For the past four days, players of Minecraft’s Realms service have encountered significant disruptions, leaving many unable to access their private multiplayer servers. The issues first emerged on August 13th, as noted by Mojang’s official service status account, which reported “intermittent failures or slowdowns.” Despite sporadic updates suggesting temporary resolutions, the service remains largely inaccessible for a considerable number of users.
Subscription-Based Realms Service
Realms, a subscription-based offering, allows players to create private multiplayer environments within Minecraft’s Bedrock Edition. Depending on the subscription tier, anywhere from three to ten players can join a shared world, with the option for the owner to incorporate mods from Minecraft’s paid marketplace.
On Tuesday, Mojang’s Status account acknowledged the ongoing difficulties, stating, “You may experience intermittent failures or slowdowns connecting to Realms. We are actively working to resolve this.” By Wednesday, the situation appeared to improve, with reports indicating that the service was “up and running,” albeit with lingering latency issues. However, player feedback contradicted this claim, as hundreds expressed their continued inability to connect.
Fluctuating Service Quality
Despite further assurances from Mojang that they were diligently addressing the problems, the situation fluctuated. By yesterday, the team announced that Realms was “back up and running globally,” citing a healthy performance for over an hour. Yet, this brief respite was short-lived, as connectivity issues resurfaced shortly thereafter. As of this morning, Mojang confirmed they were still “hard at work to restore the service globally.”
Attempts to connect to Realms have proven futile for many, including myself, as I found my own account still down just a couple of hours ago. The onset of these connection issues appears to correlate with the release of Minecraft update 1.21.20, which altered the functionality of Realms invite links and aimed to rectify various bugs. A subsequent update, 1.21.21, was rolled out the following day, specifically targeting improvements in the reliability of connecting to Realms. Unfortunately, these efforts have yet to yield the desired results.
Player Frustration and Subscription Value
While Minecraft itself remains a captivating experience, the infrastructure supporting the Bedrock edition often feels precarious, as if it were held together by mere “sticky tape and greed.” Managing a Realms account can be a frustrating endeavor, yet many players, including parents wishing to enjoy cross-platform gameplay with their children, find themselves willing to endure these challenges. However, the recurring outages raise questions about the value of a £6.69 monthly subscription for a service that frequently falters.
