockTogether advertises itself as one of those worlds, and the moment your Xbox connects, it hands the connection over to the address you typed. The ad is the app's business model; you are not being asked to pay the server anything.
Method 2: BedrockConnect DNS (no phone needed)
BedrockConnect is an open-source project that runs a DNS server and a Minecraft server together. Point the Xbox's DNS at it, and when the console looks up a featured server's hostname the DNS answers with BedrockConnect's own address. Tapping that featured server then drops you into a server-list menu where you type any address, and it is saved for next time. Use this when there is no spare phone, or when the Xbox is on a different network from everyone's phones.
Set a manual DNS on the Xbox
- Press the Xbox button, go to Profile & system, then Settings.
- General, then Network settings, then Advanced settings.
- DNS settings, set to Manual.
- Primary DNS:
104.238.130.180. Secondary DNS:8.8.8.8. - Save. The Xbox re-tests the connection; it should pass.
Keep that secondary DNS. It is what lets the store, updates and party chat keep resolving if the BedrockConnect instance has a bad day.
Open the hidden server list through a featured server
Launch Minecraft, open Play, then the Servers tab, and pick one of the featured servers BedrockConnect intercepts: The Hive, Lifeboat, Mineville, Galaxite or Enchanted. Instead of that server, the BedrockConnect menu loads. Choose Add Server, enter the address and port, and connect. From then on it is: open the featured server, pick your entry.
Which DNS instance to use
These are volunteer-run and come and go. The main one is the right default; the rest are fallbacks. Geography barely matters, since the instance only serves the menu, not your gameplay traffic.
| Primary DNS | Run by / region | Notes |
|---|---|---|
104.238.130.180 | Pugmatt (main), US | Start here on Xbox and Switch. |
45.55.68.52 | PlayStation alternate, US | The README's fix when PS4/PS5 misbehave on the main one. |
134.255.231.119 | ZAP-Hosting, Germany | European option. |
82.22.36.200 | AlbieBH, Switzerland | European option. |
87.106.68.173 | AlbieBH, UK | European option. |
185.169.180.190 | hasankayra04, Turkey | Fallback. |
57.128.153.204 | AdrianJoeK, UK | Has been offline for stretches; check status first. |
The canonical list lives in the project's GitHub readme, and bcstatus.xyz shows which instances are up right now.
Put the DNS back afterwards
While the manual DNS is set, a hobbyist server is answering your console's domain lookups. That is the honest trade-off, and it is a small one, but there is no reason to leave it in place permanently. Same menu, DNS settings back to Automatic, thirty seconds.
Method 3: Friend-broadcast bots (last resort)
The oldest trick is to add a bot account as an Xbox friend, then join its game from the Friends tab; the bot's "world" is a menu that transfers you to a server. It still exists, but it is the least reliable option. BedrockConnect's public bots have been switched off until further notice, and the ones still running elsewhere each hit Xbox's 1,000-friend cap and go "Full". Try it only when both methods above are unavailable, and expect to hunt for a bot with room.
Joining a Java server or SMP from Xbox
Both methods can only send you to a server that speaks the Bedrock protocol. Point them at a plain Java server and you get a timeout. The fix is on the server side: GeyserMC translates Bedrock to Java in real time, and Floodgate lets you sign in with your Xbox account rather than a Java license. You then join the Geyser port, which the server owner can tell you. If you would rather not install anything, a SpawnFort server has crossplay as one checkbox and Geyser plus Floodgate are wired up on the Bedrock port for you.
Do you need Game Pass Core?
Yes. Online multiplayer in Minecraft on Xbox sits behind Xbox Game Pass Core (renamed Game Pass Essential in late 2025) or Game Pass Ultimate, and joining a third-party server counts. A very common "it shows up but won't join" report is simply a lapsed subscription. Singleplayer does not need it.
When it does not work
| What you see | Likely cause and fix |
|---|---|
| Nothing in the Worlds / LAN Games list | Phone and Xbox are on different networks (guest Wi-Fi, mobile data, VPN), or the router has client isolation on. Put both on the main Wi-Fi. On iOS, allow the Local Network permission for BedrockTogether. |
| It appeared, then vanished | The phone app was suspended. Keep it in the foreground; on Android exclude it from battery optimisation. |
| “Unable to connect to world” after selecting it | The broadcast worked and the target is the problem: wrong port, server offline, a whitelist without you on it, or a Java-only server with no Geyser. |
| Featured servers load normally, no BedrockConnect menu | The DNS did not take. Re-check Advanced settings shows the manual primary DNS, restart the console, and try a different featured server from the list. |
| Console feels offline after the DNS change | The instance you chose is down. Swap in another from the table, or set DNS back to Automatic. |
| Everything looks right but the join fails | Check Game Pass Core is active on the account you are playing on. |
Xbox vs PlayStation vs Switch: what changes
Xbox is the easy console. Both the phone-app and DNS methods work as written. PlayStation behaves the same, except the DNS trick sometimes needs a different primary address, covered in the PS5 and PS4 guide. The Switch is the odd one out: it never shows LAN worlds, so the phone app's normal mode cannot work there and DNS is the primary method. The Switch guide covers that, including the beta friends-broadcast fallback.
Whatever the console, the thing that makes this dance necessary is a plain, stable address and port to type in. A hosted server gives you one that does not change when someone's home IP does.