Mojang has cut peer-to-peer multiplayer from Minecraft: Java Edition's 26.2 Pre-Release 1 build, just weeks after introducing it in Snapshot 7. The studio says the feature didn't meet the quality bar for a full release, so it won't ship with the Chaos Cubed update. The Friends List, which debuted alongside it, is staying in.
What was removed and why
Snapshot 7 introduced a new Multiplayer Options screen that replaced the old Open to LAN menu. It let you flip a single-player world between Off, Local, and Online, with the Online mode using a direct peer-to-peer connection so friends could join without port forwarding, IP sharing, or a paid server. That Online tier is what's gone in Pre-Release 1.
The Java team's explanation is short and blunt: the experience wasn't good enough for every player, so the feature isn't considered ready in its current form. Pre-releases mark the end of new feature work and the start of bug fixing before launch, so pulling it now signals the issues weren't something Mojang could patch in time for the Chaos Cubed rollout.
What still works in 26.2 Pre-Release 1
The Friends List survives the cut. You can still open it with the O key, send and receive friend requests by Java Edition profile name, and see whether friends are Offline, Online, In a world, or In a joinable world. Xbox friends who own Java Edition also show up there. The button now stays visible on the title screen and pause menu even if the feature is turned off in Online Options.
What you cannot do is host a single-player world for friends over the internet without third-party tools. Local network play returns to behaving the way Open to LAN always did. If you want internet multiplayer with friends in 26.2 as it currently stands, you're back to the pre-snapshot options: Realms, a dedicated server, a third-party host, or a mod like Essential.
How this compares with Snapshot 7
The contrast between the two builds is the clearest way to see what changed:
| Feature | 26.2 Snapshot 7 | 26.2 Pre-Release 1 |
|---|---|---|
| Multiplayer Options screen | Off / Local / Online | Off / Local only |
| Peer-to-peer internet hosting | Available via Online mode | Removed |
| Friends List (O key) | Introduced | Retained |
| Friends button visibility | Tied to options toggle | Always visible |
| p2p_connection telemetry | Added as opt-in event | No longer relevant |
Chaos Cubed content is unaffected
The rest of the 26.2 update is intact. The Sulfur Caves biome and the Sulfur Cube mob still ship with Chaos Cubed, and Pre-Release 1 actually tightens a lot of that content. Small Sulfur Cubes now have their own model and texture, every archetype has unique hit and push sounds, the cave fog color has been adjusted, and Sulfur Spikes won't overgrow as aggressively.
Potent Sulfur also got a tuning pass. Continuous geyser eruptions now require a lava source block underneath, which gives you a clearer rule for building reliable geyser setups. On the technical side, the Data Pack version moves to 106.1, and the Resource Pack to 88.0, and server operators get split chat-spam-threshold-seconds and command-spam-threshold-seconds properties for finer kick control.
One known issue worth flagging
26.2 Pre-Release 1 crashes on systems without Vulkan support. If you're testing the build and don't have a Vulkan-capable GPU or driver, open options.txt and change the line preferredGraphicsBackend:"default" to preferredGraphicsBackend:"opengl". That falls back to the OpenGL renderer until a proper fix lands.
What this means for the Chaos Cubed release
Mojang hasn't given a firm new timeline for peer-to-peer hosting. The official line is only that the feature isn't ready in its current form, which leaves the door open for it to return in a later snapshot cycle rather than the 26.2 launch window. The Friends List is doing the social-layer work for now, and the underlying account and presence plumbing is staying in the game, so the groundwork for bringing P2P back later is already there.
For players hoping to ditch Realms or third-party hosts, the wait continues. For Mojang, pulling the feature at the pre-release stage is the safer call than shipping a flaky version of something this central to how people play together. The full Chaos Cubed update is expected to be released in the coming weeks, with bug fixes filling out the remaining pre-release builds. The full pre-release notes are on the official Minecraft 26.2 Pre-Release 1 page.