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Playing with friends
On the server's Friends page, switch on "Make a download for friends". Then:
- Copy an invite link and send it (by Discord, text or email). There's a local link for friends on your Wi-Fi and an internet link for everyone else. Post to Discord posts it for you.
- Your friend clicks it, presses Download, and runs the file. Craft Conductor sets up their game (see the next section). Next time, the link opens their Craft Conductor directly.
For power users, Advanced: invite codes and security shows the raw invite codes (for craft-conductor join <code>).
For friends outside your home: choose how they join under Friends outside your home, at the top of the Friends page (see the next section). For the internet link, friends' Craft Conductor downloads the setup from this computer, so the friends' download port (TCP 8766 unless you changed it) must reach this computer too: press Use my public IP (or type your address under Craft Conductor settings → Connections → Sharing with friends), and forward that port on your router, by hand or with Router (see Open a port on my router). The port is only open while a link works: once no link works, nothing answers on it, and Router takes it back from your router within a minute.
What friends get: the Minecraft version, mod loader and every mod that runs on players' computers (server-only mods are left out), plus the mods you add under Mods for players, a CurseForge modpack's mods that its server pack leaves out (see Modpacks), and the memory you choose for their Minecraft. Mods that server mods need on players' computers are added by themselves (a message says which and why).
Will their Minecraft start? Craft Conductor looks inside every mod file friends get, the way Fabric, Forge and NeoForge do when Minecraft starts, and checks that each mod has the other mods, and the versions of them, it says it needs. It checks again whenever their mods change. The mod sites don't always say: Modrinth may call a mod "server only" when a mod players get needs it (Terralith needs Lithostitched), or list a mod for a Minecraft version its own file says it isn't made for. When a server mod is what's missing, friends get it anyway. Anything else stops the invite: The invite links are paused, the links and Post to Discord are hidden, and Manage Friends Mods glows. There the mod's row is red, with a version that works when there is one ("Use Iris 1.10.9") and Change version. Friends who open a link sent earlier are told the server's owner is fixing its mods; once it's fixed, the same links work again. Players' mods the server doesn't run are downloaded once to look inside.
Mods for players land on the right side. A mod that only runs on players' computers (a minimap, say) stays in the friends' download. A mod that runs on both sides (a recipe viewer, for example) is also added to the server's own mods, with the mods it needs, resolved the same way as any server mod: a message says "X also runs on the server, so it was added there too, with Y", and the list marks it also on the server. If the server has no build of it for its Minecraft version, the message says why, and players still get it. When you Remove one from the list, Craft Conductor asks whether to remove it from the server too (Cancel keeps it there). If you remove it from the server, it then asks about the mods it needed there that are also in your friends' mods (Cancel keeps them for friends).
It works the other way too. A Modrinth mod you add to the server with the mod browser (or tick under World generation & map preview on New server) that runs on both sides goes in your friends' mods as well, with the mods it needs that also run on both sides: a message says "X also runs on players' computers, so it was added to your friends' mods too, with Y". It's added even while the friends' download is off (the message says so), so it's there when you switch it on. When you Remove such a mod from the server, Craft Conductor asks in one question whether to remove it, and the mods that went with it, from your friends' mods too (Cancel keeps them for friends). CurseForge doesn't say where its mods run, so CurseForge mods aren't added this way.
How long links work. Invite links are made to be shared (in a Discord channel, say), so they aren't single-use: everyone with the link can use it. Instead, a link stops working by itself after the time picked under Links work for: 1 day, 3 days (the usual: a weekend, Friday to Sunday) or 7 days, the most, because the download port is open while a link works. Links made with Craft Conductor 0.28 or earlier to work longer (30 days, or Until I make new ones) stopped when it was updated: make new ones. The page shows when the links stop, and Post to Discord says it in the message. Changing it starts the time again from now, and new links use it too. Stop these links stops them at once; New links makes new ones, and the old ones stop working. Once a link has stopped, nobody can set up with it any more; friends who already set up keep playing, but need a new link to update their game. Want only the people you know to play? Keep the whitelist on: a link lets friends download the setup and ask to be let in, and you decide.
