Minecraft continues to bless charts with its presence as the top-selling game of all time over a decade after its initial release. This iconic blocky sandbox game's popularity is unsurprising to anyone who has personally built, explored, mined, or role-played within Minecraft's boundless randomly generated worlds. Mojang's gem is exciting, fun, and everything in between thanks to the infinite gameplay possibilities it offers. With so many different ways to play, it also comes as no surprise that players have been enjoying Minecraft multiplayer with friends since the game first gained its footing online.
There are various ways to experience Minecraft multiplayer, whether alongside pals locally or with friends from all ends of the globe online. This can make the prospect of playing co-op feel daunting, as you may not know how to initiate a multiplayer server or which method you should employ to enjoy Minecraft with others. Thankfully, Mojang has made this decision a lot easier with its 2013 introduction of Realms, a subscription-based multiplayer server hosting service.
Minecraft Realms are private, persistent worlds stored within Mojang's own cloud. They're far easier to set up than personally hosted multiplayer servers and remain online at all times regardless of active players in-game. Players subscribed to the service may also access adventures, mini-games, and other such bonus content. If you're wondering if you can play with friends on other systems or versions and what other possible perks to the subscription there may be, such as Minecraft Realms cross-platform support, look no further. We've got you covered here with our guide on Minecraft Realms cross-platform play and how it works.
Minecraft Realms Cross-Platform Explained
Are Minecraft Realms cross-platform? Yes, Minecraft Realms support cross-platform play as long as all players are using the same version of the game. This means that a Bedrock player with a subscription can enjoy Minecraft alongside other Bedrock players regardless of the console or device they are each using. For instance, if you play on a PC but use the Bedrock (Windows store) version of Minecraft and have a Bedrock-based Realms subscription, your PlayStation and Xbox pals can join you.
The same sentiment applies to the Java edition of Minecraft. If you subscribe to Realms via the Java version of the sandbox game, only other players using the Java edition will be able to join you. This means that any friend using the Java version of Minecraft, whether it be on a Linux, Mac, or Windows OS-based system, can join your Realms as long as your server is hosted via the Java edition of Mojang's game.
Aside from the cross-platform play edition differences, Minecraft Realms subscriptions aren't identical across the board for both Bedrock and Java players, either. Bedrock players have two subscription options to choose from, Realms and Realms Plus, with the former not including Marketplace Pass content and supporting fewer active users at once. The two Bedrock Realms subscription offers both include cross-platform support, though, as long as all players are using the same edition of Minecraft regardless of their console or device of choice.
Java players only have one Realms subscription offer but it includes free community content and supports a hefty 10 extra users. As previously discussed, this sole Java edition subscription also covers Minecraft Realms cross-platform support for players using the same version on their PC, whether they're playing on a Linux, Mac, or Windows OS-based system. Unfortunately, there is no way for Bedrock and Java edition players to enjoy Minecraft together, with or without Mojang's Realms service, unless they employ third-party tools.
