Minecraft Dungeons Multiplayer: Why There Is No Matchmaking

This guide covers how multiplayer works in Minecraft Dungeons, and why there is no matchmaking for playing with strangers.

What stops most players here is not the difficulty. It is not being able to find people to play with. That is exactly what stopped me.

▼ Minecraft Dungeons guides on this site

✅ Beginner Guide: What to Do First

✅ How to Level Gear Without Grinding

✅ How to Pick Weapons, Armor and Artifacts

✅ How Enchantments Work and Where to Spend

✅ Farming Emeralds and Using the Merchants

✅ Difficulty Levels and When to Move Up

✅ Multiplayer and Why There Is No Matchmaking

✅ All 6 DLC Packs and What to Buy First

▼ Minecraft Dungeons II articles

✅ 4 Armor Slots and the New Talismans

✅ Matchmaking and Party Codes

✅ What Changed from the Original

How many players are supported, and how do you play together?

The answer: up to four players, through local split screen, online with friends, or cross-platform play.

▼ The three ways to play together

▶ Local (split screen) — up to four players on one console

▶ Online — join a friend’s session

▶ Cross-play — added in the November 2020 update. Switch, PS4, Xbox and PC can play together

Minecraft Dungeons: what multiplayer can and cannot do

Is there matchmaking with strangers?

The answer: no. A feature to automatically pair you with strangers was never added.

To play online you must already be friends with the other person. You cannot launch the game and search for players the way you would in Splatoon or Monster Hunter.

The developers stated openly that the game was designed to be played with friends. And version 1.17.0.0 on 30 November 2022 was the final update, with the end of development officially announced on 28 September 2023. It is not coming.

How do you play online with a friend?

① Add each other as friends through your platform’s friend system

② One of you launches the game and starts a mission

③ The other joins that friend’s session

④ If you are playing across platforms, enable cross-play in both players’ settings

As long as you are friends, you can drop into their session any time. Which also means that without friends who own the game, your online options are zero.

Does adding players make the game easier?

The answer: no. Multiplayer does not lower the difficulty — it raises it.

More players means enemies gain health and spawn in greater numbers. If a single stage seems to drag on forever in two-player, that is the mechanic, not your ability.

This is why I put several dozen hours in and stopped halfway through the story. Even with two players a single stage took so long that grinding was not realistic. Without grinding your gear stops improving, and without gear you cannot raise the difficulty — a dead end.

Is there any upside to playing together?

The answer: yes. As long as one player is alive, they can revive you on the spot.

A single mistake that would end a solo run is survivable with a group. When you are pushing into a difficulty above your level, that safety net is significant.

Build your gear solo, then take on the high difficulties together. That division works well.

What can you do if you cannot get a group together?

▶ Farm gear solo — enemies are not buffed, so you can push the difficulty higher

▶ Re-check the difficulty every time your gear updates — quality per run beats number of runs

▶ Pour emeralds into the merchants — a substitute for grinding

▶ Fill all six slots and pass a loading screen before launching — it changes your drop quality

I did once recruit through an open chat group and played with a much stronger player. The pace was completely different, and powerful weapons, armor and artifacts arrived noticeably faster. The absence of any in-game way to find people was itself the wall.

Does the sequel fix this?

The answer: yes. Minecraft Dungeons II addresses the problem head-on.

The sequel, released on 29 September 2026, adds matchmaking and party codes alongside the friends list. Colour-coded loot, teleporting to other players and a shared inventory screen also clean up the smaller annoyances of playing in a group.

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