An IP, refers to a string of numbers and sometimes letters, that acts as an address for networks and related systems and programs. There are many different kinds and it can get very complicated. So I’m going to focus on the information that’s likely to come up when gaming or managing a home network.

To find out your IPs the quickest and best way is to use the “ipconfig” or “ipconfig /all” command in a command prompt or PowerShell window. Searching cmd or power shell in windows search should work and both programs will output the same results for this command. Do not share the information from either of these commands unless you know what your doing or are following a guide you trust.

First up is the Default Gateway IP, which is the address for your modem/router and local network. Typing this into your browsers URL field will usually take you to your modem/routers settings. Modern routers often have two of these addresses 1 numeric IPv4 style address that may look something like “10.2.3.4” and another much longer one that includes letters and symbols in the IPv6 format. Only the IPv4 format IP will access the router/modem.

Next is your IPv4 Address. This will look similar to your default Gateway Address and is can be used for game servers on your local network. Though typing “localhost” into the IP or server address field also works for some games, such as Minecraft.

Your public IP address is what other sites and programs use to connect to your computer. Your public IPv4 Address is what other people need to connect to your game servers. You can view this at https://www.whatismyip.com/ and similar sites. Some modem/routers might display it in their settings pages too. Usually on home internet these IPs will regularly change and may even display incorrect GPS locations. This is because your ISP is protecting you with a sort of pseudo VPN and dynamic IP. It’s usually not to much trouble to contact your ISP and request a static IP if you plan to host a public game server on your home network. Though their are ways to get a static ip without having to worry about that, which i will detail in another article.