Mojang is currently working on the next major Minecraft content update, Chaos Cubed, and that means public testing is ongoing via the snapshot system. The latest update to the Minecraft Java Edition preview had a couple of interesting surprises alongside new features and changes, bringing it closer to how the Bedrock Edition operates.
The biggest change is the addition of peer-to-peer online multiplayer support for worlds that were created for single-player usage.
The old Open to LAN option has been replaced in this Snapshot with a new Multiplayer Options screen in the in-world Minecraft pause menu. This section now offers players three options:
- Off: (default) Nobody can join your world
- Local: only players in your local network can join your world, as the Open to LAN screen used to work
- Online: you can invite your friends to join your world from anywhere
The Online option is the new addition, letting players turn their single-player worlds into multiplayer and easily send invites. Friends of the host can also request to join the world, which the host can then accept or deny.
Speaking of friends, this is another feature coming over from Bedrock Edition. The new Friends List that"s in testing now is an overlay (opened with the "O" key) that lets players send and receive friend in-game requests. All that"s required for a request is the user"s Java Edition profile name. Xbox friends who own the Java Edition of Minecraft will also appear here. It"s via this that the new peer-to-peer online system will let players join each other for multiplayer without the need for port forwarding and sharing IP addresses.
"The goal isn’t to replace any of the ways you currently connect with friends and play together – but to give you another option that’s easy to access within the game itself," said Mojang about this addition. The Friends List and peer-to-peer multiplayer features should go live alongside the Chaos Cubed update when it"s rolling out after the testing phase. Find the complete changelog for Minecraft 26.2 Snapshot 7 over here.
It"s an interesting development that should make it much easier for Java Edition players to open up their local worlds. It is currently unclear if this supports modded games. Don"t forget that Java Edition is also slated to swap over to the Vulkan graphics API too, which is also currently in testing with these snapshots.