Finsonly Family Arcade

Finsonly Family Arcade

Welcome to the family arcade. Our private Minecraft world and online game nights. Pick your device below and you'll be playing in a few minutes.

Join the Minecraft world

Set up for Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. Computers, phones and tablets can join too. Text chat in the world is checked by a moderator bot.

Nintendo Switch & Switch 2

From your house

Do this once with a grown-up. You need a Nintendo Switch Online membership, and Minecraft signed in to a Microsoft account.

  1. On the Switch Home menu, open System Settings, then Internet, then Internet Settings.
  2. Pick your home Wi-Fi, choose Change Settings, then set DNS Settings to Manual.
  3. Type in these two numbers, then choose Save.
    Primary DNS
    Secondary DNS
  4. Restart the Switch: hold the power button, choose Power Options, then Restart.
  5. Open Minecraft, choose Play, go to the Servers tab and pick any server in the list.
  6. A different menu opens. Choose Connect to a Server, fill in these, turn on Add to server list, and connect.
    Server Address
    Port

Next time, just do steps 5 and 6. The world will be saved in that menu.

Playing on something else?

Windows PC

You need Minecraft for Windows (sometimes called Bedrock Edition). Java Edition can't join this world.

  1. Open Minecraft, choose Play, then the Servers tab.
  2. Scroll to the bottom of the list and choose Add Server.
  3. Give it any name you like, fill in these, and choose Save.
    Server Address
    Port
  4. Pick the server you just added and choose Join Server.
Phone or tablet

Android phones and tablets, iPhone and iPad, with the regular Minecraft app.

  1. Open Minecraft, tap Play, then the Servers tab.
  2. Scroll to the bottom of the list and tap Add Server.
  3. Give it any name you like, fill in these, and tap Save.
    Server Address
    Port
  4. Tap the server you just added and tap Join Server.
Xbox or PlayStation

These work with the same trick as the Switch, but the menus are different on each console. Text Eric and he'll walk you through it. It takes about five minutes the first time.

If something goes wrong

"That message wasn't sent"
The chat moderator stopped it. It blocks swear words, mean words, links, and private things like addresses, phone numbers and schools. Say it another way. If you get a few in a row, your chat turns off for 10 minutes, but you can keep playing.
The Switch says Minecraft can't play online
Check the Nintendo Switch Online membership first. Then a grown-up should open the Nintendo parental controls and allow Communication with Others for Minecraft. When that's restricted, Minecraft turns off all online play, including this world.
"You are not invited to this server"
The world only lets in people on the guest list. Send Eric your Minecraft gamertag and try again once he says you're added.
"Outdated server" or "Outdated client"
Update Minecraft on your Switch first. The server updates itself every night, so if it still says outdated, let Eric know.
Picking a server opens the real server instead of the menu
The Switch is still using its old settings. Check the two DNS numbers, then restart the Switch again.
"Unable to connect to world"
Check the Minecraft token at the top of this page. If it's dark, the world may be restarting. Try again in a few minutes.

The game room

Classic console nights for the grown-ups. Eric runs the games on his computer and streams them to you with Parsec. You play with a controller from a PC or an Android tablet and talk on Discord, like everyone's on the same couch.

Set up once

  1. Install Parsec and make a free account. On a PC or Mac, get it from parsec.app. On an Android tablet, get it from the Google Play Store.
  2. Send Eric your Parsec username. When his friend request arrives, accept it under Friends.
  3. Join the arcade's Discord server with the invite link Eric sends you.
  4. Connect a controller to the PC or tablet. Xbox and PlayStation controllers both work.

On game night

  1. When the room opens, the Game room token at the top of this page lights up and Discord posts an announcement.
  2. Join the #game-night voice channel on Discord.
  3. Open Parsec, go to Computers, choose Finsonly Arcade, then Connect.
  4. Press any button on your controller to grab a player spot. Player 1 presses first, then Player 2, and so on.

Consoles and games

The game list shows up here when the page finishes loading.

Game nights and events

Times are shown in your own time zone.

Minecraft rule book

Everyone who plays in the world agrees to these. The details are below.

    For grown-ups

    How this works, what your child's accounts need, and what this page does and doesn't do.

    What is this, and who runs it?

    Eric runs a private Minecraft world for the kids in the family on his own server at home. It isn't a public server, and there's no cost to join. The game room on this page is a separate game night for adults; kids don't need it.

    Who can get into the Minecraft world?

    Only people on the guest list. Every player has to be added by gamertag first, so someone who finds the address still can't get in. Players can't use cheats or change world settings.

    There's no voice chat in the world, only text chat, so the cousins can talk while they build.

    Nintendo Switch settings

    Your child needs a Nintendo Switch Online membership to play online.

    You can keep Nintendo's parental controls on. In the Nintendo Switch Parental Controls app, under restrictions, allow Communication with Others for Minecraft only. It's a per-game setting. While it's restricted for Minecraft, the game turns off all online play, including this world.

    Microsoft account settings

    Minecraft multiplayer uses the Microsoft account your child signs in with, even on a Switch. If it's a child account in Microsoft Family, the family organizer changes two settings from the parent's account, at account.xbox.com/settings or in the Xbox Family Settings app:

    • You can join multiplayer games: set to Allow.
    • You can join cross-network play: set to Allow. This lets a Switch, PC and tablet play together.

    Changes can take a few hours to reach Minecraft. Sign out of Minecraft and back in if it still says multiplayer is blocked.

    About the Switch DNS change

    Switch, Xbox and PlayStation don't have a button for adding private servers. The DNS change points the Switch at BedrockConnect, a free community service, which swaps Minecraft's featured-server list for a menu where you can type in our address. The second number is Google's public DNS.

    While it's set, the Switch looks up internet addresses through that service on that Wi-Fi network. You can set DNS Settings back to Automatic any time. You'll just need to change it again before joining the world from home.

    How chat is kept safe

    A moderator bot reads every chat message before anyone else sees it. It stops messages with swearing, mean words, links, or personal details like addresses, phone numbers, emails, schools and last names, and private one-to-one messages are turned off so everything is said in the open.

    A player who sends several blocked messages in a short time has their chat turned off for 10 minutes; they can keep playing. Serious messages turn chat off right away and alert Eric.

    Chat is saved on Eric's server for 30 days so he can look into anything that comes up, then deleted. Alerts to his phone say who and what kind of thing happened, never the personal detail itself. If the moderator ever stops working, the world shuts itself down rather than run with unchecked chat.

    No filter is perfect. Please keep talking with your child about who they play with and what they share.

    What this page collects

    Nothing. There are no accounts, cookies, ads or tracking here. The page only checks whether the Minecraft world and the game room are on, and it shows how many people are playing, never who.

    Questions or concerns

    Text Eric. If anything happens in the world that worries you or your child, tell him and he'll look into it the same day.