Forum: gaming.stackexchange.com
Tags: <minecraft-java-edition>
Title: How do you make a local (LAN) server in minecraft?
Question: I went to multiplayer and pressed "New Server" I entered the name I want it to be and the address. I pressed done but it said "hostname not available"

Answers:
sents: text: If you want to create a LAN server to play with your buddies connected on the same network, create a single player world, then from the pause screen, select 'Open to LAN', as pictured below.
answer_details: author: gaming.stackexchange.com/users/22078/Bryan
score: 42
sents: text: "New Server" doesn't create a server; it just lets you add one to the list of servers you connect to regularly.
text: To create a server, you have to run the server executable, "Minecraft_Server.exe" or "minecraft_server.jar".
text: Detailed instructions can be found on the minecraft wiki if you need more help getting set up or run into performance issues.
text: If you are running the server on the same machine as the client, you can connect to "localhost" as the server address, or your own IP address.
answer_details: author: gaming.stackexchange.com/users/14289/Yamikuronue
score: 30
sents: text: Five steps: Open to LAN
text: It will give you a 5-digit port number Find your IPv4 Address using ipconfig in Command prompt (search CMD in search bar)
text: If your IP address is 123.456.7.8, and LAN is 89072, then you will combine them to make something like: 123.456.7.8:80729 Use direct connect and connect to the game
answer_details: author: gaming.stackexchange.com/users/69957/user69957
score: 6
sents: text: Go to your game menu and press "Open to LAN".
text: Next, it will show your IP address.
text: Write down the IP address, and go back to the title screen and click on multiplayer.
text: Then, click on "Add server", name the server and then type in the IP address.
answer_details: author: gaming.stackexchange.com/users/62723/TheCoolMinecraftApoclypse
score: 4
sents: text: The following worked for me: Locate your IP address by opening System Preferences > Network.
text: Copy the IP address.
text: Alternatively, find your IP address from the terminal: $ ifconfig | grep "inet " inet 127.0.0.1 netmask 0xff000000 inet 10.0.0.217 netmask 0xffffff00
text: broadcast 10.0.0.255
text: Then, start single player and click "Open to LAN" from the pause menu.
text: It will print a port number, say 51831 .
text: If your local IP address is 10.0.0.217 then join the two with a : : 10.0.0.217:51831 .
text: Share this address with your friend, and ask them to connect using "Direct Connection" from the multiplayer start menu.
answer_details: author: gaming.stackexchange.com/users/200557/Ceasar Bautista
score: 3
sents: text: Start a Single-Player World
text: The first step, if you haven’t already started one, is to create a single-player world.
text: Pretty simple, under the “Singleplayer” tab, select “Create World” and then select your game options.
text: There is no specific set of settings for your world; this will not affect your friend from later joining the game.
text: Open to LAN After you have started your single-player world, press “ESC” on the keyboard (for PC), and this will bring up the pause menu.
text: Then, in the lower right corner, select the “Open to LAN” button, customize multiplayer options, then lastly select “Start LAN World” in the lower left corner, and a 5-digit LAN number will pop up in chat.
text: Make sure that you remember it.
text: Find Your IPV4 Address in Settings
text: How to Find your IPV4 Address Windows and MACIf
text: you’re not sure what this is or how to find it
text: , there are many helpful articles and videos on the web (should look something like '192.168.x.xx', numbers will vary).
text: “Direct Connect” to Server Image of The Direct Connect button in Multiplayer TabNow call up your friend, (or whatever you use to communicate with them) and have them select the “Multiplayer” option on the home screen.
text: Next, they need to click the “Direct Connect” option on the bottom of the screen.
text: After they have the Direct Connect screen open, tell them to put in your IPV4 address (with periods and everything): When they have typed it in character by character, add a colon directly at the end of this string of characters.
text: After the colon, they need to put in the LAN number you produced earlier; after you selected “Open to LAN” (There should be no spaces in between any of the numbers or characters).
text: When you have completed all the steps above, tell them to select “Join Server” at the bottom, and watch the magic happen!
text: Troubleshooting Often times, while attempting to play with your friends via LAN, you will be confronted with an error message that looks something like this.
text: This can be very annoying, as this has happened to me too many times.
text: There are a couple of ways to try and get around this roadblock; First of all, after you open “Direct Connect”, give it at least 45 seconds to fully load.
text: I know, you can’t tell that it is loading due to the absence of a loading sign, however if you put in all of the information and try to join your friend’s game before the “Direct Connect” page is finished loading, it will give you an error.
text: Secondly, especially if you are on Windows, the firewall can play a big role in preventing you from playing with friends.
text: Try turning off your firewall, and try this again.
text: **** REMEMBER TO TURN
text: IT BACK ON AFTERWARDS!
text: **** Lastly, you might want to try re-installing Minecraft.
text: The main reason why this is not working is that after you “Direct Connect” to the server, your computer pings for the host – if it finds them, great, you can join them.
text: However, if no computer or user is found with this LAN number/IPV4 address, then you will have no luck.
text: By re-installing Minecraft, you can restart this process.
text: A more detailed description of this process found here .
answer_details: author: gaming.stackexchange.com/users/241696/Veggies
score: 1

Summary of the answers:
If you want to create a LAN server, Go to your game menu and press "Open to LAN" then run the server executable, "Minecraft_Server.exe" or "minecraft_server.jar".
To create a local server in minecraft, there is an in game option.