Is Terraria Crossplay? PC, Console and Mobile Explained

Short answer: mostly no. Terraria has never had general cross-platform play — Desktop, PlayStation, Xbox and Switch players cannot join each other. There are exactly two exceptions, and one of them only works on a dedicated server.

The two things that actually work

Android ↔ iOS play together normally — that pairing is officially supported.
Desktop ↔ Mobile works too, but only through a dedicated server, and only because the two builds happen to sit at the same version. Terraria's own wiki describes it as "likely unintentional". Consoles are excluded from both.

If you came here to find out whether your friend on PlayStation can join your PC world, the answer is no, and no update has changed that. The rest of this guide covers the exact platform matrix, the one genuinely useful crossplay route Terraria does have, and how to set it up without breaking it.

Is Terraria Cross-Platform?

No, not in the normal sense. Terraria's official wiki states it plainly:

Users of different platforms cannot play multiplayer games together. Only Android and iOS users can play cross-platform with each other. Crossplay between Desktop and Mobile is possible via dedicated servers due to the perfect parity, although this is likely unintentional.

Three things follow from that sentence, and they matter:

1. Console is walled off completely. PlayStation, Xbox and Switch players play with their own platform only. They cannot join a PC world, a mobile world, or a dedicated server.
2. Android and iOS are one pool. This is the only crossplay Re-Logic actively supports.
3. Desktop and Mobile can meet on a dedicated server. Not through the in-game host-and-invite flow — through a server that both clients connect to independently.

That third point is the only crossplay route that is worth building around, and it is the reason this page exists.

Quick facts

General crossplay: No. Android ↔ iOS: Yes, officially. Desktop ↔ Mobile: Yes, via a dedicated server, because the builds are at version parity. Console ↔ anything: No. Cross-save: No — worlds and characters do not move between platforms.

Which Platforms Can Play Together

Console players are not being kept out by a setting anyone can change. The wiki's list of platforms that "cannot play multiplayer games together" includes PlayStation and Xbox outright, and no server configuration — ours or anyone else's — creates a pairing the game does not have.

Why Desktop and Mobile Can Meet at All

Terraria's Desktop and Mobile versions are built from the same content and, for long stretches, ship the same version number. When the two are at parity, the network protocol matches closely enough that a mobile client can connect to a standard Terraria server and be treated as an ordinary player.

This is worth being honest about: it is a consequence of parity, not a designed feature. Re-Logic does not advertise it, does not test for it, and the wiki calls it "likely unintentional". It works today and it has worked across many versions — but it is not a promise, and a future update that moves one build ahead of the other could break it until they line up again.

Version parity is the whole mechanism

If the Desktop build and the Mobile build are on different versions, mobile clients will be rejected. There is no compatibility mode and no override. When a Terraria update lands, expect a window where one platform has it and the other does not — during that window, mixed PC-and-mobile play stops until both sides match.

How to Set It Up

The host-and-invite flow inside the game will not do this. You need a server that both clients dial into.

1. Run a vanilla Terraria server. Our Terraria servers run the standard Terraria dedicated server and track the latest release, which is exactly the condition mobile parity depends on. Getting started with your Terraria server covers first boot.
2. Leave it vanilla. See the warning below — this is where most attempts fail.
3. Make sure every client is on the same version. Desktop players update through Steam; mobile players update through the App Store or Google Play. Nobody joins until the numbers match.
4. Connect by IP and port. Both Desktop and Mobile join a server by address rather than through an invite. Your server's address and port are on the panel's main page.
5. Set a password if the server is public-facing. SERVER_PASSWORD on the Startup tab. A listed Terraria server with no password attracts griefers quickly.

TShock and tModLoader will break mobile compatibility

The parity that lets mobile clients in is parity with the vanilla server. TShock replaces the server binary, and tModLoader changes the game's content and protocol outright — a tModLoader server requires every client to run tModLoader, which does not exist on mobile.

This is a real trade-off, not a footnote. TShock is how you get permissions, regions and most server plugins, so you are choosing between a well-administered PC-only server and a plainer server that mobile players can reach. Decide which matters more before you build the world.

What Does Not Transfer

Crossplay and cross-save are separate questions, and Terraria's answer to the second is a flat no.

• Characters and worlds stay on the platform that made them. There is no cloud that moves a Desktop character to an iPhone.
• A mobile player joining your server brings their mobile character. That works — characters are client-side, so they travel with the player, not the world.
• The world file lives on the server. That is the thing you back up, and it is the thing that survives. See maintaining your Terraria server.

Common Questions

Can my friend on PS5 or Xbox join my server?

No. Consoles are not part of any Terraria crossplay pairing — they play with their own platform only. That is a property of the console builds, not something a server setting can open up.

Can Switch players join?

No — same reason. Switch plays with Switch.

Is Re-Logic adding full crossplay?

Nothing is confirmed. Treat any specific date or platform list you see elsewhere as a rumour until Re-Logic says so directly.

Do mobile and PC players need to buy the game twice?

Yes. The Desktop and Mobile versions are separate purchases on separate stores, and owning one does not grant the other.

Does this work with a modded server?

No. See the caution above — mods that change the server or the protocol lock mobile out.

What to Read Next

• Getting started with your Terraria server — first boot, world settings and connecting
• Terraria server commands — the admin commands you will want once people are on
• How to install TShock — the PC-only route, and what you gain by giving up mobile
• Maintaining your Terraria server — backups and updates, which matter more here because version drift breaks mobile

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