In this short article, we will be answering the question of what does an outdated server mean in Minecraft, but also, looking at how to fix it step by step...
This message usually appears when you are playing on older servers.
While joining some servers you might have got a problem connecting to the server and the screen shows “Outdated Minecraft server!
You are still on 0.00 “version, or ”Failed To connect to server, Outdated server”.
Seeing this on your screen is not a thing to worry about. This can be easily fixed.

Why does this error appear?
This usually happens when you connect to a server after updating your Minecraft launcher’s version to the latest one.
E.g., 1.18.1 version.
If you try to connect to the server after its release when you connect to the server running on the 1.17 version, that means your launcher is on the newest version and the server you are joining must be compatible with that version of the game that is 1.18.1 version.

So technically this means that the version of your launcher and the server does not match, and you are not allowed to connect to it.
How To fix An Outdated Minecraft server
To fix such errors there are two ways. Depending on what you are, you can choose it:
#1 - Updating The Server
If you are the owner of that server, you can easily fix this for the other players facing such errors.
This means that the player is playing on the newer version of the game, and the server is running on the lower/previous version.
Depending on the type of server, you can update the latest version of them from here:
- Spigot: https://getbukkit.org/download/spigot
- Bukkit: https://getbukkit.org/get/a2f29a01f966be2ba63a3986179e009e
- Purpur: https://purpurmc.org/
- Paper: https://papermc.io/downloads
- Forge: https://files.minecraftforge.net/net/minecraftforge/forge/
- Fabric: https://fabricmc.net/use/server/
let's fix it.
- Firstly, stop the server from running,
- Then download the latest version of the server file and paste it into your server panel( folder),
- After pasting the newer version, delete the old Server.jar file,
- Once done with all this, start the server again so it can load the latest version to the server.

This will let the people join the server using the latest game version.
You can also take a backup of the server before deleting the old server files and downloading the new server file so if the data gets corrupted, it will be still secure.
If you have the server hosted on your pc and are downloading the new/latest server, you also need to:
- Open the Start.bat file and edit the name of the older server with the newer download version’s file name.
- Or delete the older Server.jar file and name the new downloaded server.jar file as the previous one.
#2 - Changing Game Version
If you are not the owner of the game and you have the latest game version and are trying to connect to the server, follow these steps as it will let you join that server easily, till the server gets updated.
- Firstly, Start the launcher you are using.
- Then go to the version list and download the previous version or the current version of that server.
- After downloading it and starting the game, you will be able to connect to the server and be able to play.
Because your launcher/ game version is the same as the server version.

What Does An Outdated Server Mean in Minecraft and How to Fix It
Many times, while connecting to some of the servers give the error “Outdated Server”.
This happens when the version of the server is not supporting the version you are playing the game in.
For this, you can update the server to the latest version, so both the versions become the same and you can play without any difficulty
Another way to do it is to connect to the server showing an outdated server is by downloading that version of the game in your launcher the server supports.
Doing this, the server’s version and the client’s version become the same and hence you can play in it.
Let me know, did you get it fixed? If you are thinking about starting your own server, so you can sort these issues out yourself, why not check out our article on starting a Minecraft server for friends, it's super simple.