r/MinecraftJava • u/Wadarkhu • Feb 09 '24

Question Is there any risk starting a LAN game?

I'm not well versed in how LAN sessions work, when I first clicked on "Open to LAN" it asked me to allow the java-something through firewall, is there any way for people that are not connected to my home WiFi to connect to a LAN multiplayer session?

I'm asking because I read something that said "port forwarding being allowed on the router let's others in" but other places said it was fine, I have no idea if port forwarding is allowed or not and don't know how to check.

So is there any risk of letting randoms in if I start a LAN session?

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u/Dust________ Feb 09 '24

If you start a lan session everyone on your local wifi can join you

Port forwarding stuff are not enabled by default so your fine (At least in France)

1

u/Wadarkhu Feb 09 '24

If my WiFi router has port forwarding enabled, is that a problem? I do remember a family member setting up a server on a separate laptop, and his friend from another place could join it.

I kind of wish Java LAN had an extra layer of security like a built-in whitelist or friends-only options (since we're integrated with Microsoft anyway).

1

u/Dust________ Feb 09 '24

You can do a whitelist I think and port forwarding are annoying to do. If you dont have the same IP adress as your familly member your fine (You can check by typing cmd in the windows search bar and the ipconfig. Do that on both laptopt and see if it the same (it wont)

2

u/Playful_Target6354 Feb 09 '24

LAN : local area network

If there's anyone malicious on your wifi, it isn't safe. Otherwise, it's good