How To Get Minecraft Realms For Free

How to gear up a Minecraft Realms multiplayer server

(Image credit: Mojang Studios)

Minecraft Realms are what yous need if you want to set up your ain private online server for you and some friends to get mining and crafting together. The master bonus of Minecraft Realms over playing in a regular online Minecraft world is that you don't need the world's creator to be around equally Realms are e'er online and available to any invited members. You tin can hop in and hop out to your blocky heart's content, allowing you to play when you lot want in a shared world. Nevertheless, there's a lot more than to them than that - crucially that they're part of a premium subscription that you lot'll need to pay monthly to access. If you want to know what Minecraft Realms are, how much they toll, how to set up one up, and more than, we've got all the information y'all demand.

What is Minecraft Realms?
How much does Minecraft Realms price?
How to start a Minecraft Realm
How to invite friends to your Minecraft Realm
How to backup your Minecraft Realm

Minecraft Realms and Minecraft Realms Plus explained

Minecraft Realms faq page — (Paradigm credit: Mojang Studios)

Minecraft Realms are private multiplayer servers that let you to invite ten other players, giving each of them admission to the e'er-online server. Y'all can either create a new world as a Realm or convert one of your existing worlds into one. All the same, Realms are a premium feature and y'all must pay a monthly subscription to go on the Realm open to other players. Depending on your subscription, you can also get new content each month, including maps, mini-games, and graphic symbol skins.

Your Realm volition be online 24/7, and so anyone that yous've invited to join you will be able to play for free whenever they cull, regardless if you're at that place or not. Because you have full control over who can play on your Realm – yous tin can revoke access at any time – it's also a safe space for younger gamers to get together and play with friends without the worry of who they may be interacting with.

Minecraft Realms is available on PC, Xbox Series X, Xbox I, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and mobile devices, and y'all tin can access your Realm from any of these provided you lot take signed in with the same Minecraft business relationship. Crossplay is also enabled for Realms using the Bedrock Edition of Minecraft, allowing yous to invite friends no affair what platform they are playing on. Be aware that crossplay does not work betwixt the Bedrock and Java Editions of Minecraft, and so if you are a Java Edition PC player, you cannot join the Realm of a Boulder Edition Xbox Series X or PC thespian, for instance.

Some other indicate to note is that Minecraft Realms - for either Minecraft edition - do not currently support mods. Bedrock Realms Plus includes an assortment of Marketplace packs and supports user-created content, while Java Realms includes community-created content but does not support the Minecraft Market place. If Minecraft mods are something you lot care nigh, you may take to wait for an culling.

Minecraft Realms price and what is included

Minecraft Realms price information page — (Image credit: Mojang Studios)

Equally mentioned, you pay a monthly fee to keep your Minecraft world open as a Realm. However, there are three versions of the Realms subscription, each with their own benefits, which are listed below:

Realms (Boulder Edition) = $3.99/£3.29 per month
The basic Minecraft Realms for Boulder Edition costs $3.99/£3.29 a month and allows yous to invite two more friends to gain access to your private online world. This subscription as well supports Minecraft Market place, includes three World Slots, supports user-created content, and has crossplay across Bedrock devices and consoles.
Realms Plus (Bedrock Edition) = $seven.99/£6.69 per calendar month
Minecraft Realms Plus is the enhanced version of Realms and includes all the benefits of that subscription, as well every bit monthly Minecraft Marketplace content and access to over 150 Marketplace packs. The other large benefit is that you can invite upwardly to 10 other players to join your Realm. You'll get a 30-day free trial as well if you've never previously signed up to Realms and outset a Minecraft Realms Plus subscription.
Realms (Java Edition) = $vii.99/£6.69 per month
The only Java Edition choice costs the same as Realms Plus but offers a lot less. Yous still get to invite up to 10 Java Edition friends to join your individual Realm server, 24/7 access to that server, and iii World Slots, but Coffee Edition does not support Minecraft Marketplace. This ways you can't buy or use anything from the marketplace and you won't get admission to the monthly updates and over 150 content packs. Instead, Java Edition Realms gets free community-created content.

Remember, for any of these subscription tiers, in that location'due south always the pick to cancel afterwards if y'all feel y'all're non getting much use from it. After cancelling your subscription, you've got 18 months to download your Realm worlds before they are permanently deleted. If you sign up for Minecraft Realms again, you tin can supervene upon your new world with the downloaded backup of one of your previous Realm world - more than on that farther downwards.

If you've opted for the 10-histrion subscription to Realms Plus, yous should go along an middle out for the monthly updates. New maps, graphic symbol skins, and mini-games are constantly being added and equally they're available for free with Realms Plus, information technology seems airheaded not to at least check out what'southward on offer.

It's worth mentioning that if you have an Xbox Game Pass or PC Game Pass subscription, you lot can play Minecraft for no additional price, simply you nevertheless need to pay for Realms. You lot can also play Minecraft for free in a limited browser-based version of the game.

How to gear up Minecraft Realms

Minecraft Realms create world — (Epitome credit: Mojang Studios)

If you want to start from scratch and create a new world in Realms, go ahead and starting time setting up the world as you want it, with difficulty, manner (Survival, Artistic), forth with any other options you desire to add. In one case you're happy with your settings, select the 'Create on Realms Server' button. You'll so be given the choice of a 10-player Realm or a 2-player Realm. In one case you've accepted the Terms and Conditions and finalised the transaction, you'll be able to access your new Realm – and Marketplace goodies if yous selected the 10-player option – straight away.

If yous want to change your current Realm earth setting, you tin click the 'Edit' button side by side to the name of the Realm to bring upward the game setting menu. From there, you can make adjustments such as game mode, difficulty, alter the name of the world or add cheats. You lot also go 3 Earth Slots equally office of any Minecraft Realms subscription, so yous're not just limited to i world either.

How to invite friends to your Minecraft Realms

The good news is that friends that you want to invite to your Realm don't need their own Minecraft Realms subscription to join you. To invite friends to your Realm, click the Edit button adjacent to your Realm world, then select 'Members'. Hither you'll be able to invite other players and manage those that already have access to the realm. Yous can 'uninvite' players if they've outstayed their welcome or oasis't been active for a while on this folio too.

It seems that the number of invites you tin can ship out is almost limitless just the people that can play on your Realm simultaneously will be express by your subscription type.

How to back up or supplant your World in Minecraft Realms

Y'all don't take to stick with the same World when using Minecraft Realms. If you lot desire to commencement a completely new World or if you lot want to supervene upon your electric current one with another, you can practice that too. Simply you might want to back upwardly your current World before doing so, otherwise you'll lose any progress yous've made on it.

To back upward your existing Earth on Minecraft Realms, click the 'Edit' button next to your Realm world and select 'Download Globe'. This will save the Globe to your device and you'll be able to play information technology locally or re-upload it once again subsequently if you change your mind.

To replace your current World on Minecraft Realms, again click 'Edit' next to your Realm world and select 'Supercede World'. Yous volition be so asked to confirm this action earlier existence presented with a list of available worlds to supplant it with. Once selected, the new world will be uploaded and you'll exist ready to go.

Sarah has been writing about games for several years and, before joining PC Gamer, freelanced for the likes of TechRadar, GamingBible, and Rock Newspaper Shotgun. These days, and when not writing guides, most of her spare fourth dimension goes into MMOs—though she's quite fractional to JRPGs too. She has spent much of the last decade playing the likes of Star Wars: The Old Republic, TERA, Final Fantasy 14, and Earth of Warcraft.