The straight answer first: a PlayStation, Xbox or Nintendo Switch player cannot join a Terraria dedicated server today. Not with a password, not with a port forward, not with any setting on the server. The console builds have no way to enter a server address. Re-Logic has said that changes with 1.4.6, Crossplay Phase One, and has not given a date. This article covers what works now, what Phase One is planned to add in Re-Logic's own words, what a rented server has to do with it, and how to be ready.
What works today
| Player | Can join a PC-hosted dedicated server? |
|---|
| PC (Windows, macOS, Linux) on the same version | Yes — Multiplayer → Join via IP, enter the IP, the port, the password |
| Mobile (iOS, Android) on the same version | Yes — the same way |
| PlayStation | No |
| Xbox | No |
| Nintendo Switch | No |
PC is on 1.4.5.8 (released 23 August 2026); consoles are on the 1.4.5.8.1 hotfix that followed in September. The mobile-to-PC join is a quirk — community sources describe it as likely unintentional — but it works as long as both sides are on the same version. Everything else in the table is a hard no, and it is a client limitation, not a server one.
The version rule matters even for the "yes" rows. A client on a newer build cannot join a server on an older one, which is why Re-Logic's note on the 1.4.5.8 release says "You will need the latest dedicated server."
What 1.4.6 is planned to add
Re-Logic's February 2026 State of the Game, written with DR Studios, defines the first phase of crossplay:
"If you know the IP address and port number of your host, you can type it into any client to connect to their session. This is the functionality that we plan to initially release on console to complete Phase 1."
The same post mentions a LAN browser and a "Remote" server list coming to consoles, names the platforms only as "Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo", and sets the condition: "Assuming your PC, dedicated server and mobile are all on the same release version". Phase Two, later and undated, is "Cross-Network" play using join codes.
Since then: the July 2026 post called Phase One "the next update"; the August 2026 post said the team is "pushing directly into Terraria 1.4.6, which will be Phase One of Crossplay!"; and the September 2026 post (24 September) described "finishing touches on Crossplay Phase One" that "should be in your hands in the near future", with certification submission also expected "in the near future". No date, and nothing about console player limits or dedicated servers specifically.
The Terraria wiki summarises Phase One as consoles being able to "connect to dedicated servers via the internet". Re-Logic has not used those words itself; what it has said is that typing an IP and port into any client is the Phase One feature.
So what is the PS5 / Xbox / Switch player supposed to do?
Today: play with PC friends another way, or wait. There is no workaround. Anyone selling a "crossplay Terraria server" today is selling PC-and-mobile on the same version.
After Phase One ships, based on Re-Logic's definition: the console player will need the server's IP address, its port and, if one is set, its password — the same three things a PC player types now — and a console on the same version as the server. We will publish the exact menu path once we have joined our own test server from a console; we are not going to guess at button presses for a build that has not shipped.
How a rented server fits
Phase One is built around a fixed address. That is the one thing a server on a home PC struggles with and a hosted server has by definition:
- A fixed IP and port. A hosted server's address does not change when a router restarts or an ISP reassigns a lease. On a Connect Terraria server the IP, port and password are on a join card in the dashboard, and they are the same before and after 1.4.6.
- Always on. Consoles cannot run a dedicated server, and a PC that is the host has to stay on for anyone else to play. A hosted server is up whether or not the person who rented it is.
- On the right version the day it ships. The join fails unless server and clients match. A Connect server checks terraria.org for a newer build on every restart and installs it before the world loads, so when 1.4.6 is published, one restart is the whole update — detail in updates & version matching.
None of that makes console players able to join today. It makes a server ready for the day they can.
Things to prepare now, if you are the host
- Decide on the password. Console players will presumably type it on a controller. Keep it short; letters and digits only.
- Get the PC and mobile group in now. The world, the base and the progress will all be there on the day Phase One lets console friends in; nothing about a world has to change for it.
- Make sure the server updates itself, or put the manual routine in your calendar:
exit, download the new zip from terraria.org, start again. The setup guide has it.
- Keep the version in mind for consoles too. Console patches go through platform certification and have historically landed days after PC — 1.4.5.8 reached PC on 23 August, Xbox and PlayStation on 3 September and Switch on 8 September. The server will be on 1.4.6 before some consoles are, and those players cannot join until their platform catches up.
What changes on 1.4.6 day
<!-- UPDATE ON 1.4.6 DAY: replace this section with the verified per-platform join steps once a console client has joined our test server by IP and port. -->
Nothing has shipped as this is written. On the day 1.4.6 is published, two things happen at once: a new server build appears on terraria.org, and players who have updated can no longer join a server that has not. Console players on 1.4.6 are expected to be able to type an IP and port — and the moment we have confirmed it on our own test server from a console client, this section will carry the steps for each platform. Until then, the dated status lives in Console crossplay status, and the fuller account of Re-Logic's plan is in Crossplay Phase One explained.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can PS5 players join a Terraria dedicated server?
Not today. Re-Logic plans to let console players join by IP address and port in 1.4.6, Crossplay Phase One, with no release date as of September 2026.
Can Xbox players join a Terraria server hosted on PC?
Not today, for the same reason: the console build has no way to enter a server address. Phase One is planned to add it.
Can Nintendo Switch players join a Terraria dedicated server?
Not today. Re-Logic names the console platforms for Phase One only as "Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo", so Switch is included in the plan; no platform has a date.
Can mobile players join a PC Terraria server?
Yes, on the same version, by IP and port. It is the one cross-platform join that works before Phase One.
Will console players need a join code?
Not in Phase One, which Re-Logic defines as typing an IP address and port. Join codes are Phase Two, which has no date.
Does the server need a special crossplay setting?
Nothing Re-Logic has published describes one. What Phase One requires, by its own definition, is an address players can type and a server on the same version as its clients.