Disclaimer: This guide involves sideloading apks onto your Meta Quest 3. This is not officially supported by Meta and can go horribly wrong such that you may have to factory reset your device – if you are not comfortable with this stop here!
Requirements:
- A purchased Java edition of Minecraft
- A Meta Quest 2, 3 or 3s
- Access to QuestCraft
- SideQuest installed on your PC, and possibly a usb cable if you want to connect your Quest to your PC in order to install apk files
In April our family went to Disneyworld and had a blast. When we came back, my young daughter was gloomy that the trip was over. Not to worry, with Disney in Minecraft I was able to bring our vacation to her!
While she is too young to wear a Meta Quest 3, she enjoys riding on the virtual rides on her PC in Imagine Fun, a family friendly, extremely detailed and faithful replica of Disneyland in Minecraft. Lucky me, I get to join her in virtual reality via QuestCraft.
To join the server, I use the current version of QuestCraft which I sideload onto the Quest using SideQuest . If you have not sideloaded an Android package (apk file), I recommend following SideQuest’s setup guide. QuestCraft shows up under “Unknown Sources” in the Application launcher after it is installed.
I subscribe to the QuestCraft Patreon so I benefit from more frequent and recent updates. You do not have to do this to enjoy Imagine Fun, so long as you have a version of QuestCraft that includes 1.21.11 or higher.
How to join the Imagine Fun server
Once you have opened QuestCraft on your headset, selected the most recent version supported by QuestCraft and clicked “Play”, the game will load.
Click “Multiplayer” and you will have to add the server.
The server address is
mc.imaginefun.net
Add the server and click “Join Server” to join.
You will have to click “Proceed” for it to accept the prompt for it to download a resource pack for you. Make sure you have the resource pack setting set to prompt or auto-download.
It will take about a minute to join the server and the scene may freeze. Don’t worry, this is perfectly normal!
Once you join the server, you may want to tweak a few settings to maximize your experience. I turn my rotation increment to “Smooth” to disable snap turning and avoid a jerky spin when I turn my view. To do this, use the settings button on the left controller to open the Minecraft menu.
Click Options, then use the trigger button on the right controller to select VR Settings then Locomotion Settings.
I also calibrate my height to my elevation while sitting down – this is the button on the very first Minecraft menu below the Options and above “Come back soon.”
Finally, I adjust the world size which is under the VR Settings. I enjoy the server while seated – of course, you are welcome to experience while standing too!
Advanced: How to enable Audio through the Headset
I was frustrated with the default audio experience on the headset which is that you have to generate an audio streaming link through the chat with the /audio command. When on a PC this is a natural flow since you can click the link and it will open a tab in your browser that you can use to pair your movements with audio from your in-game location. Pretty cool right? Well not so cool on the Quest since trying to paste this into a browser there will freeze your game.
I came up with a workaround for this that uses my Android phone as a relay for the audio. For what it’s worth I do not know if this would work on a non-Android phone or a PC.
For the record while you get used to it and it’s a much better quality audio experience, there is the definite possibility that the Imagine Fun folks will add in-server audio any time now and this method will become unnecessary. It will probably take you some time to get it working for you – so only dive in if you’re like me, you’re relatively tech savvy and really would prefer an elaborate workaround to typing in the address into a browser every time!
I sideloaded KDE Connect and AudioRelay onto the Quest using the same approach as I did with QuestCraft. Note that to use this approach you need the actual apk files. You can’t install pure Android apps onto the Quest. You can however search for these apps on the Google Play store on an Android phone, and I recommend doing that for the phone component.
KDE Connect allows you to send clipboard contents from the Quest to your Android phone so you don’t have to type out the audio link on your phone every time you get one.
AudioRelay allows your Android phone to mirror its sound to the Quest. The idea is you copy the audio link from the Quest to the phone, then transfer the phone’s audio back to the Quest. Note that only the default browser, not Chrome, appeared to work with AudioRelay.
But how to set this up exactly once in game?
First you must pair the Quest and the phone in both KDE Connect and Audio Relay. This part is a one time setup.
After installing KDE Connect and AudioRelay on both the Quest and the phone, join the Imagine Fun server and move to the side so you can see what you’re doing. Everyone spawns in the same location, which gets crowded quickly.
To generate the audio link, the easiest way is to use the “IFone”. You can also use a Magic band, which is what I use in the screenshots. The difference is purely cosmetic.
This “IFone” object auto-spawns in your inventory. This is your way to interact with the park. Press the Y key on the left controller to bring up your inventory. Use the controller grip keys to highlight the IFone, then use the left trigger to open the interface. This will be an inventory-like menu. Use the right controller to click the “volume” icon, and this will create the link in your chat.
Quickly since it will scroll up, press the “B” key on the right controller to open your radial menu. You should have an “Open Chat” option, so click that.
Use the right controller to click the “here” in the audio link where it says “Click *here* to open the web client”. They mean the audio web client.
Click “Copy to Clipboard”, not yes or cancel.
At this point make sure you have exited the chat – click the chat input and then click “Esc” on your floating keyboard to close the chat before moving to the next step.
Now that you have the link on your clipboard, use the Meta button to open the Quest interface. This will freeze your QuestCraft game. Click the nine-dot application launcher and choose “Unknown sources”, then click “KDE Connect”. Click the three dots on the top right. Click “Send clipboard”.
Without taking off your headset, lifting it up slightly or however you need to do it, paste the link from the Quest that should now have been transferred to the phone into the default browser on your Android phone.
It will bring up an audio connection, click the big button to confirm the connection and the phone will start playing the in-game audio. First part achieved!
Now to send the audio back to the Quest …
On your phone, open AudioRelay and click the Server tab.
Click the “Apps” section, and share the browser window you opened.
Now it should be available for the Quest to pick up.
Back on the Quest, if you need to hit the Meta Quest button again do so, then open the Unknown Sources applications again and open AudioRelay.
In the Player tab, select the phone. You should now hear the audio coming through the Quest speakers! Click the X on the bar below the application to close it, and the audio will continue playing while you are in the world of Imagine Fun.
Stay on top of keeping the phone from locking – extend the inactive time as much as you can and keep it handy to unlock it if needed.
One more nugget of advice – the map spawns in your offhand which is surprisingly difficult to remove due to the Minecraft keybinds not mapping perfectly to the controller buttons. You can actually aim your right controller at your left one and hold down the trigger button to focus the individual squares in the hotbar. Play with it until you highlight the offhand square, then you can drag the map away from your offhand. Weird how the simplest things can be the hardest to accomplish …
Playing with my daughter in Minecraft from VR is fun already, but spicing it up with a trip to Disney makes it all the more magical! Hope this helps you make some memories too!