Minecraft server IP: how to find your server address and share it

Short answer: a Minecraft server address is what players type under Multiplayer, Add Server: an IP address or a domain name, plus the port when it is not the default. Java Edition uses TCP 25565, Bedrock UDP 19132. On a VPS the address is the server’s public IPv4, shown by ip -4 addr or in your provider’s panel.

This guide shows how to find that address on a VPS and at home, when the port has to go after a colon, why server-ip in server.properties should usually stay empty, how to give the server a name like mc.example.com (with an SRV record for a non-default port), and what each “can’t connect” message points to.

What is a server address in Minecraft?

It is the network location of the machine that runs the server, written so the game can reach it. Java Edition takes three forms in its Server Address field:

• An IP address, such as 203.0.113.10. The game assumes port 25565.
• An IP address and a port, such as 203.0.113.10:25566, for a server on any other port. This is how one machine runs several servers.
• A host name, such as mc.example.com or mc.example.com:25566. DNS turns it into the IP, and an SRV record can supply the port as well (see below).

Bedrock Edition on phones, tablets and Windows has separate fields for the address and the port under Servers, Add Server, so the port never goes after a colon there. On Xbox, PlayStation and Switch the Servers tab has long offered only the featured servers, with no Add Server button. Two things have no address to share: a Realm, which friends join by invitation, and a world opened to LAN, which is only reachable on your own network, on the port the chat line “Local game hosted on port” names.

How do I find my Minecraft server’s IP on a VPS?

A VPS has a public IPv4 address of its own, and that address is the server address. Read it on the server itself:

ip -4 addr show scope global
# 2: eth0: <BROADCAST,MULTICAST,UP,LOWER_UP> mtu 1500 ...
#     inet 203.0.113.10/24 brd 203.0.113.255 scope global eth0

hostname -I        # every address on the machine, space-separated

The number after inet, without the /24, is what players type. The same address is on the server’s page in your provider’s panel. If the machine shows only a private address (10.x, 172.16.x to 172.31.x, 192.168.x), it sits behind NAT and the public address is elsewhere; the guide to checking your IP on Linux covers that case. Then confirm the server listens on the port you are about to share:

sudo ss -tlnp | grep 25565
# LISTEN 0  4096  *:25565  *:*  users:(("java",pid=1234,fd=48))

*:25565 means every address on the machine, which is what you want. No line at all means the server is not running or uses another port, which the next section shows how to read.

Which port goes after the colon?

Whatever server-port says in server.properties, in the server’s folder. If it is the default, players leave the port out:

grep -E '^(server-ip|server-port)=' server.properties
# server-ip=
# server-port=25565

Running two servers on one machine means giving the second its own server-port, such as 25566, opening that port in the firewall, and sharing 203.0.113.10:25566 (or a name with an SRV record) for it.

How do I find the IP of a server someone else runs?

Ask for it. A public server publishes its address on its website, its Discord or the server-list sites it advertises on, almost always as a name like play.example.net. For a friend’s server, the owner reads it as described above and sends it to you. To see an address you already saved in Java Edition, select the server in the Multiplayer list and click Edit. There is no lookup that turns a server’s name in someone’s screenshot into an address.

Should I set server-ip in server.properties?

Almost never. server-ip does not publish an address or tell players anything: it only makes the server bind to one local address instead of all of them. Left empty, the server listens on every address the machine has, which is correct on a VPS and at home.

Setting it to an address the machine does not have breaks the start. That happens when people paste their public IP at home (the PC only has its 192.168.x address), or a domain name that points at that public IP. The log then shows lines like these (the exception class in the middle differs between Linux and Windows):

[Server thread/WARN]: **** FAILED TO BIND TO PORT!
[Server thread/WARN]: The exception was: ... Cannot assign requested address

Empty the line, restart, and the server comes up. The one real use for server-ip is a machine with several public addresses where each server should answer on its own.

How do I use a domain instead of an IP?

A name is easier to remember and survives a move to a new server: you change one DNS record instead of telling every player a new IP.

1. 1Point a name at the server with an A record

   At your DNS provider, create an A record for mc (or any subdomain) with the server’s IPv4 as its value. With the default port, that is all players need: mc.example.com. The steps for each record type are in pointing a domain at your VPS.

2. 2Add an SRV record if the port is not 25565

   Java Edition looks for an SRV record named _minecraft._tcp in front of the name players type. It carries the port and the host to connect to:

   mc.example.com.                 3600 IN A   203.0.113.10
   _minecraft._tcp.mc.example.com. 3600 IN SRV 0 5 25566 mc.example.com.

   In a DNS panel this is usually a form: service _minecraft, protocol _tcp, name mc, priority 0, weight 5, port 25566, target mc.example.com. The target must be a name with its own A record, not an IP address (RFC 2782). Players then type plain mc.example.com and land on port 25566.

3. 3Check the records

   dig +short mc.example.com A                      # 203.0.113.10
   dig +short _minecraft._tcp.mc.example.com SRV   # 0 5 25566 mc.example.com.
   nslookup -type=srv _minecraft._tcp.mc.example.com   # Windows

   Or query both in the DNS lookup tool. The DNS record types guide explains the SRV fields in more depth.

What changes when the server runs at home?

At home, the address players need is your connection’s public IP, not the PC’s. Three things have to line up:

• The public IP. Open what is my IP on the PC that runs the server; that is the address to share. Most home lines change it now and then, so a name with a dynamic DNS service saves you resending it.
• Port forwarding. In the router, forward TCP 25565 (UDP 19132 for Bedrock) to the PC’s local address, which ipconfig shows as IPv4 Address on Windows. Allow Java through Windows Defender Firewall when it asks.
• No carrier-grade NAT. If the WAN address in the router differs from the one on the IP page, or starts with 100.64 to 100.127, your provider shares one public address between customers, and no forwarding rule can make the port reachable.

Everyone you give the address to now knows your home IP. Anyone among them can aim a flood at it, and that takes down the server and your household’s internet with it. A server on a VPS moves both the address and the risk off your home line, and needs no port forwarding at all; the Minecraft VPS setup guide walks through that install.

Why can’t players connect to my server address?

The message on the player’s screen narrows it down:

On the server, the firewall is the usual suspect. The UFW guide shows how to allow the game port without locking yourself out of SSH.

How do I test the address from outside?

Test from outside your own network, because a check from the same machine or the same router proves little. For Java Edition, enter the IP and 25565 in the open port checker: it opens a TCP connection from our test server in Amsterdam and tells you whether anything answered. From another Linux machine, bash can do the same without extra tools:

timeout 3 bash -c '</dev/tcp/203.0.113.10/25565' && echo open || echo "closed or filtered"

That one-liner was checked on Debian 12 with bash 5.2 against a public TCP port; on Windows, Test-NetConnection 203.0.113.10 -Port 25565 in PowerShell does the same job. Bedrock’s UDP port cannot be tested this way: UDP has no handshake, so a TCP check says nothing about it. Ask a friend on mobile data to add the server instead.

What do I get by running the server on a VPS?

A VPS gives the server an address that does not change, is not your home’s, and needs no router at all: open the port in the server’s own firewall and share the IP or a name. Every VMHeaven server comes with its own IPv4 address and always-on DDoS mitigation at no extra cost, which matters once the address is public. Minecraft’s tick runs largely on one thread, so few fast cores beat many slow ones, and the gaming VPS page sizes Minecraft and other games on both of our lines. For a modpack, read the modded Minecraft server guide first: large Forge and Fabric packs need far more memory than a vanilla world.

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