Friends List

This feature is exclusive to Java Edition.

The friends list is a social menu in Java Edition. It allows users to add or remove friends and view their friends' statuses.

Usage

The friends list can be accessed via the "Friends" button on the main menu or pause menu, or by using a keyboard shortcut (default O).

The friends list is presented as an overlay, containing two tabs:

Friends: Displays currently added friends. Friends can be removed here or friend requests can be sent by entering the player's profile name.
Requests: Displays received friend requests (acceptable or rejectable) and sent friend requests (cancellable).

The friends list updates every minute while it is open; otherwise it updates every five minutes.

Enabling

When the "Friends" button is interacted with for the first time, a confirmation dialog box appears, asking for agreement to use the friends list.

Some features must be enabled in the separate Online settings to allow friend requests. By default, the "Allow Requests" setting is disabled, which must be enabled to be able to receive friend requests.

The player's Xbox account settings may also hinder the functionality of the friends list. These can also be accessed and changed from the in-game Online settings menu by selecting Xbox Settings. The friends list can be disabled and enabled as a whole using the "Friends List" setting. When disabled, the "Friends" button is hidden and the list cannot be opened. Trying to open the friends list when it is disabled shows a confirmation box, just like when interacting with the feature for the first time.

Friends

The player can send a friend request to another player by entering their Java Edition profile name into the search box in the "Friends" tab, which also sends a friend request on the Xbox network.

Friend request accepted toast

A list of sent and received friend requests can be found in the "Requests" tab. A search box appears at the top if the player has 15 or more requests.^{[upcoming: 26.4]} Sent friend requests can be cancelled at any time. Received friend requests can be accepted or rejected, either in the Requests tab or on the Xbox network.

If the other player has "Allow Requests" disabled, the friend request isn't sent and an error message is displayed. The Friends button shows a notification badge with the number of incoming friend requests, up to 5.

Friends added through the Xbox network that own Java Edition is synchronized in-game, and vice versa.

Friends can be seen in the "Friends" tab, displaying their skin's face, their profile name, and their online status. Friends can be sorted by who's online or by alphabetical order.^{[upcoming: JE 26.4]} Players that have their chat settings set to "Friends Only" on their Xbox profile see only chat messages from players if they are friends.

Friends can be removed from the list in the "Friends" tab with the "Remove friend" button.^{[until: 26.4]} This also removes the friend from the Xbox friends list.

Online status

A friend's online status is displayed under their name, with there being four possible online statuses:

Offline
Online (in Java Edition)
- It can further specify into these statuses:
- Online (Realm)
- Online (Server)
In a world

The way the player's activity appears to their friends can be customized using the "Presence" setting in the Online settings menu or directly in the friends list using the eye icon^{[upcoming: JE 26.4]}, with three states:

All: Friends see when the user is online and what they are doing (such as if they are actively playing in a world).
Limited: Friends see when the user is online, but cannot see what they are doing.
None: The user appears as offline to friends even when online, and no activity is shared.

Player Options

This section describes content that is currently in development for Java Edition.

This content has appeared in development versions for 26.4, but the full update adding it has not been released yet.

Clicking on a player's icon in the friends list or the Other Players screen opens their player options.

You can:

Send or cancel a friend request
Accept or decline a friend request
Mute a player
- Muting a player hides their chat messages until the next time you start the game
Report a player

Blocking players is managed through Other Players.

Notifications

Changes in the friends list while the game is open result in a toast notification:

Friend request sent
Friend request received
Another player accepted the friend request sent by the player

The toast notification also displays the face of the other player's skin if it is available.

Multiplayer functionality

This section describes content that has been removed from Minecraft.

This feature was present in earlier versions of Java Edition, but has been removed, and no longer functions in versions that had it.

Players that are in-game friends could join each other's online multiplayer worlds via Peer-to-Peer. Friends that are online could be invited to join to a world through the "Invite to game" button displayed next to their profile in the "Friends" tab and the Friends could accept or deny the invite.

The player could also request to join a friend's online world and the friend could accept or deny the request in the "Friends" tab.

The Friends tab showing an option to invite a friend to the world
The Friends tab showing an option to send request to join a friend's world

History

Java Edition
The Story of Mojang		A roadmap is shown that depicts a friends list as a planned feature. Notch later acknowledges this.^[1]
June 27, 2011		Notch mentions that a friends list system would be implemented at some point following Beta 1.8.
MINECON 2012		Jeb states that a friends list could be used across all of Mojang's games, not just Minecraft.
June 11, 2013		Kristoffer mentions that a friends list is being developed for Scrolls, and that other Mojang games would be able to use this system at a later date.
26.2	snap7	Added the friends list.
	snap8	The enable friends list confirmation box has been changed.
	pre1	The multiplayer functionality of the friends list has been temporarily removed.
		No longer waits until the next presence update following the initial opening of the friends list to load player skins.
		Friends list width has been increased to fit longer usernames.
		"Manage online safety with your Microsoft account" text is no longer slightly offset to the left.
		"Microsoft account" link now plays the click sound when pressed.
		The "My profile name: " text now displays properly in right-to-left languages.
		The friend list button is now always visible, even if the feature is disabled in the options. Clicking it when the functionality is turned off shows the screen for enabling it.
Upcoming Java Edition
26.4	snap3	Updated the design of the friends list.