While adding Realms capabilities to Minecraft Pocket Edition is welcome and opens up a whole new world of possibilities, there are some limitations. You can sign up for a free Xbox Live Silver account, as can your friends (or in my case, my kids) and access Realms without issue. The good news is you don't need a paid Gold account in order to connect to a server and start crafting away. Owner's capabilitiesīefore you can join or create a realm, you'll need to log into an Xbox Live account within the Minecraft Pocket Edition app.

Only one person needs to pay the monthly fee to keep the server active, meaning if you can convince enough friends and family members to join and split the cost, each person won't have to pay all that much.

Well, one of you has to payĪt first glance, it would appear you'll need a subscription to connect to the Realms server. The less expensive option only allows you and two friends, or three total players, in the realm at any given time.Īll billing is done as a subscription service through Apple's App Store or the Google Play store. The difference in the two plans outside of cost is the more expensive subscription allows for you and 10 friends (11 players total) to be in a realm at the same time. New subscribers of the $7.99 plan will get a 30-day trial to test out the new wares, while subscribers of the $3.99 plan will start paying right away.

If you've been looking for a better Minecraft online experience, here's what you need to know about Realms. Last week, Microsoft updated Minecraft Pocket Edition for iOS and Android, adding Realms, the official multiplayer hosting service for Minecraft. Whether you rented a server or figured out how to host your own, the experience wasn't all that fun: Mobs and animals were missing, and the maps were rather boring. Minecraft players on Android or iOS devices undoubtedly know about the former limitations of playing Minecraft Pocket Edition line.

Minecraft for macbook left button