What is OpenFriend?

OpenFriend bridges Minecraft Java Edition's official Friends List, introduced in snapshot 26.2+, to any TCP Minecraft server.

With OpenFriend, your friends can join your server through the in-game Friends List instead of manually entering a server address.

This resource is the central release hub for OpenFriendMC.

All release assets, including Core binaries, OpenFriend plugin jars, and OpenFriendBypass plugin jars, are uploaded under GitHub Releases.

GitHub Releases
Main Repository


Important Notice

OpenFriend is unofficial.

OpenFriend is an independent, community-built project.

It is not developed, endorsed, supported, sponsored, certified, or otherwise officially connected to Microsoft Corporation, Mojang AB, Mojang Studios, or the Xbox brand.

"Minecraft", "Xbox", "Xbox Live", "Microsoft", and "Mojang" are trademarks of their respective owners and are used here for descriptive interoperability purposes only.

OpenFriend speaks the same network protocols the official Minecraft Java Edition client uses.

Use it only on accounts you control and on servers you operate or have permission to operate on.

You assume all risk associated with running this software.


Current Scope

Offline-mode servers only for now.

Right now, OpenFriend bridges Friends List joins only to offline-mode Minecraft servers.

The online-mode bypass, similar in concept to Floodgate-style authentication skipping, is implemented but not yet verified end-to-end because Paper / Spigot have not released a build matching snapshot 26.2.

Once compatible Paper / Spigot builds are available, the bypass plugin will be smoke-tested and certified for online-mode use.

Until then, please set the backend server you bridge to:


Components

1. OpenFriend Core

Type:
CLI / Go binary

Source:
zerozshare/OpenFriendCore

What it does:

• Authenticates with your Microsoft account
• Broadcasts presence
• Accepts incoming Friends List joins
• Bridges the WebRTC data channel to a real Minecraft server

2. OpenFriend Plugin

Type:
Spigot / Paper / Velocity plugin

Source:
zerozshare/OpenFriendPlugin

What it does:

• Drops the Core binary into your server
• Starts it as a managed subprocess
• Shows status information in chat for OPs

3. OpenFriend Bypass

Type:
Spigot / Paper plugin

Source:
zerozshare/OpenFriendBypass

What it does:

• Optional component
• Skips encryption authentication on online-mode servers for Friends List routed connections
• Similar concept to Floodgate-style authentication handling

Quick Start

Standalone CLI

On first launch, OpenFriend prints a Microsoft device code.

Authenticate once, and the token is encrypted to your machine and reused.


Plugin setup for Spigot / Paper / Velocity

1. Download the required files from GitHub Releases:
   https://github.com/zerozshare/OpenFriendMC/releases
   
2. Put the following files into your plugins folder:
   • OpenFriend-spigot-<MCver>.jar
   • or OpenFriend-velocity-*.jar for Velocity
   • OpenFriendBypass-<MCver>.jar, optional for online-mode servers
   • packetevents.jar, required when using the Bypass plugin
3. Start the server.
   
4. The plugin extracts the Core binary, generates bypass.pem, and asks you to restart.
   
5. Restart the server.
   
6. OP players will see an OpenFriend status report in chat when they log in.

Status

OpenFriend is currently in test mode.

Implemented:

• Microsoft authentication
• Presence broadcasting
• Friends list management
• Skin upload
• Host mode, accepting Friends List joins
• Join mode in standalone CLI
• Offline-mode backend support
• Machine-bound credentials
• Core auto-update
• Plugin-managed Core process

Implemented but not yet verified end-to-end:

• Online-mode backend support using OpenFriendBypass

Not planned:

• Bedrock / Java protocol bridge

Not yet built:

• Forge / Fabric / NeoForge mod version

Feature Matrix

Standalone CLI

• Microsoft authentication: yes
• Presence broadcasting: yes
• Friends list management: yes
• Skin upload: yes
• Host mode: yes
• Join mode: yes
• Offline-mode backend: yes
• Online-mode backend using Bypass: unverified
• Machine-bound credential: yes
• Auto-update: yes
• Bedrock / Java protocol bridge: no

Spigot / Paper / Velocity Plugin

• Microsoft authentication: yes
• Presence broadcasting: yes
• Friends list management: yes
• Skin upload: yes
• Host mode: yes
• Join mode: no
• Offline-mode backend: yes
• Online-mode backend using Bypass: unverified
• Machine-bound credential: yes
• Auto-update: notify-only
• Bedrock / Java protocol bridge: no

Mod Version

• Forge / Fabric / NeoForge: not yet built

Coming Soon

• Forge / Fabric / NeoForge mod version
• Support for older Minecraft versions that do not have the Friends List built in
• Compatibility experiments using ViaVersion / ViaBackwards
• Geyser-style protocol translation so a 1.20.x server can accept a 26.2-snapshot client through OpenFriend
• In-game /openfriend commands for OPs
• Web dashboard for managing accounts and server bindings from a browser

Open Source Dependencies

Thanks to:

• pion/webrtc - pure Go WebRTC
• coder/websocket - Go WebSocket client
• google/uuid - UUID handling
• denisbrodbeck/machineid - cross-platform machine identification
• golang.org/x/image - Catmull-Rom image scaling
• retrooper/packetevents - cross-version Bukkit packet manipulation

Mojang's protocol design is referenced for compatibility.

No Mojang code is shipped with OpenFriend.


License

MIT License.

"Minecraft", "Xbox", "Xbox Live", and related marks are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation and Mojang AB.

OpenFriend is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Microsoft Corporation, Mojang AB, Mojang Studios, or the Xbox brand.