Security: the link opens Craft Conductor's invite page on GitHub, and the invite itself is after the #, which browsers never send anywhere. Friends' Craft Conductor connects to your computer only over HTTPS, and only to your computer: the invite carries the fingerprint of your Craft Conductor's certificate, and anything else is refused. The Craft Conductor program itself always comes from GitHub, never from your server. The friends' port never gives access to the control panel.
At the top of a server's Friends page (and in New server's Friends step, and for every server in Craft Conductor settings → Connections → Sharing with friends), pick how friends who aren't on your Wi-Fi join:
- playit.gg (recommended), chosen at first: nothing is opened on your router. Friends join through an address playit.gg gives you. Free for Minecraft Java and Bedrock.
- Open a port on my router: friends join with your home's internet address, through a port forwarded on your router.
- Only friends at home: only people on this computer's Wi-Fi or network can join.
The whitelist is on whenever the server can be reached from the internet: with playit.gg or an open port chosen, with Router (UPnP) on, with a public address under Sharing with friends, with a playit.gg address in the server's Settings, or once Check my setup reached it from the internet. A new server made that way starts with the whitelist on; type Your Minecraft name in New server and you're put on it, so you can join (or add yourself on the Players page). A server made after Craft Conductor 0.28 that becomes reachable later gets its whitelist turned on by itself, and the activity (and the bell) says so. Servers made with 0.28 or earlier are left as they are. You can still turn the whitelist off, but on a server the internet can reach, Craft Conductor asks every time (on the Dashboard, the Players page, Settings and New server): "With the whitelist off, anyone who finds it can join: bots look for Minecraft servers all day, and strangers can grief your world." Turn it off anyway turns it off (it then isn't turned on again by itself); Keep it on leaves it on.
playit.gg is a separate company's service in the middle: everything players send goes through it. Plainly:
- You need a playit.gg account (13 or older, by its terms), and its program runs on this computer.
- When playit.gg has problems, or its program isn't running here, friends can't join through it however healthy your server is, and Craft Conductor can't fix that. Friends on your network can still join.
- It can add lag: free tunnels aren't always routed through the nearest place (a friend nearby can be sent through another continent).
- The free plan: Minecraft Java and Bedrock tunnels are free. playit.gg doesn't publish the free plan's exact limits, and its plans can change. Its other tunnel types (plain TCP, HTTPS) need a paid plan, so Craft Conductor doesn't use them: the friends' download from outside goes through your router instead (see above).
- Players' own addresses don't reach the server: everyone seems to come from this computer, so IP bans don't work through it (name bans and the whitelist do). Craft Conductor refuses Ban IP for them: it would ban this computer's own address, shutting out everyone who joins through playit.gg, and you too.
The Friends page walks you through it:
- Get playit.gg's program. On Windows, press Download and install playit.gg (in a browser on the server's own computer). Nothing is downloaded before you press it. Craft Conductor downloads playit.gg's installer from playit.gg's own GitHub release, checks it (the SHA-256 GitHub lists for it, and the signature of Developed Methods LLC, playit.gg's company) and only then opens it; a download that fails a check is deleted, never opened. playit.gg's installer asks Windows for permission and sets the program up as its own program: it keeps running by itself, also when Craft Conductor is closed (uninstall it in Windows' Apps list). On Linux, the page shows playit.gg's own commands to copy (its signed package repository); on macOS and elsewhere, a link to playit.gg/download.
- Connect it to a playit.gg account. playit.gg's program shows a link to claim it: open it, and sign in or make a free account. Craft Conductor never sees your playit.gg account or its key.
- Add a tunnel on playit.gg: Minecraft Java to this computer's port (the page says which), and Minecraft Bedrock to the Bedrock port if Geyser is on. Never point a tunnel at the control panel's port (8765 unless changed): anyone on the internet could then reach the control panel as if they sat at this computer.
- Paste the address playit.gg gives it and press Save (it's also the server's Settings → playit.gg tunnel).
