Minecraft is a very addictive and fun game with lots of freedom in actions. People with creativity, especially in construction, would like it. However, you may encounter an error notifying you that you cannot connect to the game world when playing together. If you have already experienced this error, we’ll tell you a few ways to fix it.
Restart the game and add a friend again
This method often helps. Quit the game, restart your computer, and relaunch the game. If this doesn’t help, try to re-add your friend. You can remove the person from your friend list and then re-add them. In some cases, this method can help.
Reload your private world
Reloading your world can also help you fix the considered error and continue enjoying the game. To do this, use the following instructions:
- Launch the game.
- Click on “Play.”
- Select your world in the “Worlds” tab and click on it.
- Select “Save & Quit” on the menu that opens.
- Now go back to the main menu and open the “Friends” tab.
- After that, you should be able to join your friends’ world.
Disable the firewall
The Windows Firewall is a built-in firewall that inspects incoming and outcoming Internet traffic and blocks or allows it, depending on the settings. It denies unsafe incoming connections and allows all outcoming connections by default. Sometimes it may consider the javaw.exe file (this file is responsible for accessing servers) dangerous. To disable the firewall, follow these steps:
- Open the “Windows Security” settings by double-clicking the shield icon in the notification area or via Start — Settings — Windows Security.
- Click on “Windows Defender Firewall” and select the network profile you want to disable the firewall. You can disable only the active profile or repeat these actions for all items if necessary.
- Place the switch in the “Disabled” position to disable the firewall for that network profile.
If you don’t want to disable the firewall, you can allow the javaw.exe file to access the Internet.
Update network card drivers
If you ask yourself, “why can’t I join my friends Minecraft world?” question, it is worth checking the available updates for your network card drivers. To update the driver manually, you need to use Device Manager. To do this, follow these steps:
- Type “Device Manager” in the Start menu’s search bar and open the Device Manager in the list that appears.
- Select the driver you want to update.
- Right-click on the driver and select “Update driver.”
- Then select “Automatic driver search” to start a driver update search.
The update process will start immediately if your operating system detects new drivers. If you cannot find new updates this way but are sure that new drivers are available, you can visit the manufacturer’s website and search for new driver versions there, then download the needed driver and install it.
Change the settings
This error may occur due to the appropriate settings on Xbox.com that ban multiplayer games. To remove it, do the following:
- Go to the Xbox official website.
- Click the Xbox One/Windows 10 Online Privacy tab.
- Find “Join multiplayer games” and set it to “Allow.”
- Click “Submit.”
Disable antivirus
We usually prefer to keep antivirus on, but it is sometimes unnecessary. Suppose you want to install a safe program or open a trusted site. Still, the antivirus program does not allow you to do it because of an incorrect response (this may also apply to Minecraft because the error may occur due to limitations of antivirus). In this situation, using antivirus may be problematic, so it is better to disable it sometimes. The disabling process is almost the same in all antivirus programs, so that we will consider it in the example of Dr.Web Security Space:
- Open “Security Center” by clicking on the antivirus icon in the tray.
- Click “Preventive protection.”
- Click on the lock icon at the bottom to allow editing your settings and click “Yes”.
- Then toggle all tumblers.
Use VPNs
The “Unable to connect to the world” error can be caused by problems with the Internet that can be solved by using a VPN. NordVPN is one of the most popular VPNs, so we will use this example to explain the installation process:
- Register on the official website of the VPN mentioned above service and purchase the tariff you are interested in (the only difference is the term it is purchased for).
- After that, you need to go to the “Downloads” section and choose the software version for Windows or another operating system you have installed. Next, it is necessary to download a VPN client for your computer. You can do this on the official website too.
- You need to find the installation file on your computer and open it. This will launch the installation program. If you see a box asking for permission to make changes to these applications during the installation process, click “Yes,” as it is just a formality. If you are installing NordVPN on Windows 10 for the first time, the program will ask you to download the OpenVPN TAP application. It is required for the full functioning of the VPN service. To do this, follow the sequence of the Next — I Agree — Install commands.
- After all the above actions, you can start installing NordVPN on your computer. To do this, select a folder where the program will be stored, click on the “Install” button, and wait for the VPN service to install.
- As soon as the installation is finished, the program will open automatically, and NordVPN will appear on your desktop.
If Windows asks permission to install TAP drivers, then allow it immediately because the VPN service will not work correctly without them.
After all the above manipulations, you should register, log in, and click “Login now.” Now you can see the main screen of NordVPN. It would help if you pressed “Quick Connect” in the top menu for quick work. After that, the program will automatically select the best server based on your location. If you are not satisfied with the current data center for some reason, you can change it manually by selecting the appropriate point on the map.