Start with the fact that explains everything else, because almost no guide says it plainly:
Minecraft on Nintendo Switch does not show LAN games at all.
There is no LAN Games section. It is not hidden and you have not configured anything wrong. This is confirmed by the developers of every tool in this space and by a GeyserMC developer answering support threads.
That single fact rules out the method most guides recommend. Any phone app that works by making a server appear as a local game cannot work on Switch, no matter what its store listing implies. If you have downloaded one and been confused, that is why, and it is not your fault. Why consoles have no Add Server button covers the reasoning; this page covers what to do about it.
Two things do work. One of them carries a real risk, and the other does not.
You will need Nintendo Switch Online, because console multiplayer requires it.
A note on Switch 2. As of September 2026 a Switch 2 runs the same Switch version of Minecraft, so everything here applies to it too. A native Switch 2 version is due on 27 October 2026. Whether it changes any of this is unknown until it ships.
What works: changing the Switch’s DNS
This is the method to use. It is free, run by a long-standing open-source project (named on the alternatives page), and carries no account risk.
How it works. Your console can only reach servers Mojang has approved. When you choose one, the Switch looks up its address. This points that lookup at a different machine, which shows you a server list you can type into.
Steps
- From the Switch home screen, open System Settings.
- Go to Internet, then Internet Settings.
- Select your Wi-Fi network, then Change Settings.
- Set DNS Settings to Manual.
- Enter the primary DNS address. As of September 2026 the address the project publishes for Switch is
104.238.130.180. It is run by volunteers and can change, which is why it is dated here. - Set the secondary DNS to
8.8.8.8. - Save, then fully restart the console. Putting it in sleep mode is not enough; the address cache survives that.
- Open Minecraft, go to the Servers tab, and select one of the featured servers that supports the redirect: The Hive, Lifeboat, Mineville, Galaxite or Enchanted. You will land on a list where you can add your own address.
Two things that will stop you.
Parental controls. If the console has Nintendo’s parental controls enabled, network settings can be locked, and there is no way around that from inside Minecraft. Whoever set up the controls has to change them. This is a genuine dead end for a lot of families, and it is worth checking before you spend an evening on it.
Your console uses that DNS for everything. Not just Minecraft. If the eShop or other online features start misbehaving, set it back to Automatic. It is a two-minute change either way.
What also works, and why we would not do it
There is a second method. Some apps offer it, and it does work. It signs into a Microsoft account and publishes a fake multiplayer session so that a server appears in your in-game Friends list.
It carries a real risk of that Microsoft account being banned. This is not speculation from us. The tools that offer it say so in their own documentation, warn you to sign in with a throwaway account, and tell you never to use the one you actually play on.
The contrast is worth being clear about. In the years the DNS method has existed, it has not produced a documented account ban. The ban risk is specific to the technique that pretends to be a game client, not to getting onto a third-party server in general.
If you want Switch access, use DNS. If some tool offers you a “friends” method that asks you to sign in with a Microsoft account, understand what you are agreeing to first.
Getting the address right
Before any of this, make sure you have the Bedrock address and port.
- Default Bedrock port: 19132.
- Port 25565 is Minecraft: Java Edition and can never be reached from a console.
- If your server runs Geyser, use the Geyser port.
The Bedrock ports page explains how to find the right one on the common hosts.
Why the Switch is the hardest console for this
The other two consoles show LAN games, so a phone on the same Wi-Fi can answer their discovery request and hand them over. The PS5 guide and the Xbox guide cover that. The Switch never asks the question, so there is nothing to answer.
That leaves only methods that intercept the lookup of an approved server, which means touching console network settings, which means parental controls and a full restart every time. It is more friction than PlayStation or Xbox, and there is no way around it that does not involve the account risk described above.
After a Minecraft update
Expect a day or two where nothing works and the game tells you the host is on an older version. Every Minecraft release changes something in how the game talks to servers. Nothing on your end is broken. Both the tool and your server need to be on the new version before it will connect again.
About phone apps, including ours
CouchPortal is a phone app made for exactly this problem on PlayStation and Xbox, and it does not work on Nintendo Switch. Neither does any other app that relies on the LAN Games list, because the Switch has none. If you own a Switch, the DNS method above is the answer, and no app download will change that.
Disclosure: the owner of this wiki has a financial interest in CouchPortal.
NOT AN OFFICIAL MINECRAFT PRODUCT. NOT APPROVED BY OR ASSOCIATED WITH MOJANG OR MICROSOFT.