With an address set, the Dashboard shows playit.gg tunnel: Craft Conductor asks the server for its status through the tunnel, the way a friend's game does, and says whether it's working, whether it answers with a different server (point the tunnel at this server's port), or can't be reached. It also says if playit.gg's program isn't running here (its tray icon alone isn't enough), and links to playit.gg's status page. Craft Conductor checks every 5 minutes and notes in the activity (and on Discord, if set up) when the tunnel stops or starts working. Check my setup includes it too.
Before you choose it, Craft Conductor says what it means, and asks: opening a port on your router makes the server reachable by anyone on the internet, not just your friends. Programs scan the whole internet for Minecraft servers all day, and a server they find can be joined and griefed. Your home's internet address becomes public: anyone who joins can see it. Keep the whitelist on, and close the port when you don't need it.
Craft Conductor picks the port: not Minecraft's usual 25565 (the one bots try first), not one another server here or Craft Conductor itself uses, and free on this computer: a random port between 30000 and 39999. With Geyser on, it picks a UDP port for Bedrock players too (written into Geyser's config; on a server Geyser hasn't started on yet, from its second start). The server has to be stopped for that. The page then says exactly what to forward: Forward TCP port N (and UDP port M for Bedrock players) on your router to this computer. A different port doesn't hide the server from a scan of every port: the whitelist is what keeps strangers out.
- Let Craft Conductor do it: Craft Conductor settings → Connections → Sharing with friends → Router → Open the ports on my router by itself (UPnP). It's off until you switch it on, and it asks you first, with the same warning. While it's on, the page says so. Craft Conductor asks the router to forward each server's Minecraft port (and its Bedrock port, with Geyser), and the friends' download port while a link works, to this computer (never the control panel's port, or a server's RCON port), renews that while it runs, and takes the ports back when you switch it off or quit Craft Conductor. It shows which ports worked, your router's internet address, and warns when forwarding can't help (your provider shares one address between homes, called CGNAT, or there are two routers): then choose playit.gg. Check my setup shows it too.
- Windows Firewall: Check my setup → Let them through Windows Firewall adds Craft Conductor's rules for these ports (TCP, and UDP for Bedrock). Deleting the server offers to remove them.
- By hand: many routers have UPnP switched off. The Help page has pictures; every router is different, so check its manual if you get stuck.
With Geyser enabled, Post to Discord also offers Bedrock internet link and Bedrock local link. Select either alongside the Java links, or post only Bedrock links. They open a page with the server address, Geyser port and instructions for adding the server in Bedrock; players don't need Craft Conductor. The internet option needs your public address and UDP port forwarding (or a playit.gg Bedrock tunnel). Java tunnels aren't used for Bedrock. Install Geyser before inviting players. Bedrock links contain the server address and port, so they do not expire or stop working when you replace the Java download links.
Friends playing Minecraft on a phone, a tablet, Windows (the Microsoft Store version) or a console can join a Fabric, Quilt, NeoForge, Paper or Purpur server through Geyser. On the Friends page, press Let Bedrock players join: Craft Conductor adds the Geyser and Floodgate mods from Modrinth and offers to install them now (the server restarts after the countdown). Bedrock players then use Play → Servers → Add Server with your address and the Bedrock port (19132 unless Geyser's config says otherwise), and sign in with their own Microsoft account; they don't need Java Edition.
The setup checks both mods first. When a compatible Geyser build is labeled beta or alpha, it offers that build with an early-build confirmation. Accepting applies to the bridge mod and its dependencies; other mods keep their existing release policy.
- For friends outside your home, also forward the UDP Bedrock port on your router (Bedrock uses UDP; with Open a port on my router chosen, Craft Conductor picks it and Router forwards it), or add a Minecraft Bedrock tunnel on playit.gg.
- Xbox, PlayStation and Switch can't add servers by themselves; GeyserMC's guide shows the workarounds.
- With the whitelist on, add a Bedrock player with the console command
fwhitelist add <name>. Their names start with a dot (.) in game. - Remove Geyser and Floodgate on the Mods page to turn it off.
← Settings · Joining a friend's server →
This page is the user manual that comes with Craft Conductor (Help → User manual in the app). It's made from manual.md: change it there, not here.