Tutorial:Hide multiplayer server IP

In this tutorial, you edit your hosts file to add a hostname to an IP address. This allows you to record a video with no IP address showing and no one is able to look it up, unless they have your hosts file.

hosts file

The location of the hosts file will differ depending on the operating system you are using:

• Windows: %systemroot%\system32\drivers\etc\hosts
• Linux, BSD, etc.: /etc/hosts
• MacOS: /etc/hosts or /private/etc/hosts

You will need to use a privileged editor to edit the hosts file. On Windows, for example, you would run Notepad as an administrator.

Content

On a new line, add the IP address of the server, followed by a horizontal tabulation and the hostname you want to use. For example:

127.0.0.2	minecraft-server

In most cases, you can type a horizontal tabulation simply by pressing the "Tab" key on your keyboard. If not, just copy it from the example above (it's the blank space).

Replace 127.0.0.2 with the IP address of your server, and minecraft-server with the hostname you want to use. The hostname may include numbers (0-9), lowercase letters (a-z), the hyphen (-) and the period (.). It cannot include any spaces or other symbols.

Saving

Once you are finished, save the file and close your privileged editor. It is dangerous to keep this open, since it can be used to edit any file on your system.

Connecting

You can now use the hostname you set in the hosts file, to connect to your server. You will still need to include the port number, if it differs from the default of 25565.

Example

There is a Minecraft server located at 127.0.0.2 on port number 12783.

The hosts file may be set to:

127.0.0.2	a-minecraft-server

You can now use a-minecraft-server:12783 to connect to this server, instead of using its IP address